Rottweilers in the news in UK

[lynnie]

since the beginning of the year i think we have had at least 3 new stories about rotties being dangerous, one killed a one year old, one was about 3 rotties killing sheep and one that killed his owner,
BUT the news stories dont go into the way and warefores, which i think is wrong,:mad: not all rottweilers are bad its the way they are bought up and trained the same as any other dog but i do think people should have to have training before they can own any large powerful breed.
as the saying goes theres no bad dogs only bad owners!!!!!:(

[Dusty]

I read today that the Rottie who killed his elderly owner was first trying to help him as he had fallen down while out walking, when he couldn't get any reaction by licking and pawing him.. he got more and more fantic and began to bite him in desperation. The dog was eventually scared off with a fire extingusher.. and then shot. Poor dog was only trying his best for his owner, and obviously couldn't understand why he wouldn't get up.

[Borzoi mad]

Tragic . The poor dog just did not know how to cope, with the situation.The only consolation is that if it was so devoted to it's master it would most probably have pined for him so much.
Condolences to the poor man's family.

Run free at the bridge big Rottie boy

[barbiespoodle]

Unfortunally Rotts are about the only breed I have a dislike for and it's not fair to the breed in general and I know that.

It's not that Rotts are bad dogs and I know that, so please don't sing me their praises, I know with the proper owner they are wonderful dogs, I have seen this many times.

But unfortunally I have had a very bad experience with a bad rott owner, namely the fools who moved in next to me several years ago. They figured that now that they lived in a rural area they were able to let their totally untrained rotts run free and being an intelligent breed, these dogs took full advantage of that freedom in that they totally terrorized the area and I do mean terrorized. In my case, one day I was tending to the farm animals before work at 4am. I was walking back from the barn on my own property when these dogs came after me in the pitch black of that time of day. I don't know if they would have actually attacked me, I got back into the barn in time, but take it from me, it is pure terror to have something that big come at you snarling and snapping at night. Unfortunally these dogs also paid the price for their owners ignorance, one came home shot, didn't live, the other never came home and no, it was not me, I was not the only person these dogs terrorized and I never blamed the dogs, I blamed their owner. Now I have a fear of the dark and cringe seeing that they have another pair of them.

Anyhow, this is a prime example of why rotts are getting a bad rap which was my point all along. If there was just someway of keeping dogs like rotts or pits out of the hands of a word I won't say right now, then there won't be so many stories about them in the news. Any dog, but mostly the powerful ones need proper owners, plain and simple.

[Borzoi mad]

Unfortunally Rotts are about the only breed I have a dislike for and it's not fair to the breed in general and I know that.

It's not that Rotts are bad dogs and I know that, so please don't sing me their praises, I know with the proper owner they are wonderful dogs, I have seen this many times.

But unfortunally I have had a very bad experience with a bad rott owner, namely the fools who moved in next to me several years ago. They figured that now that they lived in a rural area they were able to let their totally untrained rotts run free and being an intelligent breed, these dogs took full advantage of that freedom in that they totally terrorized the area and I do mean terrorized. In my case, one day I was tending to the farm animals before work at 4am. I was walking back from the barn on my own property when these dogs came after me in the pitch black of that time of day. I don't know if they would have actually attacked me, I got back into the barn in time, but take it from me, it is pure terror to have something that big come at you snarling and snapping at night. Unfortunally these dogs also paid the price for their owners ignorance, one came home shot, didn't live, the other never came home and no, it was not me, I was not the only person these dogs terrorized and I never blamed the dogs, I blamed their owner. Now I have a fear of the dark and cringe seeing that they have another pair of them.

Anyhow, this is a prime example of why rotts are getting a bad rap which was my point all along. If there was just someway of keeping dogs like rotts or pits out of the hands of a word I won't say right now, then there won't be so many stories about them in the news. Any dog, but mostly the powerful ones need proper owners, plain and simple.


May I say firstly that I am sorry you have had such a bad experience with a rottie, but your last paragraph really sums it up it is not the dog it is the bad owners. and I do think that Any dog large medium or small in the wrong hands is not a good thing and I think most people would agree with that

However I don't think you should single out the rottie for a bad rap just because you have had a bad experience with this breed and in this particular case I really do think that any breed in this situation would have been scared and confused, but it just so happened it was a rottie who being a large breed tragically and unintentionally killed his owner while really only trying to help if it had been a small breed the owner would probably have only ended up hurt.

I just think that this particular one was a tragic accident and the fault is not with the owner nor with the dog and sadly two lives were lost.

