This really is worrying! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4952170.stm

What, I wonder, can we do about it?   We educate all we can - but can we do any more?

Margot

Round where I live young lads walk around the streets with SBT's off lead all the time. Whether they're walking down main roads or on the park! This makes my blood boil when I see it. They seem to have this swaggering attitude where the dog is a status symbol of thier arrogance.

What would happen if the dog got spooked or took it upon itself to give chase after something and ran into the road? Consideration to thier safey goes out the window in favour of looking like having a loyal dog.

I'm sure these dogs are wonderful animals but I'm not filled with confidence as to the training or the breeding of the animals round our way. A comment I had from one kid (next door neigbours friends son)  said that 'his dad breeds 'em and gets rid of the white ones before they go blind'. People are breeding them for money and nothing else because of the popularity of them in this area, with not thought to temperament and with a GR pup who nearly had a blue fit after one when ballistic at her at the Vets one time I avoid them like the plague.

I also saw dog from a distance the other day that looked distinctly like a STB/EBT cross. Is this right?

BTW, I love STB dogs when on a lead and not under the control of stupid young idiots!

We have exactly the same round here and get numerous attacks by thier dogs, usually Staffies, although they are experimenting to see if they can breed something even more viscious by crossing thier Staffs with Akitas and Sharpeis.
I have to get my car outside my front door and run my dogs into it and drive out of the area to walk them safely, and then run my dogs out of car into front door.  Somedays I open my front door to find one of these loose dogs, waiting to come in only its growling as soon as it sees you.

We have the same here. My mum works in a shop in our town center which is on a very busy road where there are numerous car accidents happening. These boys walk their sbts all the way through town off lead, let the dogs stop outside my mum's shop where they then proceed to cock their legs up the boards on the pavement advertising what they sell etc, then let them free walk across the road down to the park Totally nuts. Just afew days ago there was an animal ambulance pulled over on that same road which my mum saw from the shop window. Not sure if it was one of the sbts though.

I've also seen them lifting the dogs and "hanging" them off thick branches by their jaws, presumably to make their bite stronger..? :rolleyes:

I am the proud owner of 4 STB and 4 lovely pups at home. It infuriates me when people use this dogs as a status symbol and it muddies the great name of the Stafford. They are amazing dogs and I dont think you can find a more loving a loyal pet. These dogs need to be handled correctly they need to be trained and cant potentially because a dangerous weapon if they get into the wrong hands. So long as people remember its the owenrs that are at fault not the dogs.

Only last week I was walking my dogs when on the other side of the road was a man with a Doberman, onyl one of my boys in dog agressive and began snarling and growmling at the other dog. The other owner to my shock and horror was very impressed by my dogs agressiveness and his comments were
"Cor look at him his wicked go on son"

I shook my head and walked away, what a pratt

Blondi,I don't think i could have said it any better,we have a complete moron in our street that uses his rotty as an image thing.It really annoy's me that he allows his 4 yr ol daughter to walk it about,this one isn't friendly either,i have been trying to get in touch with our local dog warden all day,cos when the kids don't take it out,he lets it out by itself

I have heard about that attack before now and it's awful, luckily where i live most people are responsible and if a dog runs over it's friendly and a mistake. If it's on lead so is my dog. I think we should have to have a licence or something similar. I am sure some people will disagree, but it would put a few people off. It's such a shame as i am afraid to move house due to the fact walking is pretty nice where i live, and most people are sensible.

Until now I've lived in blissful ignorance that people behaved like this until my daughters friend told me how, in her Bristol street, youths not only rev up their car engines, but their staffys, before letting them go at each other in the street.  Scary stuff.

I've known some lovely SBT's and an EBT who were delightful dogs but this doesn't help their image.  I met a young 'streetwise' lad recently who had a cross between (in his words) a Rock-weiler and a Sharp-eye .

In Croxteth Park a few weeks ago some lovely boys set their staffies onto a couple of young calfs and killed them...they also trawl around the edges of the Park, where the houses back onto the Park and kill the cats and anything else they can find...no-one ever lets their 'wee' dogs off the lead because of this....scum seem to be winning at the moment huh???

But doesn't police do anything about it?? I'd inform police and ask them if they could patrol around that area..... I think everybody's got the right to walk their dog in peace without being harassed!

The Police are too busy trying to nab all the shooting gangs going round:rolleyes: The only good thing about that is that they shoot EACH OTHER!!! as they ply their trade of choice(drugs) and argue about 'patches' It's like bl**dy beirut here sometimes...and people wonder why we want to go and live in Greece!!! LOL

I agree with Ory,
My Mum and I walk our minilong dachsies in Croxteth Park in the better weather and I am horrified to read what is going on there.It is normally the safest place round here to let them off the lead but we  will have to think again as to where we take the dogs as they wouldn't stand a chance against SBT's.

Our estate has an increased number of EBT lately with youths strutting their stuff, the breeders of these dogs are obviously not checking where these dogs are going before selling them. Reporting any of it to the Police or Community wardens is less than useless. We have to be careful what time of the day we walk the dogs,Mum's dog was attacked by 2 JRT last week and the owner had no control of either dog who were off lead,Mum had her's on her lead and was only a few yards from home on her way out for a walk.

It was about time these dogs were removed from irresponsible owners and them banned from owning another dog,we would then be safe to walk ours with out constantly being on the look out for trouble.

that bugs the life out of me when people call rottweilers - rockies and rockweilers   if they can't even pronounce the name right how can they have done any research on the breed or even read the advert in the paper that was selling them

oops this was supposed to appear under jackyjats post

Well I have Staffs and sadly have to admit the image is undergoing a change - due to these idiots - but they are only a small number of Staff owners and yet their impact on the breed's image appears to be the one people notice.

I was in the park a while ago and my Staffs were both running and playing with a few dogs and the owner of a couple of the dogs said in general conversation she'd never let her dogs run with a Staff "I pointed out mine were Staffs" and she said "Oh no Staffs are dog aggresive and nasty, yours aren't like that" and despite my best attempts to point out mine were indeed Staffies. The woman shook her head and walked off saying mine were nice dogs.

The image is being tarnished by complete idiots.

Unfortunatly round here they are the majority owners not the minority.

Totally agree with you Cheekychow.  It grates on me too!

These yobs drive me up the wall.  I have a staff...she's the sweetest, loving, loyal dog I've ever had but I now find that when we're walking in the park (she's always on her lead) people actually cross the park to avoid us.  It really annoys me because if they did walk by she'd ignore them and if they did come up to her she'd immediately roll onto her back and wait for her tummy to be tickled.

These idiots are turning people against the breed and that really riles me.  Around me there is a bull mastiff that has attacked 3 local dogs.  The latest victim ended up in the vets having part of it's neck sewn back on.  And despite complaints the owner still won't put it on a lead and still allows it to charge dogs and their owners.  He obviously finds it quite funny - it's got to me that much that now I hope that one day his dog will turn on him and he'll get a taste of his own medicine.  We're hoping that the authorities will remove the dog from him and ban him from keeping animals for the rest of his life.

There - spleen vented - feeling a bit better!

I've just been to Pets At Home and I had a quick look at the notice board...out of about 15 adverts on the board, 8 were for Rottweilers (pups & adults as well as an ad for a stud dog), 2 were for DDBs and one was for an Akita. I only noticed one or two that mentioned KC registration. There is obviously a fair bit of indiscriminate breeding going on and I dread to think of what will become of these dogs, not to mention the damage being done to the breeds on the whole :(

Today I saw an advert for a while Alsation (yes, Alsatian), genuine reason for rehoming, mother originally seen, 6 weeks old!!!!!!!