Tuesday 5 November 2013

How Not To Choose A Puppy…

Angry Danny Mitford has been scarred after a dog sank its teeth into his arm.
An attack in the street? Well, no. Not quite:
Danny had gone with a friend to buy a cross Bull Mastiff and Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy when the pooches’ mother lurched at him.
The snarling dog, called Tia, had first bit the 28-year-old’s leg which left a bruise. But moments later the dog kept its eye on Danny and lunged at the IT designer - sinking its teeth into his skin.
Well, that should have taught you a valuable lesson in choosing in future to buy only from a reputable breeder, shouldn't it?

As should the reaction of the breeder:
Richard Stidolph, who owned Tia before giving her to his mother Jaqueline, 48, said: “A mother dog is obviously going to get protective over her puppies.
“We did tell the man that she didn’t like men but he still sat down and wanted to come in.”
/facepalm

The animals here aren't solely of the four-legged kind...

6 comments:

The Blocked Dwarf said...

"had first bit the 28-year-old’s leg which left a bruise"

No. That is what is technically known as a 'nip' or a 'warning to the stoopid idiot to back off'. I don't recall the lbs-per-sq of a bull terrier's bite force but it can get near 'amputation'.

I was once bitten by 'just' an Alsatian and it's teeth touched through my forearm.

This was a "pentobarbital all round, Sister!" incident if ever there was one!

Anonymous said...

Only his arm! A bit lower and with luck his genes and stupidity won't get to be passed into the next generation.

Antisthenes said...

For a number of years I dabbled in showing and breeding dogs from which I did not learn very much except that it was relatively easy to distinguish between a dog that was potentially dangerous and one that was not. The breed of the dog had very little influence on behaviour but temperament did. The only exception generally was if the dog was guarding her pups. So having heard today that another little girls has been savaged to death by a dog it occurred to me that to greatly reduce savage dog attacks would be for all puppies to have their temperament tested and those that failed would be put down. Some breeds are of course bred for bad temperament and that would of course stop. It is quite often not successful in those breeds and quite often the opposite in those that are bred to to be docile that is why categorizing by breed is useless. A simple test for temperament I used when selecting a puppy to buy was to go among the puppies and clap very loudly any puppy that ran away and did not greet me with enthusiasm I did not buy (some of you no doubt will scratching your head as to how my test proved that the dog was potentially dangerous, it is because dangerous dogs are fundamentally nervous dogs and their savagery stems from that all though that may not be apparent later on). Not an infallible method but a better one I am sure could be devised. Putting down dogs like this may be some what extreme but I can think of no other method to tackle this growing problem. Initially I believe the dog population would be reduced below levels of demand but over time good temperament dogs would be bread faster than bad ones which appears to be the opposite of the norm these days.

Antisthenes said...

Actually it is never appropriate to show a puppy with it's mother present that is to invite the mother to attack as she sees a possible danger to her offspring. So there is a degree of negligence her on behalf of the owner.

JuliaM said...

"That is what is technically known as a 'nip' or a 'warning to the stoopid idiot to back off'."

Agreed. Some people are incapable of taking the hint.

"A bit lower and with luck his genes and stupidity won't get to be passed into the next generation."

And in this case too!

"So having heard today that another little girls has been savaged to death by a dog..."

Chav names, no father in the picture, totally unsuitable dog (in totally unsuitable environment), rescue dog from a charity that should NEVER have agreed to this match...it's a total car-crash from start to finish.. :/

"Actually it is never appropriate to show a puppy with it's mother present..."

And any reputable breeder would know this.

Furor Teutonicus said...

XX had first bit the 28-year-old’s leg XX

English news paper receives grammar lessons from a German.

"Had first bitten..."

Good GRIEF! Is THAT the state of English education these days?

(Rhetorical question. NO need to reply.)