Staffies - the Most Friendliest Dog! Discussions

The Best, almost better than husbands!!!!!!
I love my staffie, she is the best

I have two staffie boys, my youngest one was attacked as a puppy by a dog that was being walk and his owners where carrying his muzzle instead of the dog wearing it, my dogs are gentle cared for and well brought up. there is no such thing as a bad dog it is down to bad ownership, if you cant be responsible dont own a dog

my staffie is def a people dog he loves to sit on you and get cuddles and kisses which he returns sadly e doesnt like all other dogs after being attacked when he was younger by the same lab and a pair of great danes in our area he has his friends who he greets nicely on his lead i carry his muzzle and if i see a dog he doesnt know charging towards us i put it on its about being sensible i love my boy i also have a stafie cross she loves other dogs and usually takes the pressure of my boy

Awwww...I love Staffies!! We rehomed some a couple of weeks ago and all were lovely!! xx

I'm with Malwhit on this one. Yes, they are the most friendliest of dogs to people, but unfortunately not to other dogs and so as a dog owner, i'm not a fan.

Of course, i've come across Staffies which are brilliant with other dogs and i've known a Staffy experienced couple who had one of theirs put down because it bit their child, went for their other Staffies and generally turned nasty. So there are always exceptions but IME, most cannot be trusted with other dogs.

I think some of the problem is that people that don't understand socialisation and how vital it is with bullies. I meet a few where we walk who are absolutely fine and infact the only one I've ever personally met who was DA, belonged to my neighbour and the dog was not DA when they first adopted him! Due to isolation and lack of socialising he became this way. All down to them.

I see Staffs every day being walked alone, onlead and being denied the day to day doggy meets that they should have. One bad interaction for them can set up the beginning of a problem. Alfie is 7 months now and he has so far been bitten by a Jack Russell (not mine) a Springer Spaniel and a Scottie. These dogs bit him unprovoked and he did not respond in kind. His response was to walk away. He is fine with dogs of all sizes although he tends to give the little ones a wide berth for some reason.

I think it's terribly sad that people tar Staffs as having issues with other dogs as generally it's a human that has led them to behave that way. Even the gorgeous Bruno on here, who came with his own dog reactivity when adopted, has had positive doggy interactions because of the wonderful work his mum has done with him.

I agree with this and it upsets me that people where I live don't keep them on leads. Yesterday we were walking back home and there was a man with one on the pavement with no lead on. I crossed over the road to put some distance between us. It does seem to be an image thing that they don't like them to be on leads? Think it is stupid myself and not fair to my dogs who don't like Staffies because of many bad experiences.

We had a lovely one when we were in the top class of the training club we used to go to. Lovely little bitch and so well-behaved. The owner's previous Staffy was dog-aggressive though.

As a staffie owner i think people are to quick to blame staffies for everything that goes wrong, people cross the street rather than walk pass us' why simply because we own two staffies??? ours are never off the lead when they are walked round the road only when they go to the field, so why cross the road?? both my dogs where attacked by other dogs when they where puppies, but i would not class all dobermans or all boxers as bad dogs people need to look at the whole picture rather than just say its a staffie it must be the one that has caused the trouble.

Firstly lilypup- thankyou, am not sure why Bruno likes some doggies and not others but the joy I get from very occasionally seeing him be a dog is lovely and worth the stressful walks the rest of thR time.

I think there are 3 things here, people who love Staffies, people who just dong like them and Wong ever no matter what you say, and those that genuinely have sadly had s bad experience with them thus have a right to be wary.

I do feel that sadly there are certain areas where probably the majority of Staffies are owned by numpties who don't care what their dogs do and probably like thR fact they intimidate other people. This obviously feeds the hysteria surrounding the Stafford as a breed, and aligns them to be easily misjudged and afford them a bad reputation that is very misguided.

However you also have the other half of staffie owners who adore the breed, detest what it's become, mourn thR fact that there adorable dogs ate rotting in council pounds and rescues all over this country- 18 Staffies PTS every day in the uk.

