To worry about our new neighbours Staffordshire Bull Terrier .

[designergirl]

are they dangerous dogs? It's a puppy at the moment.

And I agree that no puppy or dog should be 'left to roam'..you did the right thing in calling the animal warden.

However, your question in your OP could quite easily be answered using Google search.

If I were you, I'd concentrate on trying to find out why your 3yr old is scared of dogs and seeing if you can sort that out.

If gerbils got 'bad press' in next Sunday's papers would you believe that too?

Also, it was by being with near and then with our Staffies that helped our neighbours child, who was 6, get over his very real fear of dogs, he used to scream if one went near him, but he now wants one of his own!

Sorry, a lot of bad english and bad spelling in my posts above, tired. Time for be methinks

I can't believe that anybody would let a dog, especially a puppy, out to just roam the streets. Are they not worried it will get run over?

No because gerbils are too small to do any real harm to my children. And gerbil owners tend to keep them in cages rather than let them roam around in their own

No , but they also leave their child (aged 5) out to play and dont seem to care where he is either

In that case, they sound like shitty owners, and won't train or socialise the dog, by the sound of it. I would not let my kids out without close adult supervision, if I were you, but try not to make them anxious. And I would keep reporting to the wardens- but I'm not sure whether that is the correct thing to do. If you repost in The Doghouse, you might get better-informed answers about how to best deal with the dog neglect issue.

I have a neighbour with a pit bull. The dog is run everyday, the neighbour has signs up 'Beware of Dog', he makes an effort to introduce the dog to the children in the neighbourhood very carefully and respectfully and would NEVER let the dog out on it's own. It is a beautiful and well trained animal and I would have no issue with it at all. That is not true of all bull terriers. FFS people, are you really trying to say that a dog bred to take down a bull isn't a smidge more worrying than a lab? I'm not saying labs can't bite but come on!!!

MTP, which is what I said its down to the way they are raised.

Sorry: children should be safe from dogs even if they are not used to dogs and might behave in a way which the owner regards as "provoking" the dog. It is always the dog-owner's responsibility if a dog attacks a child - never that of the child or the parent.

Dogs belong in their owners' (sufficiently and securely fenced) gardens - or, if you must, on the street on a lead, under the control of an adult, one adult per dog. Not in the park, either, which should be shit-free.

Andrew, in my local park there is a dog area where I always let my puppy off the lead so she gets a good run. Last week a child was deliberatly teasing my puppy and being a general pain in the arse. Swishing leaves from a large plant at her, throwing things at her to the point I had to tell him to stop. He stopped and then started kicking a ball at her, if she wasn't a nervous dog then she could have potentially bitten him or snarled at him. Would that be her fault? I don't honestly believe so, children need to learn respect for other people and animals.

Children are the main part of a Staffies diet aren't they? I'm sure I read that in The Daily Mail.

Awfull dogs, with their big grin, un-ending courage and love. I mean who would want a dog that is known to be a huge people pleaser and nick named the Nanny Dog?

They're in the news all the time. See what I mean?. Terrible, just terrible. I'd rather have a Labrador, we all know they can't bite

I also agree with everything Bubbly said. You sould be concerned for this dog's well being. It does not sound looked after.

The problem isn't that staffies will randomly bite people they just get territorial and are actually more likely to go for another dog than a person

The fact that it's left to roam doesn't necessarily mean it will end up vicious. Most people can't resist puppies so it will no doubt get lots of affection and petting from the people in your street that aren't scared of dogs.

YABVVVVVU

Yesterday we were at a fun dog show. There was the sweetest, cutest, happiest friendliest staffy that was basically trying to lick anyone and everyone. She was in the ring with her two young girl owners (less than 10years each), and we were sat just behind her. She turned round ,clocked us, and waggled her way upto us pulling her young girls over to promptly fall on her back, tail still wagging asking for belly rubs. She then jumped onto my lap and tried to lick my face I think she won the 'sog the judge would most like to take home' because she was trying to climb into the judges arms!

I've known far more aggressive labradors and german shepards than I have - all the staffies I know are the happiest, softest most lovely cuddly snuggly dogs.

My staffy cowers from people if they come too close - she will never be a guard dog i don't think.

OP, I think the key issue here is whether the dog next door will be able to reach your children whilst unrestrained. Any unrestrained dog is potentially dangerous because it is not under DIRECT control.

Talking about 'good' and 'bad' dogs is completely unhelpful...I dont think dogs have morals, and if a dog attacks someone is does not necessarily say snything about the goodness or badness of the dog OR its owner. What it says is that the dog is unrestrained and therefore out of control.

If i were you, i would check that the fences etc between your properties are secure, and teach your child caution when approaching the dog.

