Staffys - tell me honestly, do they deserve such a bad rep

[tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz]

Evening all

So we're looking for a dog to adopt and the rescues we're watching seem to have lots of staffys (why is this?!) We're considering going to see one this weekend (x with Shar Pei). He's four and according to the rescue shows no health or personality concerns associated with this breed and is pretty much a staffy through and through.

I've always loved this breed but DH is wary due to their rep.

Can you tell me honestly what they're like? I read something interesting on BBC which said they are actually s breed the kennel club recommends around young kids so that was a surprise!

Also a good friend of mine was attacked by one a few years ago requiring stitches and although I haven't asked her yet - I'm s bit worried what her reply would be tbh - I'm concerned she may refuse to walk her dog with us/come to her home. This is really niggling me enough to not consider him

I think the issue with getting a staff is that unless you go to a reputable breeder, fuck knows what you're actually getting. As others have said,, it's not the staffy breed itself that's the issue, it's the questionable and often dangerous crosses that cause problems.

I work with dangerous dogs. By dangerous I mean dogs that have attacked or are in the middle of loosing it for whatever reason.

There’s something very different about dealing with an aggressive chihuahua or even collie compared with an aggressive bull breed.
I’ve dealt with some that are quite frankly terrifying and have had grown men scared to open the door and for this reason (and the dog aggression) I wouldn’t ever consider a bull breed as a pet.
Not only that but the damage that can be done is so much more than a dog with a different style of bite. They don’t have a locking jaw but they do not let go for any reason compared with say a collie who tends to bite and retreat.

There are so many lovely bull breeds but sadly the minority spoil it entirely and it’s not always ones that are abused or badly trained either…

My son rescued a staff
He really is the best dog I’ve ever met
The only downside is how strong his is-if he wants to go one way,then I have no choice but to follow!
He’s loving,soppy,Velcro and just a loving dog
We joke that if someone broke in,he would be happy for them to take the telly as long as he got a belly rub

Btw I have a staff/pit cross, four cats snd and a young child. I got my dog from rescue at 7 months but I knew her history (young family that couldn’t cope with her SA). She’s great with other dogs, good with my cats, and she’s fine with my DD but I don’t leave them unsupervised, I wouldn’t leave my child with any breed of dog though. My dog was well socialised from a pup, so I think that’s helped her to be good with other dogs.

Well they aren't pretty are they? Not like the designer dogs 'accessories' everybody seems to have these days. Never had a dog but I know a rescue staffy my son sometimes looks after. First time I saw him I was terrified (scared of dogs though from childhood incidents) with his big mouth full of sharp teeth but after a few minutes realised he was a big softie. He has these sad brown eyes that seem to plead with you for treats (he is obsessed with food) but he melts my heart. He has no voice, can't bark but tries to sometimes and a little squeak comes out. I try not to imagine what has happened to him in the past but it certainly hasn't made him aggressive with humans and he knows how to get his favourite tidbits out of me and is very obedient with his sit and recall.

@Blackkitty

they have extremely powerful jaws that lock down on what they're attacking

Complete and absolute nonsense. They did a study on bite force and the loved Labrador has a bite similar to that of an American pit ball. Just google it if you don’t believe me! Staffies don’t even feature on on the top ten list of dogs with the strongest bites. I’m sick to death of reading such bull crap misinformation about the breed, one of the reason rescues are full to the brim with staffs is all the myths and misinformation that’s floating about.

Although prone to reactive behaviour, staffs are usually fine with other dogs when they’ve been socialised right. Remember every dog is an individual, I’d trust the rescue and their assessment of the dog.

Just fit the record my dog has been attacked twice, both times it was a black Labrador. But please don’t let my antidotal account put you off labs or anything.

This ^^

People just love repeating what they hear about staffies to put people off without actually doing any research!

Yo be honest I think staffies are bad breed, they just seem to attract an unusually high number of bad owners.

By this I don’t mean those that love them to pieces but those that get a staffy when they want an aggressive looking dog like a pit bull and who are prepared to accentuate aggressive traits.

I’m not talking shit here, go to any dog refuge and you may see the more common breed there are staffies (and ex working greyhounds but that’s a whole different story of abuse).

SORRY Ned to check before I press Pottstown, I meant to say Staffies are NOT a bad breed, they just have the bad luck of attracting a high number of irresponsible owners.

Beautiful dogs that are brilliant family pets in general

Jesus, what’s wrong with my autocorrect today???

