Does anyone have a staffordshire bull terrier that isn’t dog aggressive/reactive?

[Flowerpotmen87]

Absolutely love the breed. Had a cross breed boy (with springer spaniel) years ago but he was hugely reactive to other dogs and this made for a stressful existence for both us and him. This was despite socialisation as a puppy. Perfectly well trained and affectionate dog otherwise. In hindsight, he was quite a timid puppy and we stupidly followed the advice of other people and had him castrated at about 7/8 months. I’m sure the lack of testosterone then led to the escalation in his reactivity.

We’re not in a position to get a dog now, but would love to in the future. I’ve tried asking SBT breeders their opinions on the dog aggression trait, but they’re not being direct in their answers. We would get a bitch to try and reduce the chances and would do all puppy classes/socialising as good owners should.

So, from any SBT owners, any experience of dog friendly ones? We don’t need a social butterfly, just really wouldn’t want to go down the muzzle/behaviourist/isolated walks route again.

Yep - I always spey my bitches (as I said - don't want pyo, and don't want puppies, either! Far too much of responsibility. There are too may people breeding litters just any-old-how. Where the heck do all of these poor little souls get homes? They can't all possibly get good homes. It breaks my heart.

However there is no doubt in my mind that speying makes a bitch - assertive, shall we say, and more likely to fight. And when two bitches fight they rarely pull punches the way dogs will.

@SchadenfreudePersonified
I think your comment that speyed bitches are more assertive is a disservice to staffies, I have always speyed my girls and no aggression or assertive behaviour, very sociable dogs.

Just they way it worked for me SBT - though as I say, both the girls I had who became unreliable were attacked as half-grown pups, which I think caused 90% of the problem, but I do think speying made them that bit more reactive.

The other bitch I had (ad the dog) were both reliable. The bitch was spayed, but not until she was five. I think it made a difference, but I could be wrong.

It is exactly like she is smiling smile. Many dogs do this (and our staffies did too). It tends just to be the very front teeth they show, just pulling their lips up, as opposed to a snarl - though non-doggy people can confuse them (in the same way that an affectionate "grumble" can be confused with a "growl" if you don't know the dog.)

Yes it was always the front teeth it made me laugh all the time. She was so lovely. She also had an attitude, if you'd told her off. If she had chewed something and sent her to her bed so you could clean it up she would face the wall and refuse to look at you until you cuddled her and 'made up' I've never known a dog like (although I haven't met lots of dogs). This may have been our fault though because she was a spoilt girl and she knew it. Something to learn from for when I eventually get my own dog.

I've had 2 staffies that are totally calm, not reactive at all, walk down the highstreet, school, run, in the pub type dogs. Best dogs I've ever had.
I've now got 2 spaniel types that are incredibly reactive to dogs and people (out of fear). Walking anywhere with other people/dogs is impossible.
Staffies have a more confident disposition which helps. Dog on dog aggression is totally different to fear reactivity though so that's a separate issue. My 2 now are so jumpy and nervous that the big wide world terrifies them!
So I guess it just depends on many factors.

I've had two staffy crosses, both rescues. The first was my first ever dog and I was really nervous when walking him, which I think translated into aggression in him. He had also been attacked as a young dog by other bigger dogs in the house he was in, and it all combined to make a very reactive dog who wasn't particularly good with other dogs or people.

My current 14 year old staffy/mastiff cross I've had since he was 5. Again, not a great background, lots of abuse (he's covered in burn scars) and then abused by the 'rescue' that supposedly saved him. He is a fat old docile lump of a thing, who gets jumped all over by his two frenchie brothers! He will take a sedate walk with me and is not fussed by other dogs at all, in fact he barely notices them. I do think that I am much more relaxed with him when out and about than I was with my first dog and that that has made a huge difference.

This may have been our fault though because she was a spoilt girl and she knew it. Something to learn from for when I eventually get my own dog.

Not "spoilt"- LOVED!

And I'm sure yours will be just as "spoilt", too.

I'm so glad that you managed to rescue your dogs Skade - and I'm sure you're right about your first one picking up on your nervousness, thinking there was a threat, and feeling the need to defend you. Dogs as so alert to non-verbal signals and to our pheromones, and we can't control those.

Trouble is, when you have a dog which is both powerful and reactive, it's difficult not to get a little twinge of anxiety, even though you know it makes him/her worse.

Not "spoilt"- LOVED!

Yes true! She was very loved!

My girl and her wee pal 🥰

@SBTLove 🥰

Anecdotally, the most perfect dog I ever met was a SBT who had been waiting for months in a rescue, for a home. Not anxiety, no dog aggression, just calm, friendly, energetic but not boisterous. Corrected himself when starting to get ahead and pull on the lead, without any inout required. He even backed up into bushes for a poo!

Everyone that came in described him perfectly when stating what they wanted, but wouldn't look at him specifically because of his breed. It was so frustrating. He did find his home eventually and became someone's pub companion - going every afternoon and greeting all the other patrons. We got a lovely photo of him, surrounded by a group of men, all raising a pint to him.

@NoBunnyHere

Awww that's so lovely. I absolutely love staffs they are so gorgeous and happy little things. I'd love one but I'll need to wait a while as I've got a 3 year old DS who is struggling to learn boundaries with humans let alone dogs. Hopefully when he is bigger and better behaved a staff will make the perfect family dog.

@SBTLove

My girl and her wee pal 🥰

They are both gorgeous!

@hopeforlucky3
@SchadenfreudePersonified
Thank you, I think she’s fab, we adopted her at 10weeks, handed in to rescue as they couldn’t sell a brindle😡, their loss our gain, best temperament of a dog I’ve ever had, just perfect 🥰

Brindles - especially black brindles - are my favourite SBT - they get such a lovely shine on their coats.

