´óÏó´«Ã½

Now Amanda, don't get carried away.
The fact that you 'know' 2 rottweilers and 'love' big animals. Is it really like that at the Beeb.

I read the story about the tragic death, but during reading of this story it became apparent that you used basic truths about ALL dogs to make the Rottweiler sound more fierce. For example, saying that the Rottweiler use "pack instincts" where one dog will follow the other, is incredulous. This fact is well known to most dog orientated people but does not make every dog a killer.
Also stated for this story is the fact that you cannot tell when a Rottweiler will attack, as it is silent and still before the attack. Obviously the person who wrote this waffle has never in his/her life been around dogs and found the way to read their emotions and movements.
I am truly sorrowful for the loss to the family but wish that people would not, as you say "demonise", the Rottweiler. There are just as many attacks from other breeds every week, but these are not as publicised as when a Rottweiler attacks. I do emphasise on "A" Rottweiler attacking, this does not mean all are bad. The only bad dogs in this world are the ones that have bad owners, so instead of taking out the grief on the dogs take it out on the poor ownership and training of the dog.

While I do have every sympathy for the bereaved parents {nothing can ever take away the pain of losing a child} I was extremely angry to discover , yet again, that a guard dog - kept in what appears to be intolerable conditions and not under control seems to have been left unsupervised with a young baby. I have owned a rottie. I could not have had a more loyal and dependable dog. She was raised with 3 youngsters who were taught to respect the dog. Rotties are incredibly stubborn and require carefull training and handling by an experienced owner. If laws need changed - can they be about the sale and training of these magnificent animals. NO DOG should ever be left unsupervised when there are children present. however docile and trustworthy you feel your family pet is. although their crime was horrific - can anyone imagine a life confined to a roof where it appears you were encouraged to bark at others!My current dog is a cavalier - but will not take risks with children with herr either. She is also a pet not a guard dog.

First of all my heartfeld condolences to the parents in this tragic case. The reports that these were guard dogs is of course completely wrong as they were nothing other than untrained and vicious. Properly trained guard dogs would not carry out such a brutal attack and as for vilifying Rottweilers, a small terrier could inflict terrible injuries on a small child. OK so Rotties can look fearsome but correctly trained there is no reason why they be no less dangerous than any other dog.

I wonder why people bother complaining to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ - it will never admit that it can be wrong. Media infallability you see.

not dogs deserve to be demonised, but people who:

-use them as weapons

-do not educate them

-take them into situations where they are unable to control them

I am disgusted by the fact that there are so many people in this country who appear to be very careless about their dogs. I love the sea and frequently walk on beaches. There seem to be more dogs walking on the beach than people. Everybody lets them from their leads, but only very few people seem to be in control of their dogs. Uncountable times I've seen people struggling to get their pet's attention as they would not listen at all, leave alone do what their owners wanted them to. They simply seem to have no concept that you have to educate dogs. They are not like cats! About 50% of these dogs are - sorry - ugly animals. You can tell by their looks that they have been breeded to be killers. Fighting dogs, turned into "lovely" pets. The combination of such a breed with an irresponisble owner - that is diabolic!

I own two crossbred dogs both half Rottweiler which I raised from puppies. Both are females, a 4 year old part Bernese and a 5 year old part German Shepherd. Both are very doscile, extremely friendly, and have never given any indication that they would harm another animal or a human being. BUT, if there was any sign of a change in their personalities, I would have to consider putting them down as they are potentially very dangerous due to their size and strength. You cannot ever be completely certain what an animal will do.

People who want vicious guard dogs often buy and abuse this breed and certain others such as Pit Bulls and Doberman Pinschers. They can be turned into true monsters, a threat to the lives of their owners and anyone else they come in contact with. It's crazy to even own such a dangerous dog let alone leave a child unsupervised with one. The parents were very irresponsible and are surely to blame for allowing their child to be exposed to such danger. Hopefully, they and the dogs' owners will be held accountable by the law for thier recklessness which resulted in tragedy.