[barbiespoodle]

Borzoi mad,

I agree with you 100 per cent on the story of the rott who was blamed in killing his elderly owner when in fact he was only trying to help and if I left the wrong impression, I'm glad you pointed it out so I can rectify my views.

This was not the story I was singling out, it was other stories of bad rotts I was addressing and trying to point out from my bad experience why certain breeds get a bad rap.

While in this post I am singling out rotts because of what I went through, I do want it understood that this could be any of the numerous breeds who have a bad rap from bad owners.

I do understand that a dog is only as good as his owner, in some cases, even better. Please do not think that I do not understand how good a dog rotts can be, it's just that not only did I have to deal with the trauma I went through, but I'm also facing going through it again because these same $#%$%^$ now have another pair of rotts and again, they are allowed free range. Damn it, I have a small farm of rescued livestock, do you think my goats, turkeys, chickens, ducks or especially the geese I've had over 20 years, stand a chance against these rotts? Forget about me, I'm too scared for my babies. And damn it, I keep my dogs contained, they are never a problem for the neighbors, if I can do it, why can't they? Yes I am mad about these poor example of rott owners, make that dog owners, it just so happens that they keep rotts.

P.S. while I have you, been wanting to say this. I adore borzois, this comes from one special borzoi I tended to many years ago. Iva not only was a total sweetheat, her and I spent many a long days together in long walks and personal time, but she was also pure poetry in motion, I use to turn her loose to run just because she was so beautiful to watch and because we had a special bond, she never failed to return to me when I called. I've always wanted a borzoi because of Iva but since I never keep more than 2 dogs at a time because that is all I have time to give full attention to, I always get my absolute true love, standard poodles, first, and then some dog pound whatever, second, at this time a chow cross I've had 15 years. Maybe someday I'll give in to my love of borzois, they really do have a special place in my heart.

[Borzoi mad]

barbiespoodle

Thanks for the nice comments about my borzoi I am really grteful, but since this is way off topic and I don''t want to get into toruble for taking over the original posters thread I shall leave t at that for the present t and if you feel you want to discuss borzois or standard poodles you could start seperate thread on this and we could have a good chat there.

[Tom Cruise]

I read today that the Rottie who killed his elderly owner was first trying to help him as he had fallen down while out walking, when he couldn't get any reaction by licking and pawing him.. he got more and more fantic and began to bite him in desperation. The dog was eventually scared off with a fire extingusher.. and then shot. Poor dog was only trying his best for his owner, and obviously couldn't understand why he wouldn't get up.
As there is no way of proving this, I don't believe that at all.

How could somebody know that the dog was licking and pawing at his owner before getting more frantic etc. ??? Unless there was somebody else there to document what happened, I can't understand how somebody could determine that this is what happened. And if somebody else was there, then surely they would be in a position to seperate the dog from owner before things escalated.

[esp1975]

And if somebody else was there, then surely they would be in a position to seperate the dog from owner before things escalated.


Umm, I love Rotties, think they're some of the sweetest dogs I've ever met. But, if a rottie was standing guard over someone, it might not matter how much I wanted to help the dog or its owner, the rottie might not let me.

Our German Shepard wouldn't let visiting family pick up one of our neighbors kids who had fallen down. Her parents came and got her no problems, but the aunt who had initially tried to help found a snarling hundred pound GSD standing over the girl. Guess who didn't even get close enough to touch the kid.

So yeah, I think it is entirely possible that someone was watching. And then when the dog started to get frantic and injure the owner, they finally went and got the fire extinguisher.

There was a similar story here, not too long ago, about a dog who bit a kid's foot in order to wake him up. The house was on fire and the dog biting the kid was the only thing that got him and his friends out in time.

[Borzoi mad]

I agree with you esp1975.

Some breeds become so protective in situations like this.

[Tom Cruise]

Umm, I love Rotties, think they're some of the sweetest dogs I've ever met. But, if a rottie was standing guard over someone, it might not matter how much I wanted to help the dog or its owner, the rottie might not let me.

Our German Shepard wouldn't let visiting family pick up one of our neighbors kids who had fallen down. Her parents came and got her no problems, but the aunt who had initially tried to help found a snarling hundred pound GSD standing over the girl. Guess who didn't even get close enough to touch the kid.

So yeah, I think it is entirely possible that someone was watching. And then when the dog started to get frantic and injure the owner, they finally went and got the fire extinguisher.
I can't pretend that I know as much about the breed as some of you, but I am just sceptical that if a dog is licking somebody, it wouldn't be in a position of standing guard over them. If someone came to the dog to help the person, then I don't see unless the dog was already in an enraged state that it would be agressive towards the other individual.

