Staffordshire Terriers really are gentle

jonbeeza

jonbeeza

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Why does the news when talking about dangerous dogs, always have to show pictures of staffordshire terriers ? I have a staff cross and a few friends have full staffs, they are all well behaved and very gentle dogs. It really does annoy me when the stupid news channels when the subject of dangerous dogs comes up, they always show clips of people walking staffs.

I have been chased by an Alsatian, a Labrador went for my missus, a little yorkie grabbed hold of my trousers and tried to savage me. A Great Dane went for my dog the other week, and rather than attack the Great Dane my dog jumped into my arms.

So a dog is not dangerous because it is a staff, any dog is dangerous in the wrong hands (y)
 
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Every year there are news stories featuring the owners of bull terrier type dogs saying just that, usually after the sweet loveable doggy has just ripped the face off a small child.
 
Stratman said:
Every year there are news stories featuring the owners of bull terrier type dogs saying just that, usually after the sweet loveable doggy has just ripped the face off a small child.
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Any dog can be dangerous in the wrong hands ...hmm looks like you are lumping me with everyone else :|
 
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A few years ago it was Dobermanns, before that German Shepherds. It goes in cycles as to whatever is the in dog with chavs and scroats. Any dog has the potential to be vicious. I personally love dogs and have had nothing but good experiences with Staffys.
 
Stratman said:
Every year there are news stories featuring the owners of bull terrier type dogs saying just that, usually after the sweet loveable doggy has just ripped the face off a small child.
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What you fail to say is that most of these dogs are owned by people of a questionable nature.

The infuriating thing is they are often called Staffordshire Bull Terriers by people who wouldn't know a Staffordshire Bull Terrier if it jumped up and gave them a big sloppy kiss. You never see the photos of the supposed dogs, they always use a photo of a dog totally innocent. The favourite photo of the moment is a red dog supposedly looking aggressive but which is actually sneezing and taking part in a KC show.

I've just spent the whole weekend working to raise money for SBT Rescue. I've helped re-home approx 2000 of them. Most of the dogs we deal with are strays so we have no prior knowledge of their background. I would go so far as to say some of the best dogs I've had the pleasure of re-homing were strays over the 12 years I've been involved.

As a breed they are wonderful with people but usually pretty awful with other animals. We had a dog show on the Saturday and we had 62 dogs walking on Sunday on our Big Sponsored Walk, most were Staffords. No incidents because they were all on leads, a good percentage of the dogs in reports are not on leads and totally out of control.

A lot of the news reports don't even stick to one breed of dog in one article so you know they haven't got a clue what they are talking about. I've read reports which have had two or three descriptions of breed within the same story.

I'm afraid Newspapers can't be relied upon to give accurate information.
 
PSILVERMAN said:
A few years ago it was Dobermanns, before that German Shepherds. It goes in cycles as to whatever is the in dog with chavs and scroats. Any dog has the potential to be vicious. I personally love dogs and have had nothing but good experiences with Staffys.
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And another sensible person who knows their own mind, and who is not brainwashed into how and what to think (y)
 
staffitaxi said:
What you fail to say is that most of these dogs are owned by people of a questionable nature.

The infuriating thing is they are often called Staffordshire Bull Terriers by people who wouldn't know a Staffordshire Bull Terrier if it jumped up and gave them a big sloppy kiss. You never see the photos of the supposed dogs, they always use a photo of a dog totally innocent. The favourite photo of the moment is a red dog supposedly looking aggressive but which is actually sneezing and taking part in a KC show.

I've just spent the whole weekend working to raise money for SBT Rescue. I've helped re-home approx 2000 of them. Most of the dogs we deal with are strays so we have no prior knowledge of their background. I would go so far as to say some of the best dogs I've had the pleasure of re-homing were strays over the 12 years I've been involved.