I am saddened that the Rotties are getting a bad press yet again. I have owned 3 of them and you could not find more soppy and daft dogs if you tried. One was borrowed for security one night as a neighbour (who I trusted implicitly) asked if it was OK due to his Doberman being injured. I let him take the dog, called Tiny as he was the runt of the litter, and off they went. The next morning he came back with Tiny and laughing his head off. Seems someone had broken into the yard he was guarding and he let Tiny off the lead. Tiny promptly jumped onto the intruder, pushing him face down in the mud, sat on his shoulders and each time the intruder tried to move Ting slobbered all over his face...to which my mate and his colleagues almost collapsed in hysterics. Given the right training Rotties can be wonderful dogs, they are highly intelligent and stubborn but you will never find a more loyal dog.

I agree that no dog should ever be left with kids of any age...its just not common sense to do that.

I have been bitten once....by a Labrador.

My last dog was a German Shepherd. He had 4 owners in the first 2 yrs of his life, he had been beaten and had brain damage...so scared he would wee at the sight of his own shadow. Previous owner wanted rid of him cos he had snapped at his kids...they took his food away while he was eating...what did the kids or parents expect?

After 5 years of hard work I was able to take that dog anywhere I wanted and my neighbour's 5 yr old rode on his back.

Sadly, I had to have him put down due to him seeing his old owner and all the hard work was undone...I made the choice as I did not want him to go through everything again, he was a lovely dog but his previous owners were diabolical and as a result he was aggressive...

No such thing as a bad dog...its bad, uneducated and uncaring/untrained owners that cause the troubles.

Quote: 'They did kill a child...'

Since there is going to be an inquest and post mortem then assumptions should not be made at this point in time. There is nothing at all to suggest that the child's death was not foul play by a human and the dogs were merely a convenient scape-goat.

I have a rottweiler, I thought that after a break in he would make a good deterent against it happening again.He is however bullied by my cats, and as for my Jack Russel he stands no chance! I have spent the last 12 years making sure no toddler ever gets near my Jack Russel as she hates them.If you saw a picture of her showing her teeth against my rottweiler,I know which would be the scariest.My rottweiler would never hurt anyone intentionally,but his power is awesome,he does not see you and simply walks through you,to a child or old person this could be fatal,he had a jumping up problem,which at his weight could have hurt someone,so I sent him off to Royvon to train him,it cost over £800 but worth it.I would,could never have a dangerous dog,my brother was attacked by a German Shepard at 9 years old, it bit a large chunk of his thigh deep to the bone and ate it,he was obese at the time,it saved him his leg.Like people,dogs are all different too,you get your good and bad.Its all in the upbringing?

Thank God we have some sensible people making comments on this web page about Rottweilers. I myself own 3 Rotties, all male, and they have grown up with children of all ages. They are one of the most loyal and wonderful companions anyone could wish for, if they are trained and looked after correctly. Any dog given the wrong circumstances could attack or bite not just this breed. Since reading some of the news stories on this page about the attacks, I have to say that it does disturb me that we are hearing about so many, and my thoughts and sorrow go out to the parents of the children who have been subjected to these attacks.
Lastly I would just like to say that I wish the press would not demonise The Rottweiler as a breed, just this evening the pictures on the news were of a snarling, aggresive Rottweiler and this just does not help the breeds image and how people persive them. Its important to remember that a dog, any dog is only as good as its owner and demonising them does not help the owners of well behaved and well trained Rotties. Since these unfortunate attacks have happened, my next door neighbour who knows all of my dogs and always used to stop and make a fuss of them, has now strenghtened all of his fences in his back garden - I asked him why he felt the need to do this and he told me that he was " just taking precautions ". A classic case of tarring everyone with the same brush! But I have to say as much as it hurt me to see my dogs spurned by my neighbour, I could understand why.