Cab firm boss Lee Hanson, 41, said: “I saw a man face down with this dog standing over him.
It was grabbing his neck and lifting his head then banging it down really hard.
“The man was waving the dog off and telling it to let go. He was groaning. He could only move one arm. By the end he didn’t have a face left.”

[skunkstripe]

As there is no way of proving this, I don't believe that at all.

How could somebody know that the dog was licking and pawing at his owner before getting more frantic etc. ??? Unless there was somebody else there to document what happened, I can't understand how somebody could determine that this is what happened.

I found a report which says that this statement came from witnesses - for whatever it is worth I'll pass it on for the discussion.

At first, the animal tried to revive its master by licking and pawing him, witnesses said.

But it became more and more agitated and started biting and mauling him.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=510799&in_page_id=1770

The account here however is written in a somewhat different light.
http://news.aol.co.uk/dog-kills-owner-in-horror-attack/article/20080128062809990011

[esp1975]

I can't pretend that I know as much about the breed as some of you, but I am just sceptical that if a dog is licking somebody, it wouldn't be in a position of standing guard over them.

Have you ever seen a dog happily chewing on a bone, until another dog came near and then there was growling?

I don't know all the facts in this case, and honestly, I've stopped trusting reporters to get it right, especially when breeds currently deemed as "dangerous" are involved. But I can assure you, it is very easy for any dog to go from licking its master to an instant aggressive/protective response should anyone come near, and then go back to licking (or bone chewing, etc) once the perceived threat has passed.

[tysonsmom]

Best dog I ever owned.

There's plenty of people out there that I would love to stick in a pen all day & night-- forget to feed- or beat the crap out of.

My boy just passed away and it makes me more sad hearing that rotty's are being judged by people!

they should be euthanized-- not the dogs!

[Bugle]

Love Tyson, tysonsmom, he is really sweet. Is it allowed to describe a rottie as sweet? Well, I think so, he looks adorable in your avatar !

[tysonsmom]

In play time with him I would hide my face and whin-- he would snuff his face to mine-- if I continued to stay hidding from him--- then then would start to try and dig me out-- So I can see that rott doing that.

[tysonsmom]

sweet doesn't even describe him--

I would do anything to have him back-

[Borzoi mad]

So sorry to hear of your loss. Run free at the Bridge Handsome Tyson.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/Borzoi03/sorryforloss.jpg

Comforting hugs

[lynnie]

so so sorry to hear of the loss of tyson, our thoughts are with you, my daughter has a rotti and you couldnt ask for a more affectionate dog ( sometimes to affectionate) and i could believe that the rotti in question first tried to lick his owner and then got distressed and it turned to biting, i personally think more should be done in these circumstances to catch the dog even if its with a tranqueliser gun and then assess before putting it to sleep, :(

[Bugle]

My boy will be running with him, Tysonsmum, and no doubt getting up to lots of mischief !

[tysonsmom]

but he had finally matured! and never got into trouble anymore!! LOL

and someone else gets to enjoy that great dog! :)

I brought home a homeless rotti mix lil girl, Annie. Now she NEEDS manors!! LOL Absolutley none right now. the minute to raise your voice she drops on her back and surrenders to you right away-- then I laugh or smile -- and she knows she good. .. It's amazing how new additions you forget how to teach them their manors--

[Melamaphine]

On the website for the Many Tears Rescue in Wales (UK) they have many Rotties that are looking for homes, and they have set up a site link with only positive tales of Rotties. It's well worth a look for all fans of the Rottie who would like to see something positive about the breed instead of the constant vilification handed out by the UK media.

I think that the Rottie has the same problem as the Staffy, too many wannabe hardmen who think having a big dog and coaxing it to be aggressive is a good thing. These dogs are the ones who attack and kill, not the loved family pets. I would be terrified if an uncontrolled 9 stone Rottie was charging at me and my dogs, and unfortunately this is not uncommon.

I would seriously consider rehoming one of the big soppy looking rotties on the many tears website, if it wasn't for Molly and Simba who would probably feel a bit threatened by something so big!

[skunkstripe]

Yes and the press certainly isn't helping. What in the world are they trying to accomplish with pictures such as the one in this report?
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1298626,00.html

[eb4i]

I can't pretend that I know as much about the breed as some of you....


'Nuff said.

[staffilover]

fear sells. one case i read was a black and tan dog that had attacked someone so straight away the press jumped on it and said "rotty type"
i didnt realise they were now classing rotties as "type" :rolleyes:

a dog is only as good as its owner.