New setencing guidelines for dogs that attack will include attacks on 'pets'

As I spent my afternoon and evening yesterday sorting out the dog that was in with my sheep and lambs, leaving one dead and two injured, after it had spent the morning killing someone's cat, I shall read that link with interest.
 
Good! My poor dog is a very sweet friendly boy but he was attacked very badly by a staff last year :( totally unprovoked and it just ran in my nans front door and was on him. Barney was okay luckily but I just kept thinking what if that was a child .. Nice to know it will be taken a bit more seriously now :)
 
I'm not certain when that comes into effect but would be excellent news for us. I'm nervous of dogs I'll admit but ended up standing between the dog and my sheep, which were panicked into a shelter behind me. The dog was less than 15 feet from me, if I tried to move forward to get it away from the sheep it "bounced" and snarled. I was on the phone to 999 at the time. I asked them to transfer me to appropriate people, they said they WERE the appropriate people when they heard the dog howling and found out where I was and where it was! It scared the two police officers who turned up sufficiently that they said to my husband please just shoot it, and he had to say that his gun wasn't sufficient for a clean death. When the vet came to the sheep I asked her to check the dog and it frightened her too.

My sheep are livestock and although I "know" the dead lamb and her mother well - she was the second lamb born this year, the first I had to pull out and we were so pleased that her mum, who'd always been a bit flighty, seemed to have settled down with her firstborn and become a lot more confident - they are not pets. I feel desperately sorry for the owner of the cat whosepet was killed in front of her. I also feel very sad for the dog, given its owners it never had a chance at normal life. They have numerous other dogs who also escape and cause havoc and have done for years, a spell inside might be just the wakeup call they need.
 
Horrible situation, DoD...

Provided socks and plastic bottles aren't included as pets, I reckon my savage beast is safe :o
 
My little terrier was attacked when he was a puppy by a weinamarer. Luckily my other two terriers leapt to his defence and jumped on the other dog. As long as wild rabbits and squirrels aren't included in the new laws mine will all be safe too :)
 
It certainly sounds like a step in the right direction as long as they are prepared to enforce it! Unfortunately there are too many dog owners out there who won't think this will apply to them....theirs isn't a 'dangerous' dog as it doesn't attack people/other dogs all it does is chase cats/rabbits/horses etc and won't come back when it's called, but it isn't 'dangerous' :rolleyes:.....It will be interesting to know who's supposed to enforce these guidelines too.
 
Copperpot said:
My little terrier was attacked when he was a puppy by a weinamarer. Luckily my other two terriers leapt to his defence and jumped on the other dog. As long as wild rabbits and squirrels aren't included in the new laws mine will all be safe too :)
Click to expand...

If you can't call them off imo then yes they should be included under the guidelines. I have had a quite a few dogs come into my fields chasing rabbits, this winds up the ponies and the dogs attention turns to them. If your dog can't be called off it's out of control.
 
We are not supposed to let our dogs catch rabbits and squirrels. To hunt rabbits you need permission preferably written from the land owner or user. Otherwise it is classified as poaching. Squirrels can be shot, but not killed by dogs.
 
I live on a property with 2 hound type dogs and a big Rottie. The hounds stay in a run and allowed out for unsupervised runs around the place. The Rottie is overweight and mostly not a problem. I have 3 dogs that are never unsupervised and also live in. As well as 2 cats that used to live in and out but I don't take chances with them since moving here.

Anyway, the other night, the dog owner (former landlord girlfriend) was tending to her dogs and we were out with ours. My staffy mutt was standing with my husband as we were talking. Next thing the Rottie snapped at her. Husband went to grab Lou, Rottie comes in for a better sustained attack and the next thing you know the other 2 jumped in the fray. Husband was trying to carry Lou and the rest of us were trying to beat the other dogs off. Kicking, punching ect. No avail as we were also getting turned on. Hubby managed to get Lou inside. She had some bites and we had some scrapes but all was ok. It was amazing how quick it went down. And at one stage I thought both my husband and dog were in serious trouble. I have no doubt those dogs would have killed Lou rather quickly if we were not as close. I have never liked these dogs. Like I said they have zero manners and have never had any sort of training. While I will make sure mine are never out again, I told owner I will be getting a knife next time. The only thing I think that saved any of us was the closeness of our house to the start of the incident. It was vicious and only just getting started.