It is very sad for the parents losing their child from this tragic accident, why was their child left unsupervised or alone, with the two rottweilers which are trained only to guard. owners sometimes do not understand, when they want trained guard dogs, regardless if they are rottweilers, german shepards,bull terriers,etc they sometimes expect them to be cuddly,loving,dogs at the same time, which they can´t.
I have owned rottis that have been rescued, and ones from a very good breeder etc and they have been very kind, loving, intelligent dogs, good with small children,and with puppies etc. But any dogs behaviour good or bad, is down to their owner 100%, A dog learns from their owners until the day they die and are dependant on the human race. I can not speak for other people, but it is like us humans, with the right up-bringing there are good and bad people, just like with dogs, with responsible owners or not responsible owners.
A cat or a small dog as we know, can as much hurt and kill a small child, but does not get publicised, if only dogs can TALK.

Face it, it's the old press favourite of whipping up a bit of hysteria for the sake of a good story. It was the same a couple of months back when an American Bulldog attacked a child - for the unaware, that's a big vicious looking dog. A week later a collie inflicted almost identical and appalling injuries to a little girl. What press did that get? About 30 words in a Sunday Tabloid. Had that attack been by a rottweiller or similar looking breed, it would have got a page at least and if it had been a slow news day, probably a front page slot and a mention on the evening news.

I am a dog owner myself (not of rottweillers, though I know the breed very well) and to be honest I'm disgusted with some people who own dogs merely as ego extensions or cheap burglar alarms. But it is unfair to demonise any breed of whom the vast majority of are reliable, loving companions owned by resposible people. If the same make and model of car knocked two children down in a weekend, would we have some kind of campaign to ban them from the roads as death traps?

I know you have a job to do, but let's try and HELP to keep things in proportion rather than run with the predictable and wildly innacurate 'devild dog' stories. There are enough irresposible people involved in these stories without the press inflaming the situation.

granted I think rotties can be loving and affectionate and wonderful pets, but I am afraid of them. One lunged at me on a main street in Toronto with great force for no apparent reason. The little Asian woman who was walking him had to hold his leash with both hands and use her (90 lb) body as an anchor. I stepped into a store to get away. I'm a dog owner and a dog lover so I know when I've upset or startled a dog and it has reacted to my actions that it saw as threatening. This crazy dog had no reason except it was just that..crazy. Do I think some rotties have a genetic flaw? Yep. I do. Trust them? Not in this lifetime.

Whilst i have every sympathy for the children and their families, we must remember that dogs whilst being loving creatures (If they are showed love) they are animals and children (Especially babies) should NEVER be left alone with them.

ANY dog can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and sadly now many dogs are bred in puppy farms where they are bred for cash not temprement, health etc and people buy puppys from puppy farms because they do not want to wait for a good breeder dog or rescue, also alot more people buy these dogs as status symbols and dont know what they are doing....so the dogs should not be blamed it is the owners and puppy farm breeders.

It all looks like a rottie witch hunt similar to the pit bull witch hunt. I owned a pit bull who was amazing with children and all other people.

I currently own a rottie, 2 mastiffs, a dobermann, a staffordshire bull terrier and a jack russel cross...and the only one i wont let anywhere near children is the jack russell cross.

I have been attacked by a dog and it was none of the breeds that have been named devil dogs. If these attacks had taken place by smaller breeds etc they would not be mentioned by the media.

If you read all the news reports on the attack - again you have various neighbours stating that the dogs were vicious and everyone was afraid of them. If such was the case, why then did the parents agree to look after the pub in the owners absence if the dogs were so dangerous and unpredictable. I read one report where it stated that they had almost with malice aforethought tracked the baby down in the house. It is also interesting to note that a young boy was attacked by a labrador last week I believe - this didnt make national headlines. Why not? Another child has been attacked - reading through the report it would appear that the child was in someone's front garden where the dog was tied up. What was the child doing there? Was he there at the invitation of the owner. there? Are we getting so PC that it is a requirement that all dogs love everyone? People dont so why should they?

Dogs need correct training by understanding owners, who are aware of the responsibility of their actions and the law. Its owners of dogs who need the training if cases like this horrfic attack are to cease. All new dog owners should be made to attend basic traning classes with their dog to instill this understanding.

Rottweiler's are vicious animals, and anyone who owns one should know that. If they don't take the appropriate action to stop incidents like this happening they should never be allowed to own a dog of any kind again.

