Gloi
Too little time, too much to read.
Or about their horse
Another fatal dog attack
- Thread starter SilverLinings
- Start date
SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
And just to be on the safe side they should probably be disqualified from having children too (although I'm not sure what it would say about them if they referred to their actual children as furbabies...)
Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
And they are not going to be killed .
SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
It is interesting that a lot of the protest is worded along the lines of 'save our babies', when actually the noticeable impact for most owners will just be that they are required to muzzle, lead and neuter them. The owners who are protesting don't seem to be complaining that eventually the breed will die out in the UK, or that when their current XL Bully dies they can't get another one, they just wander around making emotive statements that sound as though their precious pet is under a death sentence.
I do wonder if some of them haven't actually looked into what exactly the ban means/haven't read a reputable news source and are just following the herd of hysterical, mis-informed conspiracy theorists on SM.
Mrs. Jingle
Well-Known Member
Out of curiosity, does anyone on the forum reading this thread own one of these Bully types? If so it would be great to read your thoughts and point of view?
I can understand though in view of how the thread has panned out you might not want to join in, hopefully responses to you would be polite and genuinely interested to hear what you think.
I can understand though in view of how the thread has panned out you might not want to join in, hopefully responses to you would be polite and genuinely interested to hear what you think.
Clodagh
Well-Known Member
At the risk of doing all sorts of assuming… perhaps they can’t read very well?
Mrs. Jingle
Well-Known Member
Or are they breeders that will be losing an extremely lucrative trade in these dogs?
SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
I suspect that does apply to some, although I listen to the news on the radio I realise a lot of people only consume that sort of info via SM. I think it is very sad if there are owners out there who really are of the belief that at the end of the year their dogs are going to be destroyed, and I hope that people aren't intentionally spreading false, inflammatory information to whip up feeling against the ban.
CanteringCarrot
Well-Known Member
Ugh. I go the the "best" vet in my area and they refer to all of their patients (well, the cats and dogs) as kids. They said something on the phone and called one of my dogs my "kid" and I said, "Oh, I have a kid? Well this is going to be an awkward conversation with my husband!"
I don't get it. Weirds me out!
I don't get it. Weirds me out!
Clodagh
Well-Known Member
I’m so grateful I take part in a sport where people would find it deeply weird for you to regard your dogs as anything other than dogs.
And my vets seem to think they are dogs, too.
SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
On a slight (actually large!) tangent, I don't think many literate people realise quite how widespread illiteracy is in the UK today. Sometimes at work I will cover reception if I am passing and the staff need a break, and the number of parents who turn up for medical appointments for their children and don't know why they are there is shocking. They come to the desk and say "I have an appointment for little Johnny at 1pm", and if I ask who the appointment is with or which specialty/department they say they don't know and just thrust the appointment letter at me for me to read. I presume they can either read enough to pick out the date and time, or a friend/relative helps them.
It is a significant ongoing concern of mine as our clinical staff send medical advice to parents in clinic letters after the appointment, and I have no idea how many of them can even read it let alone understand or follow it. We've tried a few things but it is difficult to know how effective they are as most people (understandably) don't want to admit their are illiterate or need help.
SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
In the last couple of years my horse vets have started to referring to the horses as 'your boy' or 'your girl' like they are my children. It gets on my nerves, I don't have children, and the horses are geldings and mares, not boys and girls! I sometimes take language quite literally and it really confused me the first time I received a text from them using that wording.
ArklePig
Well-Known Member
It's scary @SilverLinings I share your concerns.
I've written advice content for our website at work, and the agency we engaged to help us told us we need to pitch it for a reading age of 9.
Oh also, my dog answers to baby
but she's treated like a dog I promise 
I've written advice content for our website at work, and the agency we engaged to help us told us we need to pitch it for a reading age of 9.
Oh also, my dog answers to baby
but she's treated like a dog I promise 
AmyMay
Situation normal
I don’t see anything wrong that all. After all, widely on this forum horses are referred to as my boy or my girl.
