Dog Agression

I've been walking Rommel for a few weeks now (he's just turned 13 weeks) and so far so very good - he walks lovely on the lead and he's great off lead too (his recall is nearly 100% although the squirrel yesterday proved too much of a temptation!)

We've met a variety of dogs, both on lead and off, and so far he's been great with every one of them, he approaches them nicely (tail wagging etc) and is happy to play if they are.

Rommel is our first Staffy and having done research into the breed before getting him plus what I've picked up from this forum, I know that Staffies can be dog aggressive / dog selective. Therefore, I was just wondering when (or if) this was likely to manifest itself? Could he become dog aggressive as he reaches maturity or will I be lucky and he keeps his sweet nature towards other dogs. If he was going to be aggessive, would he be showing that in his nature already or is he too young?

Could be either. Some stay sweet the whole of their lives, others will discover their aggressive side at maturity. Basically, you're looking at not seeing his full nature till he's around 2-3 years old.

But obviously, the more you socialise & the more he gets good experiences, the better position you'll be in for him to stay sweet!

My last wee staff started to dislike other dogs when she got to around 2 years old, its worth keeping an eye on them, when they attack another dog it happens very fast, mine bite 2 jack russells at the same time and a few years later went for a rottwiler in my brothers house, its worth keeping an eye on them around other dogs

Hiya,

My boy has always been very friendly towards all dogs he meets, and is submissive to dominant dogs. Recently though, he barks alot, at humans, dogs, whoever. This isn't an aggressive or dominant thing, he just wants to play constantly, but sometimes other dogs seem a little unsure of him because of that, but those that are friendly come up to him and play and he's good as gold with them.

He's definitely getting more confident as he gets older, I think it's because he's very large for a staff (he has a mastiff grandad or great grandad) and I think this gives him that bit of extra confidence.

I'll be keeping an eye on him as he gets older, because I dont want the confidence to become dominance, but I like to think that he will always be as good with dogs as he is now.

As Caryll says, you wont really know until he is fully mature, but in the meantime, make sure he gets to socialise and play with other dogs as often as possible so he associates them with good things.

Thanks for your responses everyone. I am really happy for Rommel to meet and great other dogs as much as possible but I always check with the owners first - I've had a couple of people refuse which is fair enough (ironically enough both owners had Staffies!!)
We are also starting puppy / obedience classes on Saturday - I've booked a six week course so hopefully he'll get to meet lots of new dogs then. As I say he is really good already, both on and off lead, what's the betting though that on Saturday he forgets absolutely everything he has been taught and just shows me up instead!!