I could not agree more with the posts above. The media have yet again focused on the breed of dog involved in this attack. I sympathise with the family involved and it is a tragic event but not all Rottweilers should be condemned because of this attack. I own two and they are lovely dogs however I would not even contemplate leaving them or any other dog alone with a child. If someone is bitten by a smaller dog the damage is highly likely to be less severe where as the sheer size of the Rottweiler and the reputation they have makes the incident a lot worse. I strongly believe if that if these dogs are raised correctly they are no more of a risk than any other breed.

Interesting that you are prepared to question yourselves on this. As a target shooter I am well aware that the current extremely intolerant laws governing us do not contrbute to public safety at all - yet ´óÏó´«Ã½ reporting on gun crime always blindly assumes that they do. Perhaps it so happens that ´óÏó´«Ã½ staff know dog owners but don't know any shooters?

Please dont bring Dobies into this debate....We have a rescue Doberman as a pet and he is beautiful and impossible to provoke, and many Dobies are in rescues because they were bought/bred to be 'hard' guard dogs but didnt cut it as they were too soft Scooby Doo dogs!

My Border terrier is much more likely to bite someone as she gets overexcited when wound up - even when hes needed lots of painful vet treatment the vet doesnt even think of muzzling the Dobie.

Our friends have Rotties and if trained + treated as family pets only, they can be thoroughly reliable. However, if not properly trained and especially when kept in a group, then I have found they can be unpredictable when their owners are not around - I think that is the key risk trigger.

People who talk affectionately about their own dogs and how cuddly and harmless they are miss the fact that dogs are pack animals, and you are their pack leader, your kids are their pack fellows - therefore you will never see your dog the same way an outsider.

To a dog, outsiders are potential threats or even prey, end of. And yes I am a dog lover, and own a dog right now.

Firstly i would like to say how sorry i am for the parents whose baby was killed, but where were the parents or guardians who left the baby unattendid.
Ihave a 6mnth old rotteiller bitch at the monent and have owned rottweillers for over 20 yrs.i bought
from a very reputable breeder.
She prides herself on temperament and hips and has owned and showed the breed for many more years than myself.
she is always there at the end of the phone if any problems occur and is not just out for a fast buck, like alot of people.
rottweillers are a lovely breed if owned by the right people and not as a status symble, and with the correct training make a excellent family member.
I have had some unsavoury comments about the breed from were i take my son to school ,i take her to the bus eveyday so that she can get well socialised with the children. This particular person has never owned a dog in her life and has got on her high horse again about a subject she knows nothing about.
If people wish to make a comment that is there right, but at least know what you are talking about.
any way thats all i have to say from a very happy and proud rottweiller owner.

Firstly, i am sorry for what has happened to the little girl who was killed and my heart goes out to her family and friends. However, i can't help thinking it was outrageously irresponsible to leave a small baby with two rottweilers that are not even your's. Especially if the dogs are locally known for being extremely aggressive. I do not own a dog but i grew up as a child surrounded by dogs in my family and i found out that a dog that is well trained to tolerate children and strangers will genrally be obedient and loyal. however i also found out that some dogs just don't do playful or tolerant and it is best if these types of dogs are not excited too much or played [ or left with] by children. Furthermore it is pretty obvious that any animal will snap if it is disrespected or annoyed to much [ or at all ].

I'd like to add my voice to the majority who have defended Rotties. They're lovely, gentle dogs.

Like any dog breed (or human!) you can get bad ones - though as has been mentioned already this is usually down to bad treatment (not dissimilar to people really is it?).

Yes, Rotties are big and if you do get one going off the rails they are difficult to control. But it is smaller breeds eg Yorkshire terriers that are much more likely to present a problem.

(No, I don't own a Rottie myself!).

I own a rottweiler which was a rescue dog. She was kept in a back garden with little attention from her owners and fed scraps of food. Despite this poor start to her life she is a loving, affectionate and fun dog. Even so, I would not leave her alone with my 4 month old daughter as I am aware of how volatile she could be if provoked. And that is the key word. A dog would only attack if it were provoked enough to defend itself so questions do have to be asked about the supervision of the poor children involved. And to echo what many people are saying, any dog is capable of doing such a thing not just rottweilers. I was bitten by a poodle twice when I was younger. I have even been bitten by a cat! Does this mean that I must watch my 3 cats as well as my dog?

