I didn't say they said Craig was rubbish,I implied was the observation made by some,for example the quote above is rubbish.

I have seen dog aggressive Staffords that have been bred from dogs that have never displayed any dog aggression at all, and visa-versa.

If you take a look at the American Bully for example

http://www.ucadogs.com/Breed_Info_American_Bully.htm

They have been bred specifically to be non dog aggressive, good with children...etc... They claim that they have achieved what they were aiming for (Whether they have or not i do not know) Just incase you didn't know this breed originates from the APBT and there was such an uproar that they were originally being called APBT that they had to change their name. (There is lots of info on the web, if you have never heard of them) I'm not going to get into my opinions on them, but if that is a route the Stafford would take, i will take the Dog aggression !

In my honest opinion, no it wouldn't work, and it is certainly not feasable.

As i have said in previous posts, by eliminating dog aggressive dogs from the gene pool, you will lose so many good dogs. Line breeding would have to be as thing of the past, therefor eliminating more dogs. You would create such a small gene pool that you would creat even more problems. Then what dogs do we use ? Maybe i made the point a little rudely in an earlier post, but i honestly do not believe that you nor anyone else that is suggesting this, actually realises what they are asking for.

I have already made the point, but it is something that as Stafford owners we have to live with, accept and embrace what the breed is. Do our best to make sure that they do not fall into the wrong hands, and the as owners we act as responsibly as possible. Quite simply it is not a breed for everyone.

It's ok saying that the dogs in the local park...etc... are good with other dogs and show no dog aggression, but back to the question that i have asked so many times with regard to rescue already and got no answer. How many of them are KC registered, health tested...etc... There are so many crosses that are just labled as Staffords, and rehomed as such that the fact is most of the general public do not even know what is and isn't a Stafford. They just believe what they are told. It seems lately that anything with a white bib and a slightly bully head in rescue is a Stafford.

That's all well and good and i hope it continues. But whether you or their owners realise it, there is the potential for a problem. Staffords can and do turn very quickly over next to nothing. IF it were to happen, we would have exactly the same scenario as the OP "They have never done that before". It's not the sort of position i would ever put any of my Staffords in.

Cheers Sal,

I was starting to wonder if i should change breed

LOL.......

Just speaking the truth

Thanks for your response and that link - I will definitely check it out, sounds very interesting and I do take on board what you are saying.

As the owner of a rescue Dog aggressive staffie, and a committee member for Stafford Rescue, I do have a question for Craig & Lorna..

If you had the choice of stud dog, both identical in health/looks build /show wins etc etc, but one was DA and the other wasnt.. which one would you breed with ?

It would depend on the pedigree

bit of a cop out !!
You know what I am asking, I get what you are saying about knowing what the breed is capable of, same can be said of any breed and breed traits, however I do not get why you would want to purposely breed with a DA dog if there was an alternative just as good out there who isnt ?

And lets just clarify DA being mutually hating other dogs, rather than a dog that might occasionally growl or put another dog in its place, which is different entirely,#
#
I agree, I think many of the rescue situations we deal with are people who just simply arent aware of the staffords traits, - not just the dog aggression but the play growl is a classic... " oh my god the dog growled at the baby" and then you discover that in actual fact the dog was in a play bow bum in the air initiating play, or just doing the staffie chat.. But then thats down to where the dogs are coming from - do they actually spend time with the breeders dogs to get to know the traits, or do they just think oh we want a staffie pup and get one on a whim.

Do the "good " breeders make them aware of the staffie chat etc...

I genuinely think many staffies are completely misunderstood by their owners and not necessarily just down to their owners not researching but just the quirks they arent aware of.

Having said that I cannot agree with you if you say that you would purposely choose a dog who is dog aggressive to breed from if there is one that isnt also as an option.. That to me ion this day and age of crisis ultimately does not help....because if it does mean that there is more chance of the pups sired POTENTIALLY being more likely to be DA then its not a chance I would take.

I am not really into breeding/showing etc, my thing is rescue, and in rescue i see lots of fantastic staffies who are not dog aggressive and owning a dog aggressive staffie it is HARD work sometimes, and whilst you might enjoy walking your dog away from others, from my point of view it does not help to get more staffies out of rescue centres if they see more staffies in the park scrapping than loving other dogs !!

Staffies dont have to be dog aggressive or Known as dog aggressive, some can be and yes i do agree they might not start a fight but would finish it, but thats their terrier trait as much as their strength.

I just think its a cop out to say "oh its a breed characteristic" because it isnt really, its just something that can be.. Doesnt mean it should be...

The staffies I know that are "proper " ones some are and some arent DA and to me they are all wonderful proper staffie characters, regardless of their DA status.

Let's assume they are litter brothers and they compliment your bitch in pedigree and type. Which one?

Great post.