Fed up with people slagging off my new Staffy pup!

scheming_gypsy

mmikailian wrote: »

and why did i get him over all the other dogs because when i went to Battersea Dogs home 95% where staffy, Saffys are not horrible by nature its the wrong owners who make them bad i do agree with not bredding them though as battersea is over run with staffy's along with other dogs and it i could i would take them all home but as a sensible dog owner i only have 1 that i can look after.

i'm not saying you're lying about your experience but i don't buy all this about the amount of staffies in rescues. I took my mum to a rescue a few months ago and, like Battersea, 95% were staffies; but they weren't. 95% were labelled up as a staffy or staffy cross but had no characteristics of a staffy, it was as though they were labelled a staffy cross 'just in case'

pineapple

warehouse wrote: »

It's not a "Staffy" it's a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. They were bred to be fighting dogs. Giving them a fluffy name doesn't hide the fact that they can kill a child if the mood takes them.

Indeed. One should ask why they have been adopted by chavs who are more dog rough than the dog itself. It's because they want to look 'hard'. Yes it is down to training but there is one inescapable fact - if a 'staffy' does lose it, their jaws are very powerful (not a myth) and they are known to be reluctant to let go. Not the same as a 'lock' but that fact alone makes them a lot more dangerous than other, more snappy dogs.

scheming_gypsy

pineapple wrote: »

Indeed. One should ask why they have been adopted by chavs who are more dog rough than the dog itself. It's because they want to look 'hard'. Yes it is down to training but there is one inescapable fact - if a 'staffy' does lose it, their jaws are very strong (not a myth) and that fact alone makes them more dangerous than other, more snappy dogs.

The chav's are dumping them and moving onto other dogs because the staffy is too soft so it doesn't match up to the 'hard' image. Staffies don't even look angry, they just have huge grins.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/hard_dogs_dumped_for_not_living_up_to_image_1_1221739

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2234814.0/

Tropez

I know someone who has been the unfortunate victim of a Staffy attack. It killed their dog and mauled him, although he was lucky in the sense that while he needed several stitches to his arm and leg it didn't cause any irreperable damage.

However, it is the owner who is to blame and it is an unfortunate fact that many owners for the past few years specifically chose staffy's as some sort of status dog, hence why staffys are commonly referred to as chav-dogs. It takes a while to undo a media-created image of a devil dog (see how Rottweilers are still regarded by some) because it has been so impressed upon us by the media and you will encounter people who dislike your dog for no other reason than the fact they heard A staffy attacked someone but if you're a good owner then it shouldn't matter. Just get on with it and enjoy your new dog. If people have a problem with it, it is their problem.

Person_one

pineapple wrote: »

Indeed. One should ask why they have been adopted by chavs who are more dog rough than the dog itself. It's because they want to look 'hard'. Yes it is down to training but there is one inescapable fact - if a 'staffy' does lose it, their jaws are very powerful (not a myth) and they are known to be reluctant to let go. Not the same as a 'lock' but that fact alone makes them a lot more dangerous than other, more snappy dogs.

That is true of many many breeds of dog.

Have you ever met a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier? They are very much like Staffies, they are the same sort of size, very deep chested and powerful, very strong jaws, similar sort of temperament.

However, they have a fluffy blonde coat, so you never hear any of this jaw locking/dangerous if they 'turn' rubbish about them, because they're so cute!

Staffies are just victims of bad publicity, it could have happened to any breed. If there were only the same numbers of staffies as there are Wheaties, and the same sort of people owned them, this thread wouldn't even exist. The whole problem is completely man made, as usual humans screw things up for animals.

rising_from_the_ashes

warehouse wrote: »

No, it's because they DON'T.

walwin wrote: »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1288786/Familys-border-collie-leaps-car-mauls-baby.html

warehouse wrote: »

So nothing about "killing" found then, as mentioned by Scheming_Gypsy?

Oh right .... so you think that it's OK for other breeds of dogs to really hurt kids as long as they don't kill them ..... seriously?:mad:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310813/Toddler-needed-200-stitches-attack-grandparents-timid-collie.html

rising_from_the_ashes

Jenjenf - I'm afraid it's just people's perception and as others have said the best way to be able to "stick your finger up" to them is to have a well behaved, friendly and obedient dog - which I'm sure she'll turn out to be with training/love etc. Enjoy her:D

My best pal has a rottie & we get the same reaction when out together.

