Okay, I decided to post SOME of the dogs I worked with (I worked with well over 1000 dogs in my time)
A quick explanation: I was head of a section filled with dogs that are called "Status Dogs", which means dogs that are seized by the police. In the UK, we have four illegal breeds (Pitbull, Tosa Inu [Japanese Mastiff], Fila Brasiliero [Brazilian Mastiff], Dogo Argentino [Argentine Mastiff]).
I mostly worked with Pitbulls, Pitbull types, Mastiffs, German Shepherds, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Mixed breeds in my department. I did have a few others in, but those were the main,
A Status Dog had many different reasons for coming to me; the main being that it was an illegal breed. We also had aggressive dogs that had attacked people and the other was "Dangerously out of control in a public place".
I'll post some pictures with a little background below, most are status dogs, but I did work with other dogs as well, so I'll put some of them up, too.
Also, we didn't always have the dogs named, so I named some of them (You'll see that I went through a Flinstones era lol. We had a LOT of dogs to name)
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KEY:
PTS - Put to sleep.
Breed/Aggressive?/Reason/Outcome
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Sorry for the long intro! Let's get it!
ALSO This will probably be long, reading it isn't necessary to the story. I just get carried away lol.
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BETTY [We named]
Boxer x Mastiff/Very Aggressive/Owner was using her as a weapon/PTS
Betty was a funny one. It took quite a lot of time for her to get to know and like a person. I was there when she was brought in and everyone was scared of her, so I was the one who went into her kennel straight away to put a collar on her. She loved me.
I did not trust her as far as I could throw her, and I couldn't even pick her up. I would never enter her kennel without treats. I did muzzle train her and teach her to sit, but that's as much as I could do. To be honest, I didn't really want to spend much time in her kennel due to how aggressive she was. However, I did give her lots of treats, toys and enrichment and she was happy without pets. She wasn't one who wanted attention.
If she didn't like you, she would try to rip your throat out - that is not an exaggeration.
She lost her court case, which as horrible as it sounds, was much safer for everybody out in public.
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BUCK [His original name]
Mixed Bull Breed/Non-Aggressive (mostly)/Dangerously out of control and had bitten/Went back to owner
Buck was a good boy. I only saw aggression in him once and I looked after him for a very long time. Years. He was brought in as a stray at first and despised the dog warden - meaning that he really wanted to kill him. I had to get him out of the van. With everybody else, he was a loving puppy dog. He was so gentle and cuddly, I loved him so much! His owner came forward and he went home, but returned a few weeks later as a status dog, with his "sister".
When I say this dog was gentle, I could have put my arm down his throat and he would still be okay with it. He was scared of cameras and phones and was so gentle. He never jumped up but he loved cuddles.
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DINO [We named]
Pitbull x Labrador/Non-Aggressive/Illegal breed/Back to Owner
I swear to God if any of you are thinking of mixing a Labrador and a Pitbull, I'm coming to your house to slap you. Out of all the pit/lab crosses I've worked with, this one is the most memorable. He was so friendly and loving (He was only a puppy) BUT his ENERGY LEVELS jfc nobody could keep up with him. He would destroy anything you gave him within seconds and he was so, so hyper and had bad manners.
This dog actually tore the ligaments and cartilage in my knee so badly that I had to have surgery and spent one and a half years on crutches. But, I still loved him, despite him being a huge pain in the butt (knee).
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Fred [We named]
Staffordshire Bull Terrier/Non-Aggressive/Brought in cause his brother was aggressive/PTS
The story of this boy still makes me sad. He was not an illegal breed and he had done nothing wrong, yet he was brought into us and after a year of court cases, was put to sleep. All because the system is unfair. Fred was so friendly to anybody who walked into my section. He was so gentle and only wanted cuddles. When I walked dogs from my section, I had them muzzled (for obvious reasons as well as muzzle training) but I never muzzled him. He was both dog and people friendly and I loved him so much. It still upsets me when I think of him.
He was the goodest of all boys.
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Barney [We named]
Staffordshire Bull Terrier/Non-Aggressive/Had bitten people/PTS
Barney was Fred's brother. His story makes me sad, too. He was brought in because he had bitten a child and a policeman. However, before you judge, he was an absolute nervous wreck. He would just sit in the corner of his kennel and shake. He wouldn't look at us or wag his tail or interact with us at all, he was so terrified. After a while of hard work (scared dogs are the most difficult to befriend), Barney became a happy bouncy boy who loved everyone and was a nightmare to go in the kennel with. He would jump up and scratch your legs while trying to lick your face. We never once saw any aggression.
We never judged a dog based on its bite history, because we didn't know all the details. But we knew that Barney was a good boy and something really bad must have happened for him to bite, as he didn't even try to bite any of us or the vet even once.
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Bully [Came with the name]
Mastiff cross/Non-Aggressive/Not a status dog/Rehomed
My baby boy Bully. He was NOT a status dog, he was a stray, but I'm including him because I loved him. He was twice the size of me and was a GIANT baby. Literally, he was only a puppy.