Most of the above I agree with, though I think a few things need to be clarified for the sake of the easily-influenced public and the truly clueless British media.

"Rottweilers are vicious" - no, they're not. No more so than ANY other breed of domesticated dog. They have a large muscle mass and a large bite pressure, but as a breed they are most certainly not vicious - the vast majority are stable, sociable, loving creatures who adore humans.

"The dogs in the pub were guard dogs" - there's a massive difference between guard dogs and "guard dogs". True guard dogs have been chosen for temperament stability among other things, and are highly trained - far more so than the average family pet. On the other hand, people will buy dogs to guard a property or person and induce aggression, volatility and wariness by neglect, abuse, poor socialisation and starvation. That doesn't make them guard dogs, that makes them victims of cruel owners.

"Rottweilers kept as guard/protection dogs are unpredictable" - no, they're not. There are many in the UK, some of which are serving police dogs, who live as part of a family with no incidents whatsoever. But that only applies if the dogs has been trained properly and is owned by someone who understands dogs in general and the breed in particular. Oh, and someone who doesn't bait, torment, abuse or neglect their dog to get a violent reaction.

Once more we have ill-educated, highly sensationalist journalism on the part of the British press. Why is it if a large, muscular dog is involved in an incident, the terms used are "savaging" and "mauling"? And yet when the French lady who lost part of her face after her labrador tried to "wake" her, it was simply reported as a "dog bite" or "attack". If all rotts involved in biting incidents actually mauled or savaged, particularly a child, we wouldn't be hearing about toddlers requiring stitches - we would be hearing of a fatality in each case.

Owning a breed such as the rottweiler is a great responsibility - the breed is certainly not for everyone. It requires dedication, knowledge, confidence and kindness. Sadly, not all dog owners possess these qualities.

Before screaming for breed-specific legislation, think on. In 2005, 6,692 rottweilers were registered by the Kennel Club - I would guess statistics for this year are comparable. If they are the uncontrollable and continually vicious monsters the public is being encouraged to believe they are, why have the press only reported a small handful of rottweiler attacks so far this year? In an ideal world we'd have brilliant owners, well-bred and disease-free dogs, and no dog bites. But all dogs have the ability to bite and inflict nasty injuries - we just rarely hear about the breeds that don't sell newspapers.

The incidents this week are thoroughly tragic - though I only have sympathies for the children involved and not the adults, who could have taken any number of measures to prevent the incidents. I just hope, one day, the British press will report facts without the melodramatic and emotive language, and perhaps present an unbiased, objective account of the news.

Bring back dog licences at a cost of £10 a kilogram per dog ...to encourage lighter biters...a 50kg dog = a £500 licence ...if you pass through the training and examinations...

I am a 11 year old Springer Spaniel who will never grow up. I am soft mouthed and gun shy, I have got all of my tail. I live in a house with three big people and puppy person. The puppy person is my friend but she knows the rules, like I know the rules. We live together and share the house together. We walk, we play but sometimes we can be ratty but because we have been taught who the boss is and what our position in the pack is and what the rules for new people are we know how to behave with each other. I also think I should have a licence which would pay for all those places where sick and abandoned dogs go. I hope the licence is a big gold tag I can wear around my neck. Woof Woof