Even when I'm out with my very elderly lab, some parents snatch their kids up overhead when we're still well away from them (I always put him on a lead when approaching small kids) and say things like "big bad dog" as we walk past - totally ridiculous.

orlao

OP,

I'm afraid you'll just have to get used to the reactions - bad owners have spoilt things for staffy owners and are in the process of spoiling a lot of things for ALL dog owners. What you can do is put the work into training your pup and making her a good ambassador for the breed - even if you only change one persons perception of the breed, that is a bonus.

Presumably we are (mostly!) animal lovers since we are posting on a pet board so why are we fighting (pun not intended)about dogs among ourselves? There are enough anti dog people out there without us giving them ammunition...

IMHO, there are ill mannered, untrained, aggressive dogs of every breed, mainly because they haven't had the training put into them that they need. There is no doubt that all breeds are capable of seriously harming people and/or other dogs if things go wrong and that shouldn't be forgotten but when it does go wrong the ultimate blame lies at the other end of the lead. It is important to remember that and responsible owners should take that on board and not allow their dogs to bother anyone/anything else in public.

Some breeds have a bad rep but again it's because of the idiot at the other end of the lead...if they were to move onto Papillions for instance, it would only be a matter of time before they were the new "devil dogs"

BTW, of my two male dogs (JRT and Rottie) who you think is muzzled in public? The JRT of course because he is snappy with other dogs...the rottie is great with both dogs and people...

candygirl

vax2002 wrote: »

What is a staffy ?
A nickname for a mongrel based on a pit bull terrier ?

Wrong yet again!!!!:mad::mad::mad:
OP just ignore the negative comments about your pup, and make sure you socialise her with other dogs, and people and as with ALL other breeds, never ever leave her alone with a child:D:D:D
Most of all enjoy her, and we want pics!!!:D:D:D
PS i have two and they're fab:D:D:D

WolfSong2000

The odds of a *person* being attacked by a staffie are very low...I'd go so far as to say a person's more likely to be attacked by a retriever. Staffie's can, however, have issues with other dogs, which is why proper training from an early age is essential. Staff's aren't the only breed to have this problem, though - going back to the retriever issue I mentioned, I've been taking my (rescue) pointer to dog training classes, which were, for a while attended by a woman with a golden retriever who was incredibly vicious toward other dogs, to the point where the trainer has requested the owner attend one-on-one sessions instead of group.

I should probably also add that I've gornw up with Golden Retrievers and know more about the breed than the average joe off the street. Traditionally, Goldies have one of the best temperaments going, but their popularity is becoming their demise and many dogs are being bred purely for conformational/make a quick buck reasons with no consideration of personality. As a result, the dogs are getting paler and a lot of (but by no means all) of the paler Goldens have quite serious behavioural issues. A lot of behavioural issues can also be traced back to one very popular show dog who was conformationally perfect, but had the most godawful temperament.

But yes, ogs can "go bad" for a variety of reasons...99% of the time it's the owner, but you do get the odd dog (of any breed) who is just no good. For instance I used to work at a livery yard where the owner had 3 GSD's - the eldest and youngest were lovely dogs, but I never trusted the middle one - quite rightly as it turned out as he went for me one day whilst my back was turned.

Of course the reverse is also true...my family's had 2 dogs now who were both horrifically abused as youngesters - one, a collie X GSD we sadly lost last year at the grand old age of 18. As a pup he'd been badly beaten and his owner had tried to drown him. Our current rescue, a Pointer, came to us with cigarette burns on his neck. Quite how either of these dogs learned to trust people again is beyond me, but they did.

Anyhow, I'm getting long-winded, so I'll wrap it up, but my point is people judge dogs based on looks/what they've heard in the media and it's totally incorrect. Time and energy would be much better invested trying to learn basic doggie body language. It wont work with all dogs, but the majority of dogs give some form of notice before they attack. The problem is people don't recognise it. They see a wagging tail and assume the dog's friendly. What they may fail to notice is the tail is being held high, just the tip is wagging and the dog's body is taught. All dead give-away's to back away very quickly if you know what to look for!