BRITAIN'S UNWANTED PETS - PANORAMA-BBC One, Monday 2nd August, 8.30 pm

nikki702

My dog is terrible on the lead when passing other dogs, when he is off the lead he is fine.. IMO that dog should not have been pts... I wish i didnt watch it

Mupette

It is heart wrenching to watch programs like that, and i did tell myself not to watch it... but again i ignored the sensible side..

I was just as bad a week or so ago when the dolphin thing was on, More 4.

I looked at my pup this eve and i just thought i could never give up on him.

foreign_correspondent

nikki702 wrote: »

http://www.battersea.org.uk/about_us/whats_new/panorama_programme.html

"In the case of Brandy, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier shown on tonight’s Panorama programme, Battersea’s team of behavourists carried out extensive assessment, behavioural work and reassessment of the dog over a period of time. The programme shows only a snapshot of this work done to help this dog and does not detail any of the more obvious signs of real and consistent aggression shown by Brandy towards other dogs"

I really hope so - but I suspect that if there was not such a numbers crisis, him not being too keen on other dogs wouldnt be such an issue.

Battersea put down about 1 in 3 dogs they take in, as do the RSPCA. Perhaps if there was less competition for rescue spaces (i.e less dogs coming in, and more homes available), dogs like Brandy would be worked with and trained, rather than put to sleep.

Overbreeding is really a big part of all this.

CFC

I didn't watch it. The problem is that with limited resources in Battersea, a limited supply of available homes and an oversupply of staffies or staffie crosses, I think it's quite simple - any staffie that has got any issues is gone. Although it is sad, I understand that. There are enough totally friendly and non aggressive dogs in the world at risk of pts that the desire to home one with any questionmarks is reduced. And in a way, fair play - at least if you rehome from Battersea you will get a dog of good temperament rather than as sometimes happens from some rescues, a dog that does have issues that the rescue has not been up front about.

I just read your post FC and I think that you're right - on the other hand, who really wants to take a dog on that does have a lot of questionmarks...my boy has been attacked several times by aggressive dogs so possibly I'm biassed. I'd like to see actively aggressive dogs pts. And yes, I agree, the owners have usually made them like that - but once they are aggressive, it's a labour of love to retrain them and a labour of anxiety for the other dog owners they meet in the street or the park (and sometimes even at training class!)

hethmar

nikki702 wrote: »

http://www.battersea.org.uk/about_us/whats_new/panorama_programme.html

"In the case of Brandy, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier shown on tonight’s Panorama programme, Battersea’s team of behavourists carried out extensive assessment, behavioural work and reassessment of the dog over a period of time. The programme shows only a snapshot of this work done to help this dog and does not detail any of the more obvious signs of real and consistent aggression shown by Brandy towards other dogs"

Clearly they have received a lot of complaints about it.

Horrifying thing is, if chipping is made compulsory, I think dogs will just disappear rather than be left straying We need a great deal of thought going into this and to be honest, I keep coming back to neutering of male dogs as being the only obvious compliance.

CFC

hethmar, why not the neutering of females instead of males? It's the girls that have the babies!

Compulsoury chipping would never work, any more than compulsoury dog licences worked.

The idea of a compulsoury breeders licence would also not work; plus if it's not needed for children, why would there be more regulation for breeding animals! The only real answer is the reform of society, the same reform that is needed to ensure that people start treating each other with respect again, because only then will there be respect also for other forms of life.

foreign_correspondent

CFC wrote: »

hethmar, why not the neutering of females instead of males? It's the girls that have the babies!

Compulsoury chipping would never work, any more than compulsoury dog licences worked.

it would be easier to see the whether boys have been done? Sometimes even the vet cannot tell for certain whether a b1tch has been speyed.

The idea of a compulsoury breeders licence would also not work; plus if it's not needed for children, why would there be more regulation for breeding animals!

.. having kids is different though - if you stop people breeding it veers into the territory of eugenics - stopping dogs from breeding is just good animal husbandry.

Kimberley

There should be compulsary neuturing of all Pups and Kittens by 6 months of age unless the pups/kittens are born at proper registered breeders who want to keep the pups/kittens as future breeders. If a dog, a male dog being obvious is seen unneutured being walked on the lead then that person/family should be fined and made to have the dog neutured. Until neuturing of all pets is made legal then this sort of practice will continue to grow.

WolfSong2000

Mupette wrote: »

I'm with you on this, based on the tests, mine should be pts.

mine if he sees another dog will tug on lead, and bark.. it's lack of socialisation on my part, but Brandy was wagging the tail and didn't look aggressive in the sense of bareing teeth and snarling, in fact i was surprised how quiet he was

I'd be careful with that statement...there's a lot more to aggressive dog body language than openly barking/growling/lungeing, etc.

A wagging tale, can, in certain instances indicate aggressiveness - depends how high the tail is being held and if it's just the tip that's wagging. If you see a dog behaving like that, even if it's not growling, stay away!

Having said that, from what I saw, I'm not convinced Brady is necessarily dog aggressive, per se. The problem was, because he was tense, and used the wrong body language, etc, with the other dog, it indicated that it would take work to socialise him. If you've got too many dogs coming in for the space available, sadly you have to be selective and choose the dogs that will be easiest to rehome .

Person_one

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

it would be easier to see the whether boys have been done? Sometimes even the vet cannot tell for certain whether a b1tch has been speyed.

.. having kids is different though - if you stop people breeding it veers into the territory of eugenics - stopping dogs from breeding is just good animal husbandry.

Its also a much less invasive, risky and expensive procedure to neuter the boys rather than the girls.