Not because they are all predudiced though - non breed specific rescues find it hard to place some breeds of dog, not their fault but the media has a lot to answer for. So if they do take a staffy they could be condemning other dogs to death as they get "stuck" with the staffy for so long.....

Cooper
how old did you say he is ?
When you mention his aggression does he actually try to attck or is he vocal?

I was told by one rescue that they didnt take in staffys as they have shared kennels and an unknown staffy may not fit in- which I suppose I can understand but then again no unknown dog (strays etc) can be 100% guaranteed

Star went through a stage of fighting with other dogs around 10 months. I spoke to a behaviourist about it and she told me it was part of learning the rules of play.

Even today although Star is great with other dogs having a halti or dogmatic on restricts her and she will bark and growl at dogs cause she feels trapped with no escape. I dont know if thats how Cooper feels.

Hiya Lel, He has just turned 1 year.
It depends how close you are... before we decided to keep him on the lead he would run over and on some occasions play - boisterously (sp?) but on 1 occasion he was making a funny yelping / murmering noise and jumping on their back. with dogs in the street he pulls towards them then pulls away making the same noise, if the other dogs barks - he gets louder but dosnt bark back. On the field on sat i saw my mum and her dogs were off the lead - they ran over to say hello but cooper lunged and tried to attack (he was barking this tim but he was on the lead and muzzled) now my mums dogs wont go near him.. 2 out of 6 dogs he has behaved negatively to...

Poor love what you have to remember is that all of these experiences may be and are probably new to him and of course attack is the best form of defence, perhaps he feels threatened and therefore goes into attack mode pretty much straight away like most things he will need time to adjust so you need to be on your roes too when other dogs are around too and just give him time to get him properly socialised.

Like with most things I am sure with lots of time, dedication and TLC you can bring him on.

Laura

When I took Teagan to training classes, there was an aggressive dog there.
For the first few classes, they sat at the side with him, so he could get used to the people, and other dogs, and see there was no threat to him. We all just walked past and ignored him.

Maybe going and 'observing' a class, and seeing the other dogs may help?

Just my 2p

Thanks for your replies,
I have emailed another behavourist thats prepared to do a home visit - a consultation and modification programme will cost £70 and the trainer will let him attend with a muzzle. I am also going to get him castrated (OH permitting!!!)

Great news Cooper you are doing the right thing. One quick note about castration, having the dog cut wont have any affect on his temprament it doesnt curb dog aggression, I would advise that you have him done if your not going to breed him though but it shouldnt really make a difference to his behaviour imo.

Laura

Aww Cooper that's great news! U must let us know how he get's on.