Dogs

[Minder]

I think there was air getting in with the folks behind the "save Lennox" campaign

[Armaghgeddon]

Some NI politicians should be put to sleep, they are more dangerous.

[ONeill]

The lennox situation made the Belfast city council a laughing stock, a ex police handler classified the dog as a dangerous breed even though a bitch from the same litter was not?? how that work, one was bigger than another. 5 actual dog experts said the dog didn't not show signs of been dangerous. best option was to get it relocated and save face all round!! now the bbc look like a bunch of buffoons and spiteful, spent a fortune to save face, dogs in a way are like people, some good some bad, its  a bit like a biker or punk rocker who looks scary but could be the nicest guy in the world!! no matter the breed, Akita's, rottweilers, doberman, Alsatians, are all big dogs and in the past have been involved in horrendous incidents involving children, when i see these dogs i am wary of them due to the sheer power of the animal but never scared of it! do you ban all dogs cause of 1 or 2 bad ones? I have a Labrador / Alsatian half breed,has the Alsatian face, gives it away what it is, tough looking dog, but in reality is the softest push over i ever seen, couldn't get in its kennel one night as one of your cats had took over it!! The cat now sleeps with the dog ever night, funniest thing you see!! All dogs can be dangerous and at any moment could turn on you, abit like a grumpy person having  abad day! I think the problem these days is young people walking round with Akita's, pitbull as status symbol to look tough but have no proper understanding of the care required to look after such dogs!! I love to have an Alaskan malamute, forbey been expensive they are a very powerful animal, which needs alot of attention, its not classified a dangerous dog but common sense dictated that's you couldn't let a dog like this room free!! Hell i even petted one of those wolf dogs -  looks like a tan/white wolf (the guy was in the Irish star a few yrs bck) outside Gorey in wexford, Magnificent animal but huge , powerful, and with a suspect temperant, but people were buying them even though they were dangerous as nobody had one!! So owning a dog comes with a level of responsibility and people should get a animal that's suits them and not one to look the toughest guy on the block which seems to be the in thing round where i live!!

You ve summed up the whole thing there I reckon.

Pit bulls are mostly good guys - and so are most of the other dogs from breeds with 'history'.

It s not an exact science. An experienced dogman can get a dog that is just unmanagable and a novice can end up with a Rott or pitbull that tries to lick you to death. Then you get the morons that encourage their dog to be real hard by abusing it and setting it on easy targets. I don t blame a local authority for erring on the side of caution. Lennox was probably a decent sort but would anybody take a chance with these dogs and have a child deformed or worse? Silly question - obviously loads of people would.  When one goes bad - they usually build up, (owners get into denial and it s always something else to blame that sets them off and of course they have a bond with the pet) they can do some damage.

I suspect that a child being maimed by a dog attack would get less attention than poor Lennox.

Some quotes:

I work at a large trauma hospital in an inner city, in pediatrics. I can't tell you how many awful pit bull bites I've seen. The problem is that they have really strong jaws, and they bite down and don't let go. Many times it's been the family dog that's done the biting, out of the blue. I had no preconceived prejudice against these dogs, but I've just seen too many shredded kids. 

My wife is a surgeon in a major metropolitan area who regularly repairs facial trauma suffered by victims of attacks by dogs. 

Our city has a lot of dogs.  I'm sure a huge number of different breeds are represented, although I don't know their statistical distribution.  However, the kids/adults who need their faces put back together are almost exclusively pit bull attacks.  I can't even remember the last time that another breed was involved in an attack that made its way to my wife's operating room. 

Additionally, the dogs involved are usually the family pet (who everyone insists is very loving and never has done this kind of thing before), not some abused guard dog.  A recurring example is when a kid's friend is over playing, and they horse around or wrestle with one of the kids the dog is bonded to ... and the dog flips out and attacks the friend to protect its master. .

