Guardian article on massive increase in dog bites over lockdown

W

Wishfilly

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 March 2016
Messages
2,922
Visit site
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...the-problem-with-the-pandemic-puppy-explosion

I saw this article today. I'd got a sense from friends and posts I see on facebook that dog bites are becoming more common, but some of the figures mentioned in this article really surprised me! 12 bites a week, in just one hospital last summer.

The article makes it sound like we are going to be overrun with dangerous and poorly socialised dogs as lockdown eases. Do people think this is an exaggeration, or is there some truth in it?
 
There's probably some truth in it, if people are stupid enough to get a dog / puppy because they are temporarily at home without thinking about what happens when they return to work then they are probably stupid enough not to train or socialize said dog ( obviously not everyone who got a dog in lockdown falls into this category but a large number do)
 
sportsmansB said:
I guess a lack of any kind of training classes and puppy socialisation events during lockdowns will have an impact going forward for inexperienced owners

There is probably a correlation to the last year just with kids being stuck at home for a lot more time, bored, and potentially irritating the family pooch too.
Click to expand...

The article did actually make both of these points! And the point that more people have been competing over the same outside spaces.
 
sportsmansB said:
I guess a lack of any kind of training classes and puppy socialisation events during lockdowns will have an impact going forward for inexperienced owners
Click to expand...

I wonder if there's any data on how many new dog owners actually go to training and/or socialisation classes, outside of lockdown scenarios? Also there's socialisation and there's socialisation, many a puppy party has traumatised a dog for life but owners generally think they are wonderful fun.
 
We're currently waiting on a puppy so have been added to their FB group and a couple of people keep posting pics of their children draped all over the new rescue dog. It fills me with horror that they think its acceptable to let children climb into their dogs bed or crate or lay over them whilst they try and sleep! Maybe im old school but no, just NO!!!
 
We have found socializing our almost 2 year old Labs far more difficult than with any other pups we have ever had. I wouldn't have wanted to take them to puppy classes - I don't want a free-for-all. We usually take them out and about where there will be other dogs under control, to teach them to be dog neutral and concentrate on the handler. That has been impossible with these 2, they weren't old enough to do much before the first lockdown, after having their vaccs and being allowed out and about. They did become quite skilled at going out for morning coffee in the autumn but we would have taken them to country shows, etc and got them used to walking around car parks, which we have found excellent for getting traffic shy dogs used to vehicles moving around relatively slowly.
 
75% of the dog owners where I live shouldn't have dogs. They have no understanding of the animal, no idea of how to create a happy and confident dog and cause nothing but trouble - not understanding to keep dogs away from dogs on lead, to keep bitches in heat away from other dogs, ignoring our local bylaws about where they can walk, picking up poo etc. I get verbally abused almost daily because I have a dog on lead, I get sworn at for asking people politely to put their dog on lead, and for asking people to give us some space if they're running or slow down so I can get to the deaf/reactive dog to make sure he's safe and they won't get bitten, I get told I'm cruel for having him on lead and get abused because he barks. I get told he's out of control because he's barking and I'm sick of the number of people - adults and children - who just wonder along and try and stroke either dog without checking. Also fed up of children asking if they can stroke them and then running crying to their parents who then come over and berate me.

This wouldn't surprise me at all.
 
Just my opinion but:

Inexperienced/first time/unsuitable owners

+

Owners buying on a whim, without the full understanding of what owning and raising a pup looks like and this commitment


+

inexperienced/unsuitable owners buying totally inappropriate breeds/cross breeds for them/for their circumstances

+

Poorly bred pups for the cash in on covid market, from unsuitable parents

+

poor socialisation of pups before being sold, due to being bred by inexperienced/clueless so called breeders

+

lack of socialisation due to covid

+

Lack of natural exposure to things due to covid e.g meeting people incidentally on walks

+

lack of other dog socialisation due to covid

+

inexperienced/unsuitable owners not training/inappropriate training pups


+

pups being raised at home in a very synthetic and unusual setting (people home pretty much 24/7, not even nipping out for shopping in some cases) therefore never being alone/never really having down time/creating a different type of relationship with their owners than probably is healthy/than would be usual

=

perfect storm.


I am quite honest and open that even as an experienced and (I would hope) competent dog owner, I have a nearing two year old who was around 9 months when lockdown hit, who isn’t as well adjusted (due to hitting that second fear stage/weird stage whilst the world was mad) thanks to covid despite my best efforts. Her siblings are the same, including one who lives with a very very experienced person within the breed.

I couldn’t imagine starting from scratch with a pup, even as an experienced and competent owner, in a version of life as abstract and synthetic as these times have been. I don’t envy anyone that has.

So, sadly - I’m not surprised.
 