No dog is entirely reliable. While I don’t think Stafford are temperamentally more likely to attack a human than any other dog, they will do more harm than most if they do. There’s a reason that certain breeds appear repeatedly in this list and others not at all.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_Kingdom

*staffies

[quote JumperandJacket]No dog is entirely reliable. While I don’t think Stafford are temperamentally more likely to attack a human than any other dog, they will do more harm than most if they do. There’s a reason that certain breeds appear repeatedly in this list and others not at all.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_Kingdom[/quote]
I don’t trust that list. People always reference it on here to prove a point, or they try presenting it as evidence that bull breeds are bad. The fact is only reliable references in that Wikipedia article are a journal from Forensic Science International and a statistical analysis document from the government, both of which fail to mention dog breed. The Wiki article is referencing media accounts when naming dog breed and this is very unreliable. We have to account for things like prejudice, media bias and misinformation, oh and cross breeds. The fact that a staffie bred with most other dog breeds will still look like a staffie must be understood. Really we’ve no way of knowing the breeds of many offending dogs in historical cases as this is something the police and government are rubbish at even establishing, nevermind recording.

I would rather have a well bred staff than a badly bred Jack russell - JRs can be a bit nippy

Best dog I ever had! She was such a lovely soul... I miss her and she died in 2008

And she half pit bull and staff

than a badly bred Jack russell - JRs can be a bit nippy
I used to own a JRT, and the PILs used to own a JRT, and I'm not arguing with that. In fact, a well-bred working JRT will be a little shit. It's almost part of the description.

JRT and former JRT owners have, on the whole, no problem with admitting that a lot of JRTs are not for the faint-hearted.

@GrandmasCat

SORRY Ned to check before I press Pottstown, I meant to say Staffies are NOT a bad breed, they just have the bad luck of attracting a high number of irresponsible owners.

Yes this.

RSPCA saved my beauty because she was such a lovely dog

Despite her being half a pit bull they put on her certificate she was a large staff 😀
Such a lovely dog

I don't personally like them as they're generally needy and quite vocal (whiny) dogs. Also unpredictable/iffy with other dogs but generally good with people.

My main objection is the clingy/neediness - dog reactive stuff can be dealt with but they annoy me.

A dog that's reactive/unfriendly to other dogs IS a problem, unless you all live in dog-free areas? A dog that's reactive to other dogs and locks on when it attacks (other dog's throat is usually the target area) is a huge problem. It might be rare, but once you know why would you risk it?

Here's my rescue Staffy, a diva and I wouldn't have her any other way!

@BasiliskStare

I would rather have a well bred staff than a badly bred Jack russell - JRs can be a bit nippy

JRT are a pain in the arse

I've Had 2 and never again

Little monkeys

@Grumpyosaurus

than a badly bred Jack russell - JRs can be a bit nippy I used to own a JRT, and the PILs used to own a JRT, and I'm not arguing with that. In fact, a well-bred working JRT will be a little shit. It's almost part of the description.

JRT and former JRT owners have, on the whole, no problem with admitting that a lot of JRTs are not for the faint-hearted.

I’ve always disliked Jack Russell dogs (only reason being my aunt had one which was awfully snappy and bit my hand as a child so I had an inbuilt fear of them). Then my friend got one, it’s about two years old now and the most gentle and friendly dog I’ve ever met. Don’t think it nipped even as a puppy. That’s the thing really, no matter the breed you need to always be on your guard basically. That’s why it annoys me when I see cockapoolabradoodle dogs marketed as ‘great with kids’ or ‘safe for kids.’ No dog is really safe with kids in my opinion, no matter how lovely and beloved. My dog was my best friend and beautifully behaved but still never left alone with a child. Other than dogs being unpredictable so are kids! You never know when a kid will push/poke etc the dog.

Staff are my fav, such a bad rep but such family dogs, train them from puppy's with other dogs u will have the most loyal dog ever ❤ wish I could get one but can't right now.

I have a staffy cross. I rehomed her after previous owners didn't want her. she is amazing and so soft. she is great with kids and just wants to be stroked and cuddled all day. They make great family dogs. she doesn't bark and is easily trained. she also loves other dogs.
A rescue will know all about their temperament and if they are good with dogs or not as they assess them.
there is no better feeling than taking on a dog that has being given up/ abandoned and giving them their forever home.

@randomsabreuse

I don't personally like them as they're generally needy and quite vocal (whiny) dogs. Also unpredictable/iffy with other dogs but generally good with people.

My main objection is the clingy/neediness - dog reactive stuff can be dealt with but they annoy me.

Unfortunately I would agree with this though. As I said upthread my staff was very needy. She hated to be left alone and would cry at the door - sometimes we would only be literally getting something from the car. We worked around it because we work shifts plus when we first fit her I didn’t work but it could be difficult. She was definitely not the kind of dog where we could go on holiday for two weeks and stick her in kennels/get a friend to look after her because she would have been distraught.

Lots of the staffs I’ve known are the same, so possibly not the dog for you if you like days out and holidays and plan to use kennels a lot. I find they are big ‘people’ dogs who miss their friends when they’re gone.