dreamelicious Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 My worst nightmare is going to take place! I have a 3 year old Scotty who has been attacked by a Staffie before. The staffie was out roaming by himself whilst I was walking my dog (was only across the road from my house). The dog seemed friendly enough, then my dog peed on a letter box and the staffie attacked him. Luckily the staffie didn't get a direct neck hold and only got his shoulder (although it looked like it was his neck). He through him around and wouldn't let go. The neighbours came out and were hitting the staffie and my partner came out and put the staffie in a head lock so that my dog stopped getting thrown from side to side. It took quite a while for the staffie to release. My dog only needed a few stitches. Needless to say, I am now terrified of staffies. And they're moving in next door. We have standard treated pine fences, but i'm worried the staffies will dig under or jump over. I know they're quite the escape artist. I will be worried about leaving my dog at home alone. I don't know what to do. I haven't met the owners yet - I've seen them from afar. They move in at the end of january. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsarsMum Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 maybe go over talk and meet the dogs. tell them what happened and go from there. they are coming regardless of how you feel so talk and meet the people and dogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keira&Phoenix Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Hi Dream, I would make a point of meeting your new neighbours as soon as possible. I understand your concerns but you may find that these people are responsible dog owners who have well trained, well balanced Staffy's. Try not to put them in that category with the one who attacked your dog when you are yet to meet them, they may be wonderful dogs and they may be able to help your Scotty get over the prior attack. Go into meeting your new neighbours with an open mind and if they seem like reasonable people it might be worth telling them about your prior experience so they can do what they can to lessen the stress on you and your dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 I second talking to your new neighbours. As I'm sure you understand, the staffy your dog has an unfortunate encounter with is not a representation of all staffies. These dogs may be dog-social and lovely dogs, and all your fears unfounded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becandcharch Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Sorry to hear about what happened to your poor dog dreamelicious. Keira&Phoenix put it perfectly. You may be worrying about nothing. I have a staffy and a staffy x and if you moved next door to me you wouldnt have a thing to worry about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keira&Phoenix Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Bec love your work just looked at your website. Wish you were in Brisbane so I could get some done! Also your Staffy's are gorgeous! Sorry for the topic hijack Dream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 We have two Staffords next door and they are beautiful dogs. You wouldn't even know they were there except when they rumble with their squeaky toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 I'm a bit puzzled by the "big staffie" title - what sort of dog are you actually talking about? A Staffordshire Bull Terrier is not much bigger than a Cocker Spaniel or Beagle and wouldn't rank as "big" in many people's minds I wouldn't have thought? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keira&Phoenix Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) We have two Staffords next door and they are beautiful dogs. You wouldn't even know they were there except when they rumble with their squeaky toys. I'm a bit puzzled by the "big staffie" title - what sort of dog are you actually talking about?A Staffordshire Bull Terrier is not much bigger than a Cocker Spaniel or Beagle and wouldn't rank as "big" in many people's minds I wouldn't have thought? maybe big as in muscular?? Edited December 21, 2010 by Keira&Phoenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willow Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 As the owner of a staffy, I'm aware they are not universally loved, and if I was moving in next door to you, I would love it if you were to introduce yourself, explain your worries, and then we could work somehting out. You never know, with some professional help, the dogs could all end up being friends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R00 Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 slightly off topic , I own two well adusted Staffords and they are the only dogs around us that don't bark at other dogs and fence fight. So much so that we have a dog behind us that goes nuts all the time at my two and the two tough staffords just ignore it. Staffords are no different to any other breed of dog if they are brought up well they are fine, but just like any other dog if they are not brought up well you have issues. I was even asked why I would own such a breed!! What made this even funnier was at the time my two were on a lead sitting calmly while the guys small fluffies (three of them) set out to attack my dogs and were going crazy. So my point is don't judge all dogs by one experience with the breed, I am sorry to say however that it is unfortunate that staffords as a breed seem to attract more than their share of idiot owners (from my own experience) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerRottweiler Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Seems to me you are judging an entire breed, just because of one bad experience. Sounds like you are creating a problem in your mind, where an actual problem probably does not exist. Be careful on how you address your new neighbour, don't want to get off to a bad start by assuming the worst of their dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agility Dogs Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Seems to me you are judging an entire breed, just because of one bad experience. Sounds like you are creating a problem in your mind, where an actual problem probably does not exist. Be careful on how you address your new neighbour, don't want to get off to a bad start by assuming the worst of their dogs. I never thought I would say this, but I can understand where the OP is coming from. They are not judging an entire breed, they have a fear because of a bad experience. Fears are rarely rational and to tell them they are less than sensible because of their fears is not all that helpful. After an incident the other week I am cautious (to say the least) about particular situations. There is no real rational basis for my fear, but it is very real and I can't just put it in a box and forget about it - as much as I would like to. Time and exposure will heal the wounds, but not just yet. I can understand te OP's fear and the best way to confront it will probably be to go and speak with the new neighbour and meet the dogs. I do agree that you need to be careful in how you approach, but I think that most people would be greatful for a chance rather than having a neighbour sit in quiet judgement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacqui835 Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 I'm going to be totally honest here because I think many people will try and make you feel like you're being silly for being more scared of staffy types than other breeds, and I just don't believe this is the case. I know exactly how you