geo

They must have rocks in their heads. petition signed, i hope it does some good.

- these dogs were bred to kill or be killed. With so many wonderful breeds to choose from, why does anyone want a BSL breed - all dogs are loyal, all dogs love you, it just isn't worth the risk. Yes they were bred to kill other animals, Not people. many people still cannot get passed this, or decide not to. If i could give you half hour with my dogs, then you'd understand why i choose to own bull breeds, they all have their special qualities and the one i love the most is their complete slutiness for human attention and who can resist a staffy or the sullen 'love me more' look of an amstaff. The comment to class is relevent in some respect, (ie, undesirables owning pitties to look tough) but if SBT's ever became banned, that theory would no longer be true, as being one of the most popular breeds i'm sure upperclass people own them too.

Poor children and grandma, i hope they have a speedy recovery. People should give more thought to who is looking after their dog, and their situation. I have many friends who love my dogs, but not many of them would be suited to looking after them. Ceratinly not 2 children and an elderly woman.

Beautiful girl she is!! I can't even think of calling someone elses dog ugly, i like all dogs, even though i'm not a major fan of SWF, they like all dogs have their own special personality so i never judge any dog until i've had the chance to say hello to it! next time give her a peice of your mind!!

Unless you own a restricted breed!... but this is positive talk about stopping all the senseless BYB cats and dogs being euthanased, maybe all dog owners hould be shown videos of all the poor animals in the pound, like teenagers are shown car crashes... i know it doesn't stop them but adults should know better...

Glad to hear pup passed test!! On another note, with regards to the above statement; So many dogs here in the territory could be classified as restricted by the way they look but haven't got anything 'restricted' in them. There are so many crossed bred dogs up, every day in the paper, mastiff, bull arab, sharpei, great dane, staffy, bull terrier mixes At the beach i could easily pick out a dozen dogs that 'could' be a restricted cross. The thing is many people up here have no idea about BSL and will only find out if they move interstate, then say my dog isn't a pitbull, this is why BSL (aswell as many other things) is so wrong, and people only think they're buying a bitsa. I hope when i leave the territory that my 2 dogs can come with me.

OZ pit, I think firstly, Australia needs a federal law on this and not local councils doing as they please. Also if BSL and import bans were overturned without proper controls in place, you're dead right we would be back to breed banning with in no time. I've phoned a couple of the councils that i've lived in and asked them about their requirements on restricted breeds, why they have them, etc... Most of them don't get back to me or the office clerk says, "i dunno"! or sadly bow to misrepresented public opinion. It's hard to find out what is actively being done, many apbt owners keep their dogs out of the general public and aren't likely to take their dog wherever the Animal control officers are going to be. So i'll keep phoning councillors and asking them what they're doing about it. I really hope it changes soon. geo

I whole heartedly agree with your argument, and why they can be difficult for inexperienced dog owners, but where do we draw the line.. If APBT owners say it's ok for other breeds to be banned, we have no leg to stand on, that's my point. Our whole argument of, "deed not breed" goes down the toilet. Can you imagine us pleading our cases in the court saying how wonderful our pets are, then saying, "oh but you can ban those other breeds, they're more likely to do more damage". BSL does not work, regardless of what breeds are on that list. It does stop some morons owning what they want, but then they just go and get a backyard bulldog/rotti and give them bad names. It would be great if the government had some structure around ownership/breeding and proper control of all dogs, responsible owners and breeders would have nothing to hide.

I'd like to see Presa's allowed in. They're not an easy dog, not suitable for first-time dog owners, but I reckon they'd go alright. A lot of people only know the breed from the attack on Dianne Whipple in '01, but people don't realise that was the first ever death casued by a Presa/Presa Mix (the dogs that killed Whipple were mixes) in the US. After that attack their popularity went up 400%, which is a bit sick, but I can't find any reports of another Presa attack. But I'm not too google-savvy so if you find any let me know. Dogo's and Tosa's on the other hand, I'm happy for them to be banned. As much as I think the Dogo's are good-looking animals, no way would I like to see them or Tosa's here. Dogo's though are pretty easy to ID in my opinion. Unless it was a really stringent licensing system, like if there was a register keeping track of each dog's owner and location, and random visits by some kind of licensing officials, I doubt it would be very useful. Which is a shame I think. How con you support BSL of other breeds? have you had first hand experience of these dogs? I have seen filas for sale recently (not sure on how pure they'd be) Seriously no matter what your opinion is of these breeds you shouldn't be throwing them out there like all the people who think APBT's are man eaters!! and we all know where that has got us, thousands of innocent animals getting PTS. Plenty of people have dogos as family pets, why are you happy for them to be banned? What next American bulldogs, bull arabs, rottis, akitas, Standard poodles

