change of view

yeh i know we are all fed up of staffie threads! but my bro phoned yesterday and we got talkin about indie and i mentioned i had her offlead now. anyway he was all like 'WHAT? you have her offlead in public???'. anyway, after explaining to him that she never attacks other dogs and got attacked by a so called 'gentle' breed it changed his mind i said its the dog not the breed, theres good and bad in all dogs

i know it sounds stupid but im so happy that ive managed to change his view when he just considered her a fighting and dangerous dog jus cos shes a staffie. it makes such a difference when u can change someones mind about your dog. To me indies not jus my dog, shes my little baby so i take it seriously when someone says shes dangerous when shes not.

agreed Jenny, i have always let mine off, but put them back on lead when other dogs approach, ONLY because i dont want the blame if the other dog starts

Good post Jenny.

And you lot have changed some minds here on DW. I know I´ve learned a lot more about the breed than before joining. So not all staffy threads are bad..... Just a bit too many some times

I have a boxer, but there is quite a few staffies in my street and the owners let them run about the street while they stand at thier doors( no roads out front just a field) but they are all really friendly dogs, to the children in the street and to the other dogs. I dont know any viscious staffies!

i think im on a roll today
on our walk indie was offlead as normal, we came up to a woman with a goldie and she held onto her dog tightly, who was on lead anyway, so i called indie back just incase and she came back anyway, i asked the woman if she wud like me to put indie onlead and she was like 'does she like to play?' i was like yeh course, so she let her dog off to play. Dunno bout u guys but if i see a dog offlead i tend to assume they r good with dogs. Probably not good to assume but i wouldnt have a dog offlead if it wasnt, i guess some people dont think about that if they have an aggressive dog.

Anyway, they had fun playing. Next we came across another dog, no idea wot breed, and again the woman grabbed hold of her dog and we were calling indie but she didnt come back and she asked if she was ok and i said yeh, so she let her dog play.


Anyway, hopefully i have changed a few more minds today or maybe i am just naieve and dont worry about other dogs,lol.

Jake and me even get people hanging on to their dog for dear life when they see us coming and he's a 6 month old Lab for heaven's sake! One in particular is a rescued Greyhound and it's owners. They say "Oh, he's nervous around other dogs!" I'm not flippin' surprised all the over protective fuss they make! Most of them, if the dogs could talk, would be saying: "Aw c'mon, let me off the lead to play!"

I also kind of assume that if a dog's off the lead, then it's well behaved. As you say, probably dangerous to think that. Having said that, I think Jake's cautious enough to avoid any trouble.

No wish to put a damper on things, but 22yrs ago when I had my first Stafford, he was attacked by a GSD. he was only 6months but he latched on to the GSD jaw, thankfully they were seperated in seconds, my dog was on a lead the GSD was loose, after that incident any GSD that Rocky saw was treated with aggression and if he had ever been loose I'm certain he would have attacked them. Please be carefull whilst allowing your Stafford to play with strange dogs as it can all go pear shaped in a matter of seconds.

that is good advice
my dogs are pretty friendly characters and usually when they see another dog they just want to play but I always put them on their leads If I meet another walker with a dog and I dont know what their dogs temperament is like. many times Ive been glad I did cos the other person cant control their dogs and they come rushing up to attack mine if mine are on a lead I can let rip into both the dog and the owner as they are at fault. On several occaisions I have had to fend off other peoples dogs, once a GSD cross came flying out of nowhere and launched itself at one of my dogs who was off lead and walking along minding his own business, he bit my dog and I had to boot him hard to get him off, the owner came along and shouted at me so I told him if he didnt control his dog he would get the same
Another time a black lab came tearing up to my lot, despite the womans screams and shouts to get it to come back to her, but my lot were all on their leads ready and raring to go and I whacked it with the end of one of the leads and it ran back to its owner tail between the legs, probably the best recall she ever got it to do lol lol
You can usually tell the dogs that are going to be confrontational, you can see their owners getting dragged along, and as soon as I spot them I pop my dogs on the lead and give them a W I D E berth! better to prevent accidents than moan when someones dog attacks yours or worse still if yours is off lead and it attacks another dog

surely some of the dogs that come rushing up just want to play and arent going to attack?

havent met one yet
the GSD launched itself on my dog with no warning, it ran out of the owners house across a busy road and went for my dog completely unprovoked. the lab came flying at my dogs hackles up and snarling, it lunged at my dogs and I wasnt prepared to risk them getting injured.

Would be nice if a dog came running up to play but it has yet to happen. best to err on the side of caution and keep them on leads unless I know the owner and dog, if its someone I know then thats fine I let them all greet each other and play, but if its a stranger, I dont want to risk my dogs getting bitten so I put them on their leads, wish other people would do the same but it seems the ones with the agressive dogs cant control them the woman with the GSD x has a halti and a harness and the dog still pulls her all over the street, I feel sorry for her taking that dog for a walk must be a pure nightmare