Hi,

Im wondering if some of you that own or know Staffies could give me an idea at what age would a male staffie start showing signs of dog aggresssion?
My dog is very well socialised, however, im not naive to think that it could always be this way with the history of the breed, so if anyone has had an experience with a well socialised staffie turning aggressive, could they give me an insight into what age this usually occurs.

Mine is 7 months old and hasnt showed any aggression and hopefully wont - but i want to be prepared!!

Thnx

My Staffie boy is nearly 9 mths, he has shown no aggression but he is more aware of other dogs, puffing out his chest etc, but he always wants to play..

He is very well socialized and I do not expect him to display any aggression either??

My Staffies are the cutest ever, the only thing they are in danger of is licking someone to death.

They love other dogs and when they have met a more dominant dog have immediatly submitted...rolling on their backs....they are as soft as ...!>?!?!?

Hi Blondiflops.
But remember yours are just babies at the moment  - it is unlikely that behaviour will continue BUT that is because they won't always be puppies - pups do normaly submit to older dogs. But if the groud work is there ie socialised and meet lots of different dogs then you will be fine when your's grow up. :)

Karen  

hi all just joined the forum. i have a 16week old staffy bitch called saffy. why do they get a bad name? this one of mine is so soft, it love's everyone .

Hello and welcome - what's your dogs name?
The myth that all staffs are dog aggresive is just that a myth - they are what we bring them up be if you've got a 7 month old pup who is well socialsed and happy to meet other dogs - don't change anything you're doing - okay I wouldn't keep two adult stafford males in the same house - but there is no reason at all to believe that your pup won't remain sociable/happy all his life.
With Staffs you do have to be aware their idea of play is sometimes rougher than some dogs but no worst than others. :)
I  have two Stafford bitches Sal and Tess, and they are well socialised too and have never shown an ounce of aggresion toward ther dogs. And to be honest that is what you want.
A dog aggresive Stafford can be a nightmare - so just carry on what you are doing.

My previous stafford dog Sam lived till 16 and he was from the old "Rapparee lines" therefore not known for their laid back natures - but Sam never raised a paw in anger - so raising a stafford dog or bitch to be sociable can be done, and is on a daily basis by many people - some whom pop onto this board occasionaly and have the nicest natured Stafford dogs you could wish to meet.

     

Hi
I had a male staffy who,till the day he died,never showed one moments aggression towards ANYTHING! He was the most animal friendly dog I have ever had and loved everyone and everything...keep up the socialising,let him play with other dogs and I wish you as much fun and pleasure owning a staff as I had
Archer

Did you mean agression with dogs or people? Because staffys are rarely agressive with people, my bitch is 2 and my dog is 20 months ( unneutered) and i can honestly say i can trust them 100% with humans and dogs , they are adrorable !! Your sensible to be prepared, but i think if you bring them up like any other dog, allowing them to play and socialise, your unlikely to ever see that side of him  xxx

Hi sarstaff I think they meant dog aggresion - I would not like to even consider a stafford aggresive to people - could give me nightmares ;)

I know Kazz it doesnt bare thinking about !

i agree with you kazz, my pup is the cutest ever she is hypo at times an a very good guard dog but she has never hurt a human, she lived in the kennel with her sister for a year a one day she jus bite the jack russel an had her hangin in her mouth we opened the cage an she comin running out so playful as if she didnt know sally was hangin in her mouth water an a plank off wood over the head would not work we had to prise her open with screw driver, sally jus survived but needless to say they dont live together anymore now chico is inside the flat an loves attention, shes dodgy with other dogs, but its their nature, its in them, centuries ago thats what staffs were made for so to say, for fighting, i have heard that there is a place in saltney by chester on a park where people take their staffs an they sit in a circle an sing (dog sing) can anyone confirm this a old man in the street saw my dog an came over an started talkin an told me this,

kazz . as i said i have a 16 week old staff bitch. we also have a mongrel bitch who is 12 years old. when she die's. (god help us). would it be wise to get another staffy bitch. i see from your thread you have 2. have you ever had any prob's with them. thanks steve

"okay I wouldn't keep two adult stafford males in the same house".

