Pitbulls Bite Off Teenagers Ear In Savage Attack

[trinabean]

Mum told me that back when she was younger dogs used to walk everywhere and their owners had very little control over them. She said the breeds were usually terriers, working breeds and mixtures of both. She said very rarely did anyone get bitten seriously. When did bull breeds first become popular here?

The first Bull Terrier I ever saw would have been about 1970 but they were a rare breed and never allowed to roam free like other dogs at the time. In the 70s I used to walk my crossbred dog all over the district and their were plenty of loose dogs but the only one I ever had a problem with was a Scottie who lived around the corner and he was small enough that a swift kick would make him back off enough to get past the house. By this stage terriers were out of favour so there were not many around except for "minnie foxies". No one ever got attacked by a dog if they were walking in the street. We also had a Lab who had moved in on us from next door and when they left him loose he used to bail up passing dogs but never did any harm. I can't remember ever seeing dogs really fighting or causing injuries and they were pretty much all entire males. A friend's dad who had greyhounds said the only dogs who ever hassled the greys when he was walking were Labs. GSDs were about the only serious guard dogs and they were always well confined.

When I started showing in 1983 Bull Terriers had become a bit more popular but SBTs were rare. I cannot recall if there were any at shows at that time or not, when or why they suddenly became so popular. At the time some country shows were flat out to get 10 Terriers entered in the group when the other groups would have 100-150. Pitbulls and Amstaffs didn't really arrive till about the mid 90s and when the Amstaffs were first shown there were some incidents with the dogs but even more so with the owners who often seemed more aggressive than their dogs. Some of the terrier people were not at all happy about the breed being introduced to the group at the time. Thankfully since then some long time breeders of other breeds seem to have taken an interest and managed to produce some dogs with better temperament so as the numbers increased the problems decreased.

Boxers have been in Australia since about 1948, so they are certainly not a new bull breed in Australia.

[mixeduppup]

By bull breed I mean the "game" breeds.

[trinabean]

By bull breed I mean the "game" breeds.

Sorry. Boxers are often included in the bull breeds. What do you mean by the 'game' breeds?

[mixeduppup]

By bull breed I mean the "game" breeds.

Sorry. Boxers are often included in the bull breeds. What do you mean by the 'game' breeds?

Dogs bred for or originating from breeds bred for dog fighting.

[dancinbcs]

Mum told me that back when she was younger dogs used to walk everywhere and their owners had very little control over them. She said the breeds were usually terriers, working breeds and mixtures of both. She said very rarely did anyone get bitten seriously. When did bull breeds first become popular here?

The first Bull Terrier I ever saw would have been about 1970 but they were a rare breed and never allowed to roam free like other dogs at the time. In the 70s I used to walk my crossbred dog all over the district and their were plenty of loose dogs but the only one I ever had a problem with was a Scottie who lived around the corner and he was small enough that a swift kick would make him back off enough to get past the house. By this stage terriers were out of favour so there were not many around except for "minnie foxies". No one ever got attacked by a dog if they were walking in the street. We also had a Lab who had moved in on us from next door and when they left him loose he used to bail up passing dogs but never did any harm. I can't remember ever seeing dogs really fighting or causing injuries and they were pretty much all entire males. A friend's dad who had greyhounds said the only dogs who ever hassled the greys when he was walking were Labs. GSDs were about the only serious guard dogs and they were always well confined.

When I started showing in 1983 Bull Terriers had become a bit more popular but SBTs were rare. I cannot recall if there were any at shows at that time or not, when or why they suddenly became so popular. At the time some country shows were flat out to get 10 Terriers entered in the group when the other groups would have 100-150. Pitbulls and Amstaffs didn't really arrive till about the mid 90s and when the Amstaffs were first shown there were some incidents with the dogs but even more so with the owners who often seemed more aggressive than their dogs. Some of the terrier people were not at all happy about the breed being introduced to the group at the time. Thankfully since then some long time breeders of other breeds seem to have taken an interest and managed to produce some dogs with better temperament so as the numbers increased the problems decreased.

Boxers have been in Australia since about 1948, so they are certainly not a new bull breed in Australia.

