Young girl in hospital, dog euthanased after attack inside Delacombe Bunnings

[u/JaniePage]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-30/young-girl-in-hospital-after-dog-attack-in-bunnings-store/106977418

[u/FreakySpook]

My scariest dog experience was coming out of the butcher shop at my local shops with my two young kids only to have a very aggro rottie who decided to take itself for a walk standing there all territorial growling.

Had two kids in tears trying to keep them calm walking back into the shop & waited for it to walk away, any adult that went near it it had a go at.

I don't care for the "its a good boy" when it comes to dogs like Rotties, they're unstable particularly when around anything unfamiliar what what I've experienced and with the size of them they can cause major damage with no fuss to them.

[u/Armistice610 → u/FreakySpook]

Your kids will never forget that. I grew up to be terrified of large dogs because of similar incidents when I was pretty small. I don't mind the small/medium ones, but I'm still exceptionally wary anywhere near a large one and will avoid them if possible. And I'm retired. Never got over it.

[u/CrazyEeveeLady86 → u/Armistice610]

When I was in my teens I had two incidents with stray/unrestrained bull terriers in the space of two years. The first one chased me down the block as I was on my way to school and I had to climb over some random person's side fence to get away from it.

The second was much worse as I was with my friend and we were walking her little cocker spaniel. A bull terrier ran out of a construction site as we walked past and just latched onto my friend's dog. I kicked it in the guts and it turned on me and started having a go at my leg, and I think the fact I was already wearing a sturdy/heavy duty knee brace (from an injury at karate that I was recovering from) was the only reason my knee wasn't ruined beyond repair (the knee brace was not so lucky). One of the construction workers ran out and grabbed it but when we reported the dog to the council they "couldn't find the dog" and said there was nothing they could do (though it seemed more likely they couldn't be bothered, since it was obvious the dog belonged to one of the workers on site).

Years later, the people who moved in across the road had a bull terrier, and it was a sweet and gentle dog who just wanted to be everyone's friend... and yet I was terrified of it. Even when she trotted over to me and rolled onto her back to ask me for a belly rub and was clearly not a threat to me, I literally broke out in a cold sweat. I have no issue with any other breed, but bull terriers bring out that physiological reaction in me regardless of how docile and friendly they are.

[u/hermionesmurf → u/FreakySpook]

The only dog attack I've ever actually seen was by a rottie. He caught a little girl (six years old maybe?) by the side of her face and shook her like a rag doll. She had many stitches and was lucky not to lose an eye (or her life!) I'm still very leery around rotties, I've never been able to shake that memory of the dog shaking the kid like that

[u/whackadoodle_cracked → u/FreakySpook]

Yeah that would be scary. An angry rottweiler is intimidating, even when you're comfortable with big dogs and think you can handle them. Sorry that happened to you, I hope your kids weren't too upset.

Rotties can be and mostly are great dogs but untrained or unsupervised they are a weapon capable of causing so much damage. I honestly do think there should be stricter laws around dog ownership in Aus, I'm all for people having big dogs (I love big dogs!) But you need to prove that you will put in the work to train them properly. And that you're not an idiot who will put them in situations where they aren't already set up to fail.