People Scared Of My Dog

[Guest Willow]

I'm going to say pretty much what everyone else said.

To answer your first question, as a Staffy owner, no, in general I don't find people are afraid of him....usually the ooposite!!!

If I were walking past someones yard and there were unsecured dogs there, I would avoid it, no matter what the breed. What would be going through my mind???.....

Are the dogs going to be protective of their property?

Are the dogs DA?

Will MY on lead dogs react badly to the dogs, even if they are friendly?

Weighing these up, I would decide that it's not worth the risk. I would probably alos ask the owner to hold onto the dog until I got past.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Willow

[jrm88]

I'm a vet nurse and I trust all the bigger dogs (e.g. staffy, german shepherds, dobermanns, etc) way more than the littlies (e.g. maltese, poms, chihuahuas) and thats purely because in my experience, most of the smaller dogs that come in tend to be snarly little tykes that try and bite bite bite.

BUT.... if I am out walking, I am more wary of larger unrestrained dogs than smaller unrestrained dogs purely because the bigger dogs can do alot more damage. I always study the dogs body language to try and determine whether they are friendly or not but it isnt always possible so I absoloutely understand why those people may have avoided your off leash staffy.

[hortfurball]

As far as I'm concerned dogs shouldn't be loose in front yards unless they're behind secure fences.

Ditto.

And as far as I was aware (and I know it's law in my council) dogs, even in their front yard - need to be secured to the property (fences) or on lead unless it's a non-lead area.

Just highlighting this one.

If I am with my dogs I am very wary of any unsecured dog regardless of breed or size (or colour ). Even if the other dog "won't bite" if it comes and gets in the face of my charming pair of ladies they will and who gets the blame for that.

Ditto. I have a dog reactive dog (usually to dogs of a similar size and build to her, which means staffords, kelpies, amstaffs and mixes of them are particularly likely to set her off). If I see an off leash dog I'm not happy because if it comes up to say hello to Ella, she will often react, and then the dog could too if it takes her "F*** Off" snap as an attack, then the whole thing escalates and there's a fight. Why would I NOT be shitty and a bit anxious to see an off leash dog when that could so easily be the result?

Fair enough. I do get it alot even when I walk him on lead so I was just wondering what other people thought. Just comparing the 2 dogs I find it strange they always worry about him when the other is so obviously worse.

That might be because there is nothing to worry about with your smaller one as it is tied up. Regarding when they are on leash, probably a size issue, but also, some dog reactive dogs tend to react more to certain breeds because of their innate confidence, so anyone with a dog reactive or DA dog will take one look at a stafford or amstaff and keep their dog well away (unless they're one of the morons we all complain about here regularly who let their DA dog run amok). If I'm walking Ella and there is an aggressive little dog on leash trying to have a go at her, she'll ignore it but if a stafford so much as looks sideways at her she's not happy.

[RallyValley]

It goes the other way too. I have a kelpie x who can be slightly DA with bigger, strange dogs when he is on a leash. At the park the other night somebody with a large bull breed started to walk towards me as if to let her dog meet Toby I backed away and got the response "he looks scary but he is ok" to which I replied "well I am not 100% sure mine will be so its probably best not to come closer". They were like ok... they walked off but not very far away and once thier dog had seen Toby he pulled over as the owner had little/no control, the dogs were fine but the moral of the story is no matter how friendly a dog looks it dosen't mean it is friendly and vice versa, Toby and the dog only got along well because the dog had good dog manners and would have gotten along fine with most non DA dogs.

[Bulldust]

I wish the public was only scared of Bull Terriers every 10yrs

I wont let mine walk past any loose dog, i will cross the road, turn around or if its not too big and i can tuck up all the legs and tail ill pick it up (not the best option i know), my dogs are more important to me than anyone elses dogs or offending their owners to risk it, and im not just thinking of them perhaps being attacked, but them getting 'germs' from a strange dog, i dont know how good theyre looked after!

[voloclydes]

leo who is a dally but has the personality of a snugly teddy bear scares even teenage children.

it's his size... our foxie cross will take your fingers off the knucles more likely.... but he is a snugler too!

leo's snappy tongue it goes in and out with a big snap..... he's likely to taste you to get left overs from your lunch. :rofl:

[OSoSwift]

I view any off lead or not behind fence a dog as a potential problem.

One decent bodyslam from a Stafford and mine would be injured, one good bite from a dog of that size and build I could have a severly injured or dead dog.

I own a Stafford who has always been really good so I am not worried about them.

I do not like any breed of dog off lead or loose. I would also cross the street if out walking my dogs, if just myself then I wouldn't care too much.

The worst a friened and I have ever been attacked was by two off lead chihuahua's at the beach, nasty little buggers!

[Pointees]

I agree with Poodlefan. I also avoid Staffords when I have my DOG around, but if it was just me I only avoid them cos of their propensity for face lickage.

Not to mention their skill for taking you out at knee level.

He does indeed have the skill to take you out at knee level. He did it to me last week.

They can be like a wombat on speed.. Staffords are DANGEROUS I tell you!!

;)

I don't let my idoits go past any free roaming dog.. There is a house in my street that I give a complete miss, we will walk around the block most of the time.. As much as I love staffys and AM staftys.. This one does not give the breed a good name.

It is HUGE and nasty looking, not to mention a temperament to match.. It is feral, and has junky owners...

Of course, it could have been a lovely creature if things had been done differently..

It trys to jump over the fence to get you and your dogs, then it trys to dig under the fence... Then, it decides to break through the fence with your head.. In the 3 months they have lived at this house, they have stopped a number of people walking down the street, including myself, and have fixed their fence a handful of times..

With that said, my dogs aren't perfect. One would growl, one would bouncy across another dog, one would go off and do her own thing, and one would do laps around another dog. ;)

ETA; I'd trust the three in my sig over my little malt cross.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Pointees