i think its a lot to do with how they look

i take mine out every morning at the same time and i met the same ppl on the walk (in the morning we always go the same way) with there dogs,  all these ppl are used to my 2 and as long as we know each other we don't even bother to put the dogs back on the leads as these dogs se each other most days (if we met new ppl/dogs we always put the dogs on the lead)

last week i bought the dogs a leather harness each, (the black 1 with brass on)  and 3 ppl we see most days panicked when they sore my dogs running free  (but were fine when they know it was me)  i stopped and chatted with them for a bit and they said the dogs look a lot different today (they did not even notice that they had harness on and not collars)

so what i am trying to say is a lot of it is down to the look of the dogs

and just thought i would add if i am walking down the street with the 2 of them and i see some1 walking towards me and they look a bit put of by mine dogs then i stop and say there ok but you can pass me if you want and then them ppl seam fine and the next time i see them again there is no problem

sorry but I do think that some Staffs deserve their reputation - just yesterday at my local agility club a young whippet was attacked by a staffy. the owner of the staff is a caring , responsible person who tries desperately hard each week with her dog but he is simply too male aggressive to be around other breeds, she is at her wits end and ready to give up with him. The poor whippet needed stitches in it's neck and ear and his owner was bitten trying to separate the two dogs. Breeders should stop making excuses for aggressive behaviour and ONLY breed from dogs of exemplary temperament - when I am at a show I always dread being  in the ring next to the staffys as they spend all their time growling at each other ( and anything near them !)
This type of behaviour seems to be seen as showing a 'true staffy spirit' ( quote from a staffy exhibitor when I complained). I will now stand back to dodge your flying missiles !!!.

I wouldn't class agressive behaviour to dogs "true staffy spirit" Staffords should NOT attack other dogs.
I am not saying that some people don't struggle with their staffs. But a lot of people with Staffs don;t socialize throughtly. Occasional meetings with other dogs don't serve any purpose.

They need paitent, steady, consistent and supervised meetings with dogfs of all ages/sexes and sizes.

And I'll stand back as well as the missiles get thrown because I wouldn't stand ext to some Staffs either.

KAREN  

Grondemon I can understand what you are saying - some Staffy enthusiasts do indeed think that a dog should be "feisty" - not all but some .
and as for Karen's comment-

<<<I wouldn't stand next to some Staffs either>>>

I agree wholeheartedly - theres some in the ring I would definitely steer clear of :rolleyes:

Thanks Lel,

Some times I wonder if with a different owner a dog may have turnd out differently.
I see a Staff dog regularly but when he's with the man I steer clear for some reason the dog seems to be to "hyper" with him playing chase games and rough games the dog does get wound up by him.
However same dog with the woman totally differnt still happy go lucky and pure staff but she has control not in a nasty way and I don't thin she has any idea sometimes why people in the park avoid her. She must think they/we are odd but we have seen him out with his "dad." When out the man is out with the woman and the dog both man and dog are totally different.

Odd

Karen

" 

hi grondemon
i totally agree with you some stafford i would not want to met but there are also some GSD/Rottie/dobbie/JRT/Lads ect... ect... ect... that i would not like to met.  in all breeds you can have a dog that goes of the rails but not all breed are tinted with the same brush.

with the whippet and the stafford, that all i can say about that is the dog should not be doing agility until he is under control he should be with a trainer on a 1 to 1 training.  with a dog like that you will never get him to be good around other male dogs but you can train him to be a good dog only interested in his owner.

with breeding if you breed all of the aggressive behaviour out of a stafford then they are no longer have a stafford.  but then again there can always be to much.

and again i agree with you about being in the ring next to a dog that is growling at each other. i do not show but a dog that does should be ok with other dogs being around them but then again i have been to show where i have seen judges being bitten by the toy breed dogs and nothing is said about that.
and there are no flying missiles coming from this side :D

Being aggressive towards other dogs isn't showing "true Staffy spirit" at all - there is a mile of difference between aggression and "gameness".  As we all know, in their less than stellar past Staffies were bred and used as fighting dogs.  What made a true champion fighter wasn't aggression, but gameness - the willingness to never give up, to keep bouncing back no matter what.  In fact, most of the fighting dogs were kept as family pets because they were fantastic with their human owners and only showed their slightly less desirable side in the pit.  Staffies, APBTs and EBTs were all bred to have these qualities - they won't go out looking for a fight, but they won't back down if another dog shows signs of aggression.  I for one would never dream of breeding a Staffie that showed that amount of dog aggression - the stud I used for my girl was best mates with two Chihuahuas who lived with him!

Being aggressive towards other dogs isn't showing "true Staffy spirit" at all

i never said it was.
and i never said a stafford should be dog aggressive (well i never ment to say).  if a stafford was in a group of other dogs then he should be ok (not growling) and should be more interested in his owner then in the other dogs.  but if a Stafford was attacked be 1 of these dogs then he should be able to defend him self and not back down at all.

a stafford should be able to get on with all types of breed from the largest to smallest but you have to make sure that as a pup they get to met nice dogs of all sizes.

and i still stand by what i said if you take the gameness (willing not to give up) out of the stafford then you no longer have the stafford (the first time i said it came out wrong).

(a quick story)

when i had Tara she was only 6 months old.  i had her off a friend that was moving to Canada  she was not introduced to many dogs and was not taken out much, so when i had her she wanted to kill all dogs (including Leo).  i spent a lot of time with her to get her to constat on me and not other dogs, i then got her to meet a lot of friendly dogs of all sizes. and after a few months of hard work she is now fine around dogs she knows and ok with all other dogs as long as they do not growl at her.

"with breeding if you breed all of the aggressive behaviour out of a stafford then they are no longer have a stafford"

Surely we SHOULD be aiming to breed all aggressive behaviour out ? - an aggressive dog is a liabilility - that Whippet could have been held by a child when it was attacked. The 'gameness' that was neccessary when dogs were required to fight each other should no longer be seen as desirable I believe that it is this quality that attracts the 'macho man' to bull breeds and make the general public wary of them. Perhaps a change to the breed standard would help ?.