Warning against demonising Rottweilers

“if you want to see dogs out of control go down cheltenham car boot at the weekend”

“I am 23 years old and I own a 3 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier ***** (Kendra) and I am on the recieving end of judgmental narrowmindedness nearly everytime I walk my dog.

I am not unemployed and I am not an irresponsible owner, I have had my brushes with the law as have most of my generation now a days due to the over exuberance and statistic chasing of our Police forces, however my dog is trained to the best of my ability and to that of the training classes I took her to.

I still find it difficult to understand the mindset that is; if you have a certain dog and are of certain age or walk of life then you must be unable to control your dog or that dog is purely owned as a status symbol. (my dog is scared of her own shadow so how I could use her as a status symbol is beyond me)

I have had instances where my dog be attacked by a yappy terrier or a jack russel and she does not even blink as she has a very good and accepting nature. I can accept that there are owners that are the opposite to myself and dogs too that are the opposite to mine, but the majority of people I know with a staff or a rottweiler or any other supposed dangerous dog type are more than capable of controlling their dog and the dog is well behaved and not vicious.

I sometimes get people cross the road to avoid me and my dog; and when this happens I cross over too; this then means they are forced into meeting my dog and I always get greeted with shock that my dog is so well behaved and even go as far as calling my dog beautiful!

So please before you judge a book by its cover or a dog by the reputation portrayed in the media take a minute and think as to how you would feel if people we so dismissive towards you because of how you look as I am pretty sure that is classed as discriminatory and something I was brought up not to be!”

“gggg”

“Anomy1, could agree more re the humans attacking each other bit. Especially after reading the sickening story of a 73 year old woman, robbed in her own home. She was gagged, water boarded and had scalding water thrown over her, until she opened her safe, so that these scum could rob her of her jewellery. What they did to an elderly lady beggars belief. I think we should be more concerned about what so called members of the human race do to each other on a daily basis, than worry about whether a dog should be muzzled. That aside, dangerous dogs, regardless of breed are usually that way because of the moron of a human being that owns them not treating them properly. Too many people buy a dog without knowing the first thing on how to look after them, and as about much thought as if they were buying a new pair of shoes. With the right owner, one who trains their dog in obedience, treats them with respect that dog knows who is boss, ie not them.”

“Well said honslknjkyt and ghiabelinda, as for paul813 you have not got a clue mate, tell you what, let's just ban all animals to solve this problem of attacks shall we, let's just put all pets to sleep eh. Why should I have to muzzle my dog,infact you try muzzle a dog, they aren't used to muzzles and it frightens them even more trying to put one on them. If you know your dog is a danger to others then by all means it should be muzzled in public areas. As for the public having a right to go on their way without being savaged by a dog is a crock of ****,how many dog attacks are there compared to humans attacking each other. I am the proud owner of a Rottweiler, by no means did I purchase it for a status, they are a gorgeous loyal loving animals, I'm sick to death of Rottweilers getting bad press, I'm actually surprised the citizen has shown a pic of a lovely looking rottie instead of the usual snarling rotties the press show on numerous occasions. People need to get to know rotties instead of listening to what the press say about them, I too was very ignorant towards that breed years ago, due to the fact I believed all the bad press about them, am I glad my mind was changed when introduced to them, best thing I ever did was forget what was said about them and get to know them.”

“nikonman2010, would you be one of those who use a car eg a bmw audi or volkswagen, cause that is a status symbol too, most people do not use their dogs as a status, and a lot of dogs were used to aid humans before we were born. my dog IS a good dog, i dont need anybody to tell me that, least of all you.”

“I would agree that there should not be a knee jerk reaction to a very unfortunate and unhappy incident. The owner of the rottweiler was in the wrong not to have kept her dog on its lead, but saying that will not undo what happened.

Comments about disciplining the dog and keeping it under control of the owner are spot on. These are animals and they behave with instinctual response, not with rational thought. Not only should dogs be trained to obey their owners, but the owners in many cases should be trained to handle their dogs properly.

I have known people with rottweilers and lovelier dogs you couldn't hope to come across. They would not let you in the door without their owner being present and letting you in, but once you were allowed in by the owner, they were beautifully behaved, very affectionate animals.

Perhaps it would be as well to think about the fact that dogs behave generally according to the environment they find themselves in. An aggressive, angry owner will pass on those tendencies to their dog and likewise, a calm, patient and kind owner who trains their animal properly will breed a well behaved, socially developed dog.”

“Not all but many people have dogs as a status symbol our front garden is open plan and at least once a week you see someone walk past letting their dog use my front garden as a toilet when i go outside with a "Oi " you either a load of abuse or they ignore you why do some people with dogs think they are above the law . Why do so many dog owners think that their dog wont hurt anyone and is totally harmless until it does then its i want a sympathy vote”

“Why not put a tag on all teenagers, unemployed, druggies, ex-prisoners etc etc?
Because it is ludicrous, not all of them are going to hurt anyone.
Why not put a muzzle on every dog, even when it is in its own back garden incase someone goes into it and shouldn't be there?
Because it is ludicrous and a dog should be able to bite if someone strays into his garden.”

“paul813, cant agree with you there, dogs that have shown a vicious tendency yes, i agree should be muzzled, my dog is 9 and partially sighted so a muzzle would confuse her more, plus she is the most soft creature loves kids people animals even cats. so again muzzling all dogs is the same as saying all dogs are dangerous. and they arent.”