dangerous dogs

[crabbyob]

Back in the day it was Alsatians that were the dangerous dog...I love dogs, not all dogs obviously... just walking down the street in Doncaster you see 7 stone girls getting dragged along the pavement by rather large dogs, no where near in control of the animal... today it is two years since the dangerous dog act was enforced... and in that short time 17 people in the UK have been killed by dogs???? this is a horrifying figure... what do you think could be done to solve this problem.... and 17 deaths certainly shouts out that there is still a problem...

[1955vintage]

No such thing as bad dogs , only bad owners.

1. Bring back the dog license 
2. Introduce a license to breed dogs.
3. All dogs to be microchipped 
4. All dogs are neutered except those owned by licensed breeders.
5. Owners prosecuted for animal misbehaviour.

With heavy fines and penalties imposed, this could result in less dogs out of control.

[Raven]

Well I expect this will be an unpopular statement BUT, having been involved in dog training most of my life as my parents were some of the founder members of the Tay Valley Dog Training Club, a lot of the time it's the wrong end of the lead that's the problem.
You get an 8-10 week old puppy and training starts from day one, simple things like No, Leave, Come, and house training. Slowly and daily.
Often new owners haven't a clue and they don't follow the simple training, IMO everyone should go to dog training even Dageus went at 16 weeks, you get trained as well as the dog and you learn so much from other members in chatting, just wee things you didn't think of or know. It was amazing what I learned after a long absence from dogs.
It also depends on why someone gets a dog in the first place, in Perth 20 odd years back there was a spate of guys in chains and spikey collars lots of studs and gelled up spiky hair, they all had what you'd call dangerous dogs to make them look tough, these dogs had not been socialised or trained properly and always lunged growing at other dogs, my Maggiemay and Pashka included. I ended up avoiding walking in the parks because of it. NONE OF THIS WAS THE DOGS FAULT. I met a guy in the park near my house while I was sat on a bench watching my two sniffing about, he had a Pit Bull with him and I was very wary BUT this one had been treated right and trained to be a pet and obedient. Turned out it was a big softie who only wanted tummy rubs from me and a gravy bone biscuit, and it was fine with my Sheepies.
Ok Rant Over, it's a subject I tent to get on my high horse about.

[Alex]

I think we all agree it's the owners to blame and not the dogs.   A dog licence should be reintroduced with fines for non compliance, the money raised could go towards more dog wardens and animal welfare in general.  Not going to happen of course.  .

[Raven]

I'll tell you a rather embarrassing thing that happened to me about dogs. I stopped keeping dogs for many years after my Sheepie "Blue" passed away. I had 2 kids and was working full time I didn't get back into dogs untill David n Regan had grown up and I was only working part time. I got Daniel and Bentley from the Scottish OES Rescue, they were hard to place as they had to be together. That wasn't a problem for me. Anyway the day before I got them I toddled off to the Post Office to get 2 dog licences for them, the woman on the counter looked at me like I was barmy,told me there was no such thing anymore. I was so embarrassed as everyone heard her. I had no idea they'd been stopped. I thought it was a strange thing to have happened and wondered why it had been stopped. Last one I bought was 7/6 I felt such a fool for not knowing.

[klondike]

There's a problem with re-introducing the dog licence IMO. To be effective and not cost more to manage than it brings in it can't be cheap. Couple that with stiff fines and what do you think is going to happen to many dogs considering dogs homes would quickly fill and euthanasia isn't cheap. I see two likely outcomes. Dogs killed cruelly and dogs chucked out on the streets.

[Raven]

Very true Klondie but it's always happened, dogs being killed by cruelty. Dogs on the streets not so much now. When I was growing up there were lots of dogs who were roaming the streets some in big groups, my mum called them latch key dogs, they got turned out when their owners went to work and let back in after they returned. It was quite dangerous as these dogs could and did attack other dogs being walked by their owners. It stopped all of a sudden in the early 70s. Don't know what happened but I was glad it stopped.

[Scrumpy]

I avoid any dog that ( looks) (Dangerous)..
Many of them are not.. but I don't take a chance..
I have seen people being walked by their dog.. 
Large dogs that could easily pull an owner to the ground..
I don't understand why these .. so called .. dangerous dogs  
are in the hands of ( stupid) owners..

[JBR]

I don't like dogs.  They bark, they slaver, they bite, and very often they bark, slaver and bite.
Cats are much better.  They don't do any of the above.