I also refer to the dogs as kids sometimes. ‘C’mon kids, off we go’. ‘C’mon gang’.
We can always go back to referring to them (the horses) as ‘it’. Which many find hugely offensive.
And, yes. My dog is my baby
SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
Well one of mine once answered to Powder Puff Monkey Pants as a puppy but I have no idea where she got that from...It's scary @SilverLinings I share your concerns.
I've written advice content for our website at work, and the agency we engaged to help us told us we need to pitch it for a reading age of 9.
Oh also, my dog answers to baby
It did rather prove the point I was making to my sister that tone of voice was important in dog training (and that's the excuse I'm sticking to for ever uttering a phrase like that out loud).
SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
I think I struggle with language sometimes so I didn't understand why they weren't using the 'correct' terms, and were using words that could have another meaning. I worry about making mistakes by misunderstanding other people's meaning as well, particularly when it's written and I can't see their facial expression. Once I understood what they meant, I didn't know whether the vets were trying to make a joke, or whether I was supposed to take it seriouslyI don’t see anything wrong that all. After all, widely on this forum horses are referred to as my boy or my girl.
I also refer to the dogs as kids sometimes. ‘C’mon kids, off we go’. ‘C’mon gang’.
We can always go back to referring them (the horses) as ‘it’. Which many find hugely offensive.
And, yes. My dog is my baby
I don't really mind what other people call their pets, and it's nice that they are being affectionate by using nicknames etc. I think furbaby grates because I have most often heard it used by owners who don't seem to understand the dog has specific needs as a dog. IMO they are the dogs in clothes who aren't allowed to get dirty, are fed human food and have never received any training or behavioural guidance. I realise that is me making a generalisation though, and there are probably (possibly?) some perfectly normal and sensible owners who use the phrase furbaby
stangs
Well-Known Member
I don't doubt that a lot of people are functionally illiterate, and therefore up in arms about proposed legislation they don't quite understand, but it's not as simple as the "your dog won't be killed if you tick off every point on this list".
The DDA says that dogs can receive exemption iff "a court has determined that the dog is not a danger to public safety under section 4(1A) or 4B of the Act and has made the dog subject to a contingent destruction order under section 4A or 4B of the Act", but there's not much, if any, information being publicly provided on how the courts determine that. The muzzling/leashing is only an option if that clause is fulfilled; otherwise the dog dies. Any infraction, and the dog dies.
If the government implements the ban like they banned the pitbull, owners may face legal fees they struggle to afford; their dog might be seized by police and spend a year in kennels solely because it's suspected of being a banned breed [x]; their dog might be set on fire or made aggressive due to police incompetence when trying to seize it [x]; or their dog might be PTS for an minor infraction like the insurance briefly lapsing, or the dog not being muzzled in a car [x]. Moreover, the DDA requires that dogs on the Index of Exempt Dogs have third-party insurance, but most insurance companies won't accept banned breeds.
Until the government clearly states how people can get their dogs exempted - and until the government makes the DDA more ethically and legally acceptable - you can't blame people for being worried about their dog's future.
ArklePig
Well-Known Member
Just for balance, my dog eats dog food, if she ever gets dog safe scraps they're put in her bowl when she's not looking so she doesn't expect our food, she is only ever given training treats from my hand never actual food, she wears an equafleece in very muddy conditions because neither of us enjoy the bathing experience and she has very little hair on her belly so gets cold, she's not called a furbaby just a baby (by me, Mr AP balks at the very idea), has had a fortune pumped into training her and us (she's our first dog).
I don't want to derail the thread, and I know you've said it specifically about people who use the term furbabies... But I feel I'm teetering on the edge of that category, and I just wanted to point out that not all of us who baby our dogs to an extent are completely clueless, some of us (me) are just saps. Not to say I'm not clueless either, I certainly don't know half of what some people here know, but we're doing our best for her every day and learning as we go.
