walking thomas and lunged on by staff bull terrier

[karen w]

WHY WHY WHY do people with these aggressive dogs (staff bull terrier) not put leads on them and keep them under control >:

As usual,we were out on our evening walk and came across a staff off the lead with a young girl around 12 years of age. There were no parents to been seen    thomas, 5 months old and on his lead with myself and OH equipped with full camera equipment . We became concerned when this dog started staring at us, i could see he was going to come to us so i picked up thomas and the dog just ran to us. He started growling and snarling and then jumped up at me and was trying to bite thomas! My OH grabbed the opportunity and kicked him very hard where it hurts     Thank goodness the dog backed off .I'm only glad my OH was there. I dread to think what WOULD have happened.
Isn't there some sort of law that these dogs are supposed be muzzled? why anyone would want one of these dogs is beyond me 
Karen.

[Cob-Web]

Karen - dog of any breed can do what this one did - Molo was approached in a very similar manner early one morning by a stray border collie 

Certain breeds of dogs appeal to owners who are unwilling or unable to train them appropriately, and a very small minority train them to be aggressive  There are many thousands of Staffordshire Bull Terriers who are as soft as butter, and their owners are constantly subjected to the kind of hurtful comments you have made about their choice of breed 

When owned and trained appropriately, bull breeds is no more or less likely to be aggressive than any other.........

I'm glad that Thomas is OK.......

[suzysu]

aww poor Thomas  and poor you ..these people make my blood boil  ..hope he is ok x

[Elisa]

I'm glad Thomas is OK 

Exactly as you described  happened to Bailey at the same age, but it wasn't a staffie that attacked Bailey, it was another cocker    Do I dislike cockers, of course not 

[Madmabel]

I am constantly amazed by the actions of dog owners....i have a 4 yr old cross collie, who is very soft natured and friendly to all dogs but very playful.  I am extremly mindful of other owners and their dogs, and if i do not know the dog, i put Keira on the lead immediately.  Not every dog wants to run at 100 mph and in 360 degree circles.

So often we meet 'unfriendly' dogs whose owners have the attitude 'let them sort it out themselves'...no thank you not with dogs i do not know.

I have a 13 week old cocker puppy 'Bramble' who is just establishing himself in the big wide world.

Hope the experience does not upset you too much.....

[karen w]

Karen - dog of any breed can do what this one did - Molo was approached in a very similar manner early one morning by a stray border collie 

Certain breeds of dogs appeal to owners who are unwilling or unable to train them appropriately, and a very small minority train them to be aggressive  There are many thousands of Staffordshire Bull Terriers who are as soft as butter, and their owners are constantly subjected to the kind of hurtful comments you have made about their choice of breed 

When owned and trained appropriately, bull breeds is no more or less likely to be aggressive than any other.........

I'm glad that Thomas is OK.......

We realise that any dog can attack another .My wife,Karen,was merely trying to point out that a dog with this aggressive nature should never have been allowed out,off the lead, with a young girl.As for saying the comments she made as being hurtful towards Staff owners they were never meant to be.I personally have had and trained dogs of all breeds all of my life and can safely say that all the bull breeds are aggressive towards other dogs.I am not saying that every bull terrier WILL attack another dog but it is in their genetic makeup to do so,you cannot breed that out.The facts are this- Bull breeds were bred for bullbaiting,bearbaiting and,believe it or not,lion baiting.When this practice was rightfully banned in the 1830`s the attention of the breeders turned to dog fighting.The dogs were (and still are in some circles) purposfully bred to fight other dogs.You only have to look at a staffs build.Strong jaws,high pain threshold,short fur,tight skin and muscular build to see that.So my point is this.To say that a staffordshire bull terrier is no more likely to attack another dog than any other breed is simply not true   

[Cob-Web]

To say that a staffordshire bull terrier is no more likely to attack another dog than any other breed is simply not true   

I didn't say that 

When owned and trained appropriately, bull breeds are no more or less likely to be aggressive than any other.........

