Breed discrimination

what are your thoughts on breed discrimination?

Do you think certain breeds deserve different legislation?

For me no, virtually any breed can be made to be dangerous, but the same dog properly treated would be a nice dog. I know many wont agree with me but I would like a return to a dog licence, but with a big difference. Before any one was allowed to own a dog they would need to go through training and be licensed, so rather than the dog being licensed it would be the owner. Think of it as similar to driving, a car can be dangerous so before we are allowed to use one we have to prove we are safe.

Licences for cyclists before dogs! But I digest ( ), it's interesting how this comes back to dangerous dogs, and whilst I agree legislation - in whatever format - is required to address this, my first thought was about legislating to better control selective breeding that causes 'defects' in dogs, making their lives miserable and uncomfortable, often requiring surgery to correct. A controversial view, no doubt, I await the flaming!

I agree @Biker John - I think it would be great if owners went through some training beforehand, so they know what to expect. All it takes is one bad owner to destroy the dog they own regardless of it's breed.

For example: We knew someone that decided to get a Husky.... in a downstairs flat with no garden. I don't feel that living in a flat is ideal for a Husky but with correct exercise and training it doesn't need to be a problem. The problem was that the owner never let him socialise. He was always kept on such a short lead and whenever any dogs came near he would never even let them greet each other. It broke my heart!! I even offered to go out walking with him to help him socialise but it never happened. We could see him through the windows where he would be shut in the spare room (there was water and a few toys) but we could see him pacing.
I know he was even offered the opportunity to take him Husky racing and refused.

Makes me cross that this beautiful dog will most likely be a problem now because of the owner

Hello Rant Fridays!!

I also think some dogs are inherently unsuitable as pets. Dog' bred over centuries to do a particular job can be frustrated and miserable at the lack of physical and mental activity they have in a pet household often owned by people who don't understand their needs.

Hmmm. I had a beagle who had been turned bad, so agree that it isnt breed specific although I do sometimes wonder why some people are attracted to breeds thoroughly unsuitable for pet life and arent 'dedicated to the cause' (the Husky @Josie described). Then again some people think scent hounds dont make good pets, and it is a very different experience to having a dog like a lab or a collie but my hounds are happy, well exercised and we enjoy sharing our home with them.

We already have dogs needing to be labelled with contact details and microchipped, but nobody has actually ever stopped us to check so this doesnt seem to be policed in any way. Without policing there is no point in adding any additional regulation.
Perhaps we should be contacting the RSPCA a bit more when we notice dogs being treating badly? An animal such as a cat doesnt have the potential to be a danger to the public in the same way as a dog so perhaps more vigilance from the dog owner community would be good. Also how common are dog attacks? I am sure they are incedibly rare which is why they get so much publicity when they happen.

I was researching this topic and I dislike breed discrimination because its all about the owners and if they train their dog to fight or be aggressive then that's not the dogs fault! also, staffys= scary/aggressive dogs this is not the case it really frustrates me because the dogs a victims of the owners behaviour... I love all dogs the same even the ones that have bad press! I love dogs the SAME. how can people be so cruel to do anything to hurt they poor innocent creatures? I
I dispice of theys people! I found that 'bad press' dogs have the nicest temperaments! If I was to see a mistreated dog I will always contact my local animal rescue and they take it from me. I have always used ether the Dogs Trust or The RSPCA... I would love to see this discrimination gone because its not fair on the dog! I found this web link against breed discrimination: Dog Breed Discrimination: How to Prevent It in Your Community

I dare say micro-chipping is checked routinely during visits to the vets and other authorities as opportunities arise. It would seem a difficult one to police.

I think a lot of breed ownership has to do with image - people (blokes mostly) seem to have a particular type of dog as it projects a particular type of image. I love the look of the Husky and would love to have one and looked into it before getting a dog. I had a rare bout of realism and concluded that as a new dog owner I wouldn't be able to handle it, I'd have to completely re-fence my garden, and I don't think I could fully meet its exercise requirements. That said, I think they look magnificent. I also like the look of GSDs, however, they scare me a bit for a couple of reasons - when I was a child, a relative had one and whilst it was friendly, it would run up to you and jump up at you and used to scare me silly. Also, my father was a farmer, and when he was a young man they had a really docile and friendly GSD. One day he went to pet it, and it bit him in the face around the eye, which he was lucky not to lose. His uncle immediately shot the dog. This would have been 50+ years ago, so attitudes were different then. But anyway, I remain wary of GSDs.

Dog attacks - from my own experience, I think they're more frequent than reported @Ruth_F, it's just they don't get reported to the police (due, in my recent example, to my own ignorance) or the less catastrophic ones don't make headlines.

All the staffies, rottweilers and similar I meet round here are lovely cuddle-monsters! I've met a couple of pit bulls, who have to be on lead the whole time, but they were lovely too. People overlook that when a breed is bred to fight other dogs, it also has to be bred to be manageable by humans. There's a lot of staffies in rescues because they were bred to be fighting dogs but they wanted to make love, not war (metaphorically speaking).

