In Defense of Dogs

The Idiot Dog Owner from the Guardian "I've not seen any significant change in pattern or number over the last few years. Children are rarely injured by dogs, and these recent attacks are very, very sad events, but not a real indication that the problem is getting worse, and we shouldn't generalise. Many such incidents are down to human error and people still insist on leaving dogs unsupervised with children."


And my personal story:

After the two rottweiler attacks this week there has been a call to add them to the Dangerous Dog Acts. This is unfair. As a breed, Rottweilers aren't that vicious. The problem is the owner. I know, my dad was one.

Charlie was big even for a rottweiler. The problem was my father. Dad refused to have him castrated. Charlie was the pure-bred son of two champion dogs surely he should procreate!

Also, Dad thought Charlie's behaviour was cute and natural. Our visitors thought it was menacing. Sure when our other dog Cookie, jumped up on people it was cute. Cookie was the size of a toy poodle. Charlie weighed over 8 stone. It's not so cute when that jumps on you. Charlie didn't understand why Cookie was allowed to behave one way and he wasn't.

He was enrolled in behavioural school for a while but dad didn't like the trainer and took him out of the school and didn't put him in another one.

Charlie wasn't really bad. The only person he ever bit was me, because I scared him awake one day by putting my face next to his and saying "BOO!" or something. I needed two stitches on my lower lip. When I got home from the hospital (at about 5am!!) he shyly came up to me with his head bowed down and crouched on the floor, I think he was asking for forgiveness. He spent the following two days hiding under the dining room table. Even big, scary rotties have a soul...