Dogs of Wrexham

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  • #56591

    nattymay
    Participant

    The Media had had a huge impact on how we perceive certain breeds of dogs and unfortunately some of the breeds are also associated with gang culture, Any dog whether branded dangerous or not has the potential to be a danger. Poor ownership skills is a major factor, there are an estimated 8+ million dogs in the UK, however not all owners have knowledge or try to gain knowledge on their dog breeds, this causes major issues to certain dog breeds in the UK, you only have to look at the rescue centers and see how full they are with breeds such as staffs, rotties and mastiff types.

    I carried out a research a questionnaire aimed at owners of staffs and owners of any other breeds. Surprisingly the average age of the 200 staff owner participants was 42 years of age, however when we see these dogs in media they are normally linked with young lads.
    One of my questions asked was out of 5 pictures ( of men with dogs), which one people would avoid, nearly all participants answered a youth with a staff, however within the pictures i included a staff with a man in a suit. Not surprisingly not one person said they would avoid him, although he had the same breed of dog.
    So we have to ask are we avoiding the breed of dog or the stereotypical image we hold of a their owner.

    The myths that surround certain breeds also has an impact on how the public perceive certain breeds, such as staff and pit bulls have lock jaw and will not let go if they bite. A study carried out by a top vet at RSPCA found that NO dog has the ability to lock its jaw, staffs and pit bulls do hold on as this was needed when they first evolved to bring bulls down, yet a border collie and the most prolific biter worldwide the German shepherd have evolved to bite continuously and their attacks can be horrific, but we do not read about these attacks.

    When out walking my two collies my biggest concerns are the small little dogs that run around with no dog manners and bite and bark at everything, these dogs are as dangerous as the big dogs, granted their ability to harm a human is limited due to their size but the attitudes of the owners shocks me, as i am sure if my two dogs behaved that way they would be branded as a danger.

    The law should be DEED not BREED and the UK needs to restrict dog breeding, i also feel that to own a dog you must hold some proven skills and have an understanding in how a dogs mind works, it blows my mind that dogs evolved thousands of years ago from the grey wolf, yet we are in 2012 and still don’t fully understand them and that’s not their fault its ours.

    I am aware of obedience classes held by BARNDY DOGS (Barndy) they are based at Maelor Equestrian Centre, Hope.

    #56584

    justjojo2011
    Participant

    @nattymay 1396 wrote:

    The Media had had a huge impact on how we perceive certain breeds of dogs and unfortunately some of the breeds are also associated with gang culture, Any dog whether branded dangerous or not has the potential to be a danger. Poor ownership skills is a major factor, there are an estimated 8+ million dogs in the UK, however not all owners have knowledge or try to gain knowledge on their dog breeds, this causes major issues to certain dog breeds in the UK, you only have to look at the rescue centers and see how full they are with breeds such as staffs, rotties and mastiff types.

    I carried out a research a questionnaire aimed at owners of staffs and owners of any other breeds. Surprisingly the average age of the 200 staff owner participants was 42 years of age, however when we see these dogs in media they are normally linked with young lads.
    One of my questions asked was out of 5 pictures ( of men with dogs), which one people would avoid, nearly all participants answered a youth with a staff, however within the pictures i included a staff with a man in a suit. Not surprisingly not one person said they would avoid him, although he had the same breed of dog.
    So we have to ask are we avoiding the breed of dog or the stereotypical image we hold of a their owner.

    The myths that surround certain breeds also has an impact on how the public perceive certain breeds, such as staff and pit bulls have lock jaw and will not let go if they bite. A study carried out by a top vet at RSPCA found that NO dog has the ability to lock its jaw, staffs and pit bulls do hold on as this was needed when they first evolved to bring bulls down, yet a border collie and the most prolific biter worldwide the German shepherd have evolved to bite continuously and their attacks can be horrific, but we do not read about these attacks.