He loved EVERYBODY and every dog and anything that breathed. Once, when I was walking him, an aggressive dog off the lead ran at him and attacked him, hanging off his lip. HE DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE!!! Another time, we were walking past a playground, and he was so busy watching the kids and wanting to join them that he walked into a pole so hard that it actually shook and went CLANG.
He went to live on a farm and they changed his name to Stilton.
He also once cracked my rib by jumping up at me (I was his favourite and I hadn't seen him in a while. My friend told me off for being stupid lol).
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GIZMO [His original name I think]
Bull Mastiff/Non-Aggressive/Dangerously out of control in a public place/PTS
Gizmo was a nightmare, not going to lie. He was very friendly. Too friendly. He humped. But the issue with his humping, was that he was bigger than me by about double, and he would bite the back of your neck to keep you in place. He never got me, because I was too good at dealing with him, but he got a friend and absolutely shredded her with his nails. Apart from that, he was good with people. Also, he had this weird tuft of fur on one side of the top of his head that was all fuzzy. It was cute.
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GRIPPER [Oiginal Name]
Pitbull/Non-Aggressive/Illegal Breed/Back to owner
Gripper was a big gentle baby. I really loved this dog, he was so calm and loving. However, it was obvious his owner didn't want him to LOOK like his ACTUAL PERSONALITY because they named him GRIPPER and he came in with a collar with THREE INCH SPIKES on it.
He was super people friendly, though and very well trained. I muzzle trained him in about ten minutes with no problem at all. He was extremely... EXTREMELY dog aggressive though. The marks on his face are not from a dog fight, they are from what we discovered was a chicken allergy.
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AXL [We named]
Staffordshire Bull Terrier/[Mostly] Non-Aggressive/Dangerously out of control/Back to owner
Despite how it looks, Axl was being very aggressive in this picture. Axl was a lovely, friendly dog, unless I was in the kennel. He was extremely overly-attached to me, so if anyone came in the kennel when I was there, he would try to kill them. That is very bad behaviour, and very hard to train out of a dog. Also, if he knew I was there, working in that block was horrible. Usually, after morning feeds and cleans, the dogs would relax in their beds until they would be walked. Axl, However, would SCREAM and SCREAM because he knew I was there but wasn't giving him attention. People used to get headaches from him.
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ARCHER [Came with the name]
Kangal Cross/Non-Aggressive/Not a status dog/Rehomed
Archer was my baby. He wasn't a status dog, he was found in a hoarders house with his mum and sister. Although he doesn't look anything like a Kangal, his mother was one, which is weird. We had speculations of what he was crossed with, but there was never any breed we settled on. Probably another type of mastiff due to his size.
Me and Archer were besties and if I was allowed, I would have taken him home with me in an instant. However, I am glad that he went to a new, loving home and was spoiled rotten. He deserved it.
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DIAMOND [Original Name]
Pitbull/Very Aggressive/Illegal Breed and Aggression/PTS
You probably noticed how Diamond has three pictures instead of just one. That's because, to me, she had the most meaningful story of any dog I worked with.
Diamond was so extremely aggressive that when the professional dog handler brought her in, he couldn't get the lead off her. It took over fifteen minutes to just get her unhooked.
For cases like these, where the dog was that aggressive, we would never enter their kennel alone, as it was way too dangerous. On her second day of being in my section, it was SO busy that the second person hadn't come to help, and I just didn't have the time to wait. So, I went into her kennel by myself to feed and clean her. She saw me and came towards me and I told her to sit, and she did.
The next day, I decided to not wait again. I wanted to befriend her. She was so scared that her fear was turning into extreme aggression. This time, I tried a different tactic. There are always different ways to win over a dog - it is not always food.
I stepped into her kennel with a ball and bounced it. She immediately turned into a puppy. In three days, I had her from so aggressive we couldn't even be near her, to a cuddly puppy on my lap.
She slowly got used to other women being near her, as long as I was there (she trusted me) but men still couldn't get near her.
Diamond has a special place in my heart. She was so in need of TLC that a single bounce of a ball made her love me.
When she had to be put to sleep, as with all of the dogs, I had to go in first and muzzle and restrain her. Usually, I would cry AFTER, as I wanted the dogs to be calm and relaxed, knowing that I was with them when they passed. With Diamond, I was crying before and during. She was so happy to see me that I felt like I had betrayed her trust. She trusted me to look after and love her, but I had to muzzle her so she could be put to sleep. It broke my heart. But, she still loved me, and as she was falling asleep, she lay down on my lap and I cuddled her as she went.
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I have many more pictures and stories, but this is enough for now, I do get upset at some of the stories. Working with these dogs was incredibly rewarding, but it also could be very sad. I don't agree with Breed Specific Legislation over here, but I at least gave my dogs a good life before they passed or went back to their owners.