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We adopted a lovely 11 month old white/pied Staffie back in May, called Ruby - and she is such a kind loving dog, playful, intelligent and obedient and amazing with kids (my 3 year old loves her and we are expecting our second child in October!)...
Twice now I have been walking her and she has been attacked by another dog whilst she was on the lead - 1st time a lady walking a boxer round the street behind us with no lead.. I stopped to give her chance to put it on, but it just kept on walking and ignoring her.. then attacked Ruby so I had to get between them as although Ruby is very placid, she did stand up for herself... rightly so I say... The women apologised and said "He normally comes back, but I am only looking after him for my daughter.." - I have seen her several time since and the dog is still not on the lead!
Fast forward to Wednesday, got home after 2 days away on business, so took Ruby out to get some fresh air and stretch both our legs... walking her on the lead as normal - nodded and said hello to a guy cleaning his car and out of nowhere came this Cairn type terrier barking and snarling, attacking Ruby! Yet again I intervened and pulled them apart... It appears that the gaps in his gate are big enough for his dog to get out! He apologised and said she needs to go to obedience classes as she always attacks and charges at other dogs - I commented that some simple mesh/chicken wire on the bottom half of his gate would at least stop it!
Yet if Ruby had retaliated in a likewise manner with either of these dogs.. well... I can almost see the DM headlines! It just angers me!
Anyway - probably a poor rant by PH standards... But here is a picture of her after the wife had been on a dog toy run to the charity shop... (Ruby that is!)
Twice now I have been walking her and she has been attacked by another dog whilst she was on the lead - 1st time a lady walking a boxer round the street behind us with no lead.. I stopped to give her chance to put it on, but it just kept on walking and ignoring her.. then attacked Ruby so I had to get between them as although Ruby is very placid, she did stand up for herself... rightly so I say... The women apologised and said "He normally comes back, but I am only looking after him for my daughter.." - I have seen her several time since and the dog is still not on the lead!
Fast forward to Wednesday, got home after 2 days away on business, so took Ruby out to get some fresh air and stretch both our legs... walking her on the lead as normal - nodded and said hello to a guy cleaning his car and out of nowhere came this Cairn type terrier barking and snarling, attacking Ruby! Yet again I intervened and pulled them apart... It appears that the gaps in his gate are big enough for his dog to get out! He apologised and said she needs to go to obedience classes as she always attacks and charges at other dogs - I commented that some simple mesh/chicken wire on the bottom half of his gate would at least stop it!
Yet if Ruby had retaliated in a likewise manner with either of these dogs.. well... I can almost see the DM headlines! It just angers me!
Anyway - probably a poor rant by PH standards... But here is a picture of her after the wife had been on a dog toy run to the charity shop... (Ruby that is!)
Firstly well done for adopting a dog!!! Far too many in kennels that need rehoming.
Secondly all the aggressive dogs I've met on walks have been the small breeds. The trouble is if anything happened where I couldn't intervene in time then she could end up seriously injurying a small dog. Everytime it happens guess who recieves the dirty looks and tuts despite the fact their dog is plainly going mental. Truth is that we adopted Cindy, now a three year old Staff and English Bull Terrier cross, purely on the fact of how sad she looked when we walked past and happy she was when I gave her a belly rub through the bars not because of her looks. We actually went looking for a Jack Russell type dog.
It never ceases to amaze me when I see somebody with a clearly aggressive and confused toy breed that's snarling and snapping while the owner just laughs and goes 'oh he's so cute when he wants his toys'.... These are the as the idiots who get larger breeds and then end up in the papers saying 'he never did anything like that before'.
Here's mine indulging in her favourite pastime of pretending to be a box.
Secondly all the aggressive dogs I've met on walks have been the small breeds. The trouble is if anything happened where I couldn't intervene in time then she could end up seriously injurying a small dog. Everytime it happens guess who recieves the dirty looks and tuts despite the fact their dog is plainly going mental. Truth is that we adopted Cindy, now a three year old Staff and English Bull Terrier cross, purely on the fact of how sad she looked when we walked past and happy she was when I gave her a belly rub through the bars not because of her looks. We actually went looking for a Jack Russell type dog.
It never ceases to amaze me when I see somebody with a clearly aggressive and confused toy breed that's snarling and snapping while the owner just laughs and goes 'oh he's so cute when he wants his toys'.... These are the as the idiots who get larger breeds and then end up in the papers saying 'he never did anything like that before'.
Here's mine indulging in her favourite pastime of pretending to be a box.
last Sunday we walked our dog ( Bullmastiff ) along the canal, we stopped to talk to someone and our dog wasn't on a lead, a very harassed looking women with a Lab walked past and shouted 'for gods sake, can you get your dog under control '.
Now admittedly he was off the lead, he hadn't even noticed the other dog, he stood there wagging his tail in complete ignorance, her lab wasn't a problem either, apart from her practically dragging it along by its collar.
Now I would have put our dog on the lead, but the truth was I never noticed the silly cow approach, luckily the wife was with me, she tore into her, I would of ignored her.
