Hi Jenny

I am really surprised you have said this. By the way I am not sure who said that bull breeds can lock their jaws? Bull breeds do not lock jaw, neither does any other breed on earth. They would starve to death if they did on the first lump of meat they ate..

Jenny to assume a Bichon and a Staff were and are the same is wrong, they were bred for different reasons. You are aware what a Stafford was originally bred for "Dog Fighting" And before I am jumped on I am not suggesting they are bred for that now, a Bichon was not bred for that it is primarily a pet/lap dog therefore the outcome would be no contest if they both fought in the same arena. Don't get me wrong I am not suggesting you fight your dogs.

How can you equate a dog that was born deaf with a dog that was initially bred in the 1800s for dog fighting. Am I missing something, one was an unfortunate act of nature and the other was purposely bred for a particular action.

I have a German Shepherd that I train, treat, and deal with very differently to my English Springer Spaniel or my Jack Riussell cross.

Dogs require different ways of dealing and working and have very different charactersitics, different brain patterns, different ways of doing things and they have very different abilities. If you do not understand that then you may find a few problems with your dogs in the future. You would not want to see what a Stafford can do to a Bichon and almost any other breed for that matter.

I think what everyone is saying, is you just have to be a careful and vigilant owner and understand the potential dangers that may erupt out of the blue With many breeds, but especiallya breed that has the potential to be devastating in a dog fight.

Stan

good points stan

i get alot of bad reactions from people when i walk my rottie
i hate it but i still walk him where there are people and dogs around but he never goe,s off the lead
i took him to the school to meet my daughter a while back and was informed by one of the mums that i shouldn,t bring a dangerous dog to the school as there are children about

and the kids that did know him all came and gave him a hug and a stroke while she looked on horrifed

no im not saying that at all mine are often walked off lead as you have seen by my pic what i am saying is that although Leo and Grace as great with others dogs i dont give them or the other dog a chance to prove me wrong.
i have friends that bring there dogs over for a play but if for any reason they are on there own even for a few mins they are not left together.
how many times have you heard that 2 dogs that have lived togethere for xx years loved each other and cried when parted have tried to kill each other at 1 point. this happend to a friend of mine in Aus that had mother and daughter and 1 day the daughter tock her mother on after living happly together for 3 years. this happend when no 1 was home and they had free run of the house and the younger staff had to be pts as her mother had damaged her back leg to baddly

I've had all the stupid questions whilst walking Murph ( dobe) and the peeps crossing the road -I was asked not to take him to the school gates -also told by one woman ''if I see that dog off lead I will shoot it ''
Yes , he has his 'issues' with other dogs but he is bombproof with people , a complete softy
It used to upset me alot the comments people made -now it depends on my mood as to what my answer is
The only time I really do get mad is when adults pull children away and say ''ooh don't go near it WILL bite you ''

Don't you hate it when children want to say hello and adults pull them away Even worse if they ask "does he bite?" As if I would take him out in public with no muzzle if he did
Children have no preconceived ideas about breeds untill the adults get involved ,my son and i were looking at dogster and he loved looking at the pitbulls,he just read the stories and thought they were beautiful dogs.

I know what you mean Charlie, IMO this can lead to children growing up frightened of dogs, which is very unhealthy!!

My 3 year old niece is like this - her dad's a bit scared of dogs, and used to wind her up a bit when they saw a dog. Now she's petrified of all animals, and I mean absolutely petrified. She couldn't come near Satch when he was 10 weeks old, she'd scream the place down. She won't even go near a cat, and screams if she sees one. Children aren't born scared of animals, they pick up on adults' reactions. We're taking Sophie to see her for the first time this weekend, cos Soph's practically in a coma all the time and might help Hannah get over her fear.

On the other hand, I'm sick of irresponsible parents not watching out for their kids. We often take Satch to a local pub with a massive bear garden. He lies happily under the table, watching the world, and we often get small children running up and barking at him, trying to get in his face cos they think it's funny. The parents pay absolutely no attention, but it'd be Satch and me in trouble if he chose to bark back.

Becs

I hate it even more when they let their children swoop down to pick up my little yorkie or my chihuahua both of whom will not toleratate that at all

I concur with the child fears mentioned above. I can also tell you that it continues through life as I know a very brave adult man, daily putting his life on the line as a policeman, who's afraid of dogs. He wasn't raised with dogs and wasn't brought up with any other animals. He's, to this day, very wary of anything non-human.

My two dogs are overly friendly towards people sometimes, I may have given the wrong impression in some posts, that I sculk about in remote places with my dogs, almost everyone where I live know my dogs, my present two have never had an altrication with any other dog, but life has taught me not all owners are responsible, and I am fed up to the back teeth of turning a corner to be greeted" if that is the correct term" by some bouncing canine, with it's owner calling " It's all right he just wants to play" he may well do, my dogs certainly do not. Many years ago I learned my lesson with my own two bitches, for two years everything was fine until the day Briuser came of age and no longer gave way to Kizzy, they fought very hard and it took all my strength to seperate them, from that day on Bruiser could not be allowed near other dogs off lead. The love of fighting is an integral part of the Stafford and anyone ignoring this does so at their own risk and that of others. They are the best dogs in the world in my opinion, they deserve the best owners, and those are ones who know the breed intimately, and are totally aware of all the breeds traits.