As a breed they are wonderful with people but usually pretty awful with other animals. We had a dog show on the Saturday and we had 62 dogs walking on Sunday on our Big Sponsored Walk, most were Staffords. No incidents because they were all on leads, a good percentage of the dogs in reports are not on leads and totally out of control.

A lot of the news reports don't even stick to one breed of dog in one article so you know they haven't got a clue what they are talking about. I've read reports which have had two or three descriptions of breed within the same story.

I'm afraid Newspapers can't be relied upon to give accurate information.
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Thank you Andrea, that was a lovely and refreshing read. Just reading up a little more on the topic ;)
 
Sorry Jon

A subject a little bit too close to my heart, tend to go off on one when provoked :D

SimonTALM off TP was our official photographer for the day again. He's been coming to our event for what must be the last 5 years I think. He got some great photos of the dogs and their families and some of the fancy dress outfits as well.

A really good fun family weekend.
 
staffitaxi said:
Sorry Jon

A subject a little bit too close to my heart, tend to go off on one when provoked :D
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Hey Andrea I can see how passionate you are on the subject, well done I take my hat off to you. Where can I find out any info about all this ?
 
My uncle and cousin, both have pure bred staffs, they are never left alone with my girls, who they have know since they were babies,having said that I wouldn't leave my child alone with ANY dog, but they are the softest well tempered, my uncle can be rolling around the floor with his staff, with a ball on a rope, hand it to my 4 yr old and u can see the switch flick, and she just trails him round the garden, like a puppy, :)
 
Hi Jon

www.sbtrescue.org.uk

Also face book page Northern SBT Rescue. Hopefully photos of the weekend will start to filter through on there over the next week or so. I haven't had chance to look at mine yet. Will also be posting a link to a short video clip of the start of the walk, if I can work out how to do it. New camera uses different file types.
 
Whilst I do agree that most dog behavior is down to the owners, you have to also accept that some dogs by their breeding are more likely to "cause harm"

You don't see many police poodles or security guards going around with old English sheep dogs
 
munch said:
Whilst I do agree that most dog behavior is down to the owners, you have to also accept that some dogs by their breeding are more likely to "cause harm"

You don't see many police poodles or security guards going around with old English sheep dogs
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Yes of course, a little dog will give you a little bite while a larger stronger dog will cause more damage by giving you a much bigger bite. Just the same as if a thug hits you over the head with a little hammer, this will cause a little bump while being hit with a mallet will cause a bigger bump.

Just the same as not letting children grow up to be thugs, you would not get thumping. All dogs should be owned by responsible people only, who can look after and train their dogs properly (y)
 
I own a beautiful GSD who would not harm a hair on a mouse's head, but if I had a pound for every time someone has crossed the road to avoid being close to her I would be a very rich person.
 
jonbeeza said:
....they always show clips of people walking staffs....
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Probably because they can tag it onto the general stereotype that chavs in tracksuits own them because they can teach them to bark loudly and wear a studded collar to look hard.

Like said elsewhere, all kinds of dogs can go ape given the 'right' circumstances.... I've seen dalmations going mad as if they'd rip your face off, the same with dobermans and all sorts of other things. Not sure if a yorkie would savage you though.... ;)

I had a staffie that was of 'questionable' breeding (I rescued it from a junkie relation) and he was as good as gold, although like all puppies he wanted to be top dog (pardon the pun) and acted like a loon in most situations. He was a lover though. We called him Dave.
 
back when i was in school i did work experience at a local cattery and kennels, she had a staffie there that had been dumped on her, the owners dropped her off as is the norm, then never came back for her. The only thing you were in danger of from her was being licked to death. I'd have taken her home if my parents had allowed me. Dont know what happened to her in the end, i know the kennel owner couldnt keep her because she already had 5 corgi's herself.

