Opinions about people with status dogs (bull type dogs)

[toffena]

Hi everyone,
Some of this has been asked and answered before but I thought it might be interesting to have another debate about this. I'm considering doing a study about people who own these breeds of dogs and need as much information as possible.
I've seen the discussion on the BBC Panorama documentary about dog fighting and I'm preparing myself to watch it online tonight.
I've also seen discussions about "chavs with their dogs" and think this is really interesting.
Do you think that chavs more often than not own these types of dogs? If so, what kind of a person would you describe as a chav?
What do you think the reasons are for owning a breed of dog like this?
Thanks!

[toffena]

I completely agree with you about not generalising across breeds. And nor do I agree that any bull type dog is vicious and out to get any human being that crosses its path.
The only reason why I've targeted bull dogs is because whether we like it or not they seem to be portrayed as the type of dog that would be owned by people involved in criminal activity.
Like you say, it could just be poor human breeding and handling.

[lankeela]

I can certainly vouch for George being a big softy - although I wouldn't like to wake up with him on the bed in the morning! Maybe now the KC have changed the name of the GSD perhaps they will consider changing the name of the 'Mastiff' to either 'English Mastiff' or 'Old English Mastiff' to differentiate this noble breed from the generic term used to describe any big dog involved in any sort of incident.

[thugulike]

I would welcome a change to English Mastiff. When we're out and about everyone wants to know what breed he is. When we say 'mastiff' they say, " oh a bull mastiff", and we have to say, no he's an english mastiff. Maybe, one day we too will have a name change like the GSDs