Another young innocent Child Killed.....WHY??

[GSDOWNER]

Again another tragic story regarding the death of a young innocent child, I am so upset not only with the owner for allowing a banned breed to be near his niece, but also to the council for not doing something sooner, Had they not warned him twice already, WHY? Had the dog not been removed sooner?

With regards to changing the laws I personally don’t think any laws will help, changing a piece of legislation is all good and well but how are they going to manage it 100%. I personally think that the laws should be changed that it is compulsory to attend obedience classes and to ban the use of dogs in places where it can be dangerous to the public. We live in the 20th century man has created other means to protect there property/yourself. Also protection training should be stopped to the ordinary person, and be limited to i.e. police/prison work, by this I do not mean the ordinary person that has trained there dog to do this type of work and actually take part in the sport, I mean the ordinary person like myself to attend a class and then go onto using it on the street to use as a disadvantage to others. I think this sport should be stricter monitored

In some European countries, it is compulsory that anyone who wants a dog over a certain size has to take an assessment regarding their canine knowledge and also attends classes. In Germany, that’s any dog over 40cm high and 20 kg body weight , so that’s any dog bigger than, say, a Border Collie. If you own a large dog your handling capabilities are reassessed on a regular basis.

I also think that the seller/breeder of the dog should also be responsible for making sure that the dogs they sell are going to suitable families and to make sure that home visits prior to the dog being sold to be made compulsory.

How many times have you said yes it's ok to stroke my dog he'll not bite or my dogs a big softy he's been socialised properly. How many children when your out come up to your dog and just start patting it or flapping there arms in front of its face. However if my dog was to bite in this situation whose to blame? Me for having a dangerous and out of control dog or the person who doesn't know how to behave around dogs

Given the hysterical nature of the press and public opinion we are currently experiencing, I am extremely concerned that within ten years many different breeds will be permanently banned. It is our job as owners and trainers to educate the general public regarding dogs and not the job of the press, MP's or any other band wagon jumper regarding so called dangerous dogs. It’s the owner not the dog!!

I could go on and on but I'd better stop

The ruling in Germany (living there at the moment) has dogs broken down into certain categories. Firstly there are the banned breeds, American Pit Bulls etc, then there are the breeds that are considered to be high risk, This can be certain breeds (Rottweiller etc) or as Jo says, certain sizes. They have to be muzzled at all times when out of the house and obediance/knowledge classes attended. Fortunately for us, the German Shepherd falls into neither so we are just expected to be responsible dog owners.

I hate to hear the idiots on the news saying that all dogs should be muzzled at all times.

I don't like the idea of muzzling at all, it always strikes me as a cop-out from actually socialising and training a dog correctly. On top of that I can't help but feel that if a dog's had that thing on all the time, then if there's ever a situation when they are out and about without it (like if they run away) then they are much more likely to bite someone as they have never been shown that biting is inappropriate behaviour, Instead they've just never had the potential to try it(sort of like giving a young child a machine gun all of a sudden, without first teaching them that you shouldn't point it at other children who teased them about the colour of their lunchbox the other day, for example.)

Also I don't intrinsically condemn the keeping of dangerous or exotic pets, even things like wolf-dogs or tigers, but I do condemn it being done by people who are unable to meet the responsibilities which come with such things. If you want to keep a lion as a pet then you need to devote every last minute of your life to it. You couldn't have a job or leave the house, you would also need to live in an appropriate environment (a flat isn't quite going to meet the needs of a lion - I'm thinking some 50 acres of replicated savannah as a back garden) and you would have to intimately know the species to a level similar to a specialist scientist with about a decade of experience working with the appropriate animal. Finally you must accept all responsibility and be willing to accept the fact that you're possibly going to end up with more than a few scratches and bruises at the end of the process. In a similar way any dog owner must be able to provide sufficiently in order to keep the dog. Clearly the owner in question had very much overestimated his own potential as a dog owner and handler and as always it is the dog (and in this case a child too) who suffer for it. Much as I think compulsory obedience classes are a stupid idea, I think it'd make sense for there to be something like a one-off test for dog owners, a bit like getting a driving liscense. It could be graded to different breeds and keeping an easier breed could get you brownie points for more advanced, dangerous of otherwise difficult ones. In other words there could be a short test where you demonstrate your ability as a trainer or owner, answer a few questions and so on. Do the easier version, you can keep a less demanding dog. Do a harder one where more knowledge or ability is required and yo ucan keep a more demanding dog. Although it would be hard to enforce it would make it a damn site easier to nail idiots like this guy in court, retrospectively. The RSPCA would have a lot more on their side too when it comes to cases of neglect and so on.

As for protection training I don't see anything wrong with it, providing it is done by someone who knows what they are doing. Although I'd like to try it one day myself I don't yet feel even I have the necessary experience to do it currently. Much as I would be able to train the protection dog I have not got enough experience to troubleshoot problems so there would be too greater chance of something going wrong to warrant me doing it in the first place. This troubleshooting I think is just as important as these are the bits that may lead to those unpleasant incidents and is often the bit which is neglected in the DIY protection dog game.

Finally, with regards to the press I think it is always worth remembering that, whilst they would have you believe that loads of people are killed by sharks or dogs you are more likely to die by being squashed with a falling grand piano than you are by getting attacked by a shark and humans kill a disproportionate number of people more than dogs do (in other words you are more likely to be killed by a close family member or friend than you are by your dog). Also an average of four people die every year in the UK alone as a direct consequence of putting on their socks, so my goodness! We'd better ban socks for the good of mankind! How about we don't ban the problem, but try to solve it for once!

Sorry to ramble on, but no-one's forcing you to read my opinions...

The trouble is that PEOPLE try to humanize them too much and don't respect them for being an animal. Yes we all love our "BABIES" but it should be because of the character of the DOG, if you want them as humans HAVE MORE CHILDREN!!.
In each case in the news recently was because of "HUMAN ERROR" There are numerous things in every home in the world which are potentially fatal to any child, Sharp knives, tools, glasses, bottles,cleaning agents,gas, electric, baths of water open windows etc. any of these could cause death but it is our duty to keep our children clear of them. In situations like these People panic , neighbours , friends and family want people to get rid of their pets in fear they may attack.
The rescue centres will be full to the brim ,dogs abandoned , litters of puppies dumped while other pups are sold for peanuts to anyone that wants one because people cant get rid of them (and im talking about back street breeders and those that dont care who havent got a clue )

Responsible owners like ourselves are always targets for hatred , abuse and threats from members of the public who are so enraged at whats happened and obviously the media doesnt help , all in all it causes mayhem and panic

DONT THINK IN EXAGGERATING because it may not happen in your area but believe me it happens !!
Be responsible and be aware of what your dog is doing at all times.
Its like a pebble in a big pond the ripples will go on and on