Theres only one breed of dog that i am wary of and thats collies. I think its something to do with their incredible intelligence, they always look like they're thinking up some kind of plan. That and when i was little my grandad looked after the neighbours collie and she would round me and my brother up like sheep. Im not scared of collies though, i just exercise a little more caution around them
 
hey i have the scars from a few springers, i also now own a staffie cross and he is the softest lump of lard ever, they don't call them nanny dogs for nothing, i think i'm right in thinking that if you google dog bites i think the latest research of the top ten included dogs such as Golden Retrievers at the end of the day all dogs have teeth, they were all designed to crunch bone, therefore they all can do damage, personally i have never met a bad staffie, only ones that want to lick me to death
 
When we were researching before getting our pup I read that more people are bitten every year by those viscious snarling attack dogs, cocker spaniels than any other breed. I'm not sure if it's due to numbers (although I think Labs are more common) or RAGE but I doubt anyone would look at a cocker and be worried (which may also be part of the problem). Ours is a cocker x beagle, so if she does bite, she'd be impossible to catch afterwards!

Training, training and a bit more training is the answer with any dog. We take our pup to obedience lessons and the class before is for training air force attack dogs, it's amazing to see the ferocity at which a GSD can pull a person through a car window and the next minute be rolling around on the floor licking the persons face.
 
irelanst said:
When we were researching before getting our pup I read that more people are bitten every year by those viscious snarling attack dogs, cocker spaniels than any other breed. I'm not sure if it's due to numbers (although I think Labs are more common) or RAGE but I doubt anyone would look at a cocker and be worried (which may also be part of the problem). Ours is a cocker x beagle, so if she does bite, she'd be impossible to catch afterwards!

Training, training and a bit more training is the answer with any dog. We take our pup to obedience lessons and the class before is for training air force attack dogs, it's amazing to see the ferocity at which a GSD can pull a person through a car window and the next minute be rolling around on the floor licking the persons face.
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The rescue i help out with is for springers and cockers and we have far more problem cockers in than we ever have springers, generally show cockers from dodgy breeders who are then purchased through dodgy pet shops such as Dogs r us, its then up to us to turn them round, unfortunately thats not always possible
 
My grandparents always had dogs when we were kids. I was always wary of big dogs as I got knocked over and licked to death by a red setter in a park when I was about 2-3 years old. Now, as my Mum knew at the time, the dog was only playing and being friendly but I didn't understand that and still have reasonably vivid memories of this dog bounding over and knocking me to the ground (I'm 35 now so this happened a LONG time ago).

My perception of big dogs was only changed when I was about 10-11 years old when my grandparents got a GSD, it was a puppy and because I watch her grow, she was less scary and I soon realised that the size of the dog had little to do with the likelyhood of it attacking me.

My Granddad always used to say "There's no such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners", which I do agree with, with the exception of dogs that have been bred by bad owners for the sole purpose of aggression/fighting.

As has already been said, ANY dog can turn nasty given the right circumstances but if it was a choice between a 5lb Chihauhua or an 8st Rotweiller,GSD, <insert and breed of big dog here> attacking me, I think I'd pick the former ;)
 
The most vicious dog I knew was a chihauhua. Bit loads of people. Next most prone to bite was a relation's king charles spaniel.

Only GSD I knew was so wet she'd hide under the table when strangers appeared!
 
I've had German shepherds, 2 rotties and all of them have been excellent natured. Everyone was telling me how docile and placid greyhounds are but that didn't stop two of them attacking my mrs and our daschund. I had to prise the jaw open on one to let our dog go. Our dog ended up at the vets and wife at A&E.
I've said this on a thread before, no dog whatever it's breed should be in a public place without a lead on.
 
DavidMartin said:
I've said this on a thread before, no dog whatever it's breed should be in a public place without a lead on.
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+1!!

I would stick my neck out and say lead & muzzle as some irresponsible owners still don't control (or have no control) over their dogs even when on a lead.

It's a shame as most dogs would be fine just on a lead but as usual there's a minority of owners who have no regard for others.
 
