Do we know what we own? Discussions

Many of us take on bull breeds and think that these dogs are gonna be a certain way

Such as the stafford being a nanny dog. ok so they are one of the best breeds of dogs with children but any dog can turn and no dog should be trusted alone with them not even the stafford/nanny dog!

Then people go and get a stafford, rottie, pitbull, amstaff, ambull etc and think they have a hards man dog yet they are very loving towards humans which makes morans mis treat their dogs, therefor causing them to turn!

Then there are breeders who breed without care and they mate a dog which may have temperment issues with humans, so then we have dogs that could bite

THEN you get owners who have no idea about the bull and terriers breeds and then when your lovely stafford attacks another dog they either get rid of it or mistreat it
HELLO THESE DOGS WERE BRED FOR FIGHTING AND IF YOU REMOVE THIER DOG AGRESSION THEN YOU REMOVE THE SPIRIT AND THEREFOR YOU DONT OWN A BULL AND TERRIER BREED IMO

Why is it we dont relise what our breeds are about because if more people relised then there would be less accidents and the star and sun newspapers damaging our breed

IMO staffordshire bull terriers are:

Fantastic with children but should never be left alone
Exellent with human beings if brought up and bred correctly
Not a hard man image dog
Can be dog agressive and never trust your bull and terrier breed alone with another dog
BOLD
FEARLESS
LOYAL
LOVING
CLOWNS

THE BEST

I so wish people would think carefully before taking on a dog and really research them

im glad to say we researched what type of dog to get when we got ella 7 years ago she is a sbt and so is poppy , we were told then they were good with children and have lived up to that with us and our friends children for me i would have no other dog

Slightly confused with your post.

But I have to say we thoroughly researched before we brought a Dobermann and I think more than anything people get their bad opinions of them from America, not the UK.

I'm also slightly confused by your post, are you saying you should LET them be dog aggressive?

i own a dog aggressive staffy and it wouldnt change who he is character wise if he wasnt dog aggressive so not sure what you are saying. Yes we all know staffies can be more likely to be dog aggressive as its in their genetic make up way back down the lines - however dont think its somethign that should be encouraged in any breed.

I knew exactly what I was getting - actually I retract that he was a rescue so I dint know exactly what I was getting and I honestly didnt think that any dog could be this loving and such alot of character = however i would far prefer if he wasnt dog aggressive

Funny there are TONS of staffies round where i live and only one- very recently a 10 month old ran at Minnie and attacked her- has ever shown any sign of aggression. 99% are lovely- in fact 2 of her best pals are staffies. In my experience staffies are no more dog aggressive than many other popular breeds- again its all down to early socialisation by the owners

We had staffies for a long time...they are a very close to my heart as a breed, however if i have gotten the correct view of your post (and it seems other are along the same train of thought) i would never allow any dog to be dog aggressive, and would try my god damn upmost to get them out of such habbits!
I am the first to admit that all the terriers (whether they be at the bull terrier end or the other terrier types) are fiesty, and do often think they can take any dog on and win-however i couldn't ever imagine allowing sucha thing:? Out of all of our staffies i think (were talking some years back now lol) there was only ever one who didn't like other dogs..all the others were fine, very happy to be around other dogs. Yes i know, the blue blood of ancient fighting dogs flows through their veins however, i know they can have such tendencies 'tamed'-like with other terriers, you can tame the urge to catch n kill small furries but its never totally gone, as with gundogs and retrieving-allways the urge to fetch things, and with pastoral breeds and herding and so forth-you can not undo centuries of breeding for a particular purpose by no means, but you can sort of discourage it IMO.
I have known far too many staffords lol some are dog aggressive, cat aggressive etc but most are fine. To have a stafford from a pup and not discourage it from "anti-social" (in a sense i guess it would be) behaviour towards other dogs just doesn't seem too make sense to me? Having an older rescue who already has such 'habbits' is different, then its a matter of their new owners learning to cope with having a dog aggressive dog, a matter of them learning how not to get into situations where there dogs "anti other dog behaviour" would kick into affect and so forth-and in all the cases of dog aggressive dogs i have known, their owners do just that.
Of course all this is JMO, but i don't see as discouraging dog aggression as taking the "essence" from the breed, as it were.

Great post above- most terriers want to be top dog I believe.... its down to US to train them to accept that they can exist on another plane and get along with other dogs.

Definatley. My late JRT bitch had 'balls of steel' and would attempt to take on anything and everything, i never fully trained it outta her as she was a young adult rescue with a peppered past, but in her latter years she would ignore passing by dogs aslong as they did the same to her.
The old saying, "Nurture Not Nature" is one i abide by wholeheartedly when concerning dogs..well concerning any animal.

There are a few things I will disagree with Hayley

I disagree with this statement because it's whats put into a pup from an early age, just because a dog that happens to be a bit iffy is bred don't always = nasty puppies/dogs. Obviously the temperament of the Sire and Dam will have an influence over offspring produced but what the breeder also puts into the puppies plays an important part too.

The press play a small part idiotic owners damage our breeds.

Hi Hayley

I'm not sure if you copied that from somewhere or if it is your own thoughts, but I completely disagree with it.

Rocky would be the same dog to me if all his dog agression (if any exists) was removed. In fact he would be ten times the dog he is if it were.

We could go to the beach, the park and any other public place and I could let him off lead without having to worry about him getting 'started on'. Cos I know he'd just come back to me rather than reciprocate.

