Dilemna

Hi,

I am after some impartial advice about our Staffie Marlon. Not sure what to do....

We have had Marlon for about 4 months (he was a rescue dog) and in that time he has shown so much love and affection towards Me, My wife and family, BUT he has also bitten 2 other dogs in that time.

when he was left at the rescue home, the couple bringing him in would not give any background on him, so we were taking him "blind".

The first time he was on his lead and the other dog wasnt. The other dog owner was about 25 metres away and had no control over his dog which made us think "well if you cant control your dog, then its your fault if you allow your dog to come up to mine".

Today (about half an hour ago) I was walking Marlon down the street when we passed a husky (also on lead) and they had a sniff and before you know it Marlon has clamped onto the huskies snout. I could only get him to release by throwing my full weight onto Marlons head and fall into the road with him. Not very graceful but I completely freaked out as he just wouldnt let go.

Thankfully the Huskies wounds looked superficial (I still offered to contribute towards vets fees - what more could I do?) but I am worried that we may have an aggressive dog.

We have had other large dogs before (GSD), but Marlon is our first SBT. Am I just over-reacting and should I simply cross the road when we see other dogs or should we be more concerned? Maybe we need to get a muzzle on him?

He is such a lovely little man when he is around people - its just other dogs.

Is this just par for the course with Staffies?

Thanks

Glenn

He may well just be DA and that isn't uncommen, not just for staffs though. Moo is very friendly.

Keep him onlead for now and away from other dogs, I'm not really in a position to advise as I haven't experienced it but we have a few members that deal with it very well, I'm sure they'll be on soon.

All I will say is that I think you can work with it, he is still young IMO and settling in with you XX

Some of them are just dog aggressive by nature. I don't like the idea of a muzzle because they can't defend themselves or breathe properly which can be dangerous or make the behaviour worse.

If you know someone with an older well socialized dog you could try taking them for a walk together and than letting them interact after. If he is around other dogs frequently with good experiences it could help to socialize him.

As Jstaff and Janey said, dog aggression isn't uncommon in staffies, Like J, I don't like the idea of muzzles. Your best bet is just to keep him on a lead unless you are in an area where you can see dogs coming a mile off and can get him back to you, and warn other owners that he isn't friendly with other dogs. If you do know somneone who has an older, calm, well socialized dog that would be willing to walk with yours, that could be a big help.

As for worrying that you have an aggressive dog, you may well have a dog aggressive dog, but as I'm sure you already know, that is nowhere near the same as people aggressive and it's something you can learn to live with.

Good luck

Agree with jstaff and shontelle. Callie likes other dogs (if dometimes a little too boisterous), but I've heard that while no stafford should be human-aggressive if well-treated, some few will be dog-aggressive.

But your boy is so young and might have to unlearn a bad experience. Im sure you can help him learn? Just don't assume you have to put up with it, Staffs can be fine around other dogs.

Thanks everyone. In the cold light of day I think the simplest thing to do, at least initially is to just not put him in a situation that he can cause any trouble. The problem is that he shows no aggression towards other dogs, but then all of a sudden, BOOM. He is so quick!

My initial post may have been misleading though, we have had him 4 months, but he is about 5 / 6 yrs old.

As you have also mentioned, dont think Muzzle is the way to go, and he has no aggressive tendancies at all towards people. its just some other dogs.

We will work things out - its just about adapting our routine with him to make sure he doesnt get himself into tricky situations!

Cheers once again. I love the advice from this board.

Even if he is dog aggressive (DA) it isn't the end of the world. You actually do get used to it & it becomes 2nd nature to deal with it! My old boy, Bandit, was DA from about the age of 7 or 8 months old. He was an angel with humans but a devil with dogs. We just made sure that he was only off lead where there were no other dogs around. If someone else's dog came too near we used to warn them.

I'm not saying that's how it will be, but just that if it is, you can learn to live with it! I would much rather have a DA dog than a human aggressive dog!

As Caryll said your adapt, oh and train your eyes to turn corners before you do, and have eyes in the back of your head.

Denise wrote:As Caryll said your adapt, oh and train your eyes to turn corners before you do, and have eyes in the back of your head.

well its true, its a very special skill but after a life time of owning Staffords my eyes are now professionals at it.

I call it a doggie radar!

our pooch spike is a rescue too, he was 2 years of age when we got him and much like yourself he can be fine and the next moment he goes for a dog with no real reason, we take ours to socialisation classes where we muzzle him for the hour that we walk him on a long line for free movement (less on the lead aggression).

He has steadily improved and now meets and greats dogs almost 100% perfectly, i find the standing still and letting them meet doesnt always work with our dog, i guess its his uncertaintly in the dog (bit of a scaredy pooch is our spike) but if you can get them moving together they can become the best of friends almost instantly !

its not easy with a rescue as you dont know their history but we have had spike almost a year and he is improving day by day and we wouldnt be without him !

good luck with your training

Rocky is also a rescue dog and as said in the post above you never really know the full story of whats happened before and you have to read a lot between the lines of what info you do have.

We've had Rocky for about 18 months now and is making great progress when meeting other dogs. He has been attacked a couple of times most recently by another Staffy that he does know which had made him a little wary of other dogs for a while but is nearly back to where we were before it happened.

It takes time to gain a dogs trust and this is done by slowly training and coaching your dog so he knows he can trust you. Keep him on a long lead for the time being and try introducing to some quiet/well socialised dogs that you know very well. If your dog sees that you trust them so will he this also goes for the owner of the other dog.

Another thing to watch for is eye contact. If a dog stares at your dog he may well see this as a challenge and then can get off on the wrong foot. Try to break his line of sight if possible or just cover his eyes for a few seconds.

Check the link below for your dogs body language it is very useful:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

Some good advice given already. It wouldnt hurt to make sure he gets enough excercise and are consistent with the rules and boundaries. Being calm yourself helps and learning the warning signals should go a long way.