Irish Staffordshire terrier facts vrs myths Discussions

My view on dog fighting is this,It is imperative as the owner of such breeds with this history to study and find out what makes your dog tick and why it is what it is,theres allot of skewed info out there about dog fighting,from dogmen and the press so you have to do you research to find out the truth.
In short I'm not a dog fighter,never have been,never will but it is what made my breed of choice,its the soul reason it was created,therefore i find it interesting and important to have some concept of what it really is if you are to own a fighting breed,weather it is fought or not.Owning a breed with out knowing its history and the does and donts of the breed and why it is like it is is a very dangerous scenario.Its very easy to say,dog fighting is sick and the ******** that do it or did it in the past should all burn in hell,but it takes no thought process to make such sweeping generalizations.,jmo.

very informative post,good info,thanx.

Thanks for your answer Keith. Much appreciated.

longford, that was a very good read and more of what I
expected in reference to the ISBT. I have been interested in the breed for some time, but information in the states is limited at best.

I dont want to pick this apart but..
Im not a pedophile and dont enjoy being compared to one for ownership and research of a breed.
I do have dogs that are infact very well behaved and good examples of loyal household pets.As a owner of this breed i must stay 1 step ahead of say the owner of a lab in responsability and obediance and compitance.Coupled with my knowledge of the breed i figure im not doing it any bad what so ever.
In fact what is killing this breed is over breeding and back yard breeders,people breeding for everything under the sun except temperment and function.I have not and will not produce one count em' one litter of apbts unless these dogs are proven in titles first,and have never bred a litter in my life,therefore am doing this breed 1 better than most who own it.As well i dont fight dogs and never will but dont really see much use in proving that to anyone,it is what it is.
I know my breed and love my breed,that is all.

I think anyone who owns or loves this breed needs to have a very vocal anti-fighting stance to counter both the established perception of the dogs and their continuing abuse.
JRTs were bred as ratters and now are mainly house pets. JRT fans don`t dwell on their (well-documented) past prowess in game pits. So why are pitbull owners so interested in their past rather than their future?

Completely agree with you Minni, as I said in the other thread, my perspective of some of the admiration coming form Keith and a few others.. on this breed seem to be firmly fixed in its fighting ability and history.

Surely a lover of the breed would and should be working away from glorifying such traits.

I thought this was a fact finding question, not an invitation for sarcastic opinions

here you go short bedder and keith some good pics for you
http://realstafford.20m.com/photo.html
and people who dont own these types of dogs shouldnt comment also a jack russell doesnt have the same kinda drive and temp like these animals and if you want to watch a jack russell ratting watch the rat pack on bbc1 also if it wasnt the history of the brred and the dedication that man biters would be taken out of the gene pool you wouldnt have the brilliant temp and carachter of the breed which only people who own bullbreeds would understand.

ain`t it funny that some people think their own breed is `special`? It`s a dog. It`s been bred for particular characteristics and appearance. Like every other breed. Mollossers, hunting dogs, sight-hounds etc. now all fulfill a different function to the one they were originally bred for, but their supporters don`t harp on about past exploits in loving detail. Maybe if you stopped bringing up their history they might have more of a future.

Thanks for the photos, nice looking dogs

I have to agree with this comment myself. I love both APBT and staffies but we need to get past the history of this breed. The papers still use it as an excuse to accuse these dogs of all sorts of crimes and people glorifying this history have helped enable BSL. In short, dogs are suffering due to a refusal to move on from dog fighting and the actions of a few people who still take part in dog fights.

People like Michael Vick should suffer a long painful death as far as I'm concerned.

The apbt originated from bulldogs brought to America many years ago. There orriginal purpose was in the controlling and bating of bulls. From what I've read, it was also used to catch/hold at bay certain wild game, dogfighting came after this, it was not the breeds orriginal purpose, but is what the breed is unfortunately known for.

Also, not all man biters were removed from the genepool.

I also agree that all dogfighters of today should die a long and painfull death, when aprihended.

Getting back on topic a bit. I don't know which side of the irish staff debate I stand on. ITs not out of the rhelms of posability to imagine a more sporting type staff, just like working/show gsd's or labs. On the other hand, I've met people who say they've got irish staffs, that have said that that is just another name for apbt. There's nothing like hearing it from the horses mouth is there.

There is no realm of possibility this breed has working dog compititions a variety of them. have a little adventure and attend one. you will see the Irish Staffs at there best.

That was my point infact, if you can have working type gsds, labs english setters etc, then why is it hard to imagine for some people a more working type staffy. Unfortunately, the few people with these dogs I've met after getting to know them a bit, said that irish staff was just another name for apbt. Regardless of what they are, they are lovely dogs.

obviously these people dont know what an irish stafford is how can you call it an apbt terrier when there is no apbt in there ??? maybe what they ment is the irish dogs are pitdogs and there are many examples of a more sporting stafford from kc lines (sparpit)are a more leggier dog and there are a few lines like this and in different areas you used to have different types like the dudley terrier that would look like apbt unfortunately extinct

I disagree actually, Stafford's weren't bred to fight other dogs so why would I want to find out about dog fighting for my dog? (although I do know a lot about it sadly)

American Pit Bull terriers weren't initially bred to dog fight either, what are you talking about??

I'm not sure that the sweeping generalisations made of dog fighters are wrong, you seem to think it is?

Do you think dog fighting is defendable?

Look up terriers and see what they're really for!

I think people with many years of experience find that 'Irish staffs' is a buzz word. It's a word for any long legged type of staff, it's a word for a 'non breed standard' staffordshire bull terriers who's owners want lots of money from puppies, and it's a cloak for getting real pit bulls around the BSL.

I'm not talking American Pit bull terriers here, I'm talking pit bull terriers as they used to be, a hotch potch of many different breeds, they may not be APBT, but they're still PBT. IME Pits are lovely dogs, there are a lot where I live, unsocialised then they are heading for trouble, just like any bull breed. :-(

Similarly the blue colour is a proper stafford colour.

I'll dig out my pedigree later, though I'd be pretty sure as a KC staff she won't have any of the names mentioned. She is also short legged with a chunky head as staffords should be.

Until the rules of the board change, I think you will fine we have free speech here, and whEther or not you own a breed does not disqualify you from commenting on a thread!!!

Any chance of some punctuation, guys? These posts are getting increasingly difficult to read.
Thanks.
PS I suppose I`m one of `these people` - but I assumed they were just dogs, you know.........and a dog is a dog is a dog as far as I can tell.