i've got little "rat dogs" (for what it's worth, it's spelt chihuahua!) - they're actually Chi cross. they are the most beautiful natured dogs. we also have a cattle dog (used to have four) and they have been trained very well so behave beautifully - i have no issue with having them around kids at all. the one we have left now, Jack, we mostly keep chained when other people are around now - not that he's a dangerous animal, but he's older, and starting to think he's a puppy again so gets very jumpy around other people which can be frightening.

i don't have any issue with people having dogs taht are well looked after and well trained. i can't walk my dogs outside our yard though as there is a black staffy around that is NOT trained or controlled at all, and will attack other animals at every opportunity. it saddens me, esp given this dog was responsible for the death of one of our rabbits! i don't blame the dog - i blame the owners for not being responsible owners!

my dogs have been attacked by people being unable to control their own dogs in the past, when living in another town - a very boisterous lab, which didn't hurt them just scared them, and a doberman - this one peeved me big time - the owner, instead of admitting she was unable to control her dog, said "well if you had real dogs instead of rats..." hmmmm. if i'd had an uncontrolled larger dog like hers, rather than a well controlled pair of "rats" that i literally picked up by their leads (they use harnesses, not collars) it could have been very nasty!

pet ownership (no matter the breed) - means being responsible and having your pet trained and ensuring it is safe to be around. i tend to discourage children from being even with my little dogs unless there is an adult there - my girls are used to kids being around, but are shy and will hide until they get comfy with the people they're with - most younger kids will try to get them to come out of hiding - and this is where it poses a threat of them turning nasty out of fear (they haven't yet, but it's something i watch for all the time). having said that, i say the same about my cat! he's not used to kids and does get very upset at being harrassed so i tell the kids to let him come to them - don't pursue him cos he'll just hide!


sorry - lotsa waffle there! our next dog will probably be a purebred kelpie or a blue heeler. we DO live in town, but DH works with cattle and used to train dogs for working when he was breeding huntaway/kelpie cross pups. he wants to train one as a protective dog for around here seeing he's away so much, and one to take with him in the truck. he takes a long time to pick dogs based on personality of the parents and of the pup though so i trust him to make sure our dogs are safe for us...