Any breed or type of dog can be dangerous, it's in their nature, but for the same reason some types of dog are far more likely than others to be dangerous.

Tiny breeds are often owned by stupid people who don't understand them, don't bother to train them and who pamper them to the extent that they are nervous and are likely to snap.

Small breeds such as terriers are bred to kill small animals such as rats, of course they are likely to snap at other dogs or people too.

Corgis are bred to bite cattle, so of course they bite people's heels too.

Bordier collies/working sheepdogs are bred to herd sheep and cattle, they need to use their teeth if the animals don't comply, so of course they can do the same with humans.

Gundogs are bred to retrieve, they use their mouths a lot but usually hold rather than bite.

Large dogs like German Shepherds are potentially very dangerous but are usually well trained, so end up much safer than many other dogs that aren't trained and socialised properly. My own GSD has enough confidence to put up with and ignore the aggression of all other dogs he meets in the park, but would be lethal to a burglar.

It's really much more about the owner than the dog. The problem with many owners is that they choose their breed based on nothing more than looks, or size, or on whether or not it moults, they should do proper research and make their choice based on what the dog was bred to do, and how this will affect its behaviour.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Any breed or type of dog can be dangerous, it's in their nature, but for the same reason some types of dog are far more likely than others to be dangerous.

Tiny breeds are often owned by stupid people who don't understand them, don't bother to train them and who pamper them to the extent that they are nervous and are likely to snap.

Small breeds such as terriers are bred to kill small animals such as rats, of course they are likely to snap at other dogs or people too.

Corgis are bred to bite cattle, so of course they bite people's heels too.

Bordier collies/working sheepdogs are bred to herd sheep and cattle, they need to use their teeth if the animals don't comply, so of course they can do the same with humans.

Gundogs are bred to retrieve, they use their mouths a lot but usually hold rather than bite.

Large dogs like German Shepherds are potentially very dangerous but are usually well trained, so end up much safer than many other dogs that aren't trained and socialised properly. My own GSD has enough confidence to put up with and ignore the aggression of all other dogs he meets in the park, but would be lethal to a burglar.

It's really much more about the owner than the dog. The problem with many owners is that they choose their breed based on nothing more than looks, or size, or on whether or not it moults, they should do proper research and make their choice based on what the dog was bred to do, and how this will affect its behaviour.
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Now this is a sensible post, especially the bit in bold, if i had a quid for every working springer, and increasingly working cocker that had been bought on the basis of them being medium sized or looking pretty, only for the owner to find out 12 months down the line that 20 minutes round the block on a lead just doesn't give an active breed what it needs, so therefore it will destroy your house, and it will do the wall of death round your living room i'd be a very happy rich woman.

I walk 4 dogs off lead, they will ignore other dogs and people, and are tolerant of other dogs that will clear half a field to join in their game, its not difficult to train this, but i suppose thats the point it takes time to train, and a lot of people expect their dogs to train themselves and just can't be bothered
 
lizzy23 said:
Now this is a sensible post, especially the bit in bold, if i had a quid for every working springer, and increasingly working cocker that had been bought on the basis of them being medium sized or looking pretty, only for the owner to find out 12 months down the line that 20 minutes round the block on a lead just doesn't give an active breed what it needs, so therefore it will destroy your house, and it will do the wall of death round your living room i'd be a very happy rich woman.

I walk 4 dogs off lead, they will ignore other dogs and people, and are tolerant of other dogs that will clear half a field to join in their game, its not difficult to train this, but i suppose thats the point it takes time to train, and a lot of people expect their dogs to train themselves and just can't be bothered
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Or they go to a dog training club run by a lost sheep masquerading as a sheepdog...