She also has a Christmas jumper
Also sorry I used so many parentheses, I have ADHD and every thought comes with bonus content
I don't want to derail the thread, and I know you've said it specifically about people who use the term furbabies... But I feel I'm teetering on the edge of that category, and I just wanted to point out that not all of us who baby our dogs to an extent are completely clueless, some of us (me) are just saps. Not to say I'm not clueless either, I certainly don't know half of what some people here know, but we're doing our best for her every day and learning as we go.
She also has a Christmas jumper
Also sorry I used so many parentheses, I have ADHD and every thought comes with bonus content
paddy555
Well-Known Member
oh dear, I refer to a couple as "the children" ie Mitsy and the children. Mitsy is the mare and the ones with her are her real life offspring.
Clodagh
Well-Known Member
Two people I work with on a regular basis are illiterate. I wouldn’t have known but luckily I was told so can work around it without giving away what I know. It must be so difficult for them.
skinnydipper
Well-Known Member
I call my dog 'the big girl' on here because I don't want to use her name. I suppose I could refer to her as 'the bitch' but I would prefer not to.
paddy555
Well-Known Member
just as a matter of interest do all you "mummys" get mother's day presents from your furbabies?
when I got my pup (a 50kg male GSD so quite a large furbaby) the breeder put everyone onto a messenger group. Come mother's day they all posted about the presents they had had from their furbabies.
Mine gave me nothing. What an ungrateful git.
when I got my pup (a 50kg male GSD so quite a large furbaby) the breeder put everyone onto a messenger group. Come mother's day they all posted about the presents they had had from their furbabies.
Mine gave me nothing. What an ungrateful git.
ArklePig
Well-Known Member
Sadly not Paddy, that would take a level of acceptance my husband refuses to reach.
skinnydipper
Well-Known Member
I think that's fair enough. You wouldn't want a dog to be exempt if it was a danger to public safety.
AmyMay
Situation normal
Jack’s previous owners always delivered a card and chocolates to me from ‘the dogs’ on Mother’s Day.just as a matter of interest do all you "mummys" get mother's day presents from your furbabies?
when I got my pup (a 50kg male GSD so quite a large furbaby) the breeder put everyone onto a messenger group. Come mother's day they all posted about the presents they had had from their furbabies.
Mine gave me nothing. What an ungrateful git.
SadKen
Well-Known Member
I call my 12yo GSD ‘baby’ because for 7 years he was, compared to the older dog. But he was a baby dog, not my baby. It was interchangeable with ‘puppy’. Both are still called ‘puppy’. They both weigh 40kg+. They’re both dogs. They’re better than babies because they are furry. Generally they do what they’re told. And I can leave them behind while I go to work.
Imo to anthropomorphise dogs (or any animal) does them a huge disservice as it isn’t respecting and enjoying them for what they actually are, and compromises their well-being as if you don’t acknowledge species specific needs and behaviours you can’t meet said needs.
But there is a difference between having fun with them (mine have Xmas jumpers and I insist on 10 mins in a party hat on their birthdays - I pay the damn bills), being a bit soft on discipline that does no harm, vs actually not seeing that your dog is a dog.
Imo to anthropomorphise dogs (or any animal) does them a huge disservice as it isn’t respecting and enjoying them for what they actually are, and compromises their well-being as if you don’t acknowledge species specific needs and behaviours you can’t meet said needs.
But there is a difference between having fun with them (mine have Xmas jumpers and I insist on 10 mins in a party hat on their birthdays - I pay the damn bills), being a bit soft on discipline that does no harm, vs actually not seeing that your dog is a dog.
stangs
Well-Known Member
It’s fair enough on paper.
No one’s disputing that dogs who are a proven danger to public safety should be PTS. But it’s how the court decides that a dog is indeed a danger to public safety, that has thus far been left ambiguous in the press and discussions of the ban.
You can’t expect owners not to worry about that when it’s not exactly a binary.
Cortez
Tough but Fair
People will of course have to wait and see the legislation when it comes out, but I would imagine it’s pretty simple to work out what constitutes dangerous behaviour. Biting people, killing people and being aggressive are a good baseline.
Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
Oh dear I call mine the baba lutes they bounce about the kitchen when I do .