Why do they get a "bad rap?"  First and foremost is the fact that a Pit Bull is physically capable of doing more damage than most other dog breeds.  You might be able to make a Yorkie as vicious as a Pit Bull by using the same methods, but little holes in your pants cuff don't compare to have large pieces of flesh torn from your body. Pit Bulls are bred to have unusually powerful jaws and a low center of gravity that makes them extremely formidable.  This makes them potentially dangerous, even if well trained and of good temperament.  All it takes is one misunderstanding like a tickle fight between a family member and a friend and the dog is capable of a disastrous response in a matter of seconds.

Defenders of pit bulls can be just as self-delusional as are people who want to demonize every single dog of the breed.  Unfortunately some pit bulls are descended from many generations that were bred to be extremely aggressive, and those traits won't disappear just because the pups are raised in a loving and benign environment.  I had a border collie bitch who was knocked up by the dog next door, which turned out to be a fighter pit owned by a man who was deeply involved in the ruthless illegal fighting circuit.  I kept one of the resulting pups, naively believing that generations of focused breeding specifically for the purpose of killing dogs in the ring could be nullified by cuddles and squeaky toys. 

By the age of three months, that pup had completely dominated her sweet but passive mother, and by the age of six months, when she'd turned on me several times to establish her alpha status, I realized that I had a dangerous problem on my hands that was way beyond my ability to cope.  I copped out by passing her onto someone else, and there's always been a worry in the back of my mind whether any of those eight half-pit/half-border collies or their descendants ended up viciously harming someone's child.

[Wildweasel74]

the point is these dogs are not family pets and more suitable to houses without children, same as rottweilers and any other big dog, as for bite strength etc, u find the Akita, and huskies have a stronger bite power, there is alot of focus on the half breed type of this dog while ignoring the fact that alot of legal dogs can and have done the same damage, its down to owners, commonsense, and situation, ie have children have not, would you left you child alot with even a common labador no matter how friendly, answer no, bottom line the country got too many idiots who own dogs who may have more sense than they do as they tend to be Territorial!! my own dog likes defend its territory ie the back yard, does that make it dangerous?? think not, kinda in away a person would defend their House from intruders!!

[Wildweasel74]

oh nearly forgot to mention one of the most feared dogs is a russian sheepdog, fights off wolves for a living, makes  a st bernard look like a pup lol, successfully converted to a family dog these days,damn thing a monster

[5 Sams]

the point is these dogs are not family pets and more suitable to houses without children, same as rottweilers and any other big dog, as for bite strength etc, u find the Akita, and huskies have a stronger bite power, there is alot of focus on the half breed type of this dog while ignoring the fact that alot of legal dogs can and have done the same damage, its down to owners, commonsense, and situation, ie have children have not, would you left you child alot with even a common labador no matter how friendly, answer no, bottom line the country got too many idiots who own dogs who may have more sense than they do as they tend to be Territorial!! my own dog likes defend its territory ie the back yard, does that make it dangerous?? think not, kinda in away a person would defend their House from intruders!!

Good man Mr Wild Weasel. Between us all on the board here we will find you a fullstop...period. Joking aside you make some good points....somewhere in there ...I have two docile, well trained, family friendly, beautiful lovable labs...would I leave them alone with children??? I would in my hole....take no chances...bottom line.

[Wildweasel74]

as mentioned by another poster on here i don't do full stops, don't believe in them lol, i try to do it all in one sentence, you should try to make out my texts now that's a real challenge!
as above not a fullstop in sight to now..

[grounded]

Ah Jayzus lads the bit about Renshaws and the follow up gags have left me with tears streaming down my face in fits of laughter.  Very, very funny. 

The one and only time I have been bitten by a dog was by a Border Collie belonging to the neighbours...  I was 13 at the time and 'twas a cold November day in the hoors owner's pratie field and I had just managed to fill my box (one a day) for the grand sum of £1.50, only for the tight-arsed auld git to come along and deny me 25p as it wasn't full enough for the spuds to be falling off the top.  On the way out of the field I made the mistake of going over to Ringo to say my farewells and assure him I'll never lift another spud for his owner when the hoor made a drive for me and nipped me on the knee.  The deal was sealed.

