please help me, Im after advice... Im really upset, my dad whom i live with, finally got another dog after 6 years. To my delight his name was Max a five year old male staffordshire bull terrier, we got him from the rescue centre nearby. We had him two weeks, everything seemed perfect.. he was so loving and soft..i fell in love with him. He wasn't brilliant around other dogs though, on the field he would bark, growl and rear up around other dogs, always kept on the lead we hoped this would pass. Last friday, the door was left open for a second, Max ran outside, bolted up the drive and immeadiately lept onto a passing boxer dog. He bit around the dogs neck and wouldn't let go. After about a minute of chaos, my dad threw water over him and he let go of the boxer. Since this incident the owner has taken the boxer to the vets, who was told it could've been fatal. Obviously the owners where upset, advising us to get max put to sleep. To cut a long story short, Max was returned to the rescue centre yesterday and I am heartbroken. I had become so close to him, everyones been really upset, especially my dad. However he says he would be always worried it would happen again. We where advised to get a muzzle by a friend, but my dad still said he couldn't trust max anymore, and "what if next time it was a child"...I want Max back so much, but is this a trait that could be remedied with training, even though he's already five?. Is it likely to keep happeneing? would he eventually get used to other dogs?. If you could see what hes like around me at home you'd understand...has anyone any answers...if it where up to me he'd still be here now next to me

On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 02:02:13 +0000, broomhead56
wrote:

please help me, Im after advice... Im really upset, my dad whom i live
with, finally got another dog after 6 years. To my delight his name was
Max a five year old male staffordshire bull terrier, we got him from the
rescue centre nearby. We had him two weeks, everything seemed perfect..
he was so loving and soft..i fell in love with him. He wasn't brilliant
around other dogs though, on the field he would bark, growl and rear up
around other dogs, always kept on the lead we hoped this would pass.

Why would you think that kind of behavior would just "pass," at the
age of 5 years?

[...]
However he says he would be always worried it would happen again.

Without good OBEDIENCE training, and proper management and handling, I
can guarantee you that it would have happened again.

Did either of you do any research on Staffies before you got him?

We where advised to get a
muzzle by a friend, but my dad still said he couldn't trust max anymore,
and "what if next time it was a child"...

Staffies are naturally *animal* aggressive, not human aggressive.
Unfortunately, your father, and probably your vet, apparently don't
understand the difference.

I want Max back so much, but is
this a trait that could be remedied with training, even though he's
already five?.

Not just obedience training, but an acknowledgement that you would
have a NATURALLY animal aggressive dog, and an understanding that you
would need to carefully manage the dog around other animals,
particularly other dogs.

If you're not prepared to train him properly, and manage and handle
him properly, you should adopt another breed.

If you could see what hes like around me at home
you'd understand...

Exactly. Which is why you'd almost certainly never have to worry about
him attacking a human being. They're *great* people dogs, but many of
them are aggressive to other dogs.

My advice?

Get another breed, but do some research on it before you acquire it.

--
Dogman

On 12/14/2010 3:17 PM, Dogman wrote:
On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 02:02:13 +0000, broomhead56
wrote:

please help me, Im after advice... Im really upset, my dad whom i live
with, finally got another dog after 6 years. To my delight his name was
Max a five year old male staffordshire bull terrier, we got him from the
rescue centre nearby. We had him two weeks, everything seemed perfect..
he was so loving and soft..i fell in love with him. He wasn't brilliant
around other dogs though, on the field he would bark, growl and rear up
around other dogs, always kept on the lead we hoped this would pass.

Why would you think that kind of behavior would just "pass," at the
age of 5 years?

[...]
However he says he would be always worried it would happen again.

Without good OBEDIENCE training, and proper management and handling, I
can guarantee you that it would have happened again.

Did either of you do any research on Staffies before you got him?

We where advised to get a
muzzle by a friend, but my dad still said he couldn't trust max anymore,
and "what if next time it was a child"...

Staffies are naturally *animal* aggressive, not human aggressive.
Unfortunately, your father, and probably your vet, apparently don't
understand the difference.

I want Max back so much, but is
this a trait that could be remedied with training, even though he's
already five?.

Not just obedience training, but an acknowledgement that you would
have a NATURALLY animal aggressive dog, and an understanding that you
would need to carefully manage the dog around other animals,
particularly other dogs.

If you're not prepared to train him properly, and manage and handle
him properly, you should adopt another breed.

If you could see what hes like around me at home
you'd understand...