Lots of dog owners have dogs that are great with kids when unrestrained, although obviously the owner can never KNOW that the dog will not attack, they conduct a mental risk assessment and act accordingly, as we do with all risks (such as traffic, 'strangers' etc) and conclude accordingly. I would suggest that you do the same wrt the access you allow your child to the dog.

Andrew: I disagree. On the whole I would agree the dog owner is at fault however yesterday we were out walking and some kid of around 7 decided to try and stand on my dog several times, in fact he kicked her at least once. She was walking perfectly at my side on a lead. His parents were right behind him watching him do it and never once corrected his behaviour, is that right?

Designergirl- YABU. You don't want to have anything to do with the dog but you want them to come round and reassure you. The dog shouldn't be left off it's lead but your first post was ridiculous.

My friend has a staffy. She's the soppiest, most ridiculous dog ever. But her strength means that in her attempt to climb you to get at you for a slobbery dog snog, she might knock you over. Not a bad bone in her body, though. In contrast, as a 5 year old I was savaged by a shitzu. Fecking thing had to be prised from my knee cap. That said, the shitzu had crap, ineffectual owners who hadn't really tried to socialise or even train the dog. I am now wary of 'toy' breeds because to me they look inherently evil, but will happily play tug of war with a doberman. Go figure.

Andrew it's a bit of an assumption to say dogs shouldn't be allowed in the park to keep it 'shit free'. Many owners are responsible and take plenty of poo bags when out with their pets. Besides, why shouldn't my dog run around off her lead in the park? As her owner I have just as much right to enjoy the park with my pet as someone tearing around on their bike. As long as I don't let her run around the designated play areas with climbing frames etc, she's doing absolutely no harm to anyone.

I've just looked at the photos on exepats' links. No wonder the breed has such a bad reputation with owners calling their dog's names like 'Dagger', 'Sabre' and 'Nibbler'.

When walking my dogs, I do worry about Staffies taking a dislike to my dogs, but I never worry about me being attacked - they are ususally too busy dashing around like mad things enjoying themselves!

YABVU and ridiculous and a victim of all of the hype surrounding this gorgeous and misunderstood breed. Your post referring to scars like you see in the paper just proves this.

All dogs have the potential to be dangerous if brought up in the wrong environment.

The reason papers concentrate on attacks from bull type dogs and rarely any other dog is because people like you get sucked in and follow the hype like sheep. And lets face it, a quote of "Devil Dog Golden Retriever" under a pic of one asleep wont quite have the same impact as the same caption under a pic of a SBT mid toothy grin (which unfortunately to a Devil Dog Believer looks like they are growling)

All you need to do is check your garden is secure, make sure your kids know about not approaching dogs they dont know and maybe keep an eye on the situation with the dogs welfare, although be careful you dont confuse what is actually ill treatment with just any old excuse to report the dog

Butterfly mine is called diamond-lily its a very butch name that

He's a puppy. Breed irrelevent - see the DEED NOT BREED campaign for further information on that. Or come and meet me and my kids, we've owned SBT x, we've fostered Staffies and we regularly handle and interact with a dozen or more Staffies and a similar number of other Bull breeds, plus various German Shepherds, Rotts, Mastiff crosses, many from unknown backgrounds. Sadly that number is ever-growing.

We help save them from dying - very often as a result of being thrown out by some bastard - and we have the difficult job of helping to rehome them despite claims from the general public that "the papers" say that Staffies are dangerous. Didn't you say that upthread too, OP?

Please bear in mind that 99.9% of newspaper journalists tend to know and have as much to do with dogs as I do journalism. This is often quickly made evident when a headline screams "Pit Bull attacks!" and beneath it is a photo of a dog which is clearly a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. I've seen that a few times now.

On the suject of Pits, and just as an aside, you say your child was chased by what you described as a Pit Bull "type". Did you know that it takes a court of law and several expert witnesses to define whether a dog is a "Pit Bull type" and even then it's not an exact science?

Please also bear in mind that SBT were originally bred for bull baiting and later for dog-fighting and not human-fighting and that there is no proven correlation between the two. The motivation is completely different. A dog with any trace of that former trait - and similarly a dog bred to fight still - will almost always be easy to handle and very biddable - they need to be in order to be picked up, moved around and treated when they come out of the fighting arena.

This poor little mite has shitty owners who let him out unsupervised - there is far, far, far more liklihood of harm coming to the puppy than there is to you or your kids. ScuttleButter's wise words are, as ever, well-informed and from a background of solid experience - it's really all about the owners.

You did the right thing by contacting the Dog Warden - well done. Do so again if the owners don't heed his/her warning please.

You may consider too asking owners with children and dogs whom you trust - a mum at the school perhaps - to help you gradually introduce your fearful child to dogs and to overcome that fear. Happy to provide tips as to how to do it - it seems to me that your DC can't avoid dogs in the street, parks, others' houses and so on so it would be beneficial to address the fear if possible rather than live with it and stress every time a dog goes past.