Hello (your experience of SBT's wanted) General Chat

hi guys i am babeeree....im new on here but i am keen to get to no ppl......:0).....i have two great dogs......i s'pose my main reason for joining is becoz im vary wary ov wot some ppl mite call "fighting dogs" ie staffy.....so was vary wary when my daughter got one as she has a 1yr old daughter....gorgeous courtney lou......to my amazement this dog is excellant with her.....u really do have to see it to believe it.....lol.....anyway i just want to try and find out other ppls views and excperiences with staffys.....

Im a bit confused here, did your daughter have her dog before you had your staffie and your staffie X?

but to answer your question,
my experience of the breed has been, you can get from one extream to another in the breed,
I have seen very loving animals, even to strangers, who love other dogs, cats and anything else they see,
to very aggressive to everything and everyone,

the most common I see is, dog aggressive but love people.

I have two children. My staff is now 2 1/2 years old He's the best breed I've ever had.....I could'nt ask for a better dog! He's got his own personality, obviously I'm careful, just like I would be with any other breed.

I did own a Greman shep x collie, he didn't like people (Ex-police dog) but he loved us and my kids.....

Whatever breed you own, you have to keep an open mind x

Staffies are known as the Nanny dog and test highly on temprement scores for suitability as dogs to live with children. As has already been said, like all dogs they can go from on extreme to the other.

I would say a general rule they are very good with children but the golden rule should be the same as with any dog, never leave a young child alone with a dog, even for a moment.

in my opinion, beautiful dogs with a loving and loyal personality.......sweet even!!!!!

I have 2 staffies, these are my second 2, the first were brought up with my son who was 2 at the time, the 2 I have now a delightful dogs, who get on with anything and everything, including other animals....
They live with 5 cats, and a puppy....

I presently have four, three are ok with other dogs one is ok with bitches and puppies but not other males.
They are all fantastic with people, I don't have young children here but they are fine with any they meet out and about.

They all live with my welsh Terriers and Lakeland terriers and now one cat, (had 2 cats unti last week) RIP ginger, Old age.

None of my dogs regardless of breed are left together if I am not there.

The cat sleeps were ever he wants.

i only have the 1 staffy, i would like a pack but dont have the space, shes called loki and shes 3 on christmas day.
she is exellent with children and other dogs but hates clothes hanging on the washing line for some untold reason. i am planning on getting another dog next summer, i would like another staff but my lady has her heart set on a mini ebt so she will get her way as usual!

People keep telling me they are so soft and really good with children, but when I was considering a dog I didnt get one because I find them rather ugly. Also I worry about the size of their jaw. Any dog who is loving and friendly can suddenly turn and bite, it may be due to extreme provocation or it may be because he is ill or in pain. Dogs with large and powerful jaws will do more damage.

indeed they will, so does that mean no one with a lab, or bigger should have them as they will do more damage,

Each to their own, from one " ugly" dog owner to another

They are just not for me. I didnt say no one should have them, but people should consider this a bit more.

Have to disagree with them being ugly, my 2 staffies have a biggest smiles of any breed, they are anything but ugly....

Neither of my girls have turned or bitten ever, and one of them has bad athritis in her back legs and does get a lot of pain from it...

All dogs regardless of there breed can bite and kill,
Yes even JR can.

We have several small breeds around here which are a complete nightmare.They are forever running loose and terrorising people and there dogs.

http://www.understand-a-bull.com/BSL/Flyers/AllDogsBite.pdf

I own 3 SBT's and they are all fab dogs,great with people and adore kids

just cant resist - this is my ugly dog !! LOL

pretty gorgeous to me !!

and a gentler beast with children I have yet to meet.

love that last photo dani, bruno is such a sweet heart aint he.

Lovely photos, I dont find them ugly at all, however I have seen some photos of staffies where I have thought that they look a bit scary, but thats just the outside of the dog its the inside that counts. Would love to own one, one day.

The only thing that would put me off is the walking part as there are a lot of staffies where I live and most off lead and I would be scared that I wouldnt be able to control my dog if a situation was to arise with another staffie or dog, due to me not being physically very strong.

Couldn't agree more! I cringe at the term "Nanny dog": it sends entirely the wrong message.

I'd trust the big, good-natured dog over a small, bad-tempered one any day of the week. All the staffies I've known have been perfectly lovely, and perfectly gorgeous... what is it with that staffy grin Anyway I'd like to meet the dog that could do more damage with it's jaws than my Patterdale (destroyer of indestructable toys), who isn't orders of magnitude bigger than your Yorkie! Jaw size and bite force are not necessarily proportionate! ;-)

I'm really not surprised at all about how well they get on, there is a reason the Staffy is nicknamed the nanny dog. It is because of their fondness of children and how good they are with them. There are other such breeds that just seem to get on with and love children.

Of course there are temperament issues in probably every breed out there. Some are unstable and can be a danger to people including children which could be tragic.

I've some experience with Staffy's but most of mine is with American Pit Bull Terriers (including some APBT/SBT mixes too), very similar in temperament and mostly all good experiences. I've known some which were people aggressive but they are a very small minority. These fighting breeds were not bred to be aggressive to people, some would even put down a dog which was that way, though others would not.

No matter the breed it is best to look at the individual dogs temperament and use common sense.

Hi there and welcome to Dogsey.

In my experience SBT's are cracking little dogs which seem to get bad press. I'll be honest and say that your 'style' of writing might raise the odd eyebrow though.

Why are you wary ?

My brother in law has two Staffies..one is just a few months old but a repeat mating of his first dog.

I have never heard his dogs growl at another, all they seem to want to do is make friends...the big boy is like a bull in a china shop when I first arrive but I think thats just excitement because he knows I will make a fuss of him.

I also see several Staffies whilst out walking and they all seem very friendly and have never grumbled or tried to hurt Leon.

I wouldn't have any reservations with regards to their temperements but do understand that, sadly, in the wrong hands, these powerful dogs can be trained to be dangerous, which is unfortunately the same with a number of other breeds.