RSPCA - Dogs should be judged on behaviour not appearance

[cbmcts]

What I think has a possibility of working as far as dog control is returning to dog licensing - I strongly suspect that we are going that way anyway as a follow up to micro chipping being compulsory - but with teeth.

All dogs need a licence and third party insurance, initially at a reduced rate for existing/older dogs. I'd say about £50 pa would be reasonable for a puppy plus the insurance - in the big scheme of things that is pennies compared to the cost of a new dog

However as an incentive to train your dogs have a scheme that allows you to achieve bronze, silver and gold levels like the KC training and on achievement of those levels your licence fee and insurance cost would reduce, significantly in the case of gold training. After all, a dog trained to that level is probably one of the safest dogs around and I would expect the cost of their license and insurance to be practically nil.

The big plus is that along with the dog being trained so is the owner - there are too many clueless owners out there who have no control of their animals and while the dogs may not be savaging all in sight, they are still a bloody nuisance. And I'm not small, frail or scared of dogs but I still don't like them bounding/jumping up, winding up my nervous aggressive dog (who is always on a lead btw as he is unreliable but there are many places I can't walk him even on lead because of the general level of unsocialised, untrained dogs and owners). I'm pretty sure I'm not looking through rose tinted glasses but it didn't used to be like this? There would be the odd aggressive dog but peer pressure worked quite effectively to get the owner to control it?

It'a actually quite hard to socialise a young dog now in public. I had a 6 month foster pup over the Easter weekend and took him to the local country park - he was on a long line once we were past the busy areas and while he was prone to being boisterous so I had no problem with older dogs 'telling him back off' if need be. There were 3 separate dogs that just wanted to kill him for no apparent reason, all off lead, one with no owner in sight that I had use the pet corrector spray to see off. 4 others were rude and just bounced him despite him play bowing and waiting then rolling over. Their owners got all worried because the pup is a rottie and their rude dogs might get hurt... A lovely staffie and a husky type played with him and a spaniel was very polite but firm that paws weren't an acceptable method of greeting Other people ran in the opposite direction with their dogs and kids because of course this vicious, on lead breed was dangerous...

This isn't an area with a dog as weapons problem - yes there are a few young lads with huskies/staffs in harnesses that weigh nearly as much as the dog but like their owners the dogs are all mouth, no trousers and I've always got on ok with them (Owning rotts for many years gave me kudos apparently!). It is an area that is typically Hyacinth Bucket IYSWIM and filled with generally law abiding people who have dogs that they don't train properly if at all. The reasons for not training aren't malicious, just laziness, complacency and ignorance. If there were consequences be they financial or otherwise, like good shepple they would go to training and that can only be a benefit to the dog and society. It might also make people take getting a dog more seriously, enforce the responsibility involved if there are costs and paperwork to be completed for instance?

The really useless owners with truly dangerous dogs - well no licence (easily checked with a scanner), first time dog is removed and can only be retrieved with proof of licensing and insurance plus a fine. Same with loose dogs and strays, no chance of saying that you've given them away 3 months ago as happens now as it would be the original owners responsibility to update the license to the new owners name, online it would only take minutes. No second chances I'm afraid - it will be harsh, there will be hard luck stories but it's no different to what happens to untaxed and uninsured cars and nobody complains about that? The license fee could be used to fund more dog wardens, facilities and education in time after the set up costs are covered.

Usually I'm the most libertarian person going, anti regulation and taxes type but the lack of responsibility around animal ownership in general is not acceptable IMO and is only providing fuel for even more restrictive legislation - in years to come I can see dog ownership in towns and cities to be on par with being a leper because of the ineffectiveness of so many current owners ie many green spaces and parks now ban off lead dogs, how long before dogs are banned completely?

Oh to rule the world, just for a week or two!

 

[Equi]

Not read any of the replies.

But having worked in kennels for 10+ years i pretty much saw every breed/type. I got my staffie because of the staffies i worked with! All very lovable, enjoyable, easy dogs. Are they inherently good with other dogs? No. But that doesn't mean they can't be. Are they dangerous to humans? A catfish is more dangerous.

Are pitbulls dangerous? Don't know. Never met one. Nor have most of the UK because they are very rare. Pure pitbulls (as in from old fighting lines) are worth gold, not just bred and sold on gumtree. Have many many people got a staffy/lab/boxer/rottie etc cross? Yeh. Those are the danger dogs...no known history. A protective dog mixed with a powerful dog makes a force to be reckoned with.

In the past, a real fighting pit would be hammered to death if it showed any aggression to a human because it was not safe to fight with a dog that would turn on you.

Only dogs that we had any rules on in kennels were the GSDs (cause we were the only boarding kennel willing to take guard dogs, and we had dangerous dog kennels for them) and akitas. We were the only kennel to allow any akita - they were banned from everywhere. One in particular was a lovely animal but we were literally allowed only to enter the kennel to open the back door, no interaction.

The most dangerous dog i ever worked with at one particular kennlel, was a st. bernard. Its was hugely protective, aggressive and mean. I was the most senior kennel worker, so it was up to me. There was no walkway or outdoor pens so it had to be caught via leash in the cage to be walked out - and this dog did NOT like this. It was more of a lasso trick and then running out as fast as possible and hoping it didn't turn around. Once out it was fine, it walked ahead and did its business then dragged you back to the kennel. I think we bonded...cause i eventually had to bath it before it went home cause we also ran a grooming service but noone would groom it apart from me.

 

[Equi]

Oh another story i remember, there was a little terrier/pom type thing. It was the sweetest little darling i absolutely loved it. But if you tried to leave the kennel it attacked. I mean it went full mouth around the leg shaking and if your hand was in the way it was your hand. It never did any damage cause it was pathetic and small, but had that been a full size dog it would have been horrifically dangerous.

 

[Luci07]

Good point Equi. For the people who talk about the damage a bull breed bite would do, if you follow that argument, you have to take into account that the Stafford was specifically bred to be exceptionally good with humans. This trait, sadly, is what contributed to these breed being abused. A complete prat could mess with a Stafford and the dog would put up with it. Then you get the real lowlifes who want a bigger more vicious dog and you can get the idiotic crosses. I am stuck though for a better solution because every thing I come up, would only really impact or be implemented by people who would try to take care of their dog anyway. Backstreet breeders wouldn't register or care where the pups ended up. The idea of making it a legal requirement for 3rd party insurance is a good one though, as s the reduction for someone who has bothered to complete some form of training.