rottweiler attack - police useless........

pulliptears

donnap83 wrote: »

Oh, no!

I have poodles, mine has never bitten anyone yet...well, she 'play bites' kind of thing, but not hard, and she knows its play. She does have a proper set of gnashers though, so she could probably inflict a right bite.

*Edit*

I lie, she did bite someone once. I took her for a walk one night when i was about 18/19. A bloke walking past me in the other direction suddenly grabbed my arm, and thats when she jumped up and bit him on the leg. And she bit him hard. He ran off thank god. I hate to think what might have happened if she hadn't have been with me.

Which sort of reinforces my point, you are a good owner, your dog is well trained and not put in a position where it could bite someone (i.e left with a small child etc)

The one that bit me belonged to an Aunt, it had little to no training, the run of the house and felt anyone with food was fair game. Of course, little old me sat minding my own business sat on the rug with a digestive came in for it with a nasty bite to the face.

Do I blame the dog? No, not at all. My Aunt let the dog down by failing to train it. My parents really shouldn't have left me sat on the floor with a biscuit around the dog. Certainly not the dogs fault.

Fortunately it didn't scar.

donnap83

kazzah60 wrote: »

I too am a poodle owner - we are on our second one - it is a standard poodle ( the largest size)
he has always been gentle and non- aggressive

HOWEVER
I never forget that he is an ANIMAL and as such will be prone to attack/fight if he is put in a stressful situation

I never leave him alone with my young neices and nephews and make sure that he is locked away if having work done in the house by strangers - it is so much better to be safe than sorry.

I'd love a standard, but i prefer the miniature cos i can have cuddles with her in bed. HA!

If we have people in the house i.e. workmen, i keep her with me, but purely because i know some people are wary of all dogs, and she's a little tramp and loves attention. Especially from men!!

She's ok with kids, hasn't really come in to contact with lil' kiddies, except when I walk her, chilrdren want to pet her, which is fine, as long as they stick their little hand out for her to sniff first and that they don't rush at her like a bull in a china shop.

My best friend is currently 15 weeks pregnant, and i definitely thing Lady knows. Normally she barrels in to my friend the minute she comes in the door and is all over her like a rash, but since she's been pregnant, Lady is really gentle and cuddles into my friends belly.

donnap83

pulliptears wrote: »

Which sort of reinforces my point, you are a good owner, your dog is well trained and not put in a position where it could bite someone (i.e left with a small child etc)

The one that bit me belonged to an Aunt, it had little to no training, the run of the house and felt anyone with food was fair game. Of course, little old me sat minding my own business sat on the rug with a digestive came in for it with a nasty bite to the face.

Do I blame the dog? No, not at all. My Aunt let the dog down by failing to train it. My parents really shouldn't have left me sat on the floor with a biscuit around the dog. Certainly not the dogs fault.

Fortunately it didn't scar.

That is bad training. I'd never leave mine with a small child, aside from the obvious, she's got the usual poodle ear problems so they tend to be sore, and knowing what kids are like, one tug of the ear and i think she would certainly bite. I wouldn't blame her, which is why i would never put her in that situation. I aways warn anyone petting her about her ears, and to be careful.

pineapple

Little dogs in particular are know to be snappy but the difference between that and say a rotty is that if a rotty goes for you, you are in trouble.
Anyway, I would be tempted to go to the dog owner and say that unless they are prepared to dog proof the fence it will be taken further (despite the original police response).
The last resort would be for them to do it themselves. They could top off the fence with wire or something. Yes I know it shouldn't be down to them but it's not a fair world and what price peace of mind?

Azari

kazzah60 wrote: »

HOWEVER
I never forget that he is an ANIMAL and as such will be prone to attack/fight if he is put in a stressful situation

Yes, the particular breed known as Homo sapiens are the very devils for it.

vax2002

All this any dog can bite, yes it can, but I have never heard of anyone dying from a jack Russell attack, dozens of children have been killed by rottweilers.
Yes the Breed does matter, it matters alot when it has hold of your childs throat.
Had it bitten my child, it would have a fire axe where its brain should be.

Tangible

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (section 3)

It is a criminal offence (for the owner and/or the person in charge of the dog) to allow a dog to be ‘dangerously out of control’ in a public place, a place where it is not permitted to be, and some other areas. A ‘dangerously out of control’ dog can be defined as a dog that has injured someone or a dog that a person has grounds for reasonable apprehension that it may do so. Something as simple as your dog chasing, barking at or jumping up at a person or child could lead to a complaint, so ensure that your dog is under control at all times.

If it causes an injury it may be seized by the police and, apart from the risk of a prison sentence or ban on keeping dogs, there is a presumption that the dog will be destroyed.

If an owner cares for their pet then they are being irresponsible if they ignore the consequences of their pet's actions. The owner can read the law but his pet can't. Sensibly the police should correctly have a quiet informal word with your neighbour at the least.

missesther

Skint_but_Optimistic wrote: »

That poor child, its unfair that for the rest of her life she will be scared of dogs as a result of an irresponsible neighbour.

Can I just say - as an aside - I was bitten all up my legs by a (normally friendly) dog and have a 2 inch scar on my left knee from it. This was when I was 7 and I perhaps should be scared of dogs but I'm not, I still love them and think they're the best pets. I love my pet Lab and wouldn't consider a different animal. As terrible as the incident was, let's hope that it doesn't scar the young girl into being scared of dogs. It didn't do it to me and hopefully, it won't do it to her. Just teach her caution.

BTW, I'm new here but have read the forum for ages so sorry for butting in.

Azari

Tangible wrote: »

Sensibly the police should correctly have a quiet informal word with your neighbour at the least.

Maybe they did.

Of the three possible scenarios:

1) Dog attacks someone on its territory.
2) Dog attacks someone in public
3) Dog enters someone else's property and attacks

the third must be by far the more serious.

However, it is something that can easily be controlled by either keeping the dog inside or making sure there is adequate fencing. The police may well have advised the dog's owner of this without the OP ever being aware.

kajstring24

My parents have had Staffordshire Bull Terriers since I was 10, I love them as pets, they a wonderful, loyal and very friendly. However, our first Staffie had to be put to sleep as he attacked me. I still stand by my opinion that Staffies are great family dogs and can be trusted around children, but as already established, any dog can bite. Now I've moved out, I'd have another Staffie without a second thought, but if we were to have children, I'd make sure any dog is supervised with the baby. I've seen how motherly they can be with kids, but the doubt will always be in my mind. We think our Staffie turned because my Dad was away for work and he viewed himself as the 'alpha male' and went for the 'weaker' person in the household, ie me. We've had two more since, with no problems (in fact, my parent's current dog is nearing the end. I'm devastated, but she's an old girl now).

I can't believe how little notice has been taken of this incident. The next thing we know the dog could injure someone fatally and there'll be investigations over why something wasn't done sooner. I hope it doesn't come to that.