I have also had the 'why do you own a dog like that', I try to say what a beautiful dog he is, what a great temperament he has, they aren't interested though, so yes OP I know exactly where your coming from.
Now admittedly he was off the lead, he hadn't even noticed the other dog, he stood there wagging his tail in complete ignorance, her lab wasn't a problem either, apart from her practically dragging it along by its collar.
Now I would have put our dog on the lead, but the truth was I never noticed the silly cow approach, luckily the wife was with me, she tore into her, I would of ignored her.
I have also had the 'why do you own a dog like that', I try to say what a beautiful dog he is, what a great temperament he has, they aren't interested though, so yes OP I know exactly where your coming from.
I'm the same as everyone else so far OP. We've got a Staffy & she's a wonderful dog. Daft, bright, fun, cuddly & placid. Wind her up & she has her moments, but so does any dog & I know I can trust her totally. She's got stinky morning breath though, as I found out the other day when I woke up with her head next to me on the pillow & her breathing in my face 
ETA, it's funny when we visit my parents. They've got a Yorkie x 'other daft little thing beginning with C' who bullies Lucky. Much like when a mate brings their Pug over, he steals Lucky's bones & food then growls at her when she comes close, daft dog lets him get away with it too.
ETA, it's funny when we visit my parents. They've got a Yorkie x 'other daft little thing beginning with C' who bullies Lucky. Much like when a mate brings their Pug over, he steals Lucky's bones & food then growls at her when she comes close, daft dog lets him get away with it too.
Edited by Hooli on Monday 29th September 11:07
Well done, but you never really know with a rescue dog.
Friends have what's 'officially' a Staffie, but I'm not so sure. It went for my cat on Sunday night in a completely unprovoked attack. Thankfully cat is ok if a tad traumatised, and I've only been relieved of £65 for vet treatment.
I have 26 cat/dog bites, and have lost a day's pay getting the cat to the vet and waiting around in A&E.
They're not remotely 'bad owners'. This is a dog who has finally shown its true colours.
Friends have what's 'officially' a Staffie, but I'm not so sure. It went for my cat on Sunday night in a completely unprovoked attack. Thankfully cat is ok if a tad traumatised, and I've only been relieved of £65 for vet treatment.
I have 26 cat/dog bites, and have lost a day's pay getting the cat to the vet and waiting around in A&E.
They're not remotely 'bad owners'. This is a dog who has finally shown its true colours.
Mobile Chicane said:
This is a dog who has finally shown its true colours.
What true colours?Living in a cat free household and having grown up with dogs I've always known that having them in the presence of a cat would only going to be trouble. That includes a my current Staff cross and the previous family dog breeds of Labrador, Jack Russell and a Briard. The only dogs I've known that have any tolerance of cats are those that live with them. I'd put the fault at the owners for putting the dog in a situation where that could happen, it's not exactly a surprise that dogs in general do not get on with cats, especially as you say with it being a rescue dog who may never have been brought up with them.
Fugazi said:
Mobile Chicane said:
This is a dog who has finally shown its true colours.
What true colours?Living in a cat free household and having grown up with dogs I've always known that having them in the presence of a cat would only going to be trouble. That includes a my current Staff cross and the previous family dog breeds of Labrador, Jack Russell and a Briard. The only dogs I've known that have any tolerance of cats are those that live with them. I'd put the fault at the owners for putting the dog in a situation where that could happen, it's not exactly a surprise that dogs in general do not get on with cats, especially as you say with it being a rescue dog who may never have been brought up with them.
The owners are as surprised as I am. It was a completely unprovoked attack. However I'm guessing that the dog has finally shown what it was bred to do.
Moral of the story being, don't adopt a dog of uncertain lineage, or buy a dog from a ghetto breeder purely because you 'feel sorry for it'.
There's a reason rescue centres are full of 'staffy crosses'.
Mobile Chicane said:
Well done, but you never really know with a rescue dog.
Friends have what's 'officially' a Staffie, but I'm not so sure. It went for my cat on Sunday night in a completely unprovoked attack. Thankfully cat is ok if a tad traumatised, and I've only been relieved of £65 for vet treatment.
I have 26 cat/dog bites, and have lost a day's pay getting the cat to the vet and waiting around in A&E.
They're not remotely 'bad owners'. This is a dog who has finally shown its true colours.
You never really know with any dog, but I take your point rescues tend to have more interesting histories which create moments to deal with.Friends have what's 'officially' a Staffie, but I'm not so sure. It went for my cat on Sunday night in a completely unprovoked attack. Thankfully cat is ok if a tad traumatised, and I've only been relieved of £65 for vet treatment.
I have 26 cat/dog bites, and have lost a day's pay getting the cat to the vet and waiting around in A&E.
They're not remotely 'bad owners'. This is a dog who has finally shown its true colours.
Sounds like something set that dog off. I've known less Staffy style dogs go like that than other breeds, but they do have the ability to hurt more when they do. As for 'true colours' it's a terrier, they hunt. It's not because it's a Staffy. My parents Yorkie kills mice on sight (feck knows how with one canine tooth left), it's a terrier thing.
Hope the bites & cat heal ok, doesn't sound a nice experience.
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