Buying a dog-aggressive Staffy?

[SaucyJack]

Will it go horribly wrong?

A friend of ours is trying to sell his dog as it doesn't get on with other dogs or animals and we're considering buying him.

He's a lovely, lovely, lovely boy otherwise. Very soft, and happy with adults and children- inc. our three children.

He isn't neutered (was intended as a breeding dog) which we'd obviously do, and is two years old.

Any advice? Is this the worst idea ever?

It won't just not get on with other dogs, it won't get on with other animals - cats, sheep, cows, rabbits, guinea pigs anything. Squirrels. It will mutilate and kill any of them.

But they're other peoples/wild animals so dont' matter.

From what I can gather Sunshine, the main problems are with one specific dog. I don't know if it makes it better or worse, but the other dog is actually his brother. All the dogs in the house are related.

"Our" dog is the smaller of the two btw, but they're both as bad as each for starting with each other.

Scooby - that's not necessarily true, my dog aggressive dog lives quite happily with 2 cats and has no issue with a neighbour's rabbits.

Saucy - if it's one particular dog, it may not be dog aggression as such. I'd still be very cautious and careful about taking him on and if you do be very careful about him in public with other dogs though.

Do consider getting a behaviourist in, I know it seems like a big expense, but they will assess him and give you a training plan for any issues he might have which means you can start as you mean to go on and save yourself loads of potential hassle later on.

My dogs are dog aggressive and live happily with 7 pet rats, 1 hamster and 2 kittens. If anything the dogs are scared of the kittens.

Can I ask again:

what about costs of neutering, vaccinations and chipping?

If your 'friend' is not covering these costs and he's charging you a fee then you are being conned.

All dogs in the house are related, so he's a back street breeder too? I wonder how many other people he's ripped off.

Have you researched the effects of inbreeding in dogs?

I couldn't swear that it was just this one particular dog though Tabula. I certainly wouldn't trust him off-lead.

He seems happy enough to be out in public with naice dogs on leads, but if one came over looking a bit lairy I don't know what would happen.

You still haven't answered the question.

why, when this dog is un neutered, poorly trained, has had no effort what so ever with regards to assessments/behaviour alterations etc and your "friend" was actually going to breed him when he's not even a proper breeder, would you trust him enough to buy this dog?

why would you pay him money for nothing. when you pay a shelter yku contribute towards the cost of staff looking after him, medical care, nuetering, vaccinations etc

when you pay a breeder you are paying for the vaccination and chopping and hop scans etc

why would you pay to have to pay out more. already this dog is going to cost you hundreds in basic care not including any training assistance/behaviour specialist.

I like this dog Giles, and I thought I'd already made it quite clear that I'm not interested in moralising over my friend's dog ownership decisions.

It's not about moralising over your friends actions. It's about realising that his actions may well have caused more damage to this dog than you have been made aware of. It would be like buying a car seat off him knowing he's a wreck less driver and just believing him no questions asked when. He tells you it hasn't been dropped or in an accident.

and then forking out to have it cleaned and re covered when that would cost you more than buying a new one.

just cos you liked this seat.

The Trust is important here because you are putting your family at stake here.

In all honesty I'd take a dog from someone I didn't trust if I liked the dog...it's not quite the same thing as a car seat or other inanimate object.

But I wouldn't be taking the friend's word on anything, not just because of anything intentionally misleading, but because I wouldn't trust his judgement given that he clearly doesn't have the same ideas about responsible dog ownership as me.

But tab

your posts are so informative and you sound like you know what you are doing and are aware of the costs involved and prepared to make tough calls if need be.

op has said nothing that indicates she is prepared to pay fir assessments or aware of how hard it could be. She basically seems convinced after one walk he's going to be fine. She's not remotely acknowledged anything others have said.

If I was convinced after one walk he was fine, then I would have bought him already.

"prepared to make tough calls if need be."

Oh I don't know about that, I know quite a lot of people who would have had my dog PTS by now if he was theirs, and the only reason I have for having not done is that he's my dog and I luffs him lol.

Well that and a very expensive behavioural vet and the fact that I have the time and energy to keep him very heavily managed so that actually despite his best efforts he's never actually bitten.

I think often when it comes to dogs we don't always make the practical choice and while yes, the OP does need to know that she might have a harder time than she thinks ahead if her...I also don't think that will change her mind.

OP, you ask right at the start if other people think this is a good idea. The general concensus seems to be that it is probably not. Why ask the question when you have already decided? You want THIS dog regardless. No doubt you will get this dog regardless. You haven't actually responded to any questions, so why bother?

I've responded to as many posts that are relevant to my considerations as I can, and both DP and I have read and considered all of the sensible advice given- both for and against. Much appreciation to those who took the time to post without sounding like my mother.

But this never was and never will be a group vote.

How many other dogs have you looked at?
You say you like this particular dog, but that is pretty meaningless if you haven't seen any others to compare him to.

Have you looked into the insurance issue? And is he microchipped?

Hi Saucy I know that you're getting lots of conflicting 'advice' here but just to add in my twopennorth from the fairly limited info.

Sibling rivalry in dogs kept within the same household is usually intense and difficult to manage and it does not mean that a dog showing sibling aggression will also be aggressive to all other dogs. This is very different from dog-reactive aggression, as it is context specific.

Sibling rivalry aggression occurs when two dogs grow up in the same household and have to compete for resources (owner attention, food, sleeping spaces etc) This continuous competition, along with pubertal hormones and a lack of 'space' for the dogs to escape to and cool off means that small breakdowns in the sibling relationship become continuous annoyances, leading to frequent squabbling. These regular negative interaction become self fulfilling - the more the dogs fight, the less they like each other and so the more they fight. In this situation, often the only solution is to permanently separate them.

Dogs with these experiences may also show aggression to other dogs especially if there is an element of competition for resources etc, but conversely they may not, as the same triggers for the aggression don't exist.

This is why it is so important to understand the motivation for the behaviour a dog is showing. Aggressive dogs aren't all the same and aggression is not a personality trait, understanding the motivation for the aggression will allow you to manage it, or it may resolve spontaneously if the trigger (the sibling) is no longer there.