Help with a staffy please

tandraig

sorry bailey - you must be wondering at the exclamation marks after staffy - i forgot the forum rules on bad language and typed in the usual word for female dog - honestly - the words you cant say on here!!!! lol wonder how cat and male chicken owners manage to post sometimes!!!

bailey59

Thank you for all the replies. Fire Fox no he hasnt been castrated. He's 6 now and I just cant think about doing that to him!! We have bred him a couple of times and so I really dont want to go down that route.

Foreign correspondent he doesnt really bark more of a really nasty growl. His tail wags at first and you think oh great he wants to play then he growls with his tail still wagging!! If we walk past a dog sometimes he launches at them.

Thanks to everyone else, I will look at dog training classes so we can both be trained. He isnt like it with the OH so it must just be me!!

Lol tandraig!!

dawnie1972

I read your post and saw so much of myself in it! I have a 6yr old staffi x lab, terrified of men, reactive to other dogs, i've learnt so much from him but having read what you've said he's definitely reading off you, its a really hard one because sometimes you may feel something and not be able to control that feeling and yet it may have an affect on your dog - this is what i learnt with mine, if i was really really stressed he would bounce off me, so now whenever i'm having problems with him and look at myself and what's going on in my life first. My dog is the same with other dogs, i never know what he is going to react to and recently i have started to trust him more and have more confidence in him, he's been mixing with other dogs off lead. In the past he's always only had problems with male dogs. However out of the blue a few weeks ago whilst walking with a friend and her dogs he went for one of the female dogs - this knocked me for six. Will pm you what i found helped.

foreign_correspondent

I don't know if castration would help your lad or not - but I have to say, it is not wise to breed from a dog you believe has any temprement problems at all.

When he wags his tail is it a happy wag or an angry wag? (an angry wag is sort of slower and stiffer)

Is it normally dogs or b1tches he ends up in scuffles with?

hethmar

6 years old isnt too old to be castrated and it may make a difference to him (let alone avoid testicular cancer as he gets older).

Do you have pet insurance? A lot of them include behavioural advice cover now.

bailey59

Thanks again guys, yes dawnie1972 he does bounce off me. I know whatever I do will affect him. Thanks.

He didnt have any problems when we bred him. SincE THEN HE HAS MET HIS 'daugher' (sorry bout caps) and she had a massive go at him, she jumped over the fence and tried to attack him, thats another one i forgot to mention. It seems that all the dogs want a piece of him!

hethmar

Yes, terribly stressful for you (and the dogs). My sister's little dog was a rescue, found as a puppy in a wood - she is now 9 and sis has taken her to training all her life but still she is nervous/aggressive with other dogs and one big problem is that she actually gives the wrong body language out. She actually smiles and wags like she is being friendly but immediately goes for them. I feel very sorry for her and for sis as my boys are so good most of the time and it makes life easier for all the family if you dont have that extra worry when you take them anywhere.

Have to say Ralph, the disabled boy became nervous aggressive when he grew out of puppyhood and other dogs realised he was disabled and started being aggressive to him (I sometimes would have 3 dogs surrounding us and going at him). He in turn became aggressive in the "get them before they get you" mode. We had him castrated and then we got him his own little pack in the form of another rescue boy who is so laid back he is horizontal and somehow that has made Ralph much more confident and he doesnt worry about other dogs. In fact last night OH said to me that because our second boy has no fear at all of fireworks, he sleeps through it - this is the first year that Ralph has just ignored them too when he is in the house. He still isnt happy if they go off when he is on a walk, but its a joy not to have a quivering dog in the house during the bangs and explosions.

So I guess I am saying (rambling) do you have a mate with a really calm, laid back dog who you could walk with?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I do hope you not wanting to get him castrated because you have bred from him a couple of times and 'don't really want to go down that route' isn't you saying 'I can make a fortune out of him because he looks good but don't want the potential customers to realise the dog is aggressive, if they ask to see him and recognise him from fighting in the park'.

If that gets out, you may as well give up with breeding any dog. Not only will nobody fit to have a dog want his pups (just people wanting fighters), you stand a fair chance of being smacked in the face and/or having him stolen for fighting/as a weapon - especially as he is entire.

hethmar

Oh jo, I really hope the OP doesnt mean that.

Frugalista

hethmar wrote: »

6 years old isnt too old to be castrated and it may make a difference to him (let alone avoid testicular cancer as he gets older).

I agree, in this instance, that castration would certainly be of benefit.

However - testicular cancer ?? I have had entire males for 30 years and never had a problem with that - nor have any of my friends on the show circuit. Prostate problems, yes - but not testicular cancer. I'm not saying it doesn't occur - just that it is not a major issue. Do you have any figures and links to studies to support this??