The fact is that an aggressive dog of any breed should not be allowed off lead in the charge of a young girl - and I read Karen's comment to be aimed specifically at bull breeds, not at aggressive dogs in general 

Isn't there some sort of law that these dogs are supposed be muzzled? why anyone would want one of these dogs is beyond me 

[sarah25]

Poor Thomas !
Glad his ok now

[hamfam]

Just my opinion but i think if you own a 'scary' looking dog you should not be surprised if public opinion does not side with you regarding the merits of owning and exercising said animal. Staffie's make adorable puppies but i always think they look almost mutant and aggressive once fully grown, looks aside there are many stories of other breeds being attacked by staffies.

It's not fair to single out staffies though, there are many other breeds including doberman, gsd, rottwiller and the obvious pit bulls to name but a few. Many of these dogs make excellent pets if properly socialised and trained but regardless of how well behaved they are they have a reputation to live down to, if you own one then you must expect the negative comments the breed receives

[Cob-Web]

regardless of how well behaved they are they have a reputation to live down to, if you own one then you must expect the negative comments the breed receives

 

I hope Cockers don't go through another period of being demonised by the media a bit like they did in the 80's - personally, I would never expect to hear "you should keep your f***ing dog muzzled", as I heard shouted at one dog owner last week 

Edited to add a quote from Denise on another thread which highlights the point  .......:

Better be "the Poodleman" than the owner of a rage-infested solid black - which is what I was told at the weekend by someone who "knew" - "I watched that It's me or the Dog programme - saw it all, they're all rage infested, the black ones.  Should be muzzled!".  Yeah, and you should get a kick in the gnat's knickers, sweetie.  Grrr.

[PennyB]

Staffie's make adorable puppies but i always think they look almost mutant and aggressive once fully grownl

There are some rather beautiful looking staffies around, and I also find comments like something looks mutant very sad really

[daunting]

why would anyone want a staffie
ugly brutes

and vicious - poor Harley never stood a chance

shhh the beast is sleeping


totally undersocialised as she never went out until 5 mths old due to illness and has been thoroughly spoilt
and would lick the face off anyone - man, woman, child and dog, cat etc if she gets the chance and will be as beautiful as an adult as she is now ...

all dogs regardless of breed can be aggressive
my Max is and he's a cocker

i have had many different breeds of dogs come up and have a go and attack my lot but i don't tar them all with the same brush

and cockers have been the worst of the bunch!!

i own 2 'aggressive' type dogs and my cockers are far worse than them in temperament !

[ali]

not meaning to join the debate, but just wanted to stand up for the staffies that i have been lucky to know. two lived at the stables where i worked as a teenager and they were just the most wonderfully gorgeous dogs- really loving and great fun. barkley and i also know some wonderful staffies round here- there is one lovely girl in particular who barkers just goes loopy over and they play for ages.  the long-suffering lad who takes her out is quite a butch lookin bloke who my nan might be a bit scared of, but he too is a lovely guy and has to spend his life calling out to people up ahead that tia is friendly. that makes me sad as she so clearly is but i've seen a lot of other dog walkers go well out of their way to avoid her.

i do realise that staffies have a bad rep at the moment because a lot deserve it (though perhaps it should be the owners not the dogs who have the rep?) but in our experience the only dogs who have been truly nasty to barkley have been labs, collies and a giant poodle. he'd chose a staffie to play with any time over one of them.

[hamfam]

Staffie's make adorable puppies but i always think they look almost mutant and aggressive once fully grownl

There are some rather beautiful looking staffies around, and I also find comments like something looks mutant very sad really

Just my own personal view - some people see beauty in hairless dogs, just because they do doesn't mean that i should or will. My point is quite simply that if you own a dog that looks agressive, regardless of wether it is or not, then you must accept that others will find it intimidating and brand it aggressive, not to do so is to bury your head in the sand.

[hamfam]

i have had many different breeds of dogs come up and have a go and attack my lot but i don't tar them all with the same brush

I would hope that you wouldn't given your experience with the breed, i wonder what you would say though if your only experience was to see an aggressive looking dog snarling at your pet and what you read in the press, would you still be unbiased or would you jump on the anti staff bandwagon with the rest?