Do other dogs can tell the breed of other dog?

The question is because on few occasions when walking Debo we met some dogs that when passing us went balistic,barking,showing teeth etc. Debo is always good as gold,very suprised of their behaviour,never reacts. Do you thinh they can sense that he's a staffy or they're just don't know better. Debo always approach then being friendly,he doesn't jump at them like he use to,sniff them with wagling tail.

dont know about sensing different breeds but they can definately sense another dogs mood/behaviour. The first sniff will result in either 2 happy dogs and friendly behaviour or just the opposite

Sometimes they don't even come close for a sniff,DEbo is busy sniffing the grass etc and as soon as they spot him they go crazy.

I think dogs can tell breeds apart as Olly is great with all dogs except bull breeds ,another staffy attacked him. mind off his lead he will still play with them.

bull breeds walk/stand tall and proud and that gets to other breeds as they think they're about to start trouble. For example, a German shepperd about to pounce is not as upright as some staffs allowing themselves to get sniffed reason why inadvertidly our dogs will naturally give a wrong message.

I think they can tell the general look of a dog based on bad experience. So they might not be able to tell "oh, this is a Staff" but might be able to recognise the general appearance of one, so dogs that look like Staffs they'll consider the same. Loki's friend Buster doesn't like Staffs, he's very friendly but with Staffs he keeps his distance cos he's been attacked by them (he likes Loki because they met when he was small and he loves small dogs), so I think they have an idea.

I agree with two dinners, Staff's and Bull breeds have such a strong stance, I think a lot of dog's mis-interpret them, if they haven't been allowed to socialize around them. A lot of dogs pick up on their owners feelings, if a bull breed approaches they can learn to react to the owners reaction, and therefore create a situation. I walk Rolo down town and it's a given that any other dog down there will bark and go bonkers at him, normally smaller ones. He ignores them. Dogs that are local to our estate pretty much ignore him or stop and say "hello"... all apart from another staff.. he really dislikes Rolo, but happy with my Collie? But ultimately I don't like every person I meet.. and I don't expect my dogs to like every dog they meet... We are all individuals just like they are, hopefully my boys are respectful that's all I ask.

I don't think they judge breeds, but rather the appearance and scent of a dog. Body language might also be involved - dogs with wrinkled faces, curly tails, etc might look more confrontational to another dog.

Dempsey often dislikes labrador-sized black/dark dogs. We think this is because, when he was a pup, we were walking him down a dark path and a cyclist went by with a black dog, who started to hump Dempsey's head. He's always hated cyclists, and I don't think anybody would like a stranger's bits in their face (well, to each their own), so...

Rocky, despite his name, hates boxer dogs, he just cannot get along with any of them. We think this may have something to do with him being bullied before we got him, must have been a boxer dog that did the bullying, although we dont know this as fact.

As a general rule, Luna has very little interest in smaller dogs, she especially ignores toy breeds and the like. She will preferentially play with larger dogs, mainly mastiffs and other bull terriers, and especially other Staffs. She never seems to show any hint of fear when running up to much larger dogs, and will always attempt to engage them in play.

She doesn't show any negative or aggressive signs towards smaller dogs, she just doesn't seem at all interested in them. That might possibly be learned behaviour due to me calling her away from the smaller types of dogs when she was a puppy, due to other owners' prejudices and comments, or maybe she just finds them a tad dull.

When Logan was about 13-14 weeks he was bitten very aggressively by an out of control alsatian. From that day he was totally petrified of any alsatian we would come across. Even if the dog was well behaved and friendly. Now that he is a year old he is a lot braver and has became very defensive towards them and barks within seconds. He doesn't do it with any other breed, so I'd be inclined to believe they can tell breeds apart in some cases.

My 10 year male staffi loves small dogs, he was socialised young with big and small but squeals with delight at puppys and his best friends before we got Ruby was a Jack Russell bitch who bullied the hell out of him, but he was a pure gent.

However if they are bigger than him anything from Labrador up he can be a bit tempremental more so if male and if in tact as he still he is so we avoid like the plague haha,

Ruby 19mths again socialised well as a pup was fine now HATES ALL DOGS.

The ones we have most trouble with is Alsations / Huskys thev seem to know the wolf type dogs and wont tolerate them atall, but Paddy certainly knows who and what breeds he will bother with and the ones that make him fur stand on end ! he loves highland terriers aswell haha, although they dont like him much x

From what I remember of Bradshaw's book...
Dogs form mental images of categories in an early age. So if the only dogs they are socialised with are their litter-mates when they are young, then for them 'dogs' or 'animals like me' are only dogs of same or similar breeds. Dogs which don't fit this mental image are unknown animals for all intents and purposes which, if the dog is curious and brave enough later, they might interact with and bring into their 'dogs' category. In an experiment, they had a chihuahua raised among cats and he was fearful of his actual siblings as he didn't recognise them as friendly animals. Obviously, he was okay with cats of all kinds!
Similarly, they also form a mental category of 'humans' or 'friendly bipeds' or whatever it is. That's why some dogs are aggressive/fearful of people who aren't the same gender/race/age as their owners and the people they are used to (and the explanation for 'racist' dogs).
I think the right answer is that they can't really tell breeds, but they will form associations to avoid or befriend dogs which display certain characteristics. FWIW, Mani has a thing for long haired dogs about his size or bigger than him.
Finally, dogs are very social animals, so they have several elements that they use to display their mood and attitude (much more than most other animals). This might help overcome any dog 'breedism' they might have.