I've met more badly trained on and off lead dogs over the last 10 months or so, than I can ever recall in the past.
Mostly all under a year old, or otherwise older rescue ones.
Appalling owners who have no idea about installing recall, let them off lead and get heated when asked to get them away from my mount or my 7kg elderly dog (respectively).
Not suprised at the figures, very depressing reading.
 
I suppose on a personal note I’ve been surprised by the number of friends and relatives who’ve acquired pups in the last twelve months that prior to this, I’d never have thought as being doggy people. And who certainly had never expressed an interest in owning a dog before.

Only two out of this mass that I know, probably did it right; right breed, right breeder, right time, right upbringing.

The rest are a joke. Some own breeds I don’t know many that could cope with, and as they approach adolescence are now -shock horror- starting to struggle: shocked at a dog aggressive Akita, shock at a lurcher taking off on walks, shock at a husky x malamute taking off on walks, shock at a Belgian mal testing their authority, shock at a JRT wanting to start killing small furry things, shock at a ‘cavapoo’ getting matted despite never being brushed.

Others just shouldn’t own a flea let alone anything else.

And some have bought from quite blatant and up front puppy farms, with no shame of doing so - and then are surprised at quite serious issues unfolding. Eg as it stands one puppy who is now thirteen months old, health issues ongoing, current vets bills amounting to 27k. Pup was bought via a certain website for 5k. Notoriously unhealthy breed - non health tested parents. Not sure pup had even had human contact before being sold as would go rigid when touched.

Nearly every one of them shocked/surprised at quite basic concepts of pup raising e.g the horror you actually have to teach manners with other dogs and strangers.
 
Too many dogs about (there's more dog shit lying around in my town now than there was back in the 80s when nobody bothered to pick it up); too many attacks on horses, sheep, other dogs, people; too many owners either entitled (think their dogs have the right to run riot wherever they like) or simply don't have a clue. It all puts me right off dogs, so much so, I don't think I'll have any more after the current one has popped her clogs. Besides, I've discovered that hens make much better pets than cats & dogs.
 
My pup came home in early September and you can definitely see she's a bit 'behind' in terms of her exposure to certain things compared to my older dogs and it is something I usually work really hard on. She's only really now stopping Gawking At All The Things and leaping all over other human beings now. Fine with low flying aircraft and power tools :p

People thought I was harsh but I literally kept everything the same with the dogs, even though I was at home more often, they were out in their kennels for the same amount of time as they were when I was at the office, as I knew it would be harder for at least one of them to adjust when things normalised a bit, if they were with me all day. Only difference was longer walks and no trips out to fun places.

We haven't been inundated with requests for help yet, but like Luke, there are a few friends who showed no interest in dogs whatsoever who are now messaging me asking how to get their French Bulldog to stop humping their leg etc etc. My cousins asked me for help to source a GSD, but wouldn't pay over 500, but in the meantime went and got a 2.5k cockapoo.
The one dog I have concerns about was purchased because the person 'always wanted a **certain colour** of GSD', unfortunately it's of eastern European breeding, breeder talked a good game but it is on the civil side (as one would expect) and kicks off at anyone who looks at him in the eyes/face.
 
CorvusCorax said:
My pup came home in early September and you can definitely see she's a bit 'behind' in terms of her exposure to certain things compared to my older dogs and it is something I usually work really hard on. She's only really now stopping Gawking At All The Things and leaping all over other human beings now. Fine with low flying aircraft and power tools :p

People thought I was harsh but I literally kept everything the same with the dogs, even though I was at home more often, they were out in their kennels for the same amount of time as they were when I was at the office, as I knew it would be harder for at least one of them to adjust when things normalised a bit, if they were with me all day. Only difference was longer walks and no trips out to fun places.

We haven't been inundated with requests for help yet, but like Luke, there are a few friends who showed no interest in dogs whatsoever who are now messaging me asking how to get their French Bulldog to stop humping their leg etc etc. My cousins asked me for help to source a GSD, but wouldn't pay over 500, but in the meantime went and got a 2.5k cockapoo.
The one dog I have concerns about was purchased because the person 'always wanted a **certain colour** of GSD', unfortunately it's of eastern European breeding, breeder talked a good game but it is on the civil side (as one would expect) and kicks off at anyone who looks at him in the eyes/face.
Click to expand...

And if anything like any of mine, ask for advice and then don’t like it/don’t take it. That applies both to dealing with problems and the selection of breeds/sourcing a pup. Eg spending an entire evening going through someone’s criteria, coming up with five shortlisted breeds and linking them in with breed clubs....to pay four k for a cockerpoo that I’m not convinced is either of those supposed parent breeds, it is basically a patterdale in looks and temperament.
 
Ironically since my raves on this thread I have an email from a friend who lives at the other end of the country, in a very busy city, who has just put a deposit down on an Australian cattle dog from a well known pets for sale website. They have enclosed pictures of their new ‘fur baby’ who was picked, it seems, on looks alone when searching for pups of any breed within a certain radius and perusing to see what was then available they liked the look of.