feel. Every time a new staffy type shows up at the park I freeze a little bit and watch it like a hawk - I don't do that with any other breed. This is because my dog has been attacked twice by this breed, and never seriously by any others. I know it happens, and I've met GSD's and even Lab's that wanted to have a go at him, but all of them calmed down faster and seemed happier about not having to fight. The staffies, once they reach that point - which can happen extremely quickly I might add, don't seem to want to give up on the chance for a fight, you can have the other dog away and still you have to block him continuously until the staffy can be physically removed. I don't believe they are just like any other breed, because that would be like saying my doberman would be as good at hunting as a GSP or something etc. Fact is if you spend any time at the park with a variety of dog breeds, you will see that there are differences between them. Not all staffies are the same though, and out of the 1000's I've met (because they're so popular in Sydney at least) I've met 2 that I trust to the same level around my dog as other breeds, who really seem to be more dog than staffy if you get me - same as there would be hunting breeds who didn't have any urge to hunt/retrieve etc. For me, there are 3 categories of staffy - 1: quite rare - those that are just like other dogs, 2: the most common - those that are fine to walk past, have light interaction with, see across the street etc but who you wouldn't want your dog running off-lead with, and 3: the rarest - the ones that will attack your dog given a chance and fortunately are rarely seen off a lead, still pretty scary to have to be near. Most staffies I meet are pretty good really, but I just don't let my dog play with them off-lead because too many times, I have seen one suddenly snap going from quite happy to ready to kill in less obvious steps (perhaps not to a staffy owner but for a doberman and mixed breed owner like myself) than other dogs and start trying to kill another dog. I'm trying to make the point here that all dogs can and will fight, but with staffies, they seem keener, have less obvious or fewer warning signs and are better equipped for it. Now this is only their reaction towards dogs. I have plenty of friends who have staffies and I love them, so long as I don't have my dog with me. They are not a HA breed, and make shocking guard dogs because as far as they're concerned, strange people are just friends they haven't had the pleasure of licking yet. But when I have my dog, I don't take chances - because with staffies you can't. If your dog gets into a fight with one, unless it's another staffy, it will definitely lose and it could well die. So yeah, introduce yourself, the dogs will likely love you and you probably don't have to be worried about just seeing them on the street, or them trying to escape into your yard to attack your dog. Unless they are poorly raised and never exercised etc they are very unlikely to do that. But don't think they're just like any other dog either - there are reasons that certain breeds are better at certain tasks - because they're different from each other, and you don't have to go back too far in the history of any bully type breed or those of the breeds used to create them to find unfortunate histories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becandcharch Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Bec love your work just looked at your website. Wish you were in Brisbane so I could get some done! Also your Staffy's are gorgeous! Sorry for the topic hijack Dream! Aw thanks!! Your boofheads look gorgeous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pockets Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Jacqui - What type of dog do you own? I wouldnt be worried, treat every new dog as a NEW dog, put away pre-conceived ideas and assess the dog, not the breed Your dog will probably be fine as will they and they wont even both each other near the fence and will be happy and behaved canine neighbours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pockets Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Also to add My brothers 4 month old male GSD pup was rushed and grabbed around the neck, thrashed around and pinned to the ground by a staffy whilst walking in the street. my brothers dog recovered well.. When we felt it was time, I had my brother come down to the obedience club and just "hang out" with his dog, not force him to introduce himself to other dogs, just feel comfortable around them, as time went on we increased the distance and built his confidence main thing we did was we treated it like normal and let him gain confidence in his own time.. My brothers GSD is now 3 years old and is an absolute pleasure to have around other dogs, not a mean bone in his body and happy to play with any dog that will be his friend, regardless of the breed, even staffies.. I taught my brother not to respond to any shy behaviour or force him into an uncomfortable situation and to let him adjust in his own time, and to also make sure the other owners were aware, he came forward in leaps and bounds ;) Your dog will probably adjust quite well as long as you dont make it a big issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebanne Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 They are not judging an entire breed, they have a fear because of a bad experience. Fears are rarely rational and to tell them they are less than sensible because of their fears is not all that helpful. agree introduce yourself to your neighbours, have a friendly chat and take it from there. If you are really bothered by the thought of the other dogs breaking into your yard, maybe you could get some pine poles or similar and place them along the bottom of the fence? Drill holes in them and peg them down. I know you shouldn't have to and they might not be needed but if makes you feel better to be proactive then go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 Sorry to hear about what happened to your poor dog dreamelicious.Keira&Phoenix put it perfectly. You may be worrying about nothing. I have a staffy and a staffy x and if you moved next door to me you wouldnt have a thing to worry about Same, except that I have 5 of them. My neighbours also have nothing to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Rules Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) Seems to me you are judging an entire breed, just because of one bad experience. Sounds like you are creating a problem in your mind, where an actual problem probably does not exist. Be careful on how you address your new neighbour, don't want to get off to a bad start by assuming the worst of their dogs. I never thought I would say this, but I can understand where the OP is coming from. Me too. There is a bastard of a staffy living next door to me, attacked my big dog at the park for no reason (my dog wasn't even standing neat the staffy nor looking at it). Thank god for good fences. And then a few weeks back we had the unfortunate experience of meeting a couple with two staffys, one of them grabbed my puppy around it's neck - again my dog didn't want a bar of this other dog, it simply attacked. So, I don't hold this particular breed of dog in high stead at present. I was one not to judge any dog not so long ago but I need to meet some really nice non dog aggressive staffys to sway my mind right now. eta - I meant to say, I hope the OP has no problems with her new neighbours nor their dogs Edited December 21, 2010 by Golden Rules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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