Sick of breed ignorance!

Warning - rant ahead! I am sick to death of hearing people (friends would you believe!) telling me how awful staffy's are !!! According to the world of ignorant people they are vicious, not family orientated, can't be controlled etc. I started defending staffy's before actually pity'g their ignorance. Do they really think I would buy a vicious dog, not raise it correctly as a pup (I could think of nothing worse than fearing my own dog !!), expose it to our kids, have everyone terrified when they come over to my house or out in public ? Surely my fiancee & I are smarter than that !!! Of course we (I, lol) researched the hell out of staffy's (& other breeds) before making the decision to spend nearly $2K on one & welcome him in to our family. TBH I am terrified of dogs I don't know and when we went to the breeder to see Koda for the 1st time I was all over the pups but terrified when they let their 4 full size staffy's out as they bound across their yard towards us at mach 10 (with big grins admittedly!), but within seconds they jumped up & were literally licking us to death. I fell in love with them then & there, there was no hesitation about welcoming Koda into our home at all. 1 friend is a cat person so IMO he has no say, and with another friend I am sure it's jealousy as when she came over last week she was very quick to pick him up & cuddle him repeatedly and talk in that 'baby' voice we all put on, although in all fairness I did at this point warn her about our vicious puppy and the ability he has to rip her face off at any time !!    Ok rant over, thanks for reading/listening. (deep breaths)

Rant away! I think we all get sick of this at times!

So frustrating isn't it! When our pup was about 12 weeks the postman saw him and said "is that one of those killer dogs?" How dare he! And we had a man come into the house to deliver something and when he saw Alfie he started to tell me all about his "head splitting" and how he would be in "constant agony" when it happened and chew through my walls?!?!

You just have to laugh!

It's true Sazzle you do, first I really defended him and ended up being really rude back to my friend, then I gave up and said yes he's basically a killer dog. I'd tell the postie he was Michelle :lol

They eat children too you know!

Sazzle wrote:They eat children too you know!

Of course, I must let her know we could never look after her 9yr old again due to the child eating dog we now own !!!   

Yes ruddy gets my back up aswell I always say when people walk by and look at Vin with a grimace "its alright he hasn't had his tea yet!"   

Love it !!!!     

A n d breathe idiots I tell you idiots,!!!

The wall part is true, Sasha gnawed a nice hole in my living room wall one mirning when she was in her crate a couple of weeks ago lol needless to say her crate is put in the midfle of the room at night now xx

Oh my goodness! Maybe I'll move Alfie's crate away from the wall then..!! Xx

lol I know couldn't believe it myself, little minx   it was like the great escape lol xx

This get my back up too, it really frustrates me that some people seem to know an awful lot about a breed of dog they have never been anywhere near or never even met. We can but try to educate the millions and keep calm and carry on.

I have had people pick there dogs up to walk past me and people crossing the street and then crossing back again,alot of people however love broxi and are so amsused to how dog/human friendly he is,and often comment on how the dogs get a bad name but understand its the owners which is nice to hear,and then you get a person like i did when i walked passed her and said just watch theres a staffy round the corner and it seems quite nasty as it was trying to go for my dog (which had a 8year old walking it) not great idea... and she said sure all staffys are the same. that made me mad

My OH sister wants to shoot our 10 week old puppy because she is a staffy, but her son has a shar pei and she thinks that breed is really nice, so sad what the media has done to the staffy breed,

It pis*es me off too, I've had it quite alot around my area ever since I've had Zeus. Just like most on here, I've given up now but it did really get to me. Especially when you walk past someone, you give them way.. they don't say thanks and on top of that, they give you and your fur baby an evil look!   

My vet and vet nurses all said i picked a good breed to have-----but hey what would they know!!!!! I couldnt think of a more loving dog to have and a few Australian pet sites say staffys are one of our most popular and wise family dogs to have!!!!   

