please help

i need haelp and advise with our staffy ,
he is a wonderful dog hes 18 months old but today we had an upsetting experiance with a cat
we took him to visit family and sadly he got hold of one of the cats and injured her and she has sadly had to be put to sleep (the cat)
but we dont know what to do with our dog as he really is as soft a pillow but as he fetched blood from the cat we dont know what to do now as we have a child who he fantastic with and our dog is usually great with other dogs too but we are worried and need help as we have been told to have him put to sleep but we really dont know what to do please could some one give us some advise as its our firts dog

firstly did you see what happened between your dog and cat leading up to the inserdent.
and secondly it an old wifes tale that there no going back when a dogs tasted blood.
i know in a perfect worlds cats and dogs would always live in harmany but the fact is this is not always the case and if a terrier is challenged they will not back down.
i know you will feel terrible with what has happend but unless your dog has attacked unprovocked there is not a great deal that can be done if he was not the main instagator.
all you can do is make sure he dont come incontact with cats again (OR DONT TAKE HIM TO HOMES WITH CATS)

thank you for your advise big wazza , its just that we was unsure what to do as we have a child and were were thinking ahead of our selfs with the ( it could have been our son ) but he really is as soft as a pillow and does have a great tempermant thank you so much for your help

The best thing to do is supervise him from now on, even though Molly has never attacked a child, or another animal, she is NEVER left alone with them.
Another thing to do, is learn your dogs behaviour, look out for the tell tale signs, and distract your dog before things go wrong.
I hope it all works out, and you don't listen to the idiots who said he should be put to sleep.

He wasnt in his own enviroment and may of been confused there could of been a hundred reasons why its happened you will not make that mistake again so sorry for you and your family

The fact that he went for a cat does not mean he is aggressive or will attack a human. At the end of the day, it's natural for dogs to go for cats, it's sad and I'm sure the cats owners must be absolutely devastated and you must feel incredibly guilty, but it happens with cats and dogs. As said, just supervise him closely. Please dont assume that this means he will attack your son though, it's a completely separate issue.

unfortunateley the owners of the cat will probably spread the word that your staff caused injurys and he will get a reputation for being viscouse towards other animals.its a very sad situation and i feel for you.......but i realy cant see him being any difrent around you or your family.lola hates birds and spends half her exercise chasing them and im in no doubt what she would do if she caught one but shes as gentle as a lamb with my daughter who is six.me personaly id just be a bit more vigilant when he is with your son but that would be for my own peace of mind not through any genuine concern.how do you and your partner feel about what has happened?? cus ultimately it is down to you where you go from here.if you feel like you can no longer trust him then i urge you to get help and advice from a vet and resque centre........putting him to sleep is never the answer unless he attacks a human.ignore the fear mongers and idiots and go with your gut feelings......chances are it was just him being playfull and the cat scratching him so he bit it.

p.s. as for the tasting blood as wazza said its just a wifes tale......lots of dogs are fed a raw diet and taste blood regualary none of them attack things because of it.

I feel for you as you must feel really bad but this is really common. My mates dog killed 3 cats! 2 came in his garden and 1 was when he was off lead. He wasn't an aggressive dog at all and she even got burgled twice as well with him in the house. They just bunged him a bone!!
I have 2 cats and Vinnie and Gizmo always chase them. It's just their prey drive kicking in. I would like to think that mine wouldn't hurt them but TBH if they bit one they probably would. You just have to be aware of what they are capable of and manage the risk.
I wouldn't worry about your dog round your child. As the others have said they are completely separate issues. Hugs to you and commiserations to your friend.

Personally I dont think that you doggy injuring the cat has any relevance on what he will be like with people or other dogs.

I used to have a golden retriever as a teen and she caught and killed a few wild a rabbits and a bird once too. I'm 100% sure that she would have done the same had she managed to get hold of a cat. She was lovely with people though, and good as gold with other dogs.

I know you must feel awful about what happened but I dont think you have anything to worry about regarding your doggy's temperment. x

My friend had a similar experience and her 5 year old staff ripped thier family cat 2 bits one day completley out the blue. He previously slept with the cat every night. It turned out her dog was very poorly. You have to remember that dogs are dogs and dont have it programed into them to like cats/rabbits, anything small furry and runs they will probably chase. Just beacause he hurt a cat will absolutley NOT mean he will be any sort of danger to humans. But saying that obviously u will have lost a bit of confidence in him and will naturally want to be a bit more cautious. He shouldnt be left alone with children anyway and should always be supervised. Im assuming you dont have cats yourself, if u do then u may have to think about rehoming them. Your dog most definatley does NOT need to be put to sleep. Hope this helps x

Agree with above posts...

tahnk you all for your help we have decided to keep him as he really is a great dog in all fairness and he is gentle too we have started to get him used to a muzzle as he has never worn one b4 so its just getting him used to it he never botherd with the cats untill sat but all he has done scince sat afternoon is mope around feeling sorry for himself but we are gonna look into everything like obidiance classes for him to se if they help but thank you all very much u have all put our minds at ease