I have to say in my area, my Staffie is the only DA one I know of, and most are well trained loved and owned by nice people.
I actually know s gorgeous boy who had been three times attacked by the same black lab, the Staffies owner hasn't taken it further as he is scared that if he calls the dog wardenon thR black labs owner( who has also attacked other dogs- owned by well to do man in late 50's whose dog is just playing!!!!) the Staffie needed vet treatment on every occasion. The owner doesn't want to do anything as his Staffie is on the big side and he I'd worried that it's his dog the victim that will get seized under DDA. That's the horror of this, that any dog can attack and be out if control but if you own a Staffie then you could lose your dog under DDA whereas if you have a lab or a pom or s yorkie you won't cos they aren't a risk!

Staffies love their people and most of their people love them back, for now that will have to be enough, but we would love it of we can change some opinions and get the breed back to being much loved rather than much misjudged.

I love them, there another dog on my wish list, I have to say my dream Staff is a black and tan (even if they are 'undesirable' by standard) but I would love any really. They seem like (well are) great dogs, the only problem is that they are one of the most loyal breeds I know, and they live to please their owner, which can be easily exploted by the owners and get the dog into all sorts of trouble .

i met a lovely staffie this morning, 10 months old. I tried to convince the owners to let him off lead to have a run about and play... maybe next time.

I think that is some of the problem. Some owners are so worried about the reaction to their Staffs that they end up isolating them and actually causing a problem. My boy is nearly 8 months and has been offlead since he was 4 months. He is very social with other dogs and does tend to say a quiet 'hello' and move on with most of them. He never instigates play, but will join in if asked.

Considering the high energy levels of most Staffies, a trot round the park onlead could cause frustration and certainly won't give them the exercise they need. Our walks are on average an hour and a half plus, and Alfie spends all that time offlead, usually running full pelt too!

It's not just staffies. Yesterday I just happened to bump into:

Staffie mentioned above.
1 year old Border Collie.
6 month old lab.
12 year old collie cross.

Non of which are let off the lead. I am hopeful for the staffie though - they genuinely seemed in a rush to get somewhere (or were they genuinely in a rush to get away from me !).

my staffie is friendliest dog in world and actually gets upset if you dont let her cuddle you lol

Can I just point members to a link I placed in this section, the rescue I work at is holding a competition, to help dispel some of the bad image Bull terriers have please have a look at the thread Bull Terrier competition, in this terrier section,

Cheers Mo

that's the thing with staffies, you get 110% regardless of what you ask of them!

i love staffs only breed for me
i have my 5 year old staff off the lead wherever we go

I meet up with three other people when i'm out with Taff - a BC. One of them has Two Great Danes - a 17st 3 year old one, and his 10 month old niece. The other couple has a 10 month old Dogue de Bordeux. Up to last week whenever they saw a Staffie in the distance they would all call their dogs to them & put them on the lead. I never bothered as Taff couldnt care less about other dogs - he's more interested in his ball. Anyway, I wasnt with them at the time when they met this woman with the Staffie but next day they were telling me about meeting her and about how friendly the Staffie was. Since then we have met up with this woman nearly every day & the two young dogs treat her as their new best friend. its lovely watching them all having a good play- the Staffie is tiny compared with the Dane & the Bordeoux lol.
She is gorgeous - she was rescued from someone using her either as bait or training her for fighting. It seems to have shown my other friends that Staffies are not the "Devil dogs" they thought they were which has to be a good thing.

The problem is is that if there are two dogs off lead and one starts a bit of trouble then no matter what the Stafford always gets the blame. Stafford owners that keep their dogs on lead do it because of that.

There are a lot of people out there who will lie through their back teeth and some times it comes down to who is believed.

Staffords tend to come off worse in that case.

My Staffords run together and have no issues with other dogs but they stay on their leads and I don't allow them to run free with other dogs. I would have to know the owners very very well first.

Perhaps this is why the person that writes the breed notes for Staffords in "Dogs Today" newspaper says that they should never be let off the lead when there are other dogs about?
I have the opposite problem-people with Staffies let them charge up to Parker who will not accept rudeness like this and wuffs at them and chases them away. Then the owners think he is not a nice temperament-they can't understand how their dog is being confrontational by rushing at his head like this. I wish we met more owners like you! I always leash Parker when there are Staffies about now (unless I know them to be calm and friendly of course).