Hi. I got 2 male staffies. one of 9 and one of 2, ive had the 2 year old only about 4 weeks. so far they are gettin along fine, and i never seperate them, even if i go out for the day. But i have heard from lots of people about 2 males not getting along. I would like to hear from any one else whos got 2 male staffs aswell. Thanks Russ....

if he hasnt shown aggression so far then i doubt theres much chance he will if u keep socialising him.
I have a 9 month staffie bitch and she can show aggression towards timid dogs or ones that show agression to her first.  We have had quite a few bad encounters and one attack which has caused her to be a bit more  vigilant about which dogs she meets.  However, she is great with people and more often than not just wants a good play with other dogs :D

>>>at what age would a male staffie start showing signs of dog aggresssion?<<<

well mines 27 months old now and still as friendly and as mad as ever :)

i have a ten month old boy staff who is very soft but very playful, at times he does not know his own strength, but with him it is always meant with good intention. My friend has 2 year old bitch who was well socialized from a pup, however at about 18 months old she just change. She is now very aggresive towards other dogs. With people she is still friendly and playful. The only dog she can play with is mine, but i believe that is because she has grown up with him from when he was about 8 weeks old. All other dogs she will bark at and try to pin them down. My friend has to be so careful now and can not let her play with other dogs.

the staff that attacked flynn that time was totally fine until he got to around two years then he totally changed.
until then he was fine with all other dogs playing off the lead etc,chasing balls together etc.
im not sure if he had a bad experince himself or not to change him oir if it just happened? :(

I have met loads of staffs out and about with my dogs, two Border Collies, and the only thing I have to watch for is my youngest collie! I have never had any problems with staffs and aggression, although they never seem to come back when called!

Best of luck with your pup.

Claire

I have 3 staffs and 1 is a male and is now 10 months i have never had any problems with him i think like all dogs it depends on there character if your dog is chilled then you will probably find that he will always be like that. Has he had any encounters with other male dogs, dominant dogs then that may be somthing else but it may only be because he feels threatened or nervouss. I am be wrong but it sounds to me like he will be fine

it is possible that your dog could turn aggressive not because of its breed but because it is coming of age of sexual maturaty, so some male dogs fill the urge to fight as they see other males as a freat to there domain. not all male dogs go through this i have a male staff and of the lead he is good with other dogs but sometimes when on the lead if another dog approachs him he will warn the the dog of with can look agggressive

My boy is 4 and he is a total wet blanket he runs with two girls and I did expect him to change but he didnt but that's not to say when we were showing him he didnt have a go if another dog was giving him the eye. Some just are cranky and you see it from an early age they probably were the one's in the litter that really lost there rag as I have to say from all the pup's we have bred I only know of two that are grizzle bum's and they live on there own. The rest are really good natured. The girlies are worse Oh yes there are stories and they say history repeats its self and I have a daughter of one of my girls and a grand daughter from my other girl and its canny how much they are like there peers, the buggers can see it already one that's jealous just like her Grandma was and the other very aloof and takes no crap. sucker for punishment.
The biggest thing with a Stafford is they have to know who's in charge and routine, routine very important. When we were moving it never occured to us that our old girls would be upset by all the emptying of the house and the night before we moved all hell broke loose now if my Husband and I could read the signs nothing would start but we didnt see this coming and I guess we were stressed out and the girls were picking all this up so a big fight broke out and to make matters worse it was in the smallest space so usually we knew how to handle the situation with out any injury but poor Hubby got his thumb sliced on a canine and on our moving day we waited at the hospital in A&E for the keys to be handed over and it was just awful so not doing it again.

Hi,

my mums satffie is 3 and has never showed any sign od agression unless he's felt threatened for himself or my mum, when other dogs are about he becomes very aware of them and puffs his chest up but usually wants to play, he is more likly to lick someone to death than hurt them. they are the same as humans some are more aggressive than others but form all my knowlage of staffies there bad name is totally wrong so i wouldnt worry as i dont think it can be predicted.

