Hi There,

Firstly I think i should introduce myself! My name is Poppy and i am the proud owner of a 2 year old beautiful female Whippet x Staffy. I have been looking for a doggy forum based in the UK for a while and this one seems to tick all the boxes! friendly (most importantly) and informative! (I have been on yahoo answers for a while and i have been struggling with the silly or aggressive comments most users send)

My First Post is quite random question really. I am currently studying Film and Media at University in my third year and as it was a 10,000 word essay i had to pick something that i could handle doing for long amounts of time! My obvious choice was doing something on dogs but obviously i have to relate it to media and film also.

I am currently in my first stages and have made up an initial question to start my research on which is :-


I would be really really grateful if anyone could give me there opinions, suggestions, facts, references, films etc on this subject. As i am in the intital stages my research is all over the place and i thought getting other dog owners opinions would be helpful!

Thank you for your time!

Poppy

Certain breeds of dogs are represented badly in the media, such as staffies, pit bulls, all bull breeds in fact. Almost every week there is an attack by a bull breed in the newspaper, and they use catching headlines like devil dog, savaged, etc, which can change people's perceptions on bull breeds. Many people now are either scared of bull breeds or want to ban them, along with the other four banned breeds in the UK under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa, and the Fila Brazileiro.

There are also films about dogs, such as 101 Dalmations and Lassie. Such breeds have been bought purely based on the film and these breeds have suffered (eg Dalmation). People only buy the dog based on its looks and they don't research the breed and how it will fit into their lifestyle, which saw many dalmations put into rescue following the film release.

In a survey at Discover Dogs last month, one in five dog owners said that celebrity dog breeds, films and television influenced their breed choice. and 49% of owners said that the media influenced their opinion on which breeds were good or bad.
Celebs make native dog breeds vulnerable, say Kennel Club | Horse and Country TV website

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RIP David xx Run free at the bridge. Love you always xx 19th February 2011
RIP Jack and Mickey xx Run free at the bridge. Love you forever xx 20th June 2011

Thank you! that was very helpful! :-)

Hi, have a wee search on the forum I am sure someone was researching into the influence films have on popular breeds ie rise in litter numbers in dalmatians the year the film came out and huskies with snow dogs etc, might be of help?


I think the media has a lot to answer for when it comes to the publics idea of a certain breed, staffies for instance, there are thousands and thousands of staffies out there, and obviosuly the media wont report on the well behaved ones, so when your average joe public reads about them attacking, it is much much easier to get a bad idea of them... they have pretty much stopped being nicknamed 'nanny dogs' and IMO it is alot to do with the bad press.

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From what I understood from my research some time ago, the rottweiler reputation was caused by a single film.
Years back they were relatively rare, kept by people with a real love of the breed. Then came the Omen, with rottweiler "devil dogs" and suddenly every numpty wanted one as an ego extension. I believe their popularity increased considerably following the film - with the wrong sort of people - the combination of which led to their portrayal in the media as savage, demonic child killers.

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"For all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams it is still a beautiful world"

'101 Dalmatians' -
ONE small registered non-profit breed-rescue in Florida alone was drowned by 300 incoming dogs in a matter
of 2 or 3 months; previously they had seen fewer than 100 in a year's time. [they had to declare bankruptcy.]
multiply that by 50 states, and the massive total-effect is inconceivable.

'Snow Dogs' -
Huskies are cute puppies and handsome dogs; they are also NOT easy pet-dogs in pet-homes -
and have various health issues.

'Beethoven': Saints have their own issues: sh*tty knees and hips and elbows, huge size, OBESITY which exacerbates joint issues,
heavy shedding, allergies, temperament problems which began 1965 to 1975, increasingly brachycephalic faces
[with stenotic-nares and sinus stenosis, exercise intolerance, heavy snoring from occluded airways, overheating
+ possible heat-stroke,...]- slobber, a lake around the water-bowl ---
big dogs, BIG vet-bills, BIG problems.

'Hootch':
Dogue de Bourdeaux, joint issues, TEMPERAMENT - this is a guarding breed, stranger intolerance is normal -
not "wrong"; extensive and intensive socialization THRU their 2nd year, plus maintenance lifelong, is imperative
for reliably social DDBs; Obesity causes all sorts of health issues, DROOL is enormous.

'Frazier':
JRTs / Parson-Russell terriers are not inherently adorable, easily trained, or malleable pets;
they are TERRIERRRISTS - the single most-reactive and most-aggro group of breeds; JRTs make Rotties + Akitas look mild,
it is only their average 12#-weight that makes them possible to keep in pet-homes - not 'advisable', possible.
* they bark - be prepared to re-train this from day-1, not by punishing but by teaching ON [speak] and OFF [hush].
* they are dog-reactive if not dog-aggro; they start fights they cannot hope to finish; they are * instigators *.
* they are readily bored, need loads of exercise and heaps of enrichment.
* health issues: knees, elbows, obesity ruining joints, allergies, eyes, skin...

Moose was returned to the shelter by his 11th home at less than 12-MO; he was to be euthed.
he has NO TEETH above the gumline; he ground them down to nothing on bricks, cinder-block, cyclone-fence,
and other barriers, trying to escape from yards, pens, and houses.
he's highly-motivated, well-exercised, happy, has a job he loves; WHAT's his sign he's finished filming for the day?
he trots to the nearest furniture, cocks his leg, spritzes it, and trots off the set. U wanna live with that attitude?
terriers were developed to corner, fight and kill burrowing animals, often 3-times their size, In The Dark,
like fox, badgers, groundhogs, etc, and to kill rodents and other pests; one famous ratter killed over 300 rats
in a public-contest in a matter of minutes. Jacks and other Terrierrrists kill cats, every year - even housemates.
pocket-pets?! forget it; the kiddy's hamster, gerbil or bunny is 'lunch', and herps, snakes, etc, are not safe either.
birds? terrierrrists scare them to death; the barking, jumping, trying to reach the cage, etcetera, can stress them terribly.

behavior is extremely important to success with an individual-dog or that breed; breed traits matter enormously.
- terry

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terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

Plenty of breed bias in news media.

http://nationalcanineresearchcouncil...arazzincrc.pdf


Denver Columnist confirms media bias in over-reporting stories about 'pit bulls' - KC DOG BLOG

Media Bias - Pit Bulls, Dog Bites, Dog Breed Define Coverage, by Ms. Jade, TheDogPress Reporter 0607