Must keep on loving our babies & proving them all wrong ! x

These uneducated idiots need put down not our dogs!
You just gotta laugh now when ppl cross the street etc to get away from the 'devil dogs'
If its not a staffie it's just a dog

Well said Mark !! (remind me of this when I can take him for walks in a few weeks )

It also drives me mad but now I just think what stupid ignorant people they are if people look at Oz in disgust I either give them a big smile or give them a death stare grrrrrrrr

I just smile and wave and act overly cheerful when I'm getting stared at lol!

Love it Rachel !

Do you think the generation of ignorant people we have now will fade out,or will new generations of people feel the same,i wish drug dealing/ scum etc would stop picking staffys to make them try and look hard or any dog for that matter,the most beautiful naturally born human dog friendly animals we can wish to see on earth and some people are only to happy to hear the bad reports without the full pictue

Sadly I think it will always be like this, my ex had a rottweiler years ago and they had such a bad reputation but he was SO placid it was actually ridiculous. You can't teach people common sense unfortunately.

AussieStaff wrote:Sadly I think it will always be like this, my ex had a rottweiler years ago and they had such a bad reputation but he was SO placid it was actually ridiculous. You can't teach people common sense unfortunately.

"my ex" - wtf, I mean my fiancee (current !!!!!!)       

We have a six month old bull terrier and I pulled out of the obedience classes we started because the people's attitude was rude and idiotic. Their little "darlings" would be all in Tip's face and if she retaliate it would be our fault. I normally try walk her away from the conflict but they would let their "harmless" babies do as they please. I'm now looking for a place that perhaps specialize in bull terrier, staffies and pitbulls obedience training.

We try hard to train our dogs and to be good dog owners but I agree their bigot attitudes also drive me up the wall.

We sometimes get this on the park especially people with small dogs, yet its been those small dogs that are not on the lead (our dog is) that have come over and gone for Gordon!! and in turn Gordon has shown no aggression back, it makes me so angry because all he wants to do is play and lick you to death    

I took Alfie out for a walk yesterday and an absolutely huge dog (no idea what it was) ran out of its garden up behind us barking like crazy at Alfie! Luckily it turned around and ran off as quickly as it appeared but poor Alfie got such a fright! I did too to be honest! Yet my little Alfie is the one people cross the road to avoid?! Xx

oooh thats a good rant..i just decide to let them think it,so if they say anything now i tell them he can see there jugular keep walking..ha!! there my dogs and the arguments i get into on alot of occasions is ridiculas,im a hot head n will defend my dogs..ooohhhhhh and the little chip on the shoulder small dogs..dont even get me started,owners think its fine when there cute little dog snaps but god forbid ur staff snaps back..thats whn i really kick off..that small dog has teeth n can make my dog bleed the same as mine could to little one..not having it no way when owner suddenly looks at me like ive just took a poo in his living room..there ur dogs,you love them..up theres to anyone who dont like em,they dont live with them,we do..staffie power ppl xx

We've been there too. Debo was even kicked as a puppy by granpa who wanted to defent his family. To family and friends,well we kind of stoped educate them , they can look at Debo and see what has come out of him. Strangers-we make funny comments.

Far be it from me to slag the breed of dog that I love and have 2 of but lets be honest folks their are some god awful staffies out there I mean c'mon who can honestly say they have bumped into a friendly staffy? where I live I have met one the rest have either made it clear there not going to tolerate my boy[as he does so himself sometimes] for me there a peoples dog once they get to no who they are through meeting them I agree you wont get a more loving dog..

This drives my husband and myself mad, especially the ones who pick their dogs up and cross the road to avoid our girls?!
It's quite upsetting really as all Belle and Daisy want to do is play and say hello, and don't understand why the dogs get taken away? Bless them.
It's so lovely thou when you meet other dog owners who stop to say hello

Oh Karen ! I can start walking Koda in another couple of weeks, can't wait !!!!!