Bull n Terriers are not just made up of one personality trait, and certainly removing any undersirable charcteristics won't change the dogs they are - unless that trait is something you actually like the dogs for to begin with.

Not all Staffords are dog aggressive infact dog aggression is not something I would encourage in any Bull Breed including the Stafford.

Daisy is a cross Stafford (more Stafford than anything else) yet not one ounce of aggression in her, towards dogs or people shes very dog and people orientated, infact she came here to a multiple dog household and fitted straight in like a glove, like she had always been here. Just because the dog aggression can be taken away does not remove the 'Stafford Spirit' these little dogs are fabulous hardy dogs that is something that you could never take away, remove or breed out of them...'Stafford Spirit' means so many things to me - it's not about their fighting history. Thats a thing of the past and thats the way it should stay for the sake of the breed as a whole.

Slight Off topic but what they hey
Stafford spirit to me means loyailty, loveableness, an unjustifyable honour to their family, a slightly clownish nature, and a rather good foot warmer amongst many other things!

couldnt agree more !!
bruno's dog aggression more than likely is fear and lack of socialisation and he has NEVER shown aggression to any human being.
His nature this aside is fantastic and he is a big softy who is far happier curled up on your lap than fighting with anything anyway.

I have to agree too- about Staffies- all Minnies staffy pals are luvely play machines Fear aggression can occur with any breed. Chihuahuas are very prone to it-"small dog syndrome ". Again early socialisation with nice dogs can prevent most of it.

Daisy is a good foot licker

No seriously I happen to think that dog aggressive Staffords are in a minority now, as most people now live with more than one dog obviously dog aggression with any breed would need to be addressed but I can name many breeds that are dog aggressive and not all of them are Bull and Mastiff breeds, or even terrier breeds.

The only dog-aggressive ones in my training class that I can remember were a black lab, a springer spaniel , a Malamute, an Akita and a tiny Chihuahua called Oliver;-) So yep it can happen within any breed. None of these particular dogs were brought to puppy socialisation class- the owners started bringing them when they were up to a year old and the behavioural problems were already established :-(

guys i dont mean it as must have but many breeders want to breed out the dog agression which IMO is wrong, If you dont want a dog that may turn or be flighty then dont get a stafford as its in them! Apart of thier spirit is thier dog agression, not all of it but some of it, remove any part of the spirit then your dont own a stafford

I think if people see what the stafford is in the first place then alot less dog fights and staffords would not be in rescue homes

I will and never ever trust my dog alone with any other animal not even thier pack!

WHat im trying to say is Mr Joe gets a stafford puppy and its good with other dogs, then 18 months later Mr Joe take his stafford down the park and lets it run free with the other dogs, a ball could be invovled and then the stafford bites or attacks the other dog! Mr Joe is surprised! why is he surprised? because he didnt research what staffords are properly and so a dog get injured or worse killed as staffords are very powerful and then Mr Joe will either learn never to let his dog off with other dogs (i doubt it), he will hit the dog for attacking (NO NEED) or he will rehome it or worse still allow it to play free with other animals
WHich then gives the stafford a bad name as alot of owners dont see they have fighting insticts!

I guess i just love staffords and everything about them, i would never change thier physically looks as im so agaist the new standards so why would i change the dog agression, as a stafford owner its MY duty to make sure my dogs are under control and never be able to attack another dog! If that means bessie, borris and quinn never play off lead with other dogs then so be it! I wanted a stafford and thats what i have to do

we keep changing breeds so much that the breed itself is no longer its breed

Then people go and get a stafford, rottie, pitbull, amstaff, ambull etc and think they have a hards man dog yet they are very loving towards humans which makes morans mis treat their dogs, therefor causing them to turn!

Then there are breeders who breed without care and they mate a dog which may have temperment issues with humans, so then we have dogs that could bite

THEN you get owners who have no idea about the bull and terriers breeds and then when your lovely stafford attacks another dog they either get rid of it or mistreat it
HELLO THESE DOGS WERE BRED FOR FIGHTING AND IF YOU REMOVE THIER DOG AGRESSION THEN YOU REMOVE THE SPIRIT AND THEREFOR YOU DONT OWN A BULL AND TERRIER BREED IMO

Although the above is slightly confusing I do I think in general aggree with some of what your trying to say. There are few contradictions however.

In the first of the quoted paras you seem to be arguing that its the owners of such breeds who socialise and encourage the dogs to have an agresive anti social temperaments by mistreatment which is obviously bad and no one could disagree.

In the last quoted para you seem to be saying that all owners of Bull or Terrier breeds need to realise that these breeds are naturally dog aggresive and anit social and that this behaviour should be celebrated, as if this behavior is discouraged or subdude then the breed has lost its spirit and doesn't count as a bull or terrier. This I must say contradicts your previous statement and is extreamly dangerous and irresponsible, especialy from a doggy person. Please think about this again. Any dog which is dangerous can be seized and destroyed as a dangerous dog. Even barking and scaring a member of the public is enough to enforce the DDA.

All anti socail and aggressive behavior should be nipped in bud as soon as humanly possible to the highest degree possible, even playful nipping and mouthing should be stopped, and that goes for all breeds and owners. In the middle para you say that breeders try to breed dogs who bite. All I can say to this is that every dog no matter how well socialised or trainned is cable of attacking and biting. It is upto each owner to reduce this risk as much as possible by being a responsibe owner, and that means not blaming the breed or the breeder for their dogs problems. If some people are not upto this resposiblity then they should not take on any dog no matter how small or placid never mind big and nasty.