Feel bad

Take no notice of them half the kids these days should be on leads!!! My wife got exactly the same, lots of different types of dogs attend the fetching/dropping off of the children at my daughters school, so my wife took puppy Tia along to get her well socialised obviously Tia was only 8 weeks old so had to be carried anyway, as you can imagine the kids all made a beeline for her, which she thought was great, unfortunatley quite a few parents didn't they would ask what sort of puppy she was & when the wife replied a staffordshire the kids weren't allowed over the next day. By the end of the week there was a notice in the school news letter stating that dogs weren't allowed onto the edge of the playground. Quite a considerable coincidence the week that our little staffy is on the scene. Take a leaf out of my wifes book - It made her more determined to take Tia & she made a point of lecturing these doubting parents that the reason why we had gone for a staffordshire rather then the yorkshire terriers/jack russells that frequent the school run with parents being more than happy for their kids to touch them was because a staffordshire adores children hence its name of nanny dog & that we would not put just any dog with our children let alone allow strangers children to touch her. Quite a few have come round especially when they see exactly how fussy she is especially with the children. It annoys my wife when the school put things like this in the newsletter when all the dogs that attend the school run live with children & are used to kids anyway unlike some that may be loose on the park. Stand your ground & carry on taking your adorable dog & as the saying goes whilst they are talking about you someone else is getting a rest. If you show them that you are not the slighest bit interested in what they say & continue to take your dog proving to them what an excellent temperant staffs have then they can then draw there own conclusion. Don't back down my wife certainly wouldn't!!!!!!

Stay strong kind regards rich....

if you were using a ''choke'' chain you were using it incorrectly.

they are CHECK chains &, when used correctly, they are the best training collar available. especially for staffy sized dogs.

if it nipped your dog you probably had it on upside down.

yes, there is a right way & a wrong way of putting them on.

a harness wont teach you dog anything, it will just make it more fun to be a puller.

total woftam.

Yes there is a right way and a wrong way of putting on a choke chain, as ive always heard them called because thats exactly what they do CHOKE your dog.
I used one with my old boy it didnt stop him from pulling at all he just coughed and choked loudly on his walks, eyes bulging and blood shot. I stopped using it.
A harness is a much kinder restraint.

I've never used a choke chain as a trainning aid, i like to use a normal collar with a 5 meeter leed, and use the back turning method as a way of leed traning my dogs, also im forunate enough to live in an area where everyone loves staffys, round my area staffies have been a huge part of peoples lives, so when ever im out with my 2 i allways get young and old adoring them, even when i took Bronson to pick my youngest up from school

You're absolutley right Zeebo about the training, i think its the best method also. It was 20yrs ago i was advised mine needed one, chokers were more popular then, i soon got rid of it for a collar and lead. I'm not a great advocate of them at all, that was in the days before Ceaser
My two i have today wear collars and leads. Dante had a puppy harness when small, much rather these than a choker any day

they're only ''chokers'' in the hands of people who don't know what they are doing..

a check chain releases as soon as the pressure is released. if your dog pulls unrestainedly it's because it hasn't been trained......not even a little bit......a check chain wont work miracles, some training is required. once the dog knows the business, the running chain is usually enough to convey the message.

a handler has absolutely no control over a boisterous dog with an ordinary collar or a harness....none.... & especially with one of those ridiculous retractable leads.
powerful dogs need a firm hand...end of game.

i'd hate to see what people here thought of the prong collar, or the e collar.

Do know how they work, have always known them as chokers in the Blackcountry, still don't like them, staffords are a stubbourn breed and they all choke when they pull on them regardless. you can 'check' them on a normal lead and collar which i prefer but each to their own.
I have seen the prong collar and think they are dreadful things, they look like something from a torture chamber
I think there are better ways to train a dog i never used one on the two i have now and they walk lovley on lead and collar, as my old boy learnt to.

The difference the harness has made is great, she is like a different dog now, I really can't believe it, thanks everyone . Just got to decide what I am going to do with my other dog now.

gald to hear you have it sorted, and no more tears x x

Thats great Saffy i'm so pleased everythings worked out for you

Just wondering Smooth who mentioned a retractable lead?
i use a Clix long line (5 metre)

some good news...
hope you do keep your otheir dog....

Glad she is alot better now

Zeebo1uk wrote:Just wondering Smooth who mentioned a retractable lead?
i use a Clix long line (5 metre)

i mentioned the retractable lead. because i think they are ridiculous.

what is a ''clix'' ....is that a brand name or a specific type? like a lead that can be shortened for instance? i once had a lead that had two handles, the top loop let the dog out to the length of the lead the second i could reach down & hold the dog close to me. it was a really good idea but i haven't seen anything similar for a long time.

i can't see why people use really long leads either, i really can't see any benefit in them. the further away from you the dog is, the less control.

just my opinion....not worth arguing about.

the longer lead is so the dog while pulling doesnt asosiate him being stopped by you, the dog associates being stopped by the lead,

kind of like this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COA-CLIX-PUPPY-DOG-RECALL-TRAINING-LEAD-10-metre_W0QQitemZ260235158776QQihZ016QQcategoryZ43426QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

thanx for that

so they are an aid to recall training.

a bit iffy walking your dog on a lead that is 5 metres/20+ feet long.

especially for dogs that can be dog aggressive.

i certainly wouldn't recommend it......but, to each their own.

Its a training aid to teach lead dicapline not a long term lead, my leads are pretty short, and all because i used this lead to teach them about lead ediquite.

i'm not being pedantic, but i haven't heard of this method before & am curious how you apply it.
a short lead, check chain & hands signals combined with voice commands is only method i have used, or even heard of before.

reverse direction walking excercise?
something like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoJPUH6ULLc

took me a while to find this but this is what im talking about.

that makes sense.

similar sort of theory for pulling dogs.....except when a dog starts to pull the handler just stops, waits for the dog to stop pulling & then resumes the walk. pretty soon the dog gets the message, if it pulls, the walk stops.