To think my dog is in fact a saint?

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

I have a staffy and 2 kids (5and 7) I had a bit of a wobble yesterday when I heard the awful news about a local child who had been bitten on the face and seriously injured by the family dog, also a staffy.
I am currently sitting watching my kids who have the dog dressed in a skirt and they are playing in the garden on the slide. The dog is running up the slide into the top level of the climbing frame and then sliding back down with the kids. She clearly thinks this is great fun as she has a big smile on her face and her tail is wagging madly. She doesn't seem to have noticed the skirt, nor the fact that she is in fact a dog and not a kid.
I always make sure that the kids know that if she walks away they must leave her alone, but she always wants to join in the fun and one of my best memories as a child is playing with my own dog, also a staff who was such a wonderful trustworthy dog.
I'm not worried any more :0)

Bless! Dogs and kids together can work fine but have to be managed. Any dog in this house would need a quiet refuge away from the noisy toddler! Your post has made me smile!

Lovely! My dog is getting on a bit but she too is an absolute saint.

I grew up with dogs and my DC have grown up with dogs. I find it shocking when I read of attacks on children (or adults tbh). I think children always need teaching how to treat a dog and you do have to know your pet thoroughly.

My current dog is very very gentle with my youngest. He is getting on and can be a bit grumpy otherwise. I cannot imagine him ever being grumpy with her - there seems to be a complete acknowledgement of her age and he is tolerant and loving (if that doesn't sound too odd!).

Someone will probably post that we are all idiots and have a disaster waiting to happen :) I do relish my years with dogs as pets and am sure my DC will do as well

I love that your dog is wearing a skirt!

Love this - I grew up wih dogs and we sued to do dress them up - it s such a lovely relationship and I throughly enjoyed reading this post.

Mango, I know, it's a pink one too. And I've just noticed she has pink and white stripy boxer shorts on underneath! She is now upstairs where the girls are playing at make up, she will probably come down with lip gloss on trouble is if I try to separate the dog from the kids she sits at the door and whines, she just wants to play.

My dog isn't a saint because he is far too dim .

He has some faults - he stinks and has bony elbows when he sits on my lap.

But he does adjust his tug of war pull strength depending on whether he's playing with DH (manly grr-pull), me (puny arthritic hand-pull) or DD (more or less standing still-pull)

Oh, and he's a 7stone Rottweiller :)

Oh and one Halloween i dressed him in a black and purple tutu

This is lovely! Imagining a smiling dog :-D

My Staffy was my best friend when I was growing up. I think about him everyday. (filling up as we speak) We are having a Staffy for ourself soon

My best friend (DS godmum) has a Rottie and she is amazing with my 7mo. She was sharing her bone yesterday

Ourself?? [hmm
Ourselves... My apologies

Lovely thread.

Comedy, they really do smile, sounds silly but the staffy smile is actually very well known amongst staff owners. my old dog used to also do a one side leer when having his belly scratched.

I changed work's wallpaper on the PC to a picture of a smiling dog, to cheer them all up a bit :)

Oh I love rotties, and staffies. My sil has a lively staffy cross pit bull!! The most dangerous sort ever!! But that dog is as soft as a brush. She will snuggle up with the kids, share her food and like the op said will play with them and whine of she can't.
A story about rotties I have is this. My old neighbour had a rottie who lived in the garden. He wasn't cared for properly and certainly not socialised. I always talked to him over the fence (the dog not the neighbour) until one day he started to escape and come into my garden. He very quickly became part of my family (i have 3 kids a dog and a cat) and I trusted him so much.
One day my dcs were in the paddling pool and I nipped inside to get a drink when I heard a commotion and the kids shouting the dogs name. I have to admit I panicked cause my youngest was screaming (although not a hurt scream) so I ran outside. I was confronted by 3 kids and a 15 stone rottie I'm the paddling pool rolling around laughing and splashing each other. It is a sight I'll never forget
Sadly my neighbour got ill and the dog got rehomed. I seriously considered keeping him but it was too much. He went to a young couple who treated him like a king which he deserved
I also know of a French bull dog who followed my dd onto a bouncy castle once and followed her down the slide.
I love dogs

Oh yes, I forgot the paddling pool! I'm currently trying to find one with dog proof sides as she likes to take running jumps and belly flop in with the kids. It is seriously funny but the paddling pool doesn't appreciate it

we have to have two paddling pools, one for dd and one for Freddie. We bought one of the toyrus sandpit/pool things which is made from thick plastic in a nice blue apple design. he loves it and can scrabble away madly without wrecking it :)

