6600 dog bites in 2007 Discussions

Just wondering out of the 6600 why only a handful of those were chosen to be presented on the media... I am betting most of those were collies and jack russell /terrier types (I have both so don't anyone feel picked on) which is boring for the media.

I have had TWO emails this week by people with a staff and a rottie, both used the wording 'frightened they will turn' needing help with training. The first thing I did was to let them know that their dog is as likely to turn on them as mine are to me.
I also read last year that after the attack at the pub with the two dogs, rotties were being handed into rescues/pounds as people were worried about this breed suddenly turning into a monster, even after raising them from pups. I wish we could let people know about the conspiracy against them.
Personally I feel small dogs are more dangerous, of course they can inflict more damage, but in my experience these dogs are the ones that people treat like babies, having them on their knees (when the dog chooses) and letting them bark and bark (isn't it cute) grrrrr....

Jess you have a good valid point.

We have seen dreadful ownership,by some folk around here.
One elderly lady has a Border Terrier,who is very rarely excercised and will get out at every oppotunity he has.She used to encourage everybody to stop at her garden gate when he was tiny,to make a fuss of him etc.He got to around 7 months old and she was clearly struggling with him.She started asking people to ignore him because he was very naughty and didn't know who the boss was.

He is left outside to his own devices,always has been but she ties him up now so he can't disappear.
I don't think he's ever been socialised properly with other dogs etc.....surely heading for a disaster.

I fear for my breed, and some othes, people are very easily told what to think by media, even when they have owned the dog for years, so sad, thats british people for ya thougth, panic panic panic, just look at the way the fill trolleys with bread and milk at xmas and new year,,,ffs the shops only close for a day, with many petrol stations and corner shops opening on xmas and new years day, but still they stock enough to feed a small army!

eeee, that is worrying isn't it. When you can see something heading in the wrong direction. I always butt in and try to help, although my sis thinks that it sounds like I am talking down to them (she puts on the townie accent to blend in with them). I forget sometimes - esp being on here, where people put dogs high in their priority list - I forget that to most people a dog is just a thing.
It is crazy. I worry so much about my dogs, and my pup is 14 weeks and I worry like mad about how he will turn out, and then there are people who just have a 'dog', it means nothing.
My bit is to educate and spread the word, but some people just don't want to know.

I know what you mean, people are strange aren't they. Sometimes I wonder how I am related to humankind. I worry for the dogs too, they always seem to suffer, I would rather their were no dogs, than see all the suffering in the hands of the bad and the ignorant. To me that is a big thing to say, as I wouldn't have a job!

so true, so many people see a dog now as a disposable item, fashion item or whatever, its not a living thing in the eyes of far to many people, but again I find my self saying,,,breeders need to take more responsibility for what the produce, not only in the producing a good well balanced dog but after it goes to its new home and from then on untill the day it dies, its the only way forward I think, but sadly so many dont give a fig,

What amazes me is the excuses that are made from owners.

If a big dog bites, it's usually the owners who say 'I dont know where I went wrong' or 'I'm baffled' or similar...

but if a little dog bites, I've lost count of the times I've heard

'well he's just being a typical terrier type' !!!!!!!!!!!

My response is always the same "GO to a dog show and see how ANY dog should behave !"

this is one of my main narks too, If a dog does somit at training, well fair dooos thats dogs for ya, but what bugs me is say the dog has a snap at another dog, the owners first thought is,,,,justify the dogs actions, I would rather they just delt with the dogs actions there and then rather than think of a reason for the dog doing it then airing it loudly, in the form of he aint done that before {oh ye right im thinking he looked like he delivered a well polished performance to me, rehersed many times me thinks} or even worse, he didnt like the look of the other dog, or the other dog did somit or blah blah blah blah bull botty,

as said, dogs will be dogs, its how owners respond and how quickly they do that Im imperssed with ;-)

Hmm not sure it is helpful to speculate about what breed or breeds were represented in a report. Facts and figures only please.

I disagree with the comment that small dogs are more 'dangerous' as a simple fact of their size means that isn't that case. That does not, however, make them less aggressive than any other breed of dog regardless of size but quite simply if you have two dogs that are both aggressive, one small and one big, the big one will be considerably more dangerous.
Becky

I agee with you Mahooli.
What I mean is that terrier types seem to have more of an aggressive streak (through the breed) than say your more common lab etc. I think it makes sense the the breeds that were bred to be 'self employed' are just that, and don't think twice about making their own desicion on the matter!