I'm up an hour earlier than I could be every morning so the cats can go out. The dogs are locked up inside at this time.

Anyway, delighted you all have this law now.

Terri
 
Copperpot said:
My little terrier was attacked when he was a puppy by a weinamarer. Luckily my other two terriers leapt to his defence and jumped on the other dog. As long as wild rabbits and squirrels aren't included in the new laws mine will all be safe too :)
Click to expand...

I think the law just covers pet/domestic animals, but I am nor sure - it would be worth you checking.

I am the proud owner of a Cavelier King Charles Spaniel who literally couldn't hurt a fly (he's a bit 'special' even by Cav standards:D)
 
I'm a bit concerned about the definition of a "dangerous dog". Suppose a dog is complained about as being "out of control" by some person who doesn't have a great understanding of dogs. Some people have a fear of dogs and are easily upset. Here is the definition....

What is 'out of control'?
Your dog is dangerously out of control if it:
injures a person, or
behaves in a way that makes a person worried it might injure them - even if it's the dog owner's own home or garden

I'm a bachelor pensioner farmer who lives alone in a fairly isolated location. I got my dog, a GSD, because I got a visit from some unsavoury characters clearly intent on theft. I've been around dogs all my life and she is well trained. I would hope she would "behave in a way that makes a person worried she might injure them" if those visitors return to do their dirty deeds or I am threatened in any way. That's what she's for! Having said that, she's probably one of the best trained and normally friendliest dogs you are ever likely to meet.

Does the fact that she protects me and mine by barking make her a "dangerous dog"? According to the above, apparently so. I suspect many dogs would react in a similar way to someone breaking into the house or their owner being attacked. Does that make them dangerous?

I see the dog problem as one of education. There are some stupid owners out there -- but no more stupid than the authorities (KC, RSPCA, etc) as they so regularly demonstrate!
 
My dog will be classed as dangerous but he isn't if he was he would of been put down and not living with my twenty month old son. Yes he will bite if he feels he needs to protect me but that is after lots of warnings I can call him off anything but after being attacked three times in the space of two weeks by a two staffys that had gone for my pram first he doesn't like dogs and is aggressive again he cannot leave my side if needs be I have his collar and pull him in, I wouldn't change him as I live on my own and it's nice to feel safe in this day and age and my little boy rides him round the house pulls ears tail and he does nothing I don't know how many dogs would allow that. By the way when out he wears a muzzle I would rather take a preventative measure then deal with the mess and heartache after.
 
Dry Rot said:
I'm a bit concerned about the definition of a "dangerous dog". Suppose a dog is complained about as being "out of control" by some person who doesn't have a great understanding of dogs. Some people have a fear of dogs and are easily upset. Here is the definition....

What is 'out of control'?
Your dog is dangerously out of control if it:
injures a person, or
behaves in a way that makes a person worried it might injure them - even if it's the dog owner's own home or garden
Click to expand...

that is a big worry, i have a bullmastiff who is here for the very purpose of looking like he might eat you if you come into my back yard without invitation!! he's actually more likely to snog you to death but we won't tell the local youths that;) that legislation would make all 'guard' dogs dangerously out of control :confused: does that also mean police dogs will come under the banner too:rolleyes:
 
So does that mean my little ratty chihuahua who goes beserk at the postman every day, and who barks his little head off with full intentions of 'going in for the kill' lol is a 'dangerous dog'?!
I can call him off anyone, and know that if I'm not careful his small man syndrome macho man attitude could well get him hurt one day by another dog - would then the other dog, reacting, be at fault and mine blame free even though he was the aggressor?!
There so much grey area with dogs and how their actions are perceived I think, it's impossible to ever impose any sort of ruling that will fit all IMO.
 