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=staffy+smile&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=tB0&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=853&bih=521&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsfd&tbnid=0DrTe1pOwR-ZEM:&imgrefurl=staffytraining.com/Staffy-Images.html&docid=P2ZAzDp_BFtAjM&imgurl=staffytraining.com/images/smilingstaffordshire_terrier.jpg&w=414&h=278&ei=CGfUT6eXDsjd8gOUoqGmAw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=421&sig=106480176766139829167&page=4&tbnh=143&tbnw=215&start=31&ndsp=11&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:31,i:190&tx=137&ty=79" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">staffy smile

I love Staffies, they are my favourite breed of dog although Springer spaniels are a close second; because of their lively & friendly personalities.

I often see local thuggish men looking round furtively then picking up their adoring Staffy's poo in a plastic bag, bless 'em.
I see lots of old ladies too who adopted Staffies - now very fat Staffies.
These dogs seem very soppy & daft - one that 'guards' a local shop aggressively stops everyone walking past (she also 'guards' the pavement). If they don't fuss her then she barks at them!!

Last time she ran at me, stood on my feet (ouch) & started leaning on me so i nearly fell over - then i tickled her ears & she loved it.

Staffies seem very loyal to their owners. I think that Staffies are probably quick to defend their owners & homes; so if there's a perceived threat there, then that's when they may attack someone.

Some nasty people 'train' their Staffies & other dogs to be aggressive by treating them cruelly - i hate that because it's so unfair on the dogs, & on anyone they attack.
Also Staffies, like ANY other dog or cat, can be born with an aggressive personality trait - if they are then not trained & socialized appropriately, these are the dogs that are likely to hurt people.
The difference is that when a dog like a Staffy with a strong jaw gets aggressive, then they are going to cause serious injury.

My Persian cat has that personality trait & was badly treated before i adopted her age 5 months. It was a bad combination.

Now she's 5 & with a lot of care & patience she has improved hugely & no longer deliberately attacks people (!).
She tolerates children now - but she can still turn nasty so i would never leave her with them unsupervised.
The difference is that she's got away with biting people because it's easy to stop her (she's a small cat with a small mouth) & she can't cause (much) harm.
Also she's super fluffy & cute with innocent big eyes so the foolish neighbours put up with her terrorizing their cats & my friends have all forgiven her for scratching them.... luckily for her! :)

Am i the only one, who is a dog lover and staffy lover, ex rottie owner who is fucking horrified that these children are using this dog as a toy? What if they hurt her, by accident? what if it really hurts and she resorts to instinct - then there will be wails of "but she never did anything like that before"

I hear far too many horror stories about dogs and children. My older family members take them as gospel despite having had small dogs themselves all through my childhood. In their minds small dogs don't bite. I grew up with a miniature dauschound and an alsation who were both my best friends. The dauschound was worse than the alsation. Our alsation was a gem but she sadly had to be put down last year at the grand age of sixteen.

We have a labrador that thinks she is a child. If she is ever separated from the children she whines. The children are always told how to handle her and always supervised as they're younger but she's a real prize of a dog.

This is a lovely thread to read :)

Sadly I don't have children of my own yet, but my boxer is as soft as butter around other peoples :) She is usually bouncy and daft as a brush, but she does seem to understand that children need special care and she is so so gentle with them. She also loves kittens, bunnies, tiny puppies......

And she can smile too!

Really doggiemumma? This dog is hardly being abused. It is clearly a well loved family pet joining in the fun.

Mech - my cat loves kittens... especially chasing them i'm afraid. 2 local boy cats are in love with her (because she's so pretty) - she's tried to kill them a few times but they are stupid boys & just keep trying to spy on her!

I would get a dog but it's life would be hell thanks to my cat who gets very jealous. She follows me everywhere a bit like a dog anyway.
She's currently outside waiting for victims (local tom cats, sparrows, etc...). She's desperate to catch a bird but only killed one in 5 years luckily. But she gets more joy from fighting tom cats. If they don't turn up she goes looking for them... luckily their owners think she's 'so beautiful' that they forgive her...

I have found that small pedigree dogs can be quite scary, compared to big dogs. Not sure why.

Ah lovely stories. I have dog broodiness now... Have done for a while I guess.

Can't get one though, damn landlord.