[West Ender]

I was once badly bitten on the upper arm by a Mastiff (huge dog, looked like a lion with its mane shaved off). The owner knew its temperament and it was supposed to be kept in the back garden when he wasn't home. I called at the house in the afternoon and the owner's 15 year old son was home alone and had let the dog into the house against his dad's orders. The result was me with an arm that, honestly, looked like a huge black pudding for about a month and still, 11 years later, the scars where its fangs went into my arm.

That dog didn't bark or growl or even look menacing. It just walked out of the front door and grabbed my arm in its jaws. I had a hell of a job to make it let go, and to stay on my feet, while the lad just stood looking shocked.

I reported it to the police because I felt that had it been a small child on the doorstep that day the dog could well have killed it. The boy hadn't told his dad about the incident, when the police went round, and the owner had the dog destroyed which rather upset me as, despite all that, I do love dogs.

The point is that any dog can have its moment and it's part of responsible ownership to recognise that. Dogs that are kept, primarily, as guard dogs are inevitably going to be less placid than hearth-rug pets but every dog has the instinct for, at least, self-preservation. Anyone who doesn't believe that should not keep a dog.