What's wrong with Staffordshire Bull Terriers?

[Glennis 15]

Lovely natured dogs, nothing wrong with them at all - just a few bad owners, and as someone said in an earlier post, the media do not help their image

[vwkittie 10]

As others have said, sometimes people need to get out of the way because their dog doesn't like being too close to other strange dogs. I get out of the way as much as possible as ours can be very reactive.

 

The dogs I avoid the most are small terrier types (had many bad experiences with boarders), collies (their strange body language freaks my dog out), and labs (often seem to be owned by people who think it's fine for them to bounce all over my dog while shouting 'it's ok, he's friendly!' while my dog is lunging in terror).

 

Staffs in my experience are among the better dogs and the ones I worry the least about!

[angel22 10]

When I first got my Staffy, I was expecting a lot of negativity. But I can honestly say,I've not really experienced any. Yes, a few people have crossed the road but for all I know, they may have a fear of all dogs, they might be crossing because their dog isn't friendly or they might just need to be on the other side of the road! Nobody has ever said anything to me or stopped their dog from playing with mine in the park.

 

Moonbird and H_Hounds have both met my dog and will tell you she's a big softy!

 

Is it because she's white? Are people more wary of the darker coloured Staffies? Or maybe it's just because she greets everybody with a waggy tail and rolls on the floor hoping to get her tummy tickled!

 

My dog has been attacked quite a few times. Only once by another Staffy. All the rest have been small terriers. And in most case, the owners have laughed it off and not even apologised. Just because your dog is too small to do any damage to my dog doesn't mean it's ok to let them run up to her and growl and snap at her. All have attacked her while she has been under control and on her lead. It's not just Staffies that do the attacking, they're quite often on the receiving end of it too!

 

She was snapped at a few days ago by a little dog, it got her right on the end of her nose and all she did in retaliation was to sit down and bop the dog on its head using her paw!

Edited February 23, 2015 by angel22

[Powerage 10]

Its not just Staffies people do this with, I have a bull mastiff and get the same reaction off people when she is just the daftest, ran and hid behind me because a teeny tiny poodle pup was yapping at her! I have to say though that I am a bit wary of Staffies as every time any of my dogs have been attacked it has been by Staffies.

[Chelle-82 10]

My OH would LOVE a staffie. He thinks they're brilliant dogs. and whilst I am a strong believer that there is no such thing as a bad breed just bad owners, I wouldn't have a staffie in my home as I find them one of the ugliest breeds of dogs! Regardless of their nature.. We quite often argue about it because he really really loves them and gets the face on with me.

[Viv74 10]

I have to admit that when walking my dogs on a lead I do cross the street if I see other people with dogs come towards us on the same side. It has nothing to do with breed of dog, it is just awkward letting dogs pass each other on a lead as some are much more guarded and growling and snapping can ensue. One of my dogs is quite large and smaller dogs seem to take issue with him all the time

[gatecrasher3 10]

We have a staffy aged around 7. Got him from the dog pound 18 months ago. He's a big softy and loves people and very friendly with other dogs.

 

But so many other dog owners get out of the way (dragging their dog with them) when they see us walking towards them.

 

What's the problem?

 

Any views?

 

The simple answer is there is absolutely nothing wrong with Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

[laurenlauren 10]

You might be interested in this project by Shelley Richmond

 

https://www.facebook.com/IAmAStaffieOwner

[172-125 10]

We had our staffy/bull mix for 12 years and when she got to around 7 people stopped walking past her, or they would pick up their dog if she wasn't on her lead, we ended up having to keep her on the lead. We have an old GSD people used to avoid her when she was younger but now they can see she's old and slow they have time for her. We also have a papillon/yorkie she's smaller than a cat but I try and keep her away from other dogs because she snaps and would bite them. I always warn the owner of the other dog.

[katkin 10]

met some fantastic staffies over the years, some lovely dogs... but also had encounters with nasty ones - one nearly chewed my face off and our first dobermann Ailsa ended up at the vets a few times because of out-of-control dogs which were unfortunately more often than not Staffies. Yes I know that aggression is not a breed specific thing, it's just the case that the majority of times Ailsa WAS attacked (and she seemed to attract a lot of negative attention over her ten years for some reason), the aggressors just happened to be Staffies. For what it's worth, she was also the target of a Labrador, a Greyhound, a couple of very nasty nondescripts working together and even a Boston Terrier! Poor dog, I'm surprised she didnt develop a complex.

 

So because of that, yes, I was wary for a while (especially as one of the aggressive ones was living just around the corner from us and it had a habit of charging out the house and making a beeline for Ailsa, trying to grab her). But it has not put me off the breed. When we meet a friendly one, I'm happy to stop and say hello. Its good for Jesse to interact with other dogs too.

 

Being the owner of what some people might consider a status dog, Ive known people to take a wide berth when passing by us or whisking their children up out of her way and I'm used to that, fair enough if you're scared, I have every confidence in Jesse but I'm not going to force people to like her. Ailsa was a model dog citizen and so is Jesse our rescue dobe, but I accept that people are wary of the breed. I am often pleasantly surprised though when people ask me if they can say hello to Jesse. We often walk into town with her and we take her with us on days out so invariably, we will meet people keen to say hello.

 

I've met owners of staffies, akitas, GSDs, Rotties and Dobes who get the same response as us (the wide berth its a big scary man eating monster response) and I often stop and ask if their dog is friendly and to say hello if that's OK, just so that they know they arent the only ones!

Edited March 6, 2015 by katkin