A dog expert appeared on Good Morning Britain and said people who want to own a pooch should have mandatory training.
Hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard were discussing whether it was time to get tough on dog owners and make them all sit a mandatory responsibility course. It was highlighted that nearly 9,000 people a year were admitted to hospitals with severe dog bites in England.
Dog behaviourist Nanci Creedon and TV presenter Nick Ede were on the ITV show to share their views on Tuesday morning. Nick, a dog owner himself who brought his pet Beverley along to the studio, said he didn't think people needed to be trained before being able to own a dog.
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He said: "We've had dogs for hundreds of thousands of years. And we've all known how to actually deal with them, look after them.
"As somebody who had dogs when I was younger, I was really taught from a very young age about how to look after dogs and how to make sure that they're ok amongst other people."
He accepted that he had been trained on how to look after dogs by his family. He then added: "But it's a generational thing. I think most people have had dogs. If you think about the population of 13 million dog owners out there. And 9,000 people have obviously been affected by dogs who aren't particularly friendly. But if you look at the statistics there or that average, it's pretty small."
Presenter Ben Shephard said that not all dogs were well behaved and asked whether owners could do with some guidance. Dog behaviourist Nanci Creedon replied: "I guess what we need to remember is every time a dog bites, it's usually the first time that dog's bitten.
"So just because we are looking at our dogs in our homes and saying my dog's an angel, butter wouldn't melt, until something goes wrong. And the reason I'm proposing a mandatory education is to see the triggers, there'll always be triggers.
"I'm sure Beverley doesn't enjoy getting groomed if she's got tangles in her hair. I'm sure if a little child went to do the same thing at the same time, that may upset Beverley.
"There's always situations that every dog will bite in. All I want to do is educate people on how to predict these situations to minimise dog bites."
Susanna asked the expert: "You own a Rottweiler German Shepherd mix. Now those are two breeds that people have often an instinctive negative reaction to. What is your dog like and how much training do you think someone should have before they own one?"
Nanci said: "I think that for every breed of dog it's essential that people understand what they are doing with their dogs. And the common theme that I find with dog owners that come to me for professional advice and training, is that when they leave the training session, their eyes are open, they now understand the dog so much better.
"And quite often there's a lot of guilt that oops I misunderstood my dog in the past. I've done the wrong things in the past. Now that I know better, I will do better. And like you've said, when it comes to breeds like Rottweilers, like German Shepherds, like pit bulls, often people think of these breeds and feel fear.
"Because the media is continually using these breeds as the scary dog. In Beethoven we've got Dobermanns as the scary dog. In the cartoon movie Up, we've got the Dobermanns, we've got the Rottweilers, we've got the bulldogs as the scary dog. But every dog can be a scary dog when out of control."
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