I think this is the whole point. I used to train dogs as a hobby, I got up to championship standard in obedience competitions and quit because I realised that I didn't have the resources (or ability) to actually win the championship and I don't like being second best. I then switched to problem dog training and sorted out every single dog within a couple of hours or so, most of the training involved getting the owners to understand what a dog actually is...
I retired from that on my 40th birthday because I didn't want to risk injury or worse because I was getting slow. Since then I've basically only trained my own dogs, most of which have been GSDs. Not one of them has ever shown any aggression to anyone or to any other dog, the thing I hear constantly is that I'm 'lucky' to have a dog like that but it isn't luck, it's training, and understanding the needs of my dog.

I'm calm and laid back, and my dog is therefore the same. He knows that he doesn't need to fight because I will always protect him from danger. If I am ever in danger myself, or he can smell my fear, or if it's me who needs protection from him, then the roles will reverse instantly.

I had this a few months ago, on the late night walk just before bed, over the local park. Two youths approached me and asked me for a light, it was obvious to me that they planned to mug me. Jet was off somewhere in the darkness watering the grass, I called him once, sharply and he appeared at full speed, growling and looking very serious. End of mugging:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
I had this a few months ago, on the late night walk just before bed, over the local park. Two youths approached me and asked me for a light, it was obvious to me that they planned to mug me. Jet was off somewhere in the darkness watering the grass, I called him once, sharply and he appeared at full speed, growling and looking very serious. End of mugging:)
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Similar thing happened to my Granddad with his GSD..... They'd taken the dog for a walk, or rather my Nan was walking with the dog because my Grandad was too fat too (I know that sounds harsh but at 5ft 3in and 24st there's no other way of putting it other than morbidly obese :LOL: )

Anyway, he was sitting in the car and four blokes came out of nowhere demanding his money (he was in an Allegro so no danger of a car-jacking :LOL: ) so he just shouted "Lucy".......

Moments later this snarling beast of a GSD came hurtling towards the car, 3 blokes ran off but one wasn't quite quick enough and was soon trying to wriggle free. At this point my granddad realised that he hadn't got around to attack training the 18 month old dog and had right trouble getting her to release.

Made a nasty mess of the bloke's arm by all accounts but he didn't stick around :LOL:

Unfortunately Lucy died of Leukemia 6 months later :crying:
 
staffitaxi said:
What you fail to say is that most of these dogs are owned by people of a questionable nature.

The infuriating thing is they are often called Staffordshire Bull Terriers by people who wouldn't know a Staffordshire Bull Terrier if it jumped up and gave them a big sloppy kiss. You never see the photos of the supposed dogs, they always use a photo of a dog totally innocent. The favourite photo of the moment is a red dog supposedly looking aggressive but which is actually sneezing and taking part in a KC show.

I've just spent the whole weekend working to raise money for SBT Rescue. I've helped re-home approx 2000 of them. Most of the dogs we deal with are strays so we have no prior knowledge of their background. I would go so far as to say some of the best dogs I've had the pleasure of re-homing were strays over the 12 years I've been involved.

As a breed they are wonderful with people but usually pretty awful with other animals. We had a dog show on the Saturday and we had 62 dogs walking on Sunday on our Big Sponsored Walk, most were Staffords. No incidents because they were all on leads, a good percentage of the dogs in reports are not on leads and totally out of control.

A lot of the news reports don't even stick to one breed of dog in one article so you know they haven't got a clue what they are talking about. I've read reports which have had two or three descriptions of breed within the same story.

I'm afraid Newspapers can't be relied upon to give accurate information.
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Most of the dog owners I know dread meeting bull terriers off the lead when walking their own dogs. Even if they are good with people that does not make being bad with other dogs acceptable.
 