Firstly, i dont think there is anyone that wouldnt wish time to be turned back to save that beautiful little girl, or anyone that could even begin to imagine the pain that the family is going through.
How could anyone not expect this incident to not have recieved the publicity that it did? Never mind the breed of dog, never mind the circumstances, a beautiful little girl died, should we not be focusing on that a little? There are many dog attacks not covered by the media, but did they result in the death of a child?
I have two dogs, i love dogs, ALL dogs. Of course they can make lovely pets, any breed can. It is partly how they are handled and trained, i will agree with that. What we need to realise is any dog, no matter how lovely and docile, no matter how well trained, can snap.Just like any human, no matter how sweet and kind can loose their temper.But of course because thay are dogs we expect them to behave better than us?I think that compulsory training and handling courses for dog owners would be a help, then perhaps those that wanted a dog purely to leave outside to bark and growl with no care or attention will be put off and we would see a huge rise in responsible dog owners.Will it reduce dog attacks? Maybe. Like i have already said any dog can snap, however well trained.
The post mortem of this poor little girl has obviously now been done and as there has been nothing reported, i think we can assume there was no foul play involved, many people may have thought it, but perhaps as a mark of respect to the parents it would have been better to keep these opinions silent unless the results had shown evidence of foul play.
There is no blame here, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ did nothing but their jobs, reporting the news, whether they made the breed look bad or not, there has now been so much coverage of rottweilers people can read all the information and make decisions for themselves.
The dogs, well how can we lay blame with them, we dont know how they had been handled, or why they did it, any dog could have done it.No dog should be left alone with a child, but no one knew they were there so they hadnt been left alone with her.
The parents, left their baby alone for a minute in the safest possible place, her cot. They had no idea she was in danger, no parent would ever put their child in danger.
This was just a tragic, tragic accident.
So lets all stop complaining and finger pointing for a minute and focus on what is important here, that no one seems to be really thinking about. A beautiful little baby girl is gone, long before her time, lets just remember her for a minute, lets just think of the little angel. Lets get our priorities right.

When i was younger i was ravaged by a westie it tore chunks out of my leg and this was a family pet. Also when i was little i went to stroke a cross breed and it nearly ripped off my hand. I absoloutley love dogs despite what has happened, i currently own a rottweiler of 3 years now from a rescue center and she is well loved by everybody. i understand people may feel intimidated by these dogs, but at the end of the day it is down to the upbringing. I went to a campsite once for a weekend, set up tent with my family. The owner did not know my dog was a rottweiler. He came around to take my money and saw my dog, He went absoloutley mental: they are nasty dogs get off my site. At this time my dog was just laid on the grass looking at him. If anyone was nasty it was him. He made a family on bank holiday get off his site, just because he was so pathetic. He had obviously never owned a dog in his life. My rottweiler is superb, and i do trust her with babies she is well loved and knows it.

Rotwielers, dobermans and Bull terriers serve no purpose whatsoever in the hands of the civillian population.

Ironically the argument is a very similar one to allowing handguns or assault rifles.

Yes in the UK there are experienced dog owners who could repsonsibly bring up dogs of that type but they are exactly the sorts of people who wouldn't want them in the same way there are responsible gun owners who could be trusted with a AK47 but they too wouldn't want them becuase they would serve no purpose.

The point of the matter is if you are the sort of person who wants to own a rotwieler, a american pit bull terrier or a AK47 then by definition you are exactly the sort of person who shouldn't be allowed to own one.

And so these dogs just like AK47's should be banned.

Coincidently bulldogs should be banned also not becuase they are bred to be nasty but becuase they are bred so they cant breath and have visual/genetic problems, they are a freak of nature and sickening to see as they spend there entire lives suffering.

to sam (comment 34) the breeds you mention serve as much purpose as every other breed of dog, so hey, lets just ban them all!

P.S you should be banned from making ridiculous comments on such a sensitive topic.

To Sam

Your comments about bulldogs are, with respect, gratuitous, on this thread but demand a response.

I've had two bulldogs and it is a nonsense to say that their genetic issues make their lives miserable. Their faces are perpetually sad looking but this is just the way their face is structured and our bulldogs have been extremely happy animals. Our latest is just a puppy but our former bulldog used to just love to run miles and miles with us when we went horse riding - it is a complete misconception to assume that bulldogs are sad couch potatoes restricted by their genetic makeups.