I agree, for the most part that pure bred breeders only have the animals best interests at heart, but why are so many pure breds so expensive? If i got a pure bred dog from from somebody whos sole job was breeding, researching and putting money back into the breed through all the health testing, genetic profiling etc.. and they could break down the costs for me then i would happily pay top dollar for a dog, but when you see such a variation in prices with pure bred dogs it makes you wonder.. ie i've seen pure bred amstaffs range from $600 to $2000!! french bulldogs $2000!! Now if you have a litter of 4-8 pups that's a lot of money that some are making (and i don't begrudge it one bit if they're doing all of the above) But not all breeders do and i don't know how they can't justify $2000 per pup. Don't get me wrong, i hate pet stores and would only ever rescue or select a reputeable breeder myself, but the unsuspecting public are sadly none the wiser when it comes to puppy peddlers,

Hi Geo, sorry about your friends dog. My sister has a "bloater" ex aquis lab who bloats after every meal,has a few ripper farts and is then ok,always worried about him.He bolts his feed(all their work dogs do) so she feeds him out of a ring cake pan to slow him down,or you can put a heavy chain in his bowl,so he has to slow down to get around it. Have you tried Thrive D? Have never heard of Thrive D, what is it?

WOW , just read the thread, my friends amstaff died last week from bloat (he was 7) as well as having one of my boxers years ago have 2 episodes of bloat. I was never sure what contributing factors were increasing risk, besides breed. I now have 2 large dogs, not really deep chested, i also live in the middle of 2.5hrs from the nearest vet (darwin), it is always hot here, i feed dry (with bones, fish, meat, eggs, veggies etc..) Feed them seperately but the pup scoffs his food. So i would love any advice on what to do or what i should buy to help me out should this happen to one of them. I'd have no drama administering needles or whatever.

made me mad too, an attack a i've read in the council laws could be from charging at someone or another dog to actually biting someone or making them feel threatened, even when nothing happens, they just have to report it to the coucnil and WHAMMO it's in the stats!! So top was SBT, but they are the most populus (i think) dog in australia, and every other mongrel is crossed with a staffy. Stats prove absolutely nothing. APBT was flashed in the screen in BIG BOLD LETTERS, for 8 attacks. (why they done this is only too obvious as they glassed over all the other info) to put it in persective labs came in at 160 attacks, though again i couldn't care what numbers they are in because every 'attack' is different. Stupid waste of time, utter crap. only fueling the BSL fire. Do these friggin reporters have nothing better to do? than speculate on things they nothing about. If my boss said, "hey say this.. blah blah blah". I'd say well i'd rather present something different or factual and representative, but these people are only interested in the sound of their own voice on TV, they don't care about the people that got 'attacked' or the animals involved, they care about ratings and money and their careers. Ok ranting a bit, i'll stop.

I don't understand this point. A proper, game-bred APBT is a dog suited to pit fights. That it's a disgusting practice and one which is thankfully outlawed is irrelevant, as is the fact that nobody in their right mind would "advertise" them as such. But it's a fact. The dogs are bred to enjoy fighting another dog and to not give up. Does this mean you do support BSL, because they are bred to enjoy fighting other dogs? I'm also at a loss to that comment, who in they're right mind would support something like BSL! it has nothing to do with pit fighting, BSL was bought about to supposedly protect people. Game bred lines are being bred still and are still making great pets for families the world over.

It can be controlled to an extent but there is the issue of - if you take away the DA then you're taking away a large part of what makes the dog an APBT. A lot of hardcore fanciers of the breed don't want a dog that only looks like an APBT they want a dog that looks & acts like an APBT and DA is a part of that they're willing to deal with. I agree, It can come in different forms aswell, in my experience DA that my staffy had is fear based (rescued, suspected of being used for baiting) and he would go for any large dogs straight up no questions asked and cleverly discuising the signs that he was going to attack. Growing up with DA dogs that just plain didn't like other animals, i have a healthy respect for it, and having 2 dogs now that are dominant but friendly is again a different matter, though i'll find out more when my 7 month old male matures. All dog owners should be prepared for anything, train your dog, don't let it annoy other dogs and be wary that a fight can happen anytime, you see it all the time down the beach. Owners who have no idea, yet have dogs that they can't handle or can't face the fact that they're dog could cause a fight. Ideally all dogs (and people) would get along, fact is they don't and as dog owners we must be aware and vigilant that no matter how 'good' our dogs are a fights can, do and will happen, no matter what the breed. And be especially vigilant in breeds where it is previlant.

DA has been bred into these dogs for 100+ years, i feel it can be controlled obviuosly through responsible breeding etc.. HA, I haven't met one that is HA personally but i'm sure they're out there, just as all breeds have individual dogs that can be HA, this is not a breed tendencie and never has been, and is exactly the kind of thinking that the media has installed to the unknowing public. The fact is if we had legal breeders with good ethics many of these issues could be avoided, sure there will still be some idiots out there who want a tuff dog, who will not be a good owner and who will let down all the good pitties and owners out there.