Maybe it's just my luck, but I have more cases of aggressive jack russells that any other breed, but as I also mentioned I think alot of that comes from being moly-coddled (sp?) as they are small and cute (like mini ninjas) HI-YA (mimicks ninja hand movements)

When I had terriers they may have hated each other and those they lived with but were never people aggressive nor aggressive to dogs outside the home, yes they'd fight back if attacked but none of my dogs were ever attacked by any small dogs other than one yorkie, they have always been attacked by all those breeds that are 'supposed' to be friendly.
You may see a lot of aggressive jacks, in grooming it's westies but you can't make a statement that out of the 6,600 recorded dog bites last year that the majority were caused by little dogs, we simply don't know, also remember that these are just recorded incidents so they are more likely to be more serious bites as they needed medical attention (which is where the statistics come from) so in fact the results could be skewed to larger dogs because they do more damage.
Either way these results wont be accurate as I have very rarely needed medical attention for dog bites so few of the ones I've had over the years actually went on record!
Becky

I have to say.............believe it or not, I have not had problems with JRT,BT,or similar,,,ok poss a bit dog stand offish but not people aggressive,, thank god! I would rather face a ratty big dog than a little un! but yorkies and so on who are mollycoddled YES nasty little so and so's

LABS,,,dont get me started,,,I see more and more labs that would make so called devil dogs look sweet,,,wtf is gone wrong with that breed?:?

I think people see the loveable soft dog on the news and tv, the see smart guide dogs and think they will be perfect from day one. What they dont realize is they need a lot of hard work, and if not trained right they can become nasty and uncontrolable. And because of the demand of perfect dogs more and more are being bred. The saddest site I saw was a lab in the park about 7-8yrs ago, muzzled up, fur raised growling and snarling snapping at every man, women, child and dog, It took two owners to have any kind of control of it on lead.

Too popular, same as retrievers, their temperament has started to deteriorate over recent years as well. Temperament seems to be the first thing to go when a particular breed become the 'in' thing.
Chows, poodles, shar pei, rotties, dobermanns have all had their popularity periods and all got a reputation for having bad temperaments.
Becky

Yup so true, stormy and mahooli, Labs just seem to have gone off the rails big time at the moment, I was talking to a breeder at SKC champ show, she said its a nightmare at the moment, more so the choc labs, she blames high protien food, show breeding, this is the bit that got me, she also said, should someone ask advice from her re a family dog,,,,she would send them to a good rotty breeder as labs are so unpredictable just now,,,my jaw hit the floor, she did also mention its something the working lab breeders dont seem to have such an issue with,,,what an honest person eh?

long gone are the days when your dogs are off lead having a play and you see another dog coming also off lead, then think ah its fine its a lab,,,,now you think omg its a lab get the dogs back to you and on lead, so sad I hope the breed resolves it problems with temprament soon,

The trouble isn't show breeding...but over breeding and inbreeding...breeding for money(IMO).
Any breed can be nasty.
I think it is sweeping to say it is mainly collies or JRTs...as bad as saying all staffies are bad.

I think you also have to look at the proportion of dogs of a given breed that there are...of course there will be more lab bites, there are more labs out there. Same with collies.

I love my BCs, but i opted not to have one this time around as I knew I couldn't provide it with the right home at the moment...I was also wary of finding one, it was easy in the past thanks to knowing the right people....now you look out there and there are so many collies for sale and relatively cheaply...same with labs it's so very sad for the breeds.

Pointing the finger at any breed is, IMO wrong.

I dont think anyone is pointing the finger at labs as such, rarther saying there is a problem with labs at the minute and sadly imo this is true. I hate to see labradors who they say are from a show strain, imo a true lab should be able to be shown and worked and when people start breeding different strains they will always be problems.

Hi ramble, as stormy said its not a case of finger pointing, but a general point on the breed, labs are not the same dogs they were years ago, nor are many gsd's sadly, as to who is to blame, what is to blame, I dont really know all I know is they have changed and not for the better sadly, x

Labs/GSDs/Collies/GRs are all victims of their own popularity and unscrupulous breeding as a result. People in it for a quick buck have bred dogs with dodgy temepraments and certain lines are knwon for it.
GSDs have had a problem with this since the post war era when they were incredibly popular and suffered bad breeding as a result. So many people hop on a breed bandwagon as soon as they see them doing well.....