Just make sure he doesnt get attacked by another dog or it's a whole world of leads and harnesses for you and no more off lead walkees in the park!!
Im having probelms with getting mine to come back to me when he's off the lead the little toe rag.
I had an Irish Stafford that got badly attacked by a German Shepard a few years ago and there was nothing more he would like to have done then attack any german shepard he saw.
Something clicked inside and he decided the best form of defense was attack and wouldnt hesitate twice, in fact he would have attacked 100 times out of 100 - only German Shepards though!!! Crazy!

Protect your little staff and all should be good.

remember, any dog will fight back when attacked, but some dogs have more fight in them then others.
"its not the size of the dog in the fight, it the size of the fight in the dog!" - and this is typically very true of all bull breeds.

my staff is fantastic with people...he used to be fantastic with other dogs until another dog got hold of him on one of our walks since then he is really deffensive as soon as he sees another dog he stands rigid if the other dog continues past he is fine but if the other dog comes near or has a look at him he goes mad....i don't know why he went like this but thats the only reason i can think of.

ours hasnt shown any aggression of this nature just wants to play but I have heard of this happening to a few Staffie owners so I dont think its uncommon

My girl is 3 & will play nice with a few other dogs as long as they dont challenge her :-(

If a dog just rushes up to her she will have a go, she will also have a go if a dog comes up behind her.

She has allways been very well socalised, puppy classes, ring craft etc & was fine up untill about 2 yrs old.

Funny - she still lets all the cats & any kittens eat out of her bowel, the kids can pinch her treats & toys & she just walks off, or comes & barks at me in a sad way as if to say 'that blooming kitten is eating my dinner again'.

I dont think all staffs are like this but many are -

Collies still herd,
retrevers still retrieve,
pointers still point
This is what they were bred for - unfortunatly staffs were bred for fighting other dogs :-(

Jo
xx

All mine are great with other dogs, i forget they are Staffs when they are playing sometimes, i doesnt mean im not careful though, as like Jo says you cant forget what they were originaly bred for.

Sarah
x

hi i have 2 staffies (bitches) and they r so friendly with other dogs,we had one incident with molly who's 2, a neighbour walked past with a rottie both went 2 the gate 2 say hi had a sniff then the rottie barked molly went mental growling barking ,still dont no why she did it and even now u no when he's walking past,all the other dogs that pass she is fine with some of them she play's with on the park  

My male is fantastic with every other dog we have met.
My girl will play with any other dog as long as it's not another Staffie She hates them for reasons unknown.
Obviously not our other dog and she loves Barney next door (staffie).

my dog plays with his sister occasionally who is owned by a friend but he will only take so much then he tells her to back off. if she don't back off he gets a bit nasty.

Hiya,

I've now got an 8 months old old type staff dog, he is soft as, and loves to play. The trouble I find is that you have to pick which dogs he can play with quite carefully. To get that true exhausted staffy smile I love letting my dog play with other staffs or bully breeds.
The perception of the breed never helps either, the look of dread adopted by many owners of the smaller less tenacious breeds when walking in the park can make the initial few moments of the encounter a little uneasy and I'm sure the dogs are aware of this. The majority of dog owners are pretty aware though...

Would like to point out something that I haven't heard much talk of too. Bearing in mind that many of today's staffs are from lines dating back to the fighting dogs of the mid 1600's, we have had roughly speaking 200 years of dogs being bred largely for fighting and nearly 150 years of dog fighting being banned with 80 years of KC recognition and more family pet oriented nuture. I wonder what the staffords of 100 years time will be like - more removed from their hard-wired nature??? just a thought to ponder.

Regards,
Lex

Hi

Don't no if i've gone into the right page to ask this, i'm looking at getting a staffy male from a rescue hes between 10mths to 1yr, me and my husband have been to see him and seems lovely hes been i'll so a bit thin and no full of life like staffys normally are, i have a 3.5yr old daughter and my mum has a dog the rescue say he seems ok with other dogs, just wondered if anyone can give me some ideas about the breed and how to introduce him to other dogs, they also say at the rescue he hasn't chewed in his kennel and as i work in the day time and have heard that as a breed they are chewers can anyone give me advice

thanks

My daughter had a staffy and worked during the day, from my experience don't do it. It was a very friendly dog but ended up having to be re-homed as the house destruction was so great. The poor little dog could not cope with being left alone. The new home the pup went to, the owner was home all day and all the problems my daughter had, just disappeared. They need lots of time and affection.

