I'm sorry to put this out there but there are other sides of a story that should be told. My daughter who was 3 at the time was mauled by a golden retriever that belonged to my step mother. The dog was fully trained and very well taken care of, never abused and it was a golden retriever which is always a surprise to all that ask me. My daughter who was visiting came back to their house and the dog attacked her without any provoking and destroyed her face. She spent a week in the hospital and will be scared for life! Half her face was almost ripped off. Dogs are wild animals no matter what you say. My sister was bitten in the face just 3 months before by her boyfriend's dog. That dog is very well taken care. Sure I agree a lot of dogs are good natured but you can never be too careful, which is why I am writing. What gets me with so many posts is there is so much sympathy for dogs but what about their victims who didn't ask to be mauled or even killed. And by the way, my daughter wants a dog and has even asked for a golden retriever. With everything that she has gone through, she is the most forgiving.

im so sorry about your little girl. u are so right about that. dogs can turn on us. u will never know. its way to scary!

I'm so sorry for what happened to your daughter, I hope she is doing fine and fully recovers from her injuries physically and mentally. You are right dogs are animals and they can turn on you regardless of what breed, we just have to respect them and there nature. I have a four yr old son and three dogs, my dogs are very friendly but I always watch them close when they are playing with my son. I did alot or research and talked to trainers and the vet before I purchased a puppy for my son I got him an English Mastiff puppy that was 6 wks old they have become the best of friends and the dog has such a good disposition, he (Dozer) the dog has to go with my son everywhere he even sleeps on the floor by the bathtub when my son is bathing. The only thing I have to watch is that the dog is 20 wks old now and weighs 82 lbs is if he plays and starts jumping so he doesn't knock my son down. I don't know what kind of dog your daughter wants but if its a dog that is gonna be big you might check the English Mastiff they are known as the gentle giant and are very good with children, all the neighbor kids play with Dozer and he loves it. Good Luck and best wishes to your daughter.

I'm sorry but I HAVE to agree with rita and msredrocker...there is too much @ stake when it comes to this kind of stuff...My best friend in the world almost lost her son to a pit bull, who was SUPPOSEDLY "rehabilitated" after abuse and trained to fight. While this particular animal was mauling her child, she tried to intervene, and her OTHER pit bull (who had no history of abuse!) attempted to attack her (almost as if to "guard" the situation!!!!)IMHO, there is still that abuse/training embedded in their minds. I'm not saying it is right to blame the dogs, but there are too many incidents like this to ignore it. It is a sad shame when we must choose between our children and a "pet". IMO, pets are secondary...I would NEVER put any of my childrens' lives in danger over ANY animal.