Robster59
Tour Rookie
It has been said that there is no such thing as a bad dog, just a bad owner. As a rule I tend to prescribe to that.
BUT... in reality there are some dogs which have been bred to be aggressive. However, in the XL Bully, you have a dog, IMHO, specifically bred to be a status symbol. Why on earth would you want one of these unless you want to show " 'ow 'ard " you are? I think well-owned Staffies are some of the daftest dogs on the planet. Most standard American Bulldogs again just want to be your friend.
Our dog is a rescue from Romania. He was born in the rescue centre so has no trauma. He has the body of a lab, the legs of a dachsund/bassett, the head is like a cross between a dachsund and lab and he is brindle coloured. He likes to make friends with people and dogs but is pretty much nervous of anything, including leaves going by on windy days, wheely bins and anything he hasn't seen before. He has a bark that a Rottweiler would be proud of and when he wants to make friends he tends to jump up and down on his lead and woof and bark. I know this is his way of want to say hello, but other people don't, and I am trying to teach it out of him. I do walk him off his lead but if I see anyone coming towards me who I don't know, I will tend to put him back on his lead because I don't know their attitude to dogs and I also don't believe you can ever really say about any dog that he won't hurt you. Dogs can turn, whether we want to believe it of our angel or not. I am sure someone will come on and say "our little fido would never attack anyone", but it can happen, and if it did, would you ever forgive yourself?
However, the XL Bullys are owned by people who get them and then dock (mutilate) them to increase the aggressive look. It's been illegal for over 10 years in the UK to dock your dogs but nearly all of these dogs are docked. The only reason they do it is to increase the agressive look of the dog.
The issue is that these dogs attract the wrong owners. If their dog barks and growls a bit, that's what they want. They aren't interested in training the aggressiveness out of them, that's what they want from the dog. And they will pay a lot of money to get one.
I feel sorry for the dogs. Some of the issues that they encounter when they are bred make even walking incredibly painful.
Something has to be done about the breeding of these dogs but unless the breeder is KC Registered (even if it is a recognised breed), it is very difficult to police. During lockdown we had a number of people who wanted to buy kit off us for Artificial Insemination of dogs. We hardly supplied any as people were breeding from their backyard, were not KC Registered or even registered with a vet. If the XL Bully goes, they'll just move on to something else. As they did when all the other breeds were banned.
I don't know how many have seen this programme but it's worth a watch.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001hjbw/panorama-dogs-dealers-and-organised-crime
BUT... in reality there are some dogs which have been bred to be aggressive. However, in the XL Bully, you have a dog, IMHO, specifically bred to be a status symbol. Why on earth would you want one of these unless you want to show " 'ow 'ard " you are? I think well-owned Staffies are some of the daftest dogs on the planet. Most standard American Bulldogs again just want to be your friend.
Our dog is a rescue from Romania. He was born in the rescue centre so has no trauma. He has the body of a lab, the legs of a dachsund/bassett, the head is like a cross between a dachsund and lab and he is brindle coloured. He likes to make friends with people and dogs but is pretty much nervous of anything, including leaves going by on windy days, wheely bins and anything he hasn't seen before. He has a bark that a Rottweiler would be proud of and when he wants to make friends he tends to jump up and down on his lead and woof and bark. I know this is his way of want to say hello, but other people don't, and I am trying to teach it out of him. I do walk him off his lead but if I see anyone coming towards me who I don't know, I will tend to put him back on his lead because I don't know their attitude to dogs and I also don't believe you can ever really say about any dog that he won't hurt you. Dogs can turn, whether we want to believe it of our angel or not. I am sure someone will come on and say "our little fido would never attack anyone", but it can happen, and if it did, would you ever forgive yourself?
However, the XL Bullys are owned by people who get them and then dock (mutilate) them to increase the aggressive look. It's been illegal for over 10 years in the UK to dock your dogs but nearly all of these dogs are docked. The only reason they do it is to increase the agressive look of the dog.
The issue is that these dogs attract the wrong owners. If their dog barks and growls a bit, that's what they want. They aren't interested in training the aggressiveness out of them, that's what they want from the dog. And they will pay a lot of money to get one.
I feel sorry for the dogs. Some of the issues that they encounter when they are bred make even walking incredibly painful.
Something has to be done about the breeding of these dogs but unless the breeder is KC Registered (even if it is a recognised breed), it is very difficult to police. During lockdown we had a number of people who wanted to buy kit off us for Artificial Insemination of dogs. We hardly supplied any as people were breeding from their backyard, were not KC Registered or even registered with a vet. If the XL Bully goes, they'll just move on to something else. As they did when all the other breeds were banned.
I don't know how many have seen this programme but it's worth a watch.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001hjbw/panorama-dogs-dealers-and-organised-crime
