14/01/2023
This is the second professional dog person to be killed by a dog. A third was attacked and survived. All within a year. People - even my own family think I'm over the top when it comes to safety around dogs. - I love dogs so much - but I respect them and know that they can switch back to being wolves in a micro second - even if they are fluffy and pretty.
below is a recent article I posted
I predict further horrific attacks by the American Bulldog (Bully) in the UK – Here’s why
This week saw a 65 year old women killed by five American Bulldogs – the attack took place at breeders home in Liverpool – The breeder ‘Leo’s Bullys’ put this in google advert for his kennel.
From Leo’s Bullys
“Own and breed xL American bullys of the best bloodlines in the world, all dosg are brought up around children well behaved loving members of the family”
This week’s incident is the latest in a line of fatal attacks by American Bullys
August 2022 – A 34-year man - dog trainer – was mauled to death in a park in Fareham, Hampshire.
July 2022 – A 43-year-old women was killed by a Bully xl at her home with her boyfriend receiving life changing injuries during the attack.
May 2022 – A 62 year old man was attacked by his daughter-in-law’s American Bully in Wrexham. He suffered a cardiac arrest and died at the scene.
March 2022 – A 17 month old child dies in hospital after being attacked by an American Bully in St. Helens, Merseyside.
December 2021 - A fifty-year old – owner of a dog rescue home is killed by a Bully XL in Dundee.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show a disturbing increase in the number of dogs attacks. In 2020, 1,700 children were injured. In England and Wales between 2013 and 2019 twenty-two people were killed by dogs.
I must stress that any breed of dog has the potential to attack humans. Also, all breeds can be fantastic, loving, amazing friends - even the American Bully.
Back in the 90’s I trained one of the first Pit Bull terriers in the UK. His name was Red . He was super clever. I could teach him anything. He had great obedience, was great at agility and was affectionate. But his power and strength struck me. I knew you had to keep a handle on his behaviour - you didn’t want him to get too hyped up by playing a tug-of-war game.
Pit Bull terriers are now subject to the Dangerous Dogs Act. Effectively they’re a banned breed. But I know there are many breeds out there that have the potential to be as dangerous - if not more so - than the Pit Bull.
The Pit Bull terrier was ultimately banned because of the type of owners that were taking them on - owners that had the dogs for themselves - not for the love of dogs. These owners didn’t understand just how dangerous a powerful dog can potentially be - owners with little or no experience.
Some Pit Owners were criminals who gained a small and dangerous amount of knowledge – How to train their dogs to do the same sort of work as a police dog - attacking a human on command.
They didn’t realise they were creating monsters they couldn’t control - the same monsters they’d have on the floor with their children or walking around the playground. Of course, it all went badly wrong. We can’t blame the breed for that.
Today, very much the same thing is happening with the American Bully. Only the situation is much worse and on a greater scale. It’s a situation that will lead to an increasing number of fatal dog attacks. A YouTube channel called ‘UK Bully Report’ features what are called “Bully Meet up” - Ad Hock Bully dog shows held in local parks close to children’s play areas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJe1g5ZoPoE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WChFrPJ0tuw
The 'meet ups’ are an area of a concern. As an expert in dog training and handling, I notice that the majority of the dogs aren’t listening to their handlers. They’re allowed to pull and hard on a chain lead with some struggling to stop the dog pulling them in any direction it wants to go. In my opinion, the attitude of the handlers and breeders at these events is all wrong. They appear to be inexperienced. They’re using the wrong type of leads and collars and are more concerned about how their dogs look than the overall temperament. In many cases it’s all about how the dog make them look.
In the following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPEWyMeUX50 a Bully breeder delivers a puppy to another breeder in Liverpool called ‘Arnds Yard’. A quick look at his
Instagram I came across this picture.
Encouraging dogs to play a tug-of-war game is risky and can be very dangerous especially with a large dog a like an American bully. It’s a game that can be developed very easily to teach a dog to bite a human. It how the police would start with a new dog. I discourage my clients from doing this – whatever the breed.
At their core, all dogs are the same; a discovery made about ten years ago, by a Swedish geneticist, Erik Axellsson. His research confirmed that the DNA of ALL dogs is 99.9 percent the same as that of a Gray Wolf. The DNA is so close it means every dog is exactly the same species as the Gray Wolf. It’s only that 0.1 percent that evolved over thousands of years that has led to the vast array of different dog types we see today.
Incredibly, that tiny bit of DNA also has given dogs the ability to read humans emotionally at a level that's unmatched by any other animal. They are born with an ability to understand human body language in a way their closest relative - the wolf cannot. In fact, they understand humans in a way that even our closest ancestor, the chimpanzee, cannot do.
The relationship between dogs and humans has made canines the most successful mammal on the planet. But this also means dogs need and seek guidance from humans. They feel safe, confident, and happy when we are fit guardians. But if this leadership is lacking, undesirable wolf like behaviours soon surface. The wolf in every dog is never very far away.
Some dog owners don’t like to think about this. Man seems to have an inherent fear of Wolves. We are taught from a young age that a Wolf might stalk you in the woods as you stroll to granny’s house. If I was to breed a miniature poodle and a Wolf the result would be a litter of Powos and here in the UK, they’d all be subject to the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Now Imagine a family with children taking on an American Bully XL to live in their family home. It’s a dog with size and strength, that is no match even for a pack of wolves. - yet is far more intelligent than its ancestor. Like all dogs, it will sit in the home and work out the weaknesses and strengths of every family member. It will know everybody’s emotional state and even their health status. However, unless the owners of this new dog have been around a lot of dogs and worked with them, they won’t be able to read the dog in the same way it’s able to check them out.
It sounds like a horror film scene - A super powerful, highly intelligent animal sitting on the family’s sofa - reading them like a book with the ability to kill anyone of them with just one bite. The family is oblivious to the dangers and thinks they understand the dog and know what it is thinking and feeling. This is a real scenario happening right now somewhere in the UK with an American Bully XL – This is why we will see another death at the jaws of an American Bully.
I read dogs almost as well as they can work me out.
In the past I’ve had to tell potential clients the uncomfortable truths about their dog. The fact that their dog could potentially bite them or a stranger. Some don’t see or believe what I’m telling them and sadly my prediction comes true.
MPs will, I am sure, will call for the Dangerous Dogs Act to be strengthened, and for the American Bully to be added to the list of dangerous dogs. But I don’t think banning a breed is the answer. I firmly believe we should toughen up legislation around the ownership of ALL breeds. I would also like to see the dog licence re-introduced with owners being vetted - a home inspection - and possibly a simple on-line exam before owning a dog. We also need to educate dog owners - far too many simply don’t understand the potential for things to go very wrong - with any dog.
Far too many don’t understand their own dog. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard people shout, “It’s OK, he’s friendly” when their dog is out of control in the park. My vast experience with over a thousand dogs often tells me otherwise.
In my experience, 99.9 percent of dog owners cannot handle a dog when things go wrong. When things go bad with a Bichon, it will not make headlines. A mistake with a dog like a Bully will always be nasty.
Daniel Markham
Dogs Behaving Pawfectly
Central Kingdom takes a road trip to Liverpool with Compton Kennels to deliver a puppy to one of the original American Bully breeders in the UK, Arnds Yard.