TBH - the only colour I'm not keen on is blue - but if somebody offered me one, I 'd grab it in heartbeat

@SchadenfreudePersonified
I had a blue girl, rescued at 18mths after having 2 litters and starved in a shed, took a year to get her socialised but turned into a great girl, sadly lost her 2yrs ago at only 7 to inoperable cancer. They are the most bred colour now and nearly all have skin and allergy problems, plenty coming into rescue too.

The way animals are abused is heartbreaking - really, really awful. Your poor girl.

I wonder what they mixed in with the staffies to get blue - it's not a natural staffie colour - whippet, perhaps? They tend to look leaner On average) than other colours.

It's the same with French bulldogs - some of the colours now (blue, lilac, black-and-tan etc) - there has to be something else in there, even if they are advertised as pure bred.

Among the most unattractive dogs dogs I've seen are "silver" labradors. I asked if they were weimeraner cross labs.

"No -They were pure-bred "silver" labs" (They were a sort of mink colour actually, with a sort of dusty grey sheen - I thought it was a strange colour.) They'd imported them from the US apparently. Owners were very pleasant and admitted that they did look like weimi crosses but insisted that they weren't and the colour had appeared naturally in a litter

Apparently it is the up and coming colour for labs, but they didn't have labrador faces (owner had a dog and a bitch) and they also had those very distinctive Weimaraner eyes, so I still have my doubts.

I like labs, and I like weimis, but I wasn't struck on the look of these. Could be because I'm not used to them, though.

The blue is a recessive gene, even with 2 blue parents a blue litter is not a certainty, if you look closely on many you can see a faint brindle, it’s led to a lot of inbreeding ie mother/son which obviously results in health issues.

I saw a littler of merle staffies advertised on Pets4Homes (don't judge me!) a few years ago - they were described as "unusual colour" (breeder had obviously never heard of the term "merle") and they were a higher price than others in the litter.

It worries me sick that they'll try to cash in by breeding two merles together (and they would probably have to be closely related, because I can't see it coming up often).

@SBTLove I love brindles! My old girl who I lost 5yrs ago was brindle. When we got her from previous owners she was skin and bones, they said they didn't want her, she was bought for the woman from her ex husband. She was never walked or socialised. She as the most loving dog and I still miss her so much. When I posted pics I had of her the previous owner said she looked like a "pig" because of the weight/muscle she had put on. Regarding socialisation even though she hadn't been socialised by them (I got her at 2yrs old) she was brilliant with other dogs and cats!

I had never heard of a Merle staffy so I googled and came up with this article:

staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t20226-merle-colour-patterning-in-the-staffordshire-bull-terrier

It seems they come with a range of health problems. It's the same with the "blue" staffys they are more susceptible to skin and problems with their ears. I don't know why anyone would promote this type of breeding.

I’ve loved reading these replies and seeing photos of your beautiful dogs. I’d honestly almost resigned myself to a life without a staffie and this has been so heartening reading about all these dogs with a stable temperament. It’s turned into such a lovely thread.

I’ve always found it strange that brindle is an ‘undesirable’ coat, I think it’s my favourite. Like chocolate flecked with bits of caramel!

[quote hopeforlucky3]@SBTLove I love brindles! My old girl who I lost 5yrs ago was brindle. When we got her from previous owners she was skin and bones, they said they didn't want her, she was bought for the woman from her ex husband. She was never walked or socialised. She as the most loving dog and I still miss her so much. When I posted pics I had of her the previous owner said she looked like a "pig" because of the weight/muscle she had put on. Regarding socialisation even though she hadn't been socialised by them (I got her at 2yrs old) she was brilliant with other dogs and cats!

I had never heard of a Merle staffy so I googled and came up with this article:

staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t20226-merle-colour-patterning-in-the-staffordshire-bull-terrier

It seems they come with a range of health problems. It's the same with the "blue" staffys they are more susceptible to skin and problems with their ears. I don't know why anyone would promote this type of breeding. [/quote]
They look awful IMO.

www.google.com/search?q=merle+staffy&safe=strict&client=safari&rls=en&sxsrf=ALeKk02Qth2Y7Lv1AZ8l-NmQR2_dpkTG1Q:1600509556478&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim7crc-vTrAhUWRxUIHcufDsMQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1440&bih=758

But as they are likely to command high prices there is always a chance that some idiot will try to breed a brother and sister together - though they would only do it once.

The puppies from a double-merle mating would be horribly deformed and unlikely to live for more than a key short time - this applies to any doubt-merle litter, not just one from a brother sister/ parent-pup mating.

LOADS of horrible health problems, including pups being born with their stomachs etc protruding through their abdomens, and entrails actually being on the outside, hearing problems, eye abormalities - all sorts of really horrible birth defects - you name it, a double-merle will produce it.

(Mind you - I'm just not keen on merles in any breed - I've only ever seen a couple that I have thought looked attractive - so I'm probably prejudiced anyway)

I fostered a double merle border collie, completely deaf, ok eyesight, had to reach him signing, stunning looking dog but hardly fair to breed for looks and leave them blind or deaf 😔

I knew a god awful woman once who was hell bent on breeding her two Merle collies together.
If that poor pup was in Shropshire or the surrounding area, within the last 10 years I probably know the creature responsible.

@Dogsarebetterthanpeople
He was in Scotland, bought off a farmer who
just let his dogs bred indiscriminately and taken to a flat with 4 young kids, after 10 mths they couldn’t cope and off to rescue he went, lovely boy now happily living in the Highlands, he was a lucky one.
I see an increase in merle bulldogs, frenchies all have health issues before the merle even comes along, it’s very sad they are being bred for appearance with no thought for health or longevity.