Exactly. Which is why you'd almost certainly never have to worry about
him attacking a human being. They're *great* people dogs, but many of
them are aggressive to other dogs.

There are stories on the news about them attacking people constantly,
especially young children and even babies. It may be more likely that
this dog would attack another dog over a person but by no means is that
"almost certain" by any means.


My advice?

Get another breed, but do some research on it before you acquire it.

On Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:32:33 -0500, Char
wrote:


Exactly. Which is why you'd almost certainly never have to worry about
him attacking a human being. They're *great* people dogs, but many of
them are aggressive to other dogs.

There are stories on the news about them attacking people constantly,
especially young children and even babies. It may be more likely that
this dog would attack another dog over a person but by no means is that
"almost certain" by any means.

While it's entirely possible that this dog might attack a human being
(one could say much the same thing about most breeds), there's no
reason (zero, nada, zilch) to suspect that it will do so because it
has attacked a dog.

Border collies attack far more young children than Staffies ever have.
I don't know where you live (Pluto, perhaps?), but I've never heard of
a Staffie attacking any human being in my area, adult or child.

In England, they're even referred to as "The Nanny Dog" and "The
Children's Nursemaid."
http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/staffords.html

From the AKC standard:

"From the past history of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the modern
dog draws its character of indomitable courage, high intelligence, and
tenacity. This, coupled with its affection for its friends, and
children in particular, its off-duty quietness and trustworthy
stability, makes it a foremost all-purpose dog."

You'll even find them *recommended* for families with children:
http://www.dogguide.net/blog/2008/05...with-children/

If you want to try and make this great little dog into some kind of
bogeyman, go right ahead. I'd expect nothing else from your ilk.

But I'm sticking with "almost certainly never," whether you like it or
not.

--
Dogman

Again, this is an inquiry from ENGLAND. As Dogman says, "small". The
Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which is half the size of a correct size
American Staffordshire Terrier (AKC) or American Pit Bull Terrier (UKC
and ADBA), is a popular breed in the UKC..... which bans the Am Staff
and APBT and unregistered dogs apparently of those breeds/types.... The
Staffie has never been implicated in an attack on humans in the US or
Canada. (Nor has the Bull Terrier.... on the Target logo) Most of the
pit bull types in the US are not registered with any registry, and in my
region are often greatly oversize in comparison to the standards of the
3 reputable registries.

So before you go ranting along about American yellow journalism, "read
the problem", as your teachers told you in school. Do your research.
Then reply appropriately. Or refrain from comment.

Oh, and by the way, how good are you at differentiating, in a two second
glance, a white APBT from a Dogo Argentina? Or a white Boxer? Or a
Boxer/Lab cross?

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

"Jo Wolf" wrote in message
...

Again, this is an inquiry from ENGLAND. As Dogman says, "small".
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which is half the size of a correct
size American Staffordshire Terrier (AKC) or American Pit Bull
Terrier (UKC and ADBA), is a popular breed in the UKC..... which
bans the Am Staff and APBT and unregistered dogs apparently of
those breeds/types.... The Staffie has never been implicated in an
attack on humans in the US or Canada. (Nor has the Bull Terrier....
on the Target logo) Most of the pit bull types in the US are not
registered with any registry, and in my region are often greatly
oversize in comparison to the standards of the 3 reputable registries.

So before you go ranting along about American yellow journalism,
"read the problem", as your teachers told you in school. Do your
research. Then reply appropriately. Or refrain from comment.

Oh, and by the way, how good are you at differentiating, in a
two second glance, a white APBT from a Dogo Argentina? Or a
white Boxer? Or a Boxer/Lab cross?

There is a website for "guess the breed"
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html, and it took me about 8
tries out of 25 or so to choose the Pit Bull. From the pictures I've seen
there is a wide variation of appearance for this breed, especially when they
are mixed with other breeds, as are many (or most) of the dogs that have
been rescued from fighting rings and BYBs. The purebred versions were always
selected for lack of human aggression, but otherwise you may be dealing with
the equivalent of genetic monsters.

It is a complex issue, as is the determination of aggressiveness and
dangerous behavior in mixed breed dogs, especially when they have languished
for a long time in the equivalent of solitary isolation in a kennel/jail
cell. Even the best behaved dogs may become dangerous when subjected to such
conditions, and if they originally came from BYBs and puppy mills with poor
early socialization, they may be unpredictable and ill suited for having as
pets in families with children and with owners who are not experienced.

Paul and Muttley