I wouldn't classify Boxers as a Bull breed and didn't use the term anyway as it can take in breeds like Bulldogs and Bullmastiffs as well and to me they have nothing to do with the "Bull" Terrier breeds the term usually refers to, who have completely different temperaments being true terriers. Bull Terriers, SBTs, Amstaffs and APBTs used to be collectively termed " the fighting terriers" and there were several books available with that in the title. The term is now considered politically incorrect.

[trinabean]

Perhaps I am mistaken then. I have heard of Boxers being grouped as a bull breed (they are, after all descended from the Bullenbeisser or 'bull biter') but I'm happy to stand corrected. People sometimes differ in what they mean when they say 'bull breeds'. I was trying to answer part of Mixeduppup's earlier question on how long bull breeds have been in Australia.

My misunderstanding *bows out of thread*

[melzawelza]

Mum told me that back when she was younger dogs used to walk everywhere and their owners had very little control over them. She said the breeds were usually terriers, working breeds and mixtures of both. She said very rarely did anyone get bitten seriously. When did bull breeds first become popular here?

It's pretty obvious that dogs then were more socialised, because they were allowed to wander willy-nilly. There were still dog fights, people being bitten & many who got hit by cars. It's the media & the introduction of social-media, which highlights the bad things that dogs do now.

Also, are you talking ALL Bull Breeds? If so, then you are talking about many breeds, would you prefer none of them existed in Australia?

Bingo.

Dogs were very, very well socialised back then because they were allowed to roam willy-nilly with other dogs from a very young age. They learnt how to behave and how not to behave around other dogs through extensive socialisation.

In NSW it became law for all dogs in public to be leased in 1981. Just around the time the 'bull' breeds (APBT, AmStaff, SBT) were arriving in the country. Less attacks has nothing to do with the fact that there weren't bull breeds around, it's just that since the bull breeds have around they have to be contained and leashed in public (which is a good thing of course) and often are not being given the socialisation needed to become well adjusted around other dogs. All breeds suffer from this, look at how many DA small fluffies, GSD, Rotties, and Labs there are about.

Plus, you didn't have social media and the internet like you do now. We hear about attacks that happen all around the country now - back then you would only hear about the ones practically in your own back yard. So it seems like there's a lot more now, when I'd hazard that there aren't.

Perhaps I am mistaken then. I have heard of Boxers being grouped as a bull breed (they are, after all descended from the Bullenbeisser or 'bull biter') but I'm happy to stand corrected. People sometimes differ in what they mean when they say 'bull breeds'. I was trying to answer part of Mixeduppup's earlier question on how long bull breeds have been in Australia.

My misunderstanding *bows out of thread*

You're correct, Boxers are technically a bull breed although they don't fit what most people consider to be a bull breed in colloquial use.

[melzawelza]

A great blog post from Shel at Saving Pets regarding the reporting of this attack compared to other similar incidents recently.

http://www.savingpets.com.au/2012/10/pit-bull-hype-still-rules-aussie-media/

[asal]

A great blog post from Shel at Saving Pets regarding the reporting of this attack compared to other similar incidents recently.

http://www.savingpets.com.au/2012/10/pit-bull-hype-still-rules-aussie-media/

thanks interesting reading. good points.

found this on the site too.

so targeting of potential income sources over, the obvious cruelty cases, happens overseas too?

so many people wonder why what seem such obvious cruelty cases fail to get any action, yet others are seized sometimes without any warning, like the koala park just to name the first I could recall.

http://www.naiaonlin...gh-speed-flight

anyway it has its own thread now.

I know thats just about the same story for my boy, except in his case he was a dog not a horse. but sure cost enough to get back a perfectly healthy dog. Even if it was later described as an unfortunate set of circumstances, they didnt get out of it without a handy profit.

Edited November 3, 2012 by asal

[TheCheekyMonster]

I thought the report was corrected to say this was an American Stafford?

My link

Edited November 4, 2012 by TheCheekyMonster

[Jed]

The first Bull Terrier I ever saw would have been about 1970

There were BTs being shown in the late 50s or very early 60s.

"bull breeds" and " game " are not interchangeable. I think you might mean "bull and terrier" breeds.

Boxers are descended mostly from bulldogs, thus descending from Bullenbeissers.