To think that Staffies are not "nanny dogs"

[Flowersinyourhair]

Ok. I await the cries of "it's not the dog, it's the owner" and "we had one and it was wonderful" etc etc. However, once again here we are looking at a news story about a dead baby and a seriously injured toddler as a result of a Staffie attack. AIBU or does something drastic need to change regarding perceptions of dogs like this who are apparently fine, until they're not. This dog was, it seems, the dog of a PC. Not a thug or a dog fighting yob. A PC.

I await the barrage of abuse here. I just feel so sad about these poor defenceless little boys who harmed no one and have suffered so tragically.

Kaos that's fair enough. I'm not sure it's typical of most living arrangements with dogs though

I find it incredibly easy to make sure my dog and small child (5) are never alone together. I have cocker spaniel that's never ever show aggression. Still don't leave them alone together. Either the dog follows me or ds does.

It's usually the dog that follows me about. Ds keeps doing whatever he is doing. If the dog doesn't follow, I call her to me.

And yes she sleeps in a crate. So no nighttime sneaking about to be had.

I haven't RTFT so this has no doubt been said a hundred times already, but NO DOG is a 'nanny dog'. I find the whole idea incredibly irresponsible.

To those saying that you can't ban a dog breed, yes you can. Four breeds are banned already and personally I would add to that list considerably. I agree totally with the pp who said you don't NEED to own such a dog. Another breed would give I'm sure equal pleasure. Perhaps more so if you didn't have to keep it at your side constantly out of fear for the safety of your child.

There is no way I would risk any dog being around my child in the house. She is too precious to risk that and if anything happened I would never forgive myself so it's a no brainer.

Cauli - the logistics of having a dog and a small child are pretty straightforward TBH.

When your child is too young to reliably leave a dog alone while you get something from the next room, you take the dog with you.

Even a badly trained dog will get up from their bed when you call them. (That's actually where dogs usually are).

Dogs are actually easier to manage than most household dangers because they're portable under their own steam and will obey commands.

"To those saying that you can't ban a dog breed, yes you can. Four breeds are banned already"

And yet dog attacks have increased...

There are photos of the dog, it's not a staffy.

If breed is important - it should matter that it's being called a staffy when it's not one.

I've already said pages ago, you ban the breed you actually increase the risk.

Means they will be black market dogs and will only be bred for fighting

Pit bulls are banned. Yet they are still easy to get hold of if you know how

There are reports that this dog was NOT a Staffie. Rather a mixed breed of some kind.

Anecdotally my sister has a Staffie who has been with them since 14 weeks. She is now 13 and has never bitten anyone.

That said my sister would never have left her (or any dog) round her children unsupervised. That's the key thing really.

The dog wasn't a staffie OP so what do you think about this now?

Also just following from your last post, if you have a dog ANY dog around babies and small children you should fear something if left alone together.

It was a staffie

I second the fact that it's easy to keep dog and baby separate. Easy for me as if I'm not in the room with baby then he's either in crib, pram or cot and dog can't reach anyway. Plus the dog is either in his bed or follows me around. My worry about leaving baby within reach would mainly be that the dog might lick him.
Anyway all that said my dog is 17 and is unlikely to last this winter. I won't get another one until my child(ren) are older and it will be another small dog.

User - three neighbours have stated in the press that it's large, the photos taken from the owners Facebook are of a large crossbreed, not a staffy, not even necessarily a staffy cross from looking at it.

I don't think the dog in this case is a staffie.

I love staffies. Never met a bad one. I would still never ever get a dog of that kind because they are so physically strong, i would struggle to get one off me if the worst happened, and the potential damage to a child is unthinkable, even if an adult is around.

When we get a dog it will be a small or "soft mouth" dog like a spaniel or retriever. At least take the risk of physical strength or size out of the equation.

It looks like most of the ones I've seen , they do seem to vary in size so maybe it's a cross but quite similar looking to me

really - that's not logical though, if you'd struggle to get a staffy off, you'd struggle to get a spaniel off and you'd definitely struggle to get a retriever off.

If people don't want a staffy - fair enough, I don't have one, but to say you'd get a larger breed because you'd be overpowered by a staffy doesn't actually make sense.

Soft mouths have nothing to do with biting btw, it's about willingness to carry things without biting down.

Looks like a bull mastiff cross breed

User - those are staffies, look at the size of them, look at the difference in head shape and head size between those and that dog.

It's not a staffy.

Useruser44 a staffie and and Staffordshire bull terrier type dog are not one in the same

*and a ffs phone!

"Looks like a bull mastiff cross"

That's what I thought as well, it's got a mastiffy head, it's hard to tell quite how large it is though, but as several people who've met it said large in assuming pretty big.

The picture I posted shows a pure bull mastiff. Was pit for comparison

I'm not sure I've ever seen a real Staffordshire bull terrier in that case, they are teeny compared to all the ones I've seen. I've always thought of the big head as a staffie thing, I stand corrected !

You should see my next doors staff

She is a beautiful tiny little thing.
About the size of a westie