Another dog attack hits the news

[smudgley]

Originally Posted by Kay

How would she know that they had cleared her garden gate if she hadn't seen them?

Can't be bothered with this thread anymore, but in answer to your Q. If they got in & killed the dog & there were no gates open, then I guess it's fairly obvious they cleared the fence.

I am only telling you what the lady herself said on the radio. Can't see why she'd say they weren't there if they were.

Not posting on this thread anymore.

[Mags]

Sadly this thread is beginning to turn into a tirade against Staffies and it is unfair to suggest all Staffies are nasty and would kill/maim cats and dogs. Any breed of dog can turn nasty if it hasn't had the proper training.

[Moli]

Originally Posted by Mags

Sadly this thread is beginning to turn into a tirade against Staffies and it is unfair to suggest all Staffies are nasty and would kill/maim cats and dogs. Any breed of dog can turn nasty if it hasn't had the proper training.

So very true Mags, think this thread has run its course now...

[borderdawn]

I think the problem with Staffies is they are capable of a LOT of damage WHEN they attack. In all honesty I board hundreds every year and we do not see any more dog aggressive ones than we do other breeds, its just that when they do attack they inflict such a lot of damage very quickly, and in this case, two would be worse than one.

I have banned more Labradors and Spaniels for aggression issues than I have Staffies.

There is no doubt there are many that are nasty with other dogs, we have a couple round here, but just the other day, I was on the common with my 3 Borders, and we met a few other people, in all we had 4 Borders, 1 PRT puppy, 1 GSD, 1 Golden Retriever, 1 Lurcher and a Border Collie. Along came a red entire Staffie male, round the corner from nowhere, Orey went to meet him, saw he had a ball on a rope in his mouth and he just took it from him! The Staffie never did a thing, he then had a PRT puppy bouncing on him and all the other dogs sniffing him till they checked him out, not a word, a normal well balanced Dog, who's owner was delighted that he was seen as a dog and not a monster! Pit Bull Terriers are a whole different issue, and whilst I think Staffies can be very dangerous in the wrong hand, they should never be judged purely by their history and most definately never compared or likened to a Pit Bull.
Dawn.

[Kim]

I think that the owners were wrong to leave their dog in the garden alone (if that was the case) however, you really would think that you dog was safe in your own garden. I think the staffy owners are at fault for allowing their dogs to do this. I have met quite a few staffies, some good, some vicious, in most cases the owners have made their dogs like this. Nothing personal, though but a staffy is not a dog I would ever choose to own.

[Luke]

Yet another blow, I do feel that eventually these poor souls will end up as hated as Pits!
I can speak from the voice of experience, of someone who from birth was in a house around MULTIPLE INTACT staffords [we had five at one time, plus two dobes and a little old n evil pekingese] and can safely say, ours lived with other dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea-pigs, chickens, ducks, ferrets-You name it! And never we're bothered. We had one dog who disliked strange dogs approaching him if he was on lead, offlead he was fine but on lead he was different, and he was attacked quite badly as a pup. And we had one little boy who was pts on vet advice, he suffered greatly from epilepsy and was beginning to have "black out time" where he was really unstable as it were, my memorys a bit shaky on this one..I was quite small at the time and remember blocking it out a lot. Anyway I digress, live with a well bred, well socalized stafford before casting a response. By this I mean a stafford from a good breeder..not bred from a pair of dogs owned by some yobs, that vaguley resemble staffords. Bring one up as you would a lab, or a spaniel without holding the view "God it's a stafford, I must treat it like a time bomb". And then see what a level and loving family pet you get. You can't infact beat the love a stafford has for it's children, and they are most definatley it's children..not the owners. I think it's very unfair that as a breed they are headhunted so strictly by people who hold an obvious dislike for them as a breed, when in reality they probably have never known a TRUE stafford.
As Dawn said, they are a dog that if they were to "go" could do an awful lot of damage. But so could a Labrador, so could my English Springer as he's got a lot more weight and structure than any of our staffords, so could a collie..the list is endless really.

[Fran]

It's not labs and spaniels etc.. that we hear of killing children and pet animals though is it Luke?

The fact of the matter is that these are Staffie's or crosses thereof and it's certainly not the first story of it's kind. I'm sorry you will never convert me especially when stories of this nature hit the headlines coupled with my very bad experiences of the breed

[Fran]

And this one was only a couple of weeks ago - a child involved on this occasion


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/n...re/7246192.stm

[dinahsmum]

....

[Soupie]

Unfortunately any dog has the potential to be violent that's where correct training and responsible dog ownership comes in same as with any animal - I was savaged by a poodle as a child and you don't hear of many poodle attacks.....

It's an awful situation and although terrible it has happened I have to give some credit to the staffie cross owners for taking the responsible decision.

As an aside I have only ever met well socialised and beautifully behaved staffies and I am terrified of dogs so prone to think all are evil