Main Street one of our Jack Russells was just as you suggested a dog should be, ie. able to distinguish between friend and foe.  He knew the sound of all the friendly cars and God help you if you tried to get into the house if he didn't recognise either your voice or your car.  They have arguably the worst eyesight in any dog breed.  (Mind you when your bred for the purpose of going down a dark hole after some smelly hoor call Rennard you don't need good eyesight.)  For a few years we would graze a few dozen sheep over the winter and to get over the lack of a Lassie or Laddie my brother decided to train the Jack Russell.  He would take the dog's favourite limegreen tennis ball with him, go to the gate, tease the dog for about a minute, get the attention of the sheep, then launch the ball with my hurl into the field towards the sheep.  The dog would tear after the ball hell for leather into the middle of the field, and unbeknownst to him the sheep would see this wee white thing bobbing over the grass towards them and they'd get curious and race towards him.  Well, Jayzus the dog nearly shat himself.  Grabbed the ball and back to the gate like blue fcuk he raced with the sheep in hot pursuit.  The brother would open the gate, the dog didn't stop and raced on towards the yard and the sheep followed.  Problem solved.  Worked everytime.

Whatever you do, stay well clear of those wee feckin Spitz dogs if you have wanes.  Vicious b**tards and one of them turned on my wee lad when he was about two.  Luckily for both the dog didn't bite but I drove my boot as hard as I could into the hoor's belly it never came near either of us again.  Feckin cottonwool with fangs.  Fecker.

When it comes to intelligence Border Collies are the pick of the bunch.  I met a lad over here who had a Dingo-Collie cross.  Not only a great looking animal but by far the smartest dog I have ever seen.  I said two from two and it said nothing.

The border collie's intelligence and willingness to work led to it replace many of the larger herding dogs in Ireland.

http://gsbisco.mysite.syr.edu/irish/irish.htm

I remember one these larger dogs at my Grandfathers farm many moons ago but I haven't seen any since then. His dog was used primarily to help shift cattle. Would be really interesting if any of these dogs still exist.

[Onion Bag]

I'm thinking of getting a dog next year, was thinking of going down of middle sized dog, but thinking of the child, something small for her to play with. It will be an outside dog as i dont believe in dogs bring kept in the house, Any suggestions?

[Rois]

My sister and her family got a mini schnauzer pup a couple of months ago. It is def a house dog, but the kids just love her. She's so excited but I haven't heard her bark yet.
She goes to puppy school once a wk and the dog crooner comes around every couple of weeks...treated better than me!
Def a great dog for kids but not an outdoor dog at all.

Edit: not a dog crooner, a dog groomer.  I am laughing here at the thought of someone like the horse whisperer coming out to sing to the dog!

[Armaghgeddon]

Ny dog didn't bark when he was a puppy so don't be concerned about that, it will bark when it is older

[Main Street]

Depends on the type of dog. Our last dog (a type of Collie) was good barker from the time we had her (9 weeks old), born to bark. She could sniff a stranger from a radius of 500m and let rip. I quite liked that characteristic, she would never jump and snap at a stranger once they got close, she was much too elegant for that. She could also spot a tiny dog way off in the background on a TV  program, and go ape.
We got a new puppy last September,  a handsome Pointer. The puppy was supposed to take after her  Collie /Border Collie mother but it very quickly transpired that she's a 100% Pointer, after her father. She does not have that territorial instinct. She comes and growls a bit when it's feeding time or she wants her walk.
The Collie was a cinch to train, she would be insulted if you thought she hadn't already copped on. Our Pointer however has a memory reset every night, every new day carries no memory of what she professed to know the day before.

[Onion Bag]

Anyone know anything or know anyone who has a Beagle?

[Tony Baloney]

Anyone know anything or know anyone who has a Beagle?

I know a couple of things. Where do you want to start?

[Puckoon]

Beagles can howl like the devil. Gabriel hurl has a beagle pup currently.