They are a good friend so I can be quite candid. I have stated this will be a recipe for disaster. They are that corgi ‘stock dog’ personality times one million and inflated larger than life.

The sad thing is, the person will have purchased this pup with all the good intentions in the world and, after seeing the advert, from what the breeder has written - they would sound quite appealing to a young active couple. But a young active couple with no dog experience, not even in childhood, who both work (albeit now from home forever) in quite stressful jobs and live in a small city house with a small garden.

I despair a little.
 
What like my friend who got drunk round her best friends and came home with the family's 3rd dog, a JRT/Chihuaha cross, their 2nd. Never socialised properly, brought into the house just after she'd had her 4th child who was obviously her focus and they wonder why he is still peeing everywhere and destructive - yet haven't taken him to the vets to be checked out from a health perspective, despite suffering his behaviour for over a year. She then gave him away to her neighbours as they thought he looked cute, after 3 weeks he was back with them as the neighbours couldn't deal with him.
 
zandp said:
What like my friend who got drunk round her best friends and came home with the family's 3rd dog, a JRT/Chihuaha cross, their 2nd. Never socialised properly, brought into the house just after she'd had her 4th child who was obviously her focus and they wonder why he is still peeing everywhere and destructive - yet haven't taken him to the vets to be checked out from a health perspective, despite suffering his behaviour for over a year. She then gave him away to her neighbours as they thought he looked cute, after 3 weeks he was back with them as the neighbours couldn't deal with him.
Click to expand...
I really dispair of some people! I'm a dog walker for work and a few years ago a new client contacted me about walking their new rottie pup, they were getting it on the sat night (call was Friday afternoon) and needed a walker from Monday as they both worked. I met them and the pup on Sunday and started walking her on Monday. She was so adorable, a few months in and the neighbour commented to me how nice it was to see someone walking it, he claimed they never walked her and had done the same with their previous rottie who became very aggressive and one day escaped the garden and killed the other neighbors cat so had to go. I stopped walking the pup a while later as they said they did not need me and their mum was going to take over. Then during lockdown last year they called to see if I was available to walk their NEW puppy, I asked would it be both of them and they said no they don't have the previous one anymore just the new one. I declined the job but dread to think what came of the poor girl, she really was the loveliest dog ?
 
I live on a small estate, 90 odd houses. Probably sounds a lot but only one access road and 2 closes. Quite a few people have dogs but I hardly ever see others walking their dogs every day, apart from 5. I think that leaves 4 or 5 that I see about once every 2-4 weeks. One of my neighbours saw me out one day and said my dog must be the most walked dog on the estate.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
We have found socializing our almost 2 year old Labs far more difficult than with any other pups we have ever had. I wouldn't have wanted to take them to puppy classes - I don't want a free-for-all. We usually take them out and about where there will be other dogs under control, to teach them to be dog neutral and concentrate on the handler. That has been impossible with these 2, they weren't old enough to do much before the first lockdown, after having their vaccs and being allowed out and about. They did become quite skilled at going out for morning coffee in the autumn but we would have taken them to country shows, etc and got them used to walking around car parks, which we have found excellent for getting traffic shy dogs used to vehicles moving around relatively slowly.
Click to expand...

Why would it have been a free for all? I took Pepper to my local gundog club for puppy classes and they were excellent. It was completely focused on obedience, remaining concentrated, calm etc.

I think it benefitted her lots especially with lockdown, luckily she was at the right age when it was semi lifted.
 
P3LH said:
Ironically since my raves on this thread I have an email from a friend who lives at the other end of the country, in a very busy city, who has just put a deposit down on an Australian cattle dog from a well known pets for sale website. They have enclosed pictures of their new ‘fur baby’ who was picked, it seems, on looks alone when searching for pups of any breed within a certain radius and perusing to see what was then available they liked the look of.

They are a good friend so I can be quite candid. I have stated this will be a recipe for disaster. They are that corgi ‘stock dog’ personality times one million and inflated larger than life.

The sad thing is, the person will have purchased this pup with all the good intentions in the world and, after seeing the advert, from what the breeder has written - they would sound quite appealing to a young active couple. But a young active couple with no dog experience, not even in childhood, who both work (albeit now from home forever) in quite stressful jobs and live in a small city house with a small garden.

I despair a little.
Click to expand...

I always think of the Aussie Cattle Dog as a redneck Malinois. I hope you talked them out of it. And please don't link to the advert, as I have a bit of a hankering for a cattle dog or a kelpie lol!
 
Moobli said:
I always think of the Aussie Cattle Dog as a redneck Malinois. I hope you talked them out of it. And please don't link to the advert, as I have a bit of a hankering for a cattle dog or a kelpie lol!
Click to expand...
Sadly they are still pursuing their plan...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top