We have got three SBTs at the moment who in my opinion are all well tempremented and well behaved. WE have two bitches and a dog and so far none of them have shown what I would call aggression towards another dog. There has been a bit of cheek puffing from the boy when he sees another dog in the distance but he hasn't (so far and hopefully never will) tried to attack or make another dog feel threathend and there have been times when dogs have lunged at all of them whilst on the lead over the park and they have not retaliated and also the youngest one got bundle by two collies the other day and just got up shook her self down and carried on walking. We have from day one of getting them all let them have the freedom of the house and let them all roam together except for when we go out when the two younger ones are put away. We leave the eldest out and apart from the laces on my trainers she has never really been a chewer. I think once we go out she just climbs on to our bed and curls up into a ball and goes to sleep. We do always keep an eye on them as it can all change in a flash but so far so good and hope it stays that way!!!!!!!

i've had a male staffie for 3 years now & never had a problem with him being dog aggressive!
when he was a puppy our local vets ran a puppy introduction class every sat afternoon which i think really helped!! i had him neutered at 1 year of age that calmed him down a bit! Alot of my freinds & family have staffies & none are dog aggressive!!

Hi Netty2, I have a 16 week old staffy i've had him since he was 6 weeks old and apart from the biting which puppies do we've had no problems with him and i can leave him on his own with no problems. I'd say go for it there the best dogs ever!!!!

Hi Netty

You may have already decided to get a staff from the replies that you got, if you are still unsure I would say don't hesitate, if you do get one I guarantee you won't regret it.  They are very strong willed dogs and you will have a battle of wills with them over who's boss, sometimes you won't even be sure who is in control but the joy they will bring to you is far superior to any other breed of dog (sorry to other dog owners, I am sure your dogs are lovely too!). 

I have to be honest, I did get worried about her mouthing as a puppy but I put my reaction down to all the bad publicity they get.  She still mouths a lot but never puts any real pressure on you, it's just a little power game she likes to play now and again (she is 5 years old).

Just make sure the staff is well socialised by exposing it to as many situations as you can (loud noises, meeting groups of people, dogs etc) and you will have no problems.  Be prepared for your household to be taken over by a bundle of mischevious fun and enjoy!

One more thing, our dog is not destructive when she is left on her own. I am sorry if this offends but I think this behaviour comes down to the attention that dogs are given generally, if they are happy and secure they will not be destructive.  Destructive behaviour is a way of a dog telling you they are unhappy. 

I am a bit wary of Staffies.  Only reason is that I once took by own dog, a male unneutered two year old Soft Coated Wheatern Terrier for a walk to a National Trust area.  He was on his lead as he is a bit of a bouncy dog and would lick someone to pieces and if he saw another dog would be off wanting to play! We had only just left the car park when a male Staffie which is slightly younger than our own came running over with apparently no owner in sight.  The dogs had a good sniff of each other and then my dog, being the type of Terrier that he is, tried putting his paw on the Staffie's back.  The Staffie turned and in the midst of him trying to tear into my dog, which was on the end of his lead, I got bitten on the leg by the Staffie!  The owner who eventually turned up did not apologise for her dog and said that her dog would only fight if he was ever jumped on etc.  This was in a public place where young children were running around who could easily spook the Staffie.  Is this the right attitude to have.  If I know that my dog is prone to behaving like this in certain circumstances I would definately have it on a lead and maybe also muzzle it.  The upshot was that I had to pay over £20 for my vet to check my dog over and then I had to be driven to casualty to get my leg seen to and have a tetnus.  Today I've still got the scars to show for it!  So as I said before I am now a bit more wary of Staffies

Just curious but which National Trust area was this?

Witley Common, Witley near Godalming in Surrey.  Very popular place for dog walkers, horse riders, mountain bikers, families etc.

By the way it wasn't me that was bitten it was my wife.  She posted the previous message but her name got missed off the bottom

Ah ok, I only wondered as my bitch has been turned on twice now, once by a staff and the other time by a staff x, both of which were off the lead (she was obviously on hers) - I saw you mention in another thread that you were in Surrey and just wondered where abouts it was as mine happened in Newlands Corner.