Yep ! people have no idea what they are on about !!
I am getting it now and I haven't even got ryder yet
" why would you get that breed"
"they are trained to kill "

blah blah so frustrating - do some research

I'm hearing ya ! Puppy pre-school teacher on Wed night said "We'll use the staffy for bite inhibition as they're aggressive", he nearly licked her to death - seriously !!! WTF ! Made my blood boil, wish he ripped her face off lol

e work hard to train ouor dogs to be well behaved individuals and to ensure that interaction with other humans andd dogs god peacefully. We stopped going to dog school because one dog and his owners made class tension filled and a nightmare.
I live on a small farm and we do not meet up much with people and other dogs which was why I wanted to go to class so that Tip can learn to get along.
Seem its the other people that need the lessons when it comes to our awesome breeds.

Many years ago a lady got a bit upset that i was walking my dog in the same area as hers. I pointed out my dog was on the lead and i was more than capable of controlling him. The lady was still not too happy but we did end up chatting for awhile it turned out a bigger dog had already attacked hers

My sister gets really annoyed with people grabbing there little dogs and crossing the road to avoid hers. The staffy not the problem its the little yappie dog she has that is lol

Yes it's a little annoying at first. Now days, I take the chance to educate. I always keep $20 in my pocket on walks or whenever I go to the dog park. It's just a habit of mines just in case I need money for something. If someone gives me "the look" or talking to me negatively about my dog, I'll offer them $20 if they coud tell me what breed my dog is. Not once I lost my $20.

LOL Love it !!! I'm learning to toughen up, but still pisses me off if I'm honest. The puppy pre-school used Koda to teach 'bite inhibition' because "Staffy's are so aggressive" - wish he ripped her face off !!!!    Ok rant over, had a bad night at pre-school last night lol

AussieStaff wrote:Sadly I think it will always be like this, my ex had a rottweiler years ago and they had such a bad reputation but he was SO placid it was actually ridiculous. You can't teach people common sense unfortunately.

We also owned rottweilers when we lived back in Aus and ever single one of those were the most loyal and gentle dogs. In fact, mums male maltese shitzhu was boss over my 80kg male  

And yes, people used to cross the road when we walked our rotts too.

Awww rotties are so gorgeous too, and I know they have the bestest personality ! Bloody knobs that ruin the name of these breeds for the rest of us !!!! GRRRR

Bek: I can't believe they said that at a puppy training class   That's one of the last places you expect a comment like that to come from!

So far we haven't had any negative reactions towards Bane being a Staffy but I guess people still just see "puppy" when they see him...I can imagine the comments will start to roll in when he gets a bit older and starts to get more distinctive features!

I know there are a few Staffies that go to our park that are a bit iffy around other dogs and I have met quite a few people at the park that when they have seen a Staff off lead, are always like "Ooh hang on let me get my dog I don't trust Staffies"...and I'm standing there like Eh? But Bane's a Staffy? And you let your dog play with him?  Some people make no sense...
And I think actually the most negative response we have had has been from some family and friends "Oh why are you getting one of those dogs?" "They are so dangerous why would you want one of those" "Oh don't expect us to be coming round to yours now you have a Staffy" ...it pisses me off so much! They have never even owned a dog so have no bloody clue, just jumped on the bandwagon for hating Staffs!   

Yeh I'm with you there hun, friends have been our biggest critics but that's sheer ignorance - as I said dont think they I researched the heck out of staffy's before buying one ?! Trust me !! We can start walking him in 2 weeks (YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY !!!! lol) so I'll be interested to see the reactions, I too suspect people will just see a cute puppy initially. We can just keep proving people wrong by showing them how unbelievably affectionate and welcoming our babies are

Yes it is! And they really truly think they know what they are talking about, I just want to punch em most of the time!
Because we take him with us everywhere they kinda have no choice but to meet him and I think they are slowly seeing how much of a cutey he is Lots of help from their kids too as they love running around with him in the garden and throwing sticks and