Here is your problem: "She's our baby and is spoilt rotten. She's an indoors dog when we are at home and stays outside when we are out. She also sleeps with us in our bed. When the new baby comes home, I don't neccessarily want to change this. We like having her in our bed and she likes sleeping there too" She is not a baby she is a dog and has to be treated like one, that has to change now. I insisted on getting another dog prior to the new baby for many reasons, but firstly so it can go through the transitions slowly with us and both can learn the Rules from the start. Her breeder was totally supportive of reasons for getting her now, as was the breeder who didnt grow me a pup in time Not hard to get a dog back down off its high horse if you start now. Snother dog is a good idea, but remember finances will be short for a while. I agree, We have a 4 month old baby girl, and we changed the rules early on in the pregnancy. We also got another dog which were planning on anyway. Both are kept in the one area of the house, they know the boundaries and they have interaction time with the baby and she loves them. Don't confuse the dog by treating it like a baby as it will only casue issues down the track. dog sleeps on dog bed, eats from dog bowl, gets treated like a dog all the time. Of course you must reward the dog with lots of play time and affection so he still feels like part of the family.

Well I got to say Molly is one very cute boxer!! i had 2 boxers when i was growning up, they were very protective of our house. One night they went absolutely Burko and my father was tempted to let them out as he, however boxers were also getting a bad rap at that time (courtesy of the media and some bad owners back in the UK) so we didn't let them out. I have no doubt that these 2 bitches (mother and daughter) would've attacked. it turned out someone had rummaged through our garage. Nekbet is correct though, many dogs would not attack, and they're barking is fear related. Currently we have 2 dogs that appear very intimidating when in 'this is my house get away from it' mode! however Blondie is a sook and will wait for me to check out the noise first then come bowling along behind me acting all tough, unless it is daylight and she can see the offender. Chev the pup, well at 7 months he's wary of strangers but would probably wag his tail should someone enter the gate, though he's got more confidence and strength and feel he would pick up on a scarey situation. Training dogs in protection is a very specialised field, and i'd like to be able to command that of my dogs, just not sure how to do it without arousing their aggresive side to strangers, and don't want them barking at everyone who walks past our yard.

Funny i can see the ridgy, but not the bull arab in him.. go figure.. big lovely boof though.

Heart broken.

Better spend money on a living animal (especially on one who's nature has been pre determined by its breed! and literally has no chance) instead of some breeders egotistical view of how 'their breed should look', and of course how their dogs are better than others..? (don't get me wrong every puppy needs a good home) Sorry, but come on, many breeders are purists, their dogs are the best.. etc...ect... So what my dog comes with papers, do i believe them? does it matter? i do agree that what matters is health, and responsible breeding.. I love that some breeders only breed for themselves and not for anything else like Championship points etc..., and only every few years. right now people in the UK are trying to breed the once extinct Alaunt (google british alaunt society) and they are cross breeding. The bigger the gene pool the bigger the chance of survival as far species are concerned, though mixing can be detrimental and as far our responsibiltes go we shouldn't let that happen, and again i think responsible ownership is the key. Breeding designer dogs is a no no, unless they are somehow helping mankind. Breeding a line of specialist dogs to committed owners is different. And that's not to say that some breeders don't deserve their credit, amstaff breeders i believe are some of the most committed people out there. and i'm sure many others are, except they don't deal with prejudice that bulldogs/rotti/dobes deal with. I'm a little on the fence for xbreeds but hey that's my opinion.

Many mongrels i've known have out lived pure breds. though there are many strange lookig bitsas about. I wouldn't do it myself though because there are too many dogs at pounds already, and peolpe tend to buy pure breds, so who are you selling to would be another question. If both parents are of sound temprement and health checked, i can't see many issues. Though i'm not an expert, some others may have a more qualified opinion.

What amstaffs not good enough for ya?! Are you compiling a list bulldog breed standards or something....just teasing, are you looking at buying a bulldog breed or just interested in them as a whole, 'cause i love them all! If the latter, you could also look at Alapaha blue blood bulldogs and the Antebellum bulldog, none of which are here i believe. remember standards are what breeders try to aim for, but many dogs of many breeds look far from what the standard says, though are 100% purebred.

Public perception, responsible owner ship. I posted on another topic that to own a Native animal you need permits and an adequate home, but anyone can buy a dog. That is why so many end up at the pound and then at the dump. Regardless of breed, responsible ownership is the key. i have friends that i wouldn't have my dogs with because they are irresponsible people, and i wouldn't want them to own any dog, but they do, they're not bad owners, they look after the dog but not in the way some breeds need to be looked after. When i walk them, i let all the kids and adults play with them, i tell them how to approach a dog, where and where not to hold them. But as a whole we need the media on our side to get the word out about how wonderful all dogs can be when treated/trained properly.

Firstly poor child, he didn't understand the dogs intentions and silly mother, who now will hate and tarnish the name of staffies. Agree sooo much, the amount of times my boxers and staffy have caught me whilst playing when i was a child, with absolutely no malice but unfortunately their sharp teeth can hurt, even just turning their head with their mouth open. I totally agree with everyone elses response too, 'mauling' i think not, an adult would have trouble pulling off any dog that meant business. The new owners should've know how scarey being in a new home is for a dog, now the poor dog is dead, and for what? just chasing a toy that was he was being told to chase. I know have 2 bull breeds, one 6 months, one 3years, i also have a 3month old baby girl and can't emphasise how much supervision is required. i'm sure the issues will be more prevelant when she can walk and open doors!! I also do not play rough with either of them, or encourage any jumping, just incase they decide its is fine with little people.