I have a 13 mth old Staff girl who fortunately is the biggest softy there is and meets and plays with allsorts of dogs every day and hasnt had a confrontation. Yesterday she met for the second time a pit bill terrier crossed with a dogues de bordeaux called Jags who just appeared again out of nowhere, owners miles away cos he is so fast and they played quite happily even though the cross's legs were all over Giorgia.
I'm no behaviour expert, I'm sure someone here will know but did your Terrier by putting his paws on the Staffs back cause a problem that resulted in the Staff turning, not all dogs like to be touched on their back. I'm not saying it was your dogs fault it happened because I wasnt there to judge but whether  Giorgia is on or off lead I dont let her touch the other dog until I know all is well. Also just cos you have had this one experience, dont think all Staffies are bad because they arnt, I have had a lab and a GSD minus owners  run at Giorgia so aggressively that she has run off in fright but I wouldnt post on here that I'm wary of these two breeds because I would be both stereotyping and generalising and that isnt fair

Coleystaff
run at Giorgia so aggressively that she has run off in fright

Davedee
AAh the poor little thing.

Davedee, sometimes I dont believe she is a Staff cos she's so soft. We have tried in every way to make her soft we pick her up all the time all 16kg of her, are forever cuddling her and hopefully its working. But also her mum was soft, always rolling over on her back for a tickle so we're lucky with the genes as well

i  find that dogs tend to come into thier own at about 18 months to 2 years and this is when they may change towards other dogs

Iv got 4 staffies, my male is 4yrs, my girls are 3yrs, 2yrs and 8 weeks none of them have ever shown aggression towards any dog, my bigger 3 often play over the field with other staffies, bull terrier and a collie and a few others, the more you socialize them the better for them, but a dog who has never had the chance to play with other dogs can be aggressive towards them, there is a lad with a boxer who is dog aggressive and he admits its his fault as he was never socialized as a pup so is now going to behavior classes and training classes and is getting better.

Hi
    I currently have 2 males and 6 bitches, they all get on with no aggression, i think that if you socialized them from a very young age you won't have any problems, if you keep your dog indoors and not socialize him that's when you will have problems. My boys are aged 9 and 4 i have had both from the 8 weeks and my girls are aged from 2 till 12 they all sleep and live happy together.

Carrie 

Hello neva posted before so here we go, i own 2 stafforshire bull terriers, and iv found the older one Alfie who is 2, is more aggresive with dogs who are jumpy and wary usually being smaller dogs such as cavs, wheres as bigger dogs such as labradores or rotweilers he plays with fine, maybe hes just a bully. Where as lola the younger bitch is fine with any dogs apart from when we take her to ringcraft where she be frankly a bitch! But most of time there as good as gold apart from they now seem to have a new hobby trying to chase rabbits! (it seems theres more of these at the moment around) Lolas so stupid she runs through anything including what seemed to be a sea of brambles yesterday to try and get to the poor little things, which didnt help the look of her when she came out the otherside!

Hi rob1, my staff is the same.  She detests little dogs, particularly ones that are quite quick like border terriers, jack russels and things like that.  she prefers bigger dogs that move more slowly like rotts and retrievers/labs.  Although labs are generally very bouncy around her the movements are not so rapid as other breeds.

Hi there,
I am new on here and looking for some advice, and seeing as you have 2 male staffies you seem the right person to ask :-)
I have a 3 year old called sid i have had him since he was 5 weeks old (owner didnt want hassle of pups......!) anyway sid is a little strange as he has a lead phobia! didn't then he did? so he won't go out for a walk, spins round in circles alot and jumps all over people that visit my house constantly! last night i had a friend contact me and ask if i would take a 8 mnth old staffie that was being ill treated, i said yes :-S At this moment in time they are sleeping together on the sofa, sid has let giz on his bed, take his bone ect, they have been play fighting but every so often it goes a bit further and i have to seperate them! Not sure if i should keep the younger one (giz) don't want to come home to an injured dog or worse!?
Any advice? surely if they were going to fight they would have done for real by now?
Thanks Ali