Another dog tragedy

Agreed blondiescott.

I would however say that NO dog should be bred with features that create breathing difficulties, NONE.

cleo33

Would a simple and effective solution be that lawfully all dogs must wear a muzzle when outwith their own house and garden?

That's a fairly draconian measure, given that the vast majority of dogs don't need one. You'd be punishing the many for the actions of a very few. Some breeds in particular find it hard to breath with a muzzle on.

It’s a sensible precaution but how to police it? All the responsible owners will comply but their dogs are less likely to be the problem.

Would a simple and effective solution be that lawfully all dogs must wear a muzzle when outwith their own house and garden?

Local authorities have powers to license dog walkers and limit the number of dogs that can be walked by one person. So the law is in place but I have no idea how many have bothered. Not a problem in my area where I never see more than two walked together, probably more of a problem in urban areas where people employ someone to walk their dog.

Sago

A friend and ex Police force dog trainer told me that if a dog is aggressive/fighting the best way to safely stop it is to lift its hind legs off the ground.
This takes all the power out of the jaw.

A large dog attacked my little Patterdale some years ago.
I lifted the dogs hind legs, my son released our terrier and the dogs owner came and put it on a leash.

Phew!

Don’t rely on lifting a dog to make it release even a small dog like a terrier, trying to take a toy, a rabbit, another dog, or anything else off it, whatever you do will not make it release, a bucket of water is usually effective.

Not many details have been yet reported on this and it is a bit of a odd circumstance. From what I can gather she was a dog walker. Now as far as I know anyone can do this without any training and to walk a pack of dogs you really have to know what you are doing and the nature of the dogs you are in control of.
I am a total dog lover and walk both my childrens dogs both weighing in at around 8st each but I would never want to walk them together. One is one of those scary Rottweilers he is a daft as a brush but powerful. The other old English bulldog again very powerful but too lazy to attack anything.

Daisymae

The reports in the press are saying that the woman killed was a dog walker. That would account for the large numbers of dogs that the police have. A walker near me walks 5 dogs, I have thought that it's a lot to control.

My Dh and I were surrounded by five huskies when we took our 2yo GS to a large park one time. Two dogs were on leads, the other three roaming round loose. The owners/walkers made no attempt to call their dogs back to them. I was terrified for my GS, even when my Dh picked him up they’d have stood no chance had one of the dogs leapt up at them.

Since lockdown, that same park has become overrun with dogs and my DS no longer took his children there because he felt they wouldn’t be safe plus the amount of dog shit (no apologies for using that word) that was lying around meant that the grass was unusable. My son loves dogs, too, he’s not anti-dog at all.

Maybe there should be a limit of two as to how many dogs any one person can walk at one time.

Unfortunately, there is always going to be a certain section of society who want these type of dogs (witness the 'gangland bullies' thing, for example). They are the type of people who don't give two hoots about any kind of licensing, etc. Many local authorities have cut back on services such as dog wardens under the present financial climate, so how any new licensing scheme would actually be financed and enforced is a question which would have to be asked.

Fleurpepper The officers said the dog had been left in a garden while the owner was at work but had got out. They said if it happened again the owner would be prosecuted.

I agree. Not a phrase I like or would use.

'the officers came back and said the owner had been cautioned. The dog was not harmed.'

and next time?

It always strikes me as odd the way it's announced that an offending dog has been 'destroyed'! Seems a bit dramatic. Surely 'put down' would do.

Yes Jane there are breed-specific GSD re homing charities and we have used them and also general re homing kennels. In all cases the dogs’ behaviours had been carefully monitored and were explained fully. We were asked if we would consider a dog with a bite history - sadly, no. We and our home were also carefully vetted. Buying a dog off the internet, through a classified ad or from someone in the pub is just asking for trouble but that’s exactly how these irresponsible owners do it and how puppy farms flourish under the radar,

Fleurpepper The dog had the warden pinned against his van. It eventually ran off with the warden in pursuit armed with a long pole with some sort of hook thing on the end.
Two days later two police officers came to our door to ask if we had witnessed all this, which we had. I had to bent down to the dog, trying to be kind, and it leapt at my face. Fortunately it was on our drive and I ran inside. The police said if it had got my face it's jaws would have clamped shut. They asked me if I would testify in court should it come to that.
I was reluctant but fortunately the officers came back and said the owner had been cautioned. The dog was not harmed.

Sago

A friend and ex Police force dog trainer told me that if a dog is aggressive/fighting the best way to safely stop it is to lift its hind legs off the ground.
This takes all the power out of the jaw.

A large dog attacked my little Patterdale some years ago.
I lifted the dogs hind legs, my son released our terrier and the dogs owner came and put it on a leash.

Phew!

My daughter did this when her dog was attacked. I don’t know how you do it if you’re holding your own dog as well, though.

That's worth knowing Sago. Thanks. You never know!

A friend and ex Police force dog trainer told me that if a dog is aggressive/fighting the best way to safely stop it is to lift its hind legs off the ground.
This takes all the power out of the jaw.

A large dog attacked my little Patterdale some years ago.
I lifted the dogs hind legs, my son released our terrier and the dogs owner came and put it on a leash.

Phew!

There was another story on the news the other day too. Sorry it's a link to the daily mirror. The ladies Mum was being interviewed after the inquest and said her daughter had bought the dog off a company called gangland bullies or similar, which in itself sound dangerous

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/partner-woman-mauled-death-dangerous-28920604

GSM, I'm sure there are good vetting processes with homing German Shepherds so they don't fall into the wrong hands. We have breed specific rescue dogs too and they are really clear about the kinds of homes they will rehome to.

So the woman was walking 8 dogs. I thought there was a limit to how many dogs a dog walker could walk at any one time?

It's slightly off topic but here goes. I like dogs and can't help myself smiling at a nice one as it passes. My favourites are Collies and German Shepherds. Anyway, one day I stupidly took a short cut round the back of a row of shops and saw a group of pretty undesirable men huddled together and holding a large dog on a lead. I hesitated but decided to brazen it out. As I approached I saw the dog was a long haired Alsatian. Lovely boy. The men stared in a hostile manner until I said, 'Aww what a lovely dog.' They thawed completely and we had a nice chat about his likes and dislikes and funny ways. I walked on to a barrage of, 'Cheerio hens' (well it was Glasgow) smiles and waves. Phew!

That was to Mollygo.

So would I have been. She could not have moved quickly enough, and probably would not be strong enough (ever tried to force open a GSD’s jaws?), to prevent a tragedy should the dog have for instance been alarmed by the baby crying.

Germanshepherdsmum

tickingbird

I see more and more of these Bully XL’s and many have their ears cropped, American style. This is illegal in this country but nothing is done about it. I’m an animal lover and I’m not scared of dogs but when I was dropping one of my grandsons off at a party before Christmas there were two of these dogs running loose. I wouldn’t get out of the car. There were two men stood outside a van smoking and inside the back of this van were 3 more! One of them did its business on the pavement outside someone’s house and these men couldn’t have cared less. The van registration was on my dashcam so I checked when I got home and it hadn’t been taxed or MOT’d since 2015! Any police officer stopping them with 5 of these huge animals in the back would need back up. These dogs are truly frightening. I don’t know if one of these was involved in the latest incident but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Did you make a report to the police?

I was thinking just the same, GSM.

I would have said my friend was a responsible dog owner. Her German Shepherd is always on the lead, automatically sits when she stops to talk, even when it’s wet.
But then, when she sent me the picture of her newborn baby with Dizzy leaning over the cot, with the caption, Here’s Dizzy, guarding ***, I was lost for words!