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A mum with two American XL Bullies won't be keeping her children away from the dogs – even though they'd been branded "dangerous" by some.

Chloe Sayers, 28, from Leeds, has her house full. Along with her children, who are seven and three, the mum has three dogs – a dachshund and XL Bullies, Athena and Aura.

The care home assistant recently went viral on TikTok after she posted her clip of her seven-year-old daughter hugging her pet XL Bullies.

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In light of the recent government-described 'horrific attacks', Chloe wanted to share how 'loving' the muscular pet pooches are towards her two children. The mum expressed "blame the owners not the breed" as she defended the dogs that, she says, have the "best temperaments when raised correctly".

But now the mum has been trolled for allowing her small children to be in such close proximity to the 'dangerous' breed. In an exclusive interview with Daily Star, Chloe said: "They aren’t just dogs they are our family members, they are a very much loved part of our lives.

"The children have been raised around dogs their entire life, they have been taught boundaries from babies and they know not to overdo it.

"We have a dachshund that does not like being cuddled and close to her face, so the children know not to do this to her. The XL Bullies are very affectionate dogs and love a cuddle.

"The video on TikTok is a small snippet and was just an insight into how loving the breed is. I used certain videos to highlight it, they aren’t always in their faces.

"They [the dogs] are brilliant, they are very gentle and you can see in the video on the second clip, she doesn’t try to invade my daughters space and even when invited up, she does it very slowly and gently.

"They play so differently with the children than they do with myself, they know they are small and they know to be careful."

Despite Chloe not having concerns about the XL Bullies in regards to her children's safety, not everyone shares the same thought. After the clip of the children playing with the pooches racked up over 600,000 views on TikTok, the mum was flooded with comments about her parenting.

One jibed: "Even if it's one in a million chance something makes them snap, is it really worth your kids lives?" Another blasted: "Blimey I'd not allow one of those things around my child!"

The backlash isn't going to change Chloe's stance on letting her "dog savvy" children – whose dad has nine working dogs – play and hug the canines. She said her tots were taught "boundaries" with animals since they were babies.

"People made comments such as 'what if they turned' and that I am risking my child’s life," Chloe explained. "The risk is the same with any large breed dog. The dogs and children are closely monitored and would never be left alone together.

"I think this goes without saying for any breed of dog. Whether you have a big dog, medium dog or a small dog, if the dog is not given boundaries and correct training it will begin to misbehave.

"Also if you buy a dog simply for the financial gain and no time to actually care for it and the dog is left for long durations of time, not exercised, no love shown for the dog, the consequences will eventually be the same. If a dog is raised with love and trained correctly you will in turn receive a well behaved dog."

Chloe also received a tonne of positive commentary on her viral TikTok video, where fellow Bully owners banded together to defend the mum about letting her children get close to the dogs.

But the Government has already made their mind up about the American XL Bully – with the ban due to come into action at the end of the year.

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Chloe feels that banning the breed will not help the recent the bout of dog attacks – and argues the American XL Bully is being tarnished with the same brush due to some recent attacks. These include dad-of-two,Ian Price, 52, who died after being savaged by two XL bully-type dogs in Stonnall, Staffordshire.

"I would say to be mindful," Chloe urged when asked what she would say about those with a negative view of the dogs. That banning the XL bully will not eliminate the problem. It will just move it along to a different breed.

"I imagine people in favour of the ban have either not met a Bully at all or have had a bad experience with one dog and tarred the entire breed with the same brush.

"The breed are so loving in the correct hands. I feel like it is a shame. The problem we have does not lie with the breed, it’s the other end of the lead."

Rishi Sunak announced the ban after a series of attacks involving the breed, which saw an 11-year-old girl and two men injured in Birmingham at the beginning of September.

The Prime Minister posted a video statement to X, formerly Twitter, and said: "I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. It is clear this is not about a handful of badly trained dogs, it’s a pattern of behaviour and it cannot go on.

"While owners already have a responsibility to keep their dogs under control, I want to reassure people that we are urgently working on ways to stop these attacks and protect the public. It is not currently a breed defined in law, so this vital first step must happen fast."

American XL Bullies are set to be banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act as new laws are seen to be introduced "by the end of the year".

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