Who ever the ppl are that made comments no 20 & 21 need to open there eyes and read a few facts before they comment on things that they obviously don't know much about. It is a known fact, if you provoke a dog or threaten a dog despite BREED, size, age, or gender they are most likely to attack! A lot of children don't know where the boundarys are, when playing with a dog, turns to tormenting a dog. It does NOT matter how nice or friendly a dog is or how many years its been brought up around children. A DOG SHOULD NEVER BE LEFT WITH A CHILD/CHILDREN UNSUPERVISED AT ANY TIME!! Especially very young children/babies. Every thing thats been in the papers over the past few months is tragic, but could of been prevented. Out of the thousands of rotties in the country a hand full every few years make mistakes, so the breed should be wiped out yes?
NO! With my job in the veterinary field I come in close contact with a lot of dogs of all breeds daily, the only thing I can be certain about is to always watch the dogs body language and behaviour, there is no way to otherwise predict an attack. I currently own 3 Rotties, two males and a bitch. They are regularly around babies and children of all ages and in that time I never take an eye off them and never leave there side, because you never know how a dog is going to percieve a situation. JUDGE THE DEED NOT THE BREED!

I have just brought a Rotti puppy, and i have also lost lots of friends and family because of their own prejudgments towards the breed. Some of them have been bitten by Jack Russels and other breeds, but they still say they are not coming round my house when i bring home my georgous "Romany", (7weeks old),yes i know she is going to get much bigger and stronger, yes, i know it will be hard work training her at puppy classes and getting her socialised with what family and friends i have left, and puppies are cute, but i done all my home work before i brought her, and most of what i read and was told was positive. I was quite annoyed when i took her to the vet, and got a "lecture" from them about the dangers of owning a Rotti, and ask how much i knew about them!!, i did wonder if anyone else got the same lecture about their breed?? I have two grandchildren and would NEVER put them at risk, this is why i am going to do my best for my family AND my dog. Some adults can be much more aggressive than dogs of any breed.....

i have read a few of the comments and couldnt agree more with most of them i have a gorgeous 2 year old rottie my sister has a 3 year old rottie bitch and my friend a 3 year old rottie dog. all are sooo soft and mine doesnt even bark if someone knocks on door thinks everyone is his friend,
we also have a bullmastiff who we got from dogs home he is lovely too but acts like a guard dog doesnt let people in the house unless we let them, so i strongly feel it is how the dog is brought up , with the bullmastiff he was found on the street and we dont know the background.

in short i have a rottie brought up from puppy, very soft he 2 now brought him up, and we have a bull mastiff we got him when he was 2 from dogs home he was found on the streets and we felt very sorry for him. he doesnt like people coming in the house or people walking past gate in the garden, so i strongly belive it is how the dog is brought up how they react with new people.
i agree with most people who have wrote comments on this exept for one idiot that said ban all dogs!!!!

I had a Jack Russell terrier, who was attacked two years ago by two Rottweilers. They were off their leads and grabbed my dog by the neck. I had to carry my dog, with large puncture wounds in his neck, to the vets.
He did not recover fully from the atack and although it didn't kill him immediately, he died several months later.
There was also another attack last week in my home town, where another Jack Russell was attacked.
I do believe that this breed of dog is dangerous, but I also believe that in most circumstances the owners are responsible.
Nothing was done about the attack on my dog, the dogs were not destroyed, or the owner repremanded or fined, as I would have preferred.
Some people who own these dogs are not capable of training them, or even restraining them if something should go wrong.
After all these recent attacks, surely there should be some change of legislation to ensure that this breed be kept on leads in public places, or perhaps muzzled if they are known to have attacked before, to ensure no more dogs, or people for that matter, get hurt.
I am an avid dog lover and would hate to see any more dogs, either attacked, or destroyed because they attacked.

My nephew of 6 years old was bitten on Saturday afternoon by a Doberman female dog, after he stroked her head, this dog lived in a house with an 18 month old child and other children.

My nephew has 8 stiches along his jaw and deep puncture marks on his cheek from this awful dog.

It has thank goodness been put down.

The ambulance driver said William was lucky !!

Our family has been traumatised by this he has just recovered from an major ear op and now has bandages along his jaw.

Without provacation this dog decided to bite one of my beloved nephews, why?

Should families house these dogs?

A warning should go out to families to not take a dogs nature for granted, for the sake of the children.

A distraught Auntie