I once read a comment from a police officer familiar with break-ins and burglaries. He said he'd never seen a house broken into where a dog was present, regardless of the size of the beast. Personally I wouldn't hang my security hat on that.

Of course not...but does surprise me that my 4lbs dog prefers to run around and play with a dozen or so very large 70/100lbs dogs...than smaller dogs.

Well if you had the choice would you break in to a house with or without a dog?
I always joke that my two dogs, Newfie and Saint would help them carry our stuff out of the house but I do wonder what they would really do.

They are refusing to drink out of the water bowl the Rottweiler drank out of! Bizarre! They think about these things more than we give them credit!

I like dog parks though I recognize the health risk, through disease, entailed. The one in Buffalo NY is lovely; beside the lake, a big area, large and small dog pens. There's certainly a concern though that, if two rocket dogs zoom off to a far corner and then start fighting, there's very little one can do about it. I think you have to look at the owners before deciding if this is a good day to run the dog or not.

The one time I took my dog to a dog park here in Toronto she got kennel cough. Never again.

It's too cold in Buffalo for germs to live.

Or just the recording of one.

I was looking for the "Caution, I live here" dog sign but I found this instead.

OMG! Nikki, this is awful. How is he today?

My friend has a pit/lab mix and an amstaff/pit mix and she adores them. However they do have leash aggression and they have gone at it together for no apparent reason once now.
I have a lab husky mix whos very nervous (hes a rescue) and so I do not allow him to be surrounded by small kids. If they come to the house I remove him. I don't think any dog is 100% reliable to never bite.


I would hate to have to go through this, kudos to him for his calm behaviour.

He's been great. Remained very calm and doesn't seem to be traumatized. I can't get over how instinctively he did the right thing. So proud of him.

I agree about keeping nervous dogs away from small kids. Your dogs are lovely and never worried me. My instinct was not to look after these dogs but son and husband said it would be fine. They've agreed to listen to me now!!

I sometimes leave this playing

A disturbing post.
I have two small grandchildren, 4 and 6. Kids behave stupidly at the best of times but they don't bite. Even so I try to keep an eye on them to make sure that they keep themselves and others safe.
I despair and am terrified of dogs whose owners act to put others at risk and I wonder whether they understand the stress they put me to when unleashed dogs are in the same space as my small children.
I know there will be owners out there who will announce that their pet is completely safe and wouldn't hurt a fly but I don't know that. An excitable dog off the leash, friendly though he might be, turns my grey hair white and turns what should be a carefree moment into a torment.
My daughter has a staffordshire terrier. I have taken it for many walks including the local park. It has never been off the leash.

When I lived in England I rarely walked my dog on leash. She would wander along sniffing around and saying hello to people.
When I moved to Canada I was shocked at how it was expected that my dog should be on leash at all times.
But then I started working for animal control and it all made sense. Now I'm a fervent supporter of the requirement for a dog to be leashed!! I have seen and heard many bad stories and spoken to many terrified people and I now realize that it's selfish to walk your dog off leash no matter how "nice" you say your dog is.

There are leash laws in Red Deer, but not RD County as far as we can tell. I walk my pair on leash, too worried they would go, they are generally really good but once in a while they will give me a look í ½í¸’and take off, any recall they usually have flies out the window, however two of out three neighbour's let their dogs roam free. Next door has a mastiff great Dane cross, who took a dislike to Henry on day one, he has also cornered Mr P in our yard. Luckily now he runs home when he sees us walking. The owners have little control over him at times.

I don't entirely agree with that statement. One could say you are in a position of knowledge, yes, one could also say that you are very experienced in bad dogs, dogs which are causing problems to the degree that Animal Control are called. That I fear is perhaps giving you a somewhat slanted view on things. I did the same as you, I wandered down the lanes with the assortment of dogs with no leads, no issues- we lived in rural areas. Here, I do walk Stinky on a leash as it is in a Provincial Park and we have to. Also, he might wander off piste and get bitten by a rattlesnake which at the minimum would cost us a fortune. He had however been to training after he came here and I have very good control of him. I feel that I am a responsible dog owner, I pick up after him and respect the other park users, including wildlife.

There are dogs, which you won't have encountered as an Animal Control Officer, owned by responsible dog owners who have control such as myself. Of course it bugs me when I see irresponsible owners (note I don't blame the dog per se) letting their dogs run free out of control. The 5 Rotties I described are amazingly well controlled and are clearly off lead. When away from the fields and woods in town they are.

As for answers, I don't have any easy ones. I don't think banning is easy, all dogs are dangerous, obviously some more than others. I think that Pit bulls have a perhaps well deserved aura of menace with expats here as they have been banned for eons. You could argue ban the dogs from a list similar to the Dangerous Dogs Act, that would make sense. But then you have the Mastiffs, Rotties, Staffies, English Bull Terrier, Malamutes, GSDs, Malinoires, Akitas, Huskies , and many more ... again, I ask , would you ban them all?

Dog owners are key to this, they I would agree have a more laissez faire in Canada which increases risks but a fair proportion of attacks are especially in the owners or neighbours homes/ gardens when leashes are not used. I personally would agree to a similar legislation to the Dangerous Dogs act in the UK but wouldn't support inclusion of any of the breeds above. (Pit Bulls excepted). I would also not support your call for compulsory leashes. Then would there be a call to muzzle all dogs?

I absolutely support responsible dog ownership, responsible dog breeding, both are key to the safer public. If breeders were reputable, they would very closely vet the prospective owners, just like my Rottie lady does like they are her babies. Shut down the puppy farms, thereby stopping the churning out of defective and dubiously bred and likely more unpredictable dogs.

As I say I walk with Stinky on a leash but he is trained and controlled off it (not just because he is old and knackered)- there are responsible other dog owners who do likewise.
There are no rights or wrongs, I just thought that I would give a further dollop of my thoughts