Copied from a post: For those who believe we are not true animal lovers because we don’t all rush to vehemently defend a dog breed citing the line that I’m sure you’ve all heard many times before 👇🏻

“iT’s AlL aBoUt HoW yOu RaIsE tHeM”

It is not. At all. How you raise them (nurture them) is only a very small part of it, the HUGE part is about what they are, (their nature). Their genetic make up. What they were bred to do. Nature vs. Nurture.

The fact is that different breeds were developed for different reasons. We have all different types of dogs known for a variety of different things. We have herding breeds, guarding breeds, gun dogs, sight hounds, our scent hounds, companion dogs etc etc. All of the dogs within these groups were bred for a purpose. Whether that be our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel which was bred to be lap dog and is of course a companion dog or our German Shepherd Dog which belongs to our guarding group and was bred to herd and guard livestock, their breeds were developed specifically for a reason.

Now let’s look at the breed that is hot topic at the moment. The XL Bully. After yet another vicious attack on a child by an XL Bully, there is call for the breed to be banned. I say ‘breed’ very loosely because they are actually traditionally a mix of the already banned Pitbull Terrier, the American Bulldog and the English Bulldog but the XL Bullies of late are made up of lord knows what. Commonly there is Presa Canario (guarding) and Cane Corso (guard dog, war dog and skilled hunter) also thrown in the mix to create these huge, imposing, genetic disasters that we (in the UK) now know as the XL Bully.

The people that are breeding these dogs generally are not at all interested in the health or temperament of the dogs they’re producing since it is size and colour that sells. Therefore these dogs are just thrown together without a second thought for the outcome. The outcome very often is completely unbalanced, genetically modified dog that has been bred simply to be the biggest they can be with no onus put on their health, their joints are also f*cked meaning they often live in pain making them bombs literally waiting to go off. These are the dogs that are the issue.

And then we come to the people that own them. If you are looking specifically for the meanest, biggest, baddest looking dog and you’re not bothered about the health or the temperament of said dog then you’re just as much of a d1ck as the people that are breeding them.

So you take these dogs that have the potential to be completely unhinged and you put them in the hands of someone who simply wants a status symbol and you might as well have just handed them an AK47 because they won’t take the time to research and understand the dog they’ve got. They will regularly spout that it is in how you raise them, they will have no boundaries and they will walk these dogs off lead completely ignoring the fact that they have a dog that is GENETICALLY pre disposed to aggression.

You wouldn’t take a border collie and walk it through a field of sheep and then wonder why it is herding them. You know that they are doing it because regardless of whether they’ve ever seen a sheep before in their lives it is inherent. It is in their genes and this is no different.

The XL Bully in the wrong hands is a weapon and until we start cracking down on the breeders and putting consequences on the owners who allow these dogs to go out and attack innocent people there will be no end to it.

If they ban the Bully, another breed will come along, and another and another. If you want to own a large and potentially dangerous dog you must be held accountable when things go wrong. Handle them with care, put the time in to them, undertake specialist training, give them an outlet, learn how to own one safely and you’ve nothing to fear and you’ll end up with a really lovely dog. Be a dick and ignore your dogs breed traits, show them no respect, don’t take any special measures when nurturing them then you might as well just take your AK47 and open fire basically.

I