Most of the dog owners I know dread meeting bull terriers off the lead when walking their own dogs. Even if they are good with people that does not make being bad with other dogs acceptable.
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Very true.
Moments later this snarling beast of a GSD came hurtling towards the car, 3 blokes ran off but one wasn't quite quick enough and was soon trying to wriggle free. At this point my granddad realised that he hadn't got around to attack training the 18 month old dog and had right trouble getting her to release.
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IMO training pet dogs to attack is both unnecessary and wrong. It's unnecessary because any (mature and confident) dog will naturally protect its owner if needed, and wrong because it can make the dog much too likely to bite when it shouldn't.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Very true.
IMO training pet dogs to attack is both unnecessary and wrong. It's unnecessary because any (mature and confident) dog will naturally protect its owner if needed, and wrong because it can make the dog much too likely to bite when it shouldn't.
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Agree 100% - owners should do absolutely nothing to encourage aggression to people and other animals (need to watch the type of games they play with their dog) and everything they can to discourage it.
Worst scenario is owners who do not admit that their dog is a problem (they suffer from our old friend "denial" as the pshycology types will tell us) and refuse to keep it on a short lead when out.
 
Staffies have a higher IQ and are far frendlier than the humans often seen attached to them, unfortunately dogs are like children and follow the owners lead (no pun intended)
 
arclight said:
Agree 100% - owners should do absolutely nothing to encourage aggression to people and other animals (need to watch the type of games they play with their dog) and everything they can to discourage it.
Worst scenario is owners who do not admit that their dog is a problem (they suffer from our old friend "denial" as the pshycology types will tell us) and refuse to keep it on a short lead when out.
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But that does work both ways. Sick of the number of times I've had someone let their dog come up to one I've been walking with the usual "my dogs friendly" and then wonder why there is a problem. As far as I'm concerned all dogs should be walked on a lead and I don't mean an extendable, they are one of the most dangerous things going.

One of our members is having a real issue with someone at the moment. She took on one of the Rescues who is pretty bad with other animals, seems to have a tail obsession, when they are attached to the back end of another dog. When they adopted him they also took his muzzle that we had bought especially for him. Some nugget further down the road from them thinks its good fun to let his Staffords out off lead whenever she walks past. He's doing it deliberately so despite the fact they are being responsible owners its them that look bad.
 
staffitaxi said:
As far as I'm concerned all dogs should be walked on a lead
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I'm assuming you mean through 'populated' areas, there is no way that we could properly exercise our dog on a lead (I can't run fast or far enough), and some people need to be able to work their dogs.
 
Personally I wouldn't walk any of the dogs which come into Rescue off lead. Apart from anything else at that stage we do not know them well enough to know they wouldn't run off and it can take a little while to know what their reactions are like around other dogs.

I think any dog in a public place should be on a lead. Generally speaking working dogs have been trained to the level that their recall is spot on. My problem is with those people who have no control and think it acceptable to have their dog running loose at every opportunity.

I have seen perfectly friendly Staffords being changed due to being attacked by another dog off lead. They tend not to forget and will often in future then try to get in first.

Don't get me wrong not all Staffords are unfriendly to other dogs, we've had one in foster care the past few weeks who has quite happily integrated into his foster him alongside another dog and two bitch Staffords, he though is pretty special and we will be encouraging his new family to maybe try him out for training as a PAT dog like one of the Staffords he's been living with. He just seems to have the right calm temperament to be good at it.
 
Personally I've found that most Staffies are perfectly OK with people, it's other dogs that are often attacked, without any apparent reason.

Part of this of course lies in their history (see my earlier post about dogs being bred for specific purposes) and part of it lies with their conformation, they transmit a body language that other dogs see as threatening, just as fighting dogs like Akitas do, with their stand off coat, this also applies to Malamutes, Huskys, anything that permanently looks as if it's going to attack.

I strongly disagree that
any dog in a public place should be on a lead.
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Over the park, my dog needs to be off lead for exercise and to socialise with his mates. Quite a few Staffie owners, and owners of other bull breeds, have shouted at me that my dog should be on a lead just because their dogs is pulling them like crazy because it wants to attack my dog, but the problem is caused by them, they own the aggressive dog, I'm not going to stop my own dog from enjoying his life because of their choices.
 
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