opinions please - bull terrier ban at doggy day care

D&DD

Could it be a member of her soon to be staff won't work with certain breeds? Its far better her original idea of seeing who fits nicely with who rather than going by breed surely..


I know some breeds have certain quirks/characteristics but if you are going to set something like this up you should be open really across the board.Could you imagine if someone opened a crèche and said I'm not taking X,Y,Z they'd be strung up..


Maybe its to do with insurance Elsien have you thought about that maybe??


I think there are so many breeds that would be hard to separate in a fight,heck I'd have trouble with anything bigger than a Chihuahua lol


I know some holiday places now ban certain breeds too although they are supposed to be dog friendly.

elsien

D&DD wrote: »

Could it be a member of her soon to be staff won't work with certain breeds? .

No it's not that, as they're fine with the dogs there on lead with the owners at training sessions, open days etc. And they do seem to genuinely like bull terriers as far as I've seen when I've been there.

D&DD wrote: »

Maybe its to do with insurance Elsien have you thought about that maybe??

I hadn't thought of that, that's quite possible I think.


It is a shame though because once Gitdog was slightly less tigger-like around other dogs I was going to book him in for a few short sessions. I haven't asked if they'll make an exception because they'd have to say no and I don't want to put them on the spot.
Oh well - another one of the perks of choosing a breed who's reputation precedes them. Still as I'm on number 3, I can't say I didn't know what I was letting myself in for in terms of public reaction.

GBNI

I find it so sad that so many breeds are condemned by people that don't know them due to media coverage etc I like bull breeds, but wouldn't have one as I don't feel experienced enough. I own a lab x rottie and many people will stroke and talk to her, ask her breeding and when I say what she is they're like oh, rottweiler. And a lot back off

MallyGirl

try owning a Malamute (or 2) after all the press coverage about the poor 6 day old baby left alone with dogs that died (they had bought the Malamute off a bloke in a pub apparently). Most people think mine are huskies but if they ask and you say Malamute then their faces just shut down.

Paradigm

elsien wrote: »

Oh well - another one of the perks of choosing a breed who's reputation precedes them. Still as I'm on number 3, I can't say I didn't know what I was letting myself in for in terms of public reaction.

I'm a little surprised you say that. I don't see that they have a "reputation" at all, they are never mentioned in the press, the only one I can remember is Princess Annes(?) which bit someone years ago. Apart from that zilch...

They seem to be pretty rare dogs, I drive round the country for a living & hardly ever see one & I doubt the majority of the non doggie public would be able to name the breed.

I find the reason(s) for excluding them a little lame to be honest, trying to seperate any 2 reasonably sized dogs of any breed is a challenge & any dog of a reasonable size can inflict damage quickly.

I'd have to be asking some questions

krlyr

I can understand that Bull breeds do have the strength to do more damage should they get in a fight, even if they weren't instigating it, but I wouldn't say they necessarily would all finish the fight. I've seen Bull breeds that have been started on who've given a good mouthful as a telling off but have showed bite inhibition and stopped at gobbing off.

And if it's just about the potential damage, why not blanketban all large dogs? I've witnessed adult GSDs fighting, and there was absolutely no way we could split the two of them up. We had to wait for them to finally stop for a few seconds and have the lot of us drag them away from each other.

deedeeliz

I personally like Staffs but my boy has been attacked multiple times by them, to be fair boxers, jack russels and collies too! This photo is what a Staffy did to my boys brother - It was lucky he had a thick ruff as it stopped him being seriously wounded!



Last week I was walking Artie home through the field and he was onnlead, a VERY large staff came charging across the field towards us so i quickly thrust my dog behind me and was bowled over by the attacking dog landing on my chin.

Artie has a dog walker everyday who takes more than one dog and I trust their judgement as to which other dogs walk with my boy they can be bull breeds. It really depends on the dogs but bull breeds do seem to have a habit of clinging on in a fight if they are in one! My dog loves them though even if they dont love him

Kinski

It might be other people who want to use the day care, if they ask what other breeds of dogs will be there bull breeds might just make them walk away. Personally I do like bull breeds but my first sheltie Ailsa was killed by a staffie and I can be very wary around ones I don't know ( and ones I do know sometimes ) so I would be loath to leave the dogs I have now there. I know it might sound daft but I just won't take a chance on it happening again, I should also add that I have a Arran a male sheltie who can be a bit of a sod around other dogs.

orlao

I suspect that it's a combination of insurance issues - a reduction in PL premium if certain breeds aren't accepted? - and a business decision that if bull breeds are accepted other owners would be put off. Sad as that is, it's probably a valid concern as people are so nervous about certain breeds around their dogs.

As a long time Rottie owner I've found that while people can be scared of my dogs, their fear is usually for themselves/their children rather than their pets. Same with GSDs, mastiffs etc. With staffs and/or bullies it always seems that they are more worried about their dogs...

FWIW, I've always hated breaking up small dog fights as you have to lean in and put your face/hands far to close to the business end of scrapping terriers...with big dogs, I tend to use feet/knees to get in between and grab collars. Obviously this doesn't work all the time

aileth

Our pup goes to a doggy day care, they are fully insured and have no bans on ANY dogs. Each new dog goes for a 15 minute introduction, they meet the staff, have a sniff around and are assessed around other dogs. If any sign of dog aggression is shown, they aren't allowed to join. Every dog needs full vacs + kennel cough and flea/wormed.

One of the loveliest little dogs (and best buddies of our pup) is a staffy.

You have great danes, weimaraners, huskies all playing amongst terriers, pugs etc, with a separate locked off corner for puppies to play together.

So I don't think it's insurance to be honest, as they're fully up to check with everything and have every breed of dog imaginable. I think it's probably just mass stereotyping. If it's a customer who's raised such a daft issue, then I feel sorry for that person.

The most vicious dog in our area is a golden retriever owned by a tiny lady who can't control him. He has gone for our dog's throat on many a time. The friendliest dogs on our walks are the staffs, and this is even in quite a rough area...