Dry Rot - I think that if someone attacks your or enters your property and attacks aggressively towards you, then your dog should not be punished for defending its owner/property.
 
I welcome the change in law but unless I'm missing something, there doesn't appear to anything on working with owners to train their dogs. Whilst I think community service or a custodial sentence could help mitigate the issue, I don't necessarily see how it could change people's attitudes or help them to become a better dog owner.

And, the definition of 'dangerous dog' is a little concerning as it seems to rely heavily on the perception of a dogs behaviour. Obviously if somebody is properly attacked by a dog, that's fairly cut and dried but behaviour that may leave people feeling uncomfortable is not and could have unfortunate consequences.
 
I have been worried about this since I first hear it on the news. I have 2 dogs, they were brought up to bark at any one who came up my drive so that I knew someone was coming into the yard. I had notices at the bottom of the drive warning that the dogs were loose and they would bite if provoked. I lived on my own on my yard effectively in the middle of a field at the side of a wood.
The collie has bitten 1 person and that was because he kicked her a ran because she ran up to him barking when he walked up the drive. As soon as I called her she came to heel. Personally I wanted to do more than bite the person! Had they rung the police or complained who's side would this law fall on?
My dogs are well trained and following correct introductions to new people when they are on their own territory they are completely safe. If you take them off their territory then they would not bat an eyelid at anyone. They simply know their own land.
Yes my dogs are not roll over lick you to death types but I take measures to make sure they are not put in a position that I cannot control. I don’t however count them running free on my own fenced land as a situation I cannot control as it is my land and anyone who walks onto it and does not drive does it at their own risk and I have signs to explain that.

Sorry bit of a essay and confused rant with no real point over, well done if you got his far :D
 
I own 2 now elderly staffies. If you were to cone to the front door/window and the garden gate without entering they would look and sound like they wanded to kill you. It makes people who don't know us hastily retreat. What they wouldn't then see however is that if you were to actually enter they would lick you to death! They have never so much as wrinkled a lip at my 3 children or any other person they have ever come into contact with.

A few years ago we were reported by a neighbour cos out dogs ran up the street one day whilst we were getting them in the car. A few weeks ago the same guys 2 collie dogs attacked my staffy as my partner was walking them on leads.

I know my dogs have issues with other dogs hence they are always on a lead and i avoid places where there are likely to be loads of others but i am now too scared to walk them due to the number of loose dogs in the area or stupid dog owners who walk theirs off the lead and refuse to call them away.

Would i class my staffies as dangerour dogs?? NO WAY :D
 
Emmo1 - one of my dogs is a staffy x and i feel the same. He is good with other dogs but if another dog attacked him and he stuck up for himself, he would get the blame. Staffys get the blame for everything due to the media deciding they are devil dogs. A man near me walks his dogs off lead down the road, despite one being run over and killed last year. He has a white German shepherd who runs at my dogs. Mine are on the lead. His are off. If his dog were to attack one of mine and it defended itself as its on a lead and unable to run off, who is to blame? If I am out walking and others have their dogs on a lead, I put mine on the lead. Mine may be good with other dogs but the other persons dog may not be. Unfortunately anything a staffy does is reported or seen as worse, whereas if it was a small cute dog it may be over looked. My staffy has been attacked by a small dog. Bit his face. He turned his head away. The owner thought it was funny. If it was other way round he'd be fuming.
 
I think the issue here is that all of you who are worried about your dogs have put the effort in to training them so that they recognise your authority and can be called back. They live in a family environment and are human friendly.

The dogs that I have a problem with - that's now two incidents of dead animals on my property with different dogs from the same owner - appear to have no training.
 
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