Staffies

foreign_correspondent

This is interesting - the One Show - Mick Martin from dog borstal talking about Staffies, in the light of the recent pit-bull incident, (there seems to be a lot of confusion between Staffies and Pits in the public eye, sadly) and discussing that the many staffy crosses in rescue are generally smashing good natured dogs - and Dame Judi Dench saying that she likes Staffies - and indeed used to be a god-mother to one!!

Its about 1 min 45 seconds in - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00p68c1/The_One_Show_01_12_2009/

Ariel, the little staffy needing a home looks beautiful!

Paradigm

hethmar wrote: »

LOL, Im sure that the majority are lovely little dogs Para!

I'm sure there's a decent one some where, just not near me!

hethmar wrote: »

I think the point I was trying to make is, the poor old staff is hard done by on the PR front.

I'm with you there, every Staffie I've ever met is great, I too don't understand why they get such a bad press?

hethmar

fc, I saw that on the one show, I thought it was very good - particularly as they had the guts to put on the day of the latest tragedy.

Ruby_Moon

Paradigm wrote: »

I'm sure there's a decent one some where, just not near me!




I'm with you there, every Staffie I've ever met is great, I too don't understand why they get such a bad press?

Staffies get a bad press because of the way they look (a hard face) and that they are a similar name to other bull terriers that are banned or vicious (not in my opinion but in 'peoples' general opinion) so they get shunned. You tend to see a lot of the 'yob' culture with Staffies, so the dogs get tarred with the same brush.
It will take a few generations to get rid of the bad image it has, I am afraid.
Until then, not a lot can be done about the large numbers of Staffies other than noone ever getting one. If noone got one, they wouldn't be in demand.

gettingready

every Staffie I've ever met is great

Lucky you then, hope it stays this way.

I live in East London - every staffie I meet has some low life attached to the other end of the lead (that is if they are on a lead), massive collars/harnesses with metal bits on in to make the dog look even meaner, they are not spayed/neutered (easy to notice) and my own dog was attacked 3 times on ONE day in 3 different places by 3 different "staffies" in Stratford/Plaistow border (I do not live there any more now). The owners' reaction was amazing, I had to personally kick off those "nanny dogs" off my furry girl (my dog is not a fighter) and believe me it was not pleasant as I do not like to hurt animals but I had no choice whatsoever, they were going for my furry girl's throat and belly - she was on a lead, they were off the lead and we were on a pavement by busy road so letting her off the lead and hoping she could run away was a risk of having her run over by a car. And that was a regular occurence - low lives settign up their "staffies" on other dogs walking peacefully on a lead with their owners.

My neighbour upsatirs got a staffie, she kid of "found" her while she was cleaning some house - tenants left the dog behind, my friend brought the doggy home and had her for about a year now. She has a jaw like a crocodile and I would not like to be with her on my own if she was to be in a bad mood.

To be honest, I rather handle a p1ssed off rottie or doberman than a p1ssed off staff. And it takes a few seconds for the dog to turn from a loving pet to a monster.

Rev

Ruby_Moon wrote: »

Staffies get a bad press because of the way they look (a hard face) .

Am I the only one who thinks staffys are adorable?

I don't think they look 'hard' at all. They have the most soulful eyes of any dog breed I've ever met.

foreign_correspondent

Rev wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks staffys are adorable?

I don't think they look 'hard' at all. They have the most soulful eyes of any dog breed I've ever met.

They are undoubtedly strong, muscular little dogs - but in my opinion, far prettier than the now grossly deformed British Bulldog (also bred for bull baiting, like the stafford) and I agree about those lovely soulful eyes...and if any dog ever wanted to be able to speak to humans, its the staffordshire!

gettingready - staffies are often not good with other dogs unless well socialised as pups, however, this does not equate to them being not good with people - many dogs are not dog friendly, but 100% bombproof with people. However, a responsible owner would either socialise their dog as a pup, or try and avoid any opportunities for confrontation with other dogs - sadly, it sounds as if you have come accross some irresponsible owners, who are clearly part of the staffie problem.

gettingready

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

I do think that council pounds should have to spey and neuter staffies though (and preferably other breeds too) before releasing them on to new homes .

Council pounds put the dogs down, they do not rehome dogs from council run pounds.
They will let them go to rescue places but not to private homes- if a rescue takes the dog on.
And when there is no rescue willing to take a dog on when his/her 7 days is up (they only keep dogs for 7 days) - that dog will be put to sleep.

And no dog is 100% bombproof with people.

UKTigerlily

If a Staffy was flushing out game & doing exactly the same as a spaniel it'd still be a working dog whether bred to do that or not, and there's abit more to PAT than being stroked & it's not just hospital wards! I count any dog that does a job as a working dog, whether a police dog, a gundog, a guide dog, a therapy dog it doesn't matter. And you can absolutely get gundogs from rescue

foreign_correspondent

gettingready wrote: »

Council pounds put the dogs down, they do not rehome dogs from council run pounds.
They will let them go to rescue places but not to private homes.
And when there is no rescue willing to take a dog on when his/her 7 days is up (they only keep dogs for 7 days) - that dog will be put to sleep.

It may be different where you live, but in the pounds I know, at the end of seven days, unclaimed dogs can either be put to sleep, go to a rescue, or be rehomed directly to members of the public.

I agree that any dog can bite if provoked or threatened enough, so perhaps I used the wrong phrase, but when I say 100%, I mean as 100% as any dog can be, IYSWIM.