I don't know enough about the more unusual banned breeds to comment on them. And it's also true that an aggressive dog is going to be a lot more dangerous if its large with a powerful set of jaws. Dachsunds are statistically, the most likely dogs to bite, but they're unlikely to do that much damage.

I would love there to be a test/training requirement for dog owners, but it's difficult as there's so much disagreement on how to train. Thank heavens we're now moving away from the 'you must be alpha' approach, but an awful lot of people still believe that you need to be pack leader, eat before the dog eats, go through doorways, etc., punish your dog for growling, etc. Not only do we have to respect people's beliefs to an extent, but what works for one dog doesn't for others. And people with an old-school approach will just learn how to pass the test and then use the methods they grew up with.

I went off looking for data about whether dog bites were rare or not. I found Dog bites data: how likely are you to get bitten?. The data isnt presented very well, and it is over 5 years old but it counts dog bite A&E admissions. For each visit to A&E for a dog bite in 2012 there were over 2,730 visits for other stuff, in percentage terms less than 0.04% of A&E visits are for dog bites ... seems pretty rare to me.
It is a shame I couldnt find any data comparing dog bites to things like car accident injuries or knife wounds

No, but I don't think every breed is right for every person. But any person, can get their hands on just about any breed. I find where there is incident; it comes down to people who didn't do right in dog ownership. Human aggressive dogs happen, and those dogs should either be handled strictly and only with their own or euthanized if that can't be done. Dog aggression is part of several breeds, it's genetics, and as well with dogs who just decide they don't like certain dogs, have a bad experience, etc. and people need to not deny genetics or the fact their dog won't like every dog or any dog, and know that even though their dog seems great with all dogs - sometimes that can change. It comes down to responsible ownership and being smart.

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statistically, in the USA it's more likely that U'll die struck by lightning, than killed by a dog.
This doesn't stop the anti-pitbull faction from clamoring for BSL - which is pretty stoopid, as there are many breeds that IME of over 35-years, are far more likely to bite than an average pibble.

Holland passed very strict BSL - then after 15-years of it, when it was obvious that it did NONE of the things it promised to do [reduce the # of bites needing medical attn; reduce the severity of injuries; reduce the # of children who need repair after severe bites], they REPEALED it. God bless sane government - it's so rare.

I have strong prejudices against specific breeds in the hands of novices - certain guarding breeds, & esp'ly LGDs & other "primitive" breeds, are difficult to raise as k9 good citizens without prior experience of 'softer', more user-friendly models. Similarly, the classic terrierrrists as a group are the most-aggro breeds around; they're fast to react, they're vocal, some are M:M aggro, & frankly, they're snappy.
JRTs, MinPins, & Scotties are small, yes - but they're predatory, often M:M aggro, & tend to bite 1st & ask Qs after, if at all. I lump Dachshunds & Chis in with the terrierrrists - their behavior is cut from the same cloth.

An American Dobe, esp'ly a young adult who's friendly & has manners, is another beast entirely from a Euro-bred Dobe, but the APO won't know that... just as pet-owners get in over their heads when they buy a working-lines pup, rather than a pup from show or pet parents.

I'd love to see a license B4 U could buy or own a dog - sadly, b/c dogs are so ubiquitous, everybody thinks they "know all about them". It ain't so.
When they hear the Dawg Wrassler making ludicrous claims about 'dog psychology' on national-TV & jerking dogs around by the neck as if he was handling dock-lines on a boat, they're learning precisely what they should not.

I cannot believe that we still use choke-chains, as we did when i was TEN YEARS OLD, & prong-collars, & shock collars - the earliest U-S patent i could find for a shock-collar was 1929. Oh, yeah - that's cutting-edge tech, that is.
/sarcasm
It seems humans - or at least, Western European humans - LIKE to punish, & it's their preferred default.

Proving that U're minimally knowledgeable & a responsible adult B4 U take on ownership of a dog doesn't seem like too much to ask, but like gun control & reducing greenhouse gases, we lack the political will. BSL by contrast is easy to pass.

- terry

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Sadly people follow fashion. When a dog becomes popular no matter how unsuitable it is for the persons lifestyle, they want one.
At the moment I see huskys going out of fashion and some of the rare east European herding breeds are gaining popularity such as the Karakachan dog,the Caucasian shepherd, the Sarplaninac to name a couple, These dogs are totally unsuited to city life or a life as a pure pet they are working dogs of wild open spaces bred to fight off wolves and bears not to trot down to Tesco on a Saturday afternoon.
The problem is not with the dogs they do what they have been bred to do ,, The problem as always is the humans this instant gratification we are so used to 'I want so I get 'attitude. There are insufficient controls on dog ownership , dog breeding and dog/owner suitability. It is high time that controls were done before people buy a breed just because of a 'look' or fashion.