Robbi

Two and a half years ago I decided to adopt a Bull Breed from Canterbury Pound, after following her pound journey in the Canterbury thread and realising if she was going to survive it would mean I would have to be the one to help out. The wonderful rescue woman who helped me get her over to Adelaide told me she was a Bull Arab type dog with a sweet nature but a whole lot of dog. Even before she arrived I start researching what to expect as I had no experience with the Bull Breed having only owned and handled Whippets, Kelpies and Borzoi. I found a big swag of information videos done by Bad Rap, an American group that rescue and train (Pit) Bull type dogs, I spoke to Amstaff breeders at dog shows and spoke to other rescued Bull Breed owners. I am glad I went into it with my eyes open as on an individual level I found Abbie to be more of everything- More unadulterated love, more manic energy, more joy all wrapped in a 35kg wiggle bum. Also she was more leash reactive, more dog selective and needed to have her focus kept on good behaviour rather than not so good behaviour. It has been a wild ride but I have never, ever regretted my descision to add a Bull Breed to my family but if she had been left unsocialised, untrained and kept on a chain she could have turned into a very different type of dog, although I strongly believe any dog would. Responsible dog ownership is the key to preventing dog attacks....

I remember in a previous thread Haredown Whippets shared a link about the main triggers of dog attacks, it was time and again proven that the main triggers included - Entire dogs, lack of socialisation, lack of obedience training and poor dog ownership skills. I am paraphrasing as I cant find the link that was used but it was informative and showed no breed prejudice.

Your continued name calling of the dogs involved in this attack is insulting and not justified. You cant know what the circumstances were that triggered these dogs to attack. Take a moment to consider whether these dogs are as much victims in the whole disaster as the young lad and his dog. You do not know whether these dogs were teased and abused or whether they have been encouraged to be dog aggressive. Name calling achieves nothing and certainly doesn't help the people and dogs involved I can call them what I like as this is how I see them. Just like I call nice dogs "cuddle bunnies". this is my opinion and my view and they became monsters because of people. I have had people call my Bull Breed x all sorts of rude names when out in public due to her looks, dogs aren't monsters, people can be however.

Your continued name calling of the dogs involved in this attack is insulting and not justified. You cant know what the circumstances were that triggered these dogs to attack. Take a moment to consider whether these dogs are as much victims in the whole disaster as the young lad and his dog. You do not know whether these dogs were teased and abused or whether they have been encouraged to be dog aggressive. Name calling achieves nothing and certainly doesn't help the people and dogs involved

There has been no formal breed identification announced by the media(only the usual profiling) but if you read the latest articles they have been called American Staffordshire Terriers by Bankstown City Council spokesman Paul Scott. The owner has had them since puppyhood and he is the one that should be punished.....

What a balanced piece of writing, one of the least breed biased articles on dog attacks I have read in a long time, the onus has to be on the owner to keep their dogs contained and controlled regardless of breed or type....

Compassionate, sensible post Luke. As a Bull Breed owner it is sometimes hard to remain calm and logical when this type of dog is vilified and abused, called monstrous and has people baying for all its kind to be eradicated. Bad owners=bad dogs, not monsters but dogs who haven't been given the skills to be the best they could be with a sensible owner who knows the needs/requirements of any dog....

:laugh: What a lucky boy, looks better than my car!!

Lets hope more dogs are released back to their families. So happy Butch is home :)

I have heard horror stories about dogs and pool covers, you must have been terrified that she may fall through. Dogs are the cause of many grey hairs :laugh:

Rescue dogs need all the help they can get, what an unfortunate tragedy that such a caring young woman lot her life in such circumstances but I cant help but agree with other posts that there were a lot of potentials for a disaster with so many dogs plus two newcomers.

:thumbsup: Way to go Rusty, I am sure you will be a well loved family member :D

I will be extra vigilant around water with Abbie from now on,I didn't realise some dogs were unable to stay afloat. My Whippet is quite a water baby as were my previous dogs. This has been a warning to me about water safety and dogs.

Yesterday my friend and I were walking the dogs around the River Torrens in Adelaide, we were standing near the edge of the bank near the festival centre watching a family of swans, Yogi and Abbie were on their leashes standing next to me . Abbie took a step towards the water, lost her footing and literally torpedoed into the water, she didn't pop back up and it was fortunate that I had the leash firmly around my wrist, my friend and I reached down into the water and grabbed her by her collar and easy-walk harness and managed to pull her up onto the bank. My question is can all dogs swim or not? Abbie didn't seem to try to paddle or struggle and I fear she would have drowned if we had not been there Abbie is a 35kg Amstaff x, she doesn't like water and wont ever go near it at the beach or our dam, she was found as a pup wandering the streets of Bankstown in Sydney so maybe never saw water as a pup,would this make a difference in her swim ability?

I have a Bull Breed x bitch(desexed) and a male Whippet(desexed) they are the best of friends and Yogi Whippet is very much the boss. They play well together and love doing zoomies :D

Once people start calling for the extermination of a breed/type of dog due to isolated incidents hyperboled by the media( I am in no way belittling the suffering or heart ache caused to the victims of these attacks, only the jaundiced reporting and breed misidentification) Emotions are going to run high, imagine worrying that at any time your family member is at risk of being killed because of looks alone. Bsl does not stop the number of dog attacks in a community, move on from calling on breed bans and start looking for alternatives, this is what we must petition our politicians to do.

Tret is a legend, my son and I watch all his videos

My heart goes out to Andrew and his brother Allan, an awful, tragedy that will haunt them for a long time to come. My thoughts and prayers are with Bosley, that he recovers fully and isn't in pain while he heals. Rest in peace Matilda a well loved and brave guide dog and friend to a very special young man. This whole situation is heart wrenching to all dog owners but for the pro bsl supporters to use this to call for total annihalition of a type/breed of dog is just as much of a tragedy, the ratbag owners need to be held responsible for these attacks, mandatory jail sentences, large fines and a ban on dog owning. Ban the Bull Breeds and other breeds will follow, this is not what any body would want surely

We can come on either Saturday hopefully

For goodness sake is there one thread that you can keep your hatred of dogs from The main triggers for dog aggression are not breed specific. My thoughts are with the people who had to fight off three dogs I hope they are healing okay and dont suffer to many physical or mental scars

For goodness sake is there one thread that you can keep your hatred of dogs from The main triggers for dog aggression are not breed specific. My thoughts are with the people who had to fight off three dogs I hope they are healing okay and dont suffer to many physical or mental scars

pfft i've seen the most disgusting things at parklea markets including a stall that promotes dog fighting the skum bag! What a nightmare, is there anybody you can report this to? Scum that promote dog fighting need to be exposed and prosecuted, they have no place in our society

Handwritten cardboard sign attached to a light pole saying 'staffie pups 4 sale'? That's "English Staffie" please. Blue English staffie.... "Rare" Blue English Staffy!

Hopefully they will get a good size crowd, I will be there in spirit. I think the recent killing of Bear and Kooda has raised more peoples awareness of bsl in Victoria and the true evil that it is and the heartbreak that it causes

Awful, just a witch hunt by sadists who need to make themselves feel bigger by hurting and harming innocent dogs. This makes me feel sick