    When out walking my two collies my biggest concerns are the small little dogs that run around with no dog manners and bite and bark at everything, these dogs are as dangerous as the big dogs, granted their ability to harm a human is limited due to their size but the attitudes of the owners shocks me, as i am sure if my two dogs behaved that way they would be branded as a danger.

    The law should be DEED not BREED and the UK needs to restrict dog breeding, i also feel that to own a dog you must hold some proven skills and have an understanding in how a dogs mind works, it blows my mind that dogs evolved thousands of years ago from the grey wolf, yet we are in 2012 and still don’t fully understand them and that’s not their fault its ours.

    I am aware of obedience classes held by BARNDY DOGS (Barndy) they are based at Maelor Equestrian Centre, Hope.

    What an amazing answer.

    #56589

    Rotts4me
    Participant

    Great response Nattymay.

    #56582

    KKOB
    Participant

    I tried contacting Barndy Dogs a while back and got not reply. I noticed that their forum hasn’t had any activity on it for about 5 weeks but I did see that they only meet at Maelor EC once a month.

    #56592

    nattymay
    Participant

    @KKOB 1400 wrote:

    I tried contacting Barndy Dogs a while back and got not reply. I noticed that their forum hasn’t had any activity on it for about 5 weeks but I did see that they only meet at Maelor EC once a month.

    I am aware Wendy who owns Barndy does obedience classes at Maelor EC every Thursday from 10.30am and i am also sure they carry out obedience classes on a Tuesday evening. They also do agility on a Wednesday night down there. I am normally able to contact Wendy on the mobile number on the Barndy site. Hope this helps :)

    #56593

    nattymay
    Participant

    @justjojo2011 1397 wrote:

    What an amazing answer.[/QUOTE

    :D

    #56577

    tremault
    Participant

    Some great replies here.
    I am trying not to single out any particular owners here because I don’t want to offend anyone, but I believe it has been brought up that many youths do obtain specific breeds in order to be a ‘status dog’. I was reading an article of how a youth in london gangs, would take his dog and ‘train’ it by making it hang onto a branch by it’s mouth. the images included with the article were quite scary, as was the description of how he did this in order to terrorise rival gang members.
    I wouldn’t want to think that this kind of culture was starting to rise in wrexham and I am sure all the owners of the dogs i have seen are responsible owners.
    though I do know a few things about dog handling, like a dog needs to be kept alongside the owner, not straining on the lead ahead of the owner. that is the dog leading and dominant. it concerns me if I see this kind of owner.

    I have no objections to breeds per-Se, and in fact the dog I used to own was a cross breed, Alsation-collie. the reason I mentioned that was because of how we knew our dog was docile, until it’s personality switched in a second. this was similar to some reports that have been in the news where children were savaged by the family pet and the quote from the owners was something along the lines of “I don’t know what happened, it was such a gentle dog that wouldn’t hurt a fly”. I often wonder how these people can say such a thing, are they merely delusional, or is there a big misunderstanding of these breeds? I’m not an expert and i would actually like to ask Cesar Milan about that particular issue.

    #56594

    nattymay
    Participant

    I have also read and watched the documentary on the status dogs in London and i have watched how they train their dogs with the use of a large stick. It became obvious that these youths are using their dogs as weapons and they are being used to intimidate rival gang members, it showed that youths can have a very dangerous weapon without ever getting a criminal record for it. This program aired a few years ago and as a result it was found it actually encouraged more youths to get a status dog, the BBC and the media vilified the dogs to the point that these dogs became cool to own by youths. Unfortunately in today’s society young people are easily lead and this has aided in the huge numbers of dogs being owned by youths.
    I do not think Wrexham has a problem with Status dogs however when out walking my dogs I do see a huge number of people both young and old without any real control over their dogs when out. I see daily, dogs ranging from tiny terriers, to huge Akita’s, running around with no interest in their owners when they recall them, this lack of attention to their owners is the biggest risk regardless of breed type.
    A dog leading its owners is not necessarily dominant over its owner, it depends on the dog/owner relationship, granted I see a lot of people being walked by their dogs but I also see confident dogs striding in front of their owner in a controlled way, these dogs are not dominant they are simply enjoying their walk out with their human companion, a nervous dog scares me more as dogs that are nervous are at a higher risk of showing aggression.
    My personal opinion on dogs that attack children in the family home must derive from how the dog is handled and what role it has in the home. My dogs are loved and are spoilt rotten, they have toys and treats and a nice comfy bed but I am always aware that they are dogs, they are fed in a dog bowl, they only have dog food, they only sleep in their dog bed, they know and I know that they are loved members of the household but they are dogs. When reports are heard of dogs attacking, the build up of the attack is not recorded, they say it changed within a second and went from nice to nasty. I wonder how that dog has been treated up until that attack. For instance a documentary I watched about dangerous dogs showed a heart broken family who had lost their little child when their family dog attacked, they were obviously devastated and it was so sad to watch, when asked what happened the women stated that she had got both the little boy and the dog a packet of crisps that night and had sat them on the sofa to eat them and the dog ate its crisps and then attacked the child.
    Why was the dog being fed crisps? Why was he not eating from his bowl? Why was the dog treated the same as a human being? These are the questions I ask to try to work out why a family pet would attack. Maybe it is because the dog did not know it was totally different from the little child because its owners had not treated it as a dog, but more like half dog/half human, it was used to guard and look scary yet was expected to sit nicely on the sofa for crisps. My dogs have never shown aggression or been encouraged to show aggression but I would not leave them alone with a child or ever think 100% that they would not bite, it is in their nature and I am always aware of it.

    #56585

    justjojo2011
    Participant

    @tremault 1403 wrote:

    Some great replies here.
    I am trying not to single out any particular owners here because I don’t want to offend anyone, but I believe it has been brought up that many youths do obtain specific breeds in order to be a ‘status dog’. I was reading an article of how a youth in london gangs, would take his dog and ‘train’ it by making it hang onto a branch by it’s mouth. the images included with the article were quite scary, as was the description of how he did this in order to terrorise rival gang members.
    I wouldn’t want to think that this kind of culture was starting to rise in wrexham and I am sure all the owners of the dogs i have seen are responsible owners.
    though I do know a few things about dog handling, like a dog needs to be kept alongside the owner, not straining on the lead ahead of the owner. that is the dog leading and dominant. it concerns me if I see this kind of owner.

    I have no objections to breeds per-Se, and in fact the dog I used to own was a cross breed, Alsation-collie. the reason I mentioned that was because of how we knew our dog was docile, until it’s personality switched in a second. this was similar to some reports that have been in the news where children were savaged by the family pet and the quote from the owners was something along the lines of “I don’t know what happened, it was such a gentle dog that wouldn’t hurt a fly”. I often wonder how these people can say such a thing, are they merely delusional, or is there a big misunderstanding of these breeds? I’m not an expert and i would actually like to ask Cesar Milan about that particular issue.

    But again, this is more to do with the owner than the dogs. I think we have had dogs domesticated for so long now that we do in fact forget that they actually the descendants of wild animals, as in the wolf. And when you take into consideration the wild dogs that are out there, spotted dogs and hyenas just for an example, we should be more aware of what our “pets” are capable of. We treat them like our children and they are not. They are in fact animals and even the most docile of dogs is just as capable of “snapping in a second” as any rottweiler or pitbull.

    I think the reason we see young people with such dogs is because society and the media has given the impression that if you want to look tough, you gotta have one of these tough dogs. It’s a status simple to try and show how hard they are.

    People who say “I don’t know why he did it, he wouldn’t hurt a fly” are just ignorant to what dogs really are and what they are capable. As I said, they have been domesticated far too long and as a result, we expect them to behave in a manner we deem fit. But it doesn’t work like that. Treat an animal like a doormat for long enough and evenutally they’ll turn.

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