Should you be more cautious of Staffies?

I know this may be a touchy subject but it's not meant to be "Staffie bashing" at all, just an honest and open discussion.


I know everyone says "it's not the breed, it's the owner" and I think I agree with that but is that the whole story or is there reason to be more cautious of them than other dogs?

I've seen many dog friendly and well trained staffs, my, brother and sister both own them and they are good dogs.
But,
I've also seen or heard about quite a few attacks by staffs that have caused a lot of damage to another dog or even killed it.

Of course, many other breeds could also cause a lot of damage but in the majority of dog fights I've seen, there is almost no damage caused to the dogs, just a lot of noise.

So, is there a difference when it comes to dog aggressive staffs?
I myself have witnessed a few times when staffs have grabbed another dog and refused to let go and I don't see that particular behaviour in other dogs.
Also my sisters very placid staff was attacked by her neighbours staff and almost killed.

I feel a bit bad saying it but it's made me quite cautious of them out of worrying what could happen to my dogs if the staff was an aggressive one.

Again, I don't mean this thread to be offensive to Staffie owners, as I know they can be excellent dogs.

I don't think there is any way of wording it that isn't offensive tbh. I have a staffie among others and I regularly walk with a very dog aggressive staffie and no I'm not more cautious around staffies. They are no more likely to kill another dog than any other big powerful dog imo. It's true they're not likely to back down in a confrontation but that applies to other breeds too, some of which are far larger than my 18kg staffie and a lot more powerful too. Me I tend to show caution around Border Collies after one randomly attacking and injuring my friends pug and my finger still won't straighten out as a consequence of making the damn dog let go and ending up with an ambulance in attendance. For me it comes down to personal experiences.
I also don't think it's always the owner being at fault either, some dogs with brilliant owners can still be dog aggressive.

I love staffies and I think they are lovely dogs.

I do feel a lot of their behaviours are associated with the way they are raised. As you have said your sister and brother own lovely dogs but the hoodie on the street corner encouraging his dog to snarl and growl at anything that moves doesn't have quite such a nice dog.

I think one of the issues is that staffies are terriers and have terrier tenacity but bigger jaws and lots of muscles to really bite down with. If a JRT attacks something even with the same determination it is unlikely to do as much damage as it has a smaller mouth and less muscular grip. Although I cannot comment on bite pressures. Therefore when a staffy attacks something intending to do damage it invariably does more in comparison to a dog of a similar size. We are then surprised by how much damage they do but if it had been a bigger dog attacking we probably wouldn't be so shocked.

I also don't feel that staffies are the same breed they were 10 years ago. The amount of back yard breeding and cross breeding and breeding for size rather than temperament has resulted in a less predictable shaped and behaved dog. I feel in many ways staffies have become more of a type than a breed.

There are breeders who have animals from good parents with good temperaments but there are too many byb's breeding to the bitch round the corner because they want puppies to sell and it has therefore resulted in a lack of consistency and predictability in the offspring.

Therefore no I do not trust all staffies but I make my assessment based on the dogs behaviour upon seeing it the same as I do with any dog. I find it easier to assume a dog is dog aggressive and put mine back on the lead than assume a dog is not. This doesn't just apply to staffy but any dog I come across. I try not to take anything for granted.

I own two staffords,I try not to judge but I do watch body language and decide by what the owner is like.

My girl is very DA,however we take precautions to ensure her safety and that of other dogs.
She has a history of biting other dogs,but all owners were warned to recall as she is reactive.They ignored our warnings,allowed there dogs to charge at her and get in her face,end result the dog got bitten.She was onlead,is always onlead.

We have had many negative encounters with other dogs the majority and worst offenders in our case have been labs,lab x,collies and crossbreeds.

I tend to find staffords as a breed are fine until another dogs challenges them,then they are unlikely to back down but on the whole they are not a breed that goes looking for trouble.

Responsible Stafford owners that own a DA dog will always take precautions,I wouldn't worry to much,but if your concerned speak to the owners and ask them if there dog is friendly,I prefer this to encountering rude owners who think it's perfectly acceptable to let there loose hooligan of a dog start to charge,jump all over and generally make a nuisance of themselves around mine.

You should be cautious of *all* strange dogs, no matter what the breed. We always did on-lead introductions for any new dog first (no matter what breed) and only let the dogs off lead if they got on, and after the owner confirmed their dog is ok with other dogs.

Also, as you are talking about Staffies, from our experience they were the most friendly of the lot

It used to be Gsd's then Rotties ... Its now Staffies ....

I agree whole heartedly with the bit in bold! I have owned labs and love them but they are goofs and can often be too much for other dogs. The problem I find are the some of the owners because they have been told labs are lovely family pets and they assume they can't put a foot wrong. They are the ones that shout "It's alright, he's friendly!" Yes, he may be friendly but over friendly would be a better description and dogs that don't do over friendly aren't going to cope! Either that or they are friendly right up to the point the other dog shows no interest in them then they get rough.

As for the bottom bit I have more of a problem with rude owners who assume my little, cute, yellow terrier would appreciate them patting him. Made worse when I tell them he is nervous of people (my polite way of saying back off he bites) at which point they all say "Oh but I'm good with dogs, they love me" like it's some sort of competition to get the dog to like them. At that point I normally reel him in and firmly state if you don't stop that now he will bite you.

I think the biggest issue with staffs, and increasingly huskies, is they attract the wrong sort of owner. And that's where the reputation comes from.

However in a way i think this lends itself to other people being less careful around other breeds. I once had to haul some vile child off my CKC, and when vile childs even more vile mother had shut up insulting me i asked her if she'd had let vile offspring do the same to a rottweiler, to which her response was "of course not" my reply was "a dog is a dog" (then i walked off before i'd get done for GBH) but that's my general outlook. Gundog breeds are really popular round my mums (central london?!) and none of them get enough exercise as such they are bored and snappy, and next doors lagotto is actually dangerous, and i think they are lucky they haven't had a dog warden round (or worse!) tbh.

A dog is only as bad as it's owner.

I also meant to say I think it depends on the area you live. Most of the staffs round here are owned by older people who love the breed. They are all lovely friendly dogs, my favourite of which stops every time someone is behind him so that they have to pass him and he get's to say 'hello'. His poor owner spends ages walking him not very far!

If I trek to the nearest town however there are poorly bred, poorly raised staffs hanging out at the park with their owners barking and lunging at anything thing that goes past whilst the owner watches on and laughs.

That's not to say there aren't lovely staffies living in that town but you're more likely to bump in to the not so nice ones because they are being forced to loiter on street corners or at the entrance to the local park!

Both my large breed dogs have been attacked by off lead staffies (3x) when they were (on lead) puppies... they both made that horrible high pitch screaming that dogs do when they are terrified.

I don't know if these experiences have helped towards both of mine now being very dog aggressive or not.

I don`t worry about other dogs so much now.. as mine are the ones going loopy trying to get at other dogs... mine are always on lead when they do though.