Taken from dogbiteclaims.co.uk Dangerous Dog Breeds The Good and the Bad of Dog Breeds: The media has played a part in presenting certain dog breeds in a bad light, portraying them as aggressive and dangerous, in light of recent dog attacks: 4 children have been killed by dogs in 30 months. We even have a law called the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 which states that pit bull terriers, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro are too dangerous to own or breed from so it is now illegal to do so in the UK. Dogs such as the pit bull terrier present a tough image which appeals to some people, particularly young men who use them and other breeds as status symbols to make themselves appear tougher. In these cases the dogs aren’t properly trained and aggressive behaviour may be actively encouraged by isolating the dog so that it isn’t used to or comfortable with strangers, or by teasing and provoking the dog encouraging it to bark and bite. Some breeds were originally selectively bred for fighting, so have a greater tendency for aggression and have certain qualities such as a strong jaw, or they bite and don’t let go for a while. Therefore if they do attack then the consequences can be fatal, and there is usually much media coverage. Four breeds: the Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro and Japanese Tosa, are now illegal to own or breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, unless you have an exemption from the court and follow the guidelines they lay down. However any dog can bite, especially if it is not trained or socialised properly, isolated, neglected or encouraged to behave aggressively. Allowing a dog to behave aggressively makes the dog think that this is appropriate behaviour, and if it gets attention on demand it believes that it is the top dog. If a dog thinks that it is at the top of the hierarchy then it may become aggressive if its status is challenged, such as being given a command: it believes that it is the top dog so it should demand attention not the other way around; or if another member of the family receives more attention than it. The problem is that current bite statistics can be misleading because many dog bites go unreported and only bites that require medical attention are taken into account for these statistics. This means that dogs that have specific fighting qualities from when they were used as fighting dogs or hunters, or larger dogs with more strength appear to be more aggressive than they actually are. When a pit bull terrier attacks it is more likely to have serious consequences, but some breeds from the toy group can be just as aggressive but their bites have little effect so the incidence isn’t reported and a distorted image is presented about aggressive dogs. A recent study carried out on 6,000 dogs and their owners found out 33 of the most aggressive dogs, and also those which have good temperaments. The study involved collecting data from two different groups. The first group consisted of 11 different breeds and the second was an online survey mainly involving owners, including 33 breeds. The conclusions from both groups were similar. It looked at the different types of aggression such as towards other dogs, towards strangers and towards owners. Some of the results were surprising, below are the top ten most aggressive breed: Dachshunds Chihuahua Jack Russell Australian Cattle Dog Cocker Spaniel Beagle Border Collie Pit Bull Terrier Great Dane English Springer Spaniel The top ten least aggressive dogs: Labrador Retriever Rhodesian Ridgeback Poodle Greyhound Whippet Brittany Spaniel Siberian Husky Golden Retriever Havanese Portuguese water dog
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 18:16:47 +0000
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