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Dog Professionals have been having many conversations and debates recently about the XL Bully, the XXL Bully and other potentially dangerous breeds and what to do about them. Here are my thoughts for you to consider.

Many dog lovers are saying that every dog is good and it's not the dog's fault if they are aggressive, it's how you raise them. It's the nature, nuture debate again. I would argue, however, that how you raise a dog is critically important but it's not the most important aspect of this discussion. An enormous part of all this to consider is what they are genetically and what they were and are bred to do.

There are many different breeds of dog developed for different reasons depending on what we want them for. The categories you will see at Crufts, for example, are Working, Gun, Utility, Toy, Hound, Pastoral and Terrier.

Let's go through that list so you can see how it all works. Working breeds such as German Shepherds are bred to guard or to be search and rescue dogs. Gun dogs (sometimes known as the sporting group) such as the Cocker Spaniel were originally bred to work to the gun, whether that's finding and flushing out, retrieving game from a shoot or both. Utility dogs, such as the Standard Poodle, are breeds that do not fit into another breed group. Incidentally, Standard Poodles were originally bred to be water retrievers. Toy dogs such as the Bichon Frise were bred to be companion dogs. The Hound, such as the Greyhound was bred for their sense of smell or sight and were used for hunting either by giving chase or sniffing out their prey. Pastoral breeds such as the Border Collie were bred for herding and working with livestock on farms. Finally, the Terrier such as the Jack Russell, was originally bred for pest control.

All of the breeds in these groups were bred for a purpose. You can probably see where I am going with this. The XL Bully is not a breed of dog but rather a mixture of breeds. Traditionally, this was a mixture of the already banned Pitbull Terrier and the American Bulldog with some English Bulldog thrown in for good measure. Sadly, some people wanting enormous fierce looking imposing dogs decided in their infinite wisdom to throw in the Presa Canario and the Cane Corso to the mix making it a formidable canine in anyone's book. In my opinion this is a complete genetic disaster.

Many of the people that own this type of dog are not interested in the dog's health or wellbeing. They are not interested in having a safe family pet. Many are interested, however, in making large sums of money by selling dogs that are huge, look 'badass' and are genetically pre-disposed to aggression. These dogs often live in pain as they are bred to be as large and heavy as possible with no forethought into reduced exercise as they are growing. This may mean that their growth plates haven't formed properly causing them pain. The growth plates are the soft areas at the ends of the long bones in pups. Their job is to be filled with cells that allow the pup's bones to become longer and dense. The cells work by dividing themselves until they fill the growth plate and this can take until the dog is 18 months to 2 years of age but it may take longer in a massive dog like the Bully . Any dog in pain can become aggressive never lone a 10 stone one that's a mixture of guarding and banned breeds.

This situation is a ticking time bomb that has already started to explode. Many, and by no means all of these dogs, are in the hands of people who want them as a status symbol. They will never take the time to research and understand what they are buying as they don't really care. You may as well hand them an AK47. They walk these dogs off lead with little understanding of how to control what they have on their hands. And before I get hundreds of replies to this post saying they own or know an amazing XL Bully that is gorgeous, lovable and wouldn't hurt a fly, I do understand and I am aware that lots of these dogs can be nice and some of them have been well 'cross' bred. However, unless we start cracking down on the breeders of such dogs and putting consequences on them, and the people that then own them, and for those that allow their dogs to attack innocent people, it will just continue.

If you want to own a potential lethal weapon then you must be held accountable for that dog. Many irresponsible Bully owners want a particular 'line'. Those in the know will know of the line I am talking about. Here's some examples of accountability in other breeds. You wouldn't put an untrained Border Collie in a field of sheep would you? You would put a sight hound in the middle of a field of running rabbits. You wouldn't expect a Bichon Frise to turn into a mountain rescue dog. I could go on but I am sure you get the point. This problem is repeated time and time again and as a qualified Dog Trainer I find it's a huge problem when owners innocently chose the wrong breed of dog for their lifestyle or personality. These owners have to work extra hard to make things work well for them because they didn't do their research or because perhaps they thought the 8-week old puppy looked really cute and hadn't considered what happens when it reaches adolescence, and doesn't look cute anymore.

If you want to own an XL Bully, a large, heavy potentially dangerous dog, then you must handle them with care and put the work into getting them trained with a specialist. When the new legislation comes in you will need to learn how to safely condition your dog to wear a muzzle and walk on a lead. On my website, K9 Ventures, I have a 'what to buy page' where you will find yellow products the lets others know that your dog needs space. There are leads, harnesses and coats, some of which have panic alarms attached. There are stickers to put on your wheelie bin or car to warn people and there are slips to go over your own lead advising people to keep their distance, do not touch, beware blind dog or caution deaf dog. You can wear the products yourself in the form of T-shirts, vests and hoodies. And on the brighter side there's enrichment products such as rubber treat dispensers, licky mats and slow feeder bowls. All of these are brilliant for those dogs with restricted exercise regimes. You may also need to hire a paddock or secure field in the future a few times a week so that your dog can run around and have some freedom. This is what responsible dog owners will do.

Rishi Sunak has announced that the American XL Bully will be banned in the UK by the end of the year after a spate of serious sometimes fatal attacks. I for one am not sure whether this is the answer but I understand that the government has to do something about this situation and they don't know what else to do. My worry is that if they are banned the people that are irresponsible will go on to find another mix of breed they can use as an assault weapon and the list of banned breeds will grow in the future. Perhaps an alternative answer is to make the owners XL Bullies, or any aggressive dog for that matter, accountable for their dog's actions. If a dog hurts or even kills a person, shouldn't we be blaming the owner and not the dog? Wouldn't this all have a better outcome if those owners went to prison and served a long sentence as if they had committed the attack or murder themselves? If the dog is destroyed after an attack, and nothing but a fine is given to the owner, what's to stop the owner going out the next day and buying another dog? Just some thoughts to ponder on. Written by Karen Beauchamp. Copyright 2023 ©

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