Which breed of dog would you classify as dangerous?

janeys

As a postie I come across lots of dogs, I have been bitten badly 3 times. 1st by an unseen mongrel when the guard was removed from the door and i put my fingers through the letter box. 2nd by a jack russell who bit 2 other people the same day when it was loose on the street and 3rd by a rescue alsation who came out of the front door behind the owner and proceeded to jump and bite around my midriff while the new owner looked on. I do not think a particular breed is dangerous but I am wary of particular breeds due to the type of owner who has that breed. When I see dogs I make a judgement call, is the dog showing signs of aggression, barking, snarling showing its teeth are its hackles up or is it quietly staring at you as if to dare you to come near. I never enter a garden where a dog is loose, as even the calmest dog can turn aggressive to protect its property or owner.

Paradigm

vax2002 wrote: »

a staffie is not a breed, its a term for a Mongrel based loosely in on the Staffordshire bull terrier, most would fail the breed standard.
It sounds better than blue nosed pitbul cross.

We've been through this before but it seems you didn't take notice!

Staffie/Staffy is a shortened term for a Staffordshire Bull terrier, at least here in Staffordshire it is!

I have never known these to be applied to any type of "mongrel".

Oliver14

DontDropTheQuaffle wrote: »

Hello,
I'm doing my extended project for A Level and I'd really appreciate it if anybody would answer the question 'What breed of dog would you classify as dangerous?'. It'd also help greatly if you could say why you think it's dangerous or vicious.
Thanks

No breed of dog is dangerous. There are badly trained dogs that are dangerous. There are dogs that are bred with aggressive tendencies it does not though mean that breed is dangerous.

Oliver14

vax2002 wrote: »

a staffie is not a breed, its a term for a Mongrel based loosely in on the Staffordshire bull terrier,

Don't talk rubbish. You'll be telling me next because I shorten my Golden Retriever to Golden he is no longer a pedigree (even though I have the papers proving it). Or the same principle about my black lab.

Yes there are many people who have non pedigree dogs that they call staffies. As there are people with Pedigree dogs they call staffies. There are also many people who call them Staffords.

dizziblonde

Ignore Vax - they've got this bee in their bonnet about Staffies (the colloquial term for a Staffordshire Bull Terrier) being some kind of rabid-human-eating-mongrel.

The two times my dog has been attacked it's been by a Jack Russell terrier both times.

My uncle had his arm broken by a German Shepherd - but he was doing a police dog demo as the criminal, was brought to the ground with the bite sleeve on and basically landed arkwardly - so in essence he tripped over his own police dog which I don't think counts as "dangerous dog" (if it did my cat would be right up there in the "danger" stakes).

One of my dogs is walked on a muzzle - purely because of her racing past. She wouldn't hurt a fly - she's got no teeth to DO much hurting - but since she retired she's had so many problems with the aforementioned JRTs that the muzzle serves as a huge "leave us alone" notice to 'em!

orlao

What is a dangerous dog?

IMHO it's any dog that is untrained and not controlled by the people around it. Not the dog's (whatever the breed) fault, the responsibility ultimately lies with owner.

Yes, the bigger breeds do have the potential to cause MORE damage but tbh even a small dog can cause a serious injury which is just as unacceptable.

Certain breeds are in fashion as 'weapons' or status symbols. In those circumstances those dogs are potentially more dangerous to people than others who are raised/managed more responsibly. At the moment it tends to be staff/bull breeds but I'm seeing more and more huskies, siberians and malamutes being used as 'weapons' or status symbols so will these breeds be the new 'devil dogs' in a year or so?

I've answered your question by defining dangerous as a risk to people btw as dog on dog aggression is a completely different subject and less likely to be breed or type specific!

meerkat2007

DontDropTheQuaffle wrote: »

I've set my own project and the title is 'What makes a dangerous dog?'.

A dangerous owner.

madvixen

meerkat2007 wrote: »

A dangerous owner.

Completely agree with this. The only dog I have ever been attacked by was a Poodle owned by a little old lady who couldn't control him and allowed him to run around off the lead. I have a rescue Rottie and I have watched people cross the road to avoid him. Yes, he's a big dog but he is well trained and is walked on a lead all the time.

Any dog can attack given the right circumstances but dogs who are not trained or socialised are far more likely to do so. A big dog can bite harder and, depending on the severity can kill, but a small dog can also bite (my nanna lost a finger to a Jack Russel) and could kill depending on the severity.

To my mind it's the same as bad driving, it's not the car that kills, it's the person handling it.

scaredy_cat

not read through all the replies, but i hate that a particular breed can be classed as dangerous. ANY dog can be dangerous, from a Jack Russel to a St Bernard. It's not the dog which is dangerous, but the owner and how they have treated and trained the dog - or lack of training.

The sweetest dog i have ever come across, when i worked at a vets, was a 9mth old rottie, with a broken leg. He would let me clean and groom the leg and just licked me. The most vicious dog was a Westie. But he had a bad skin condition which didn't help his temperament.

Welshwoofs

No breed is inherently dangerous. A combination of training (or lack thereof) and poor control produces a dangerous dog. Even without that any dog has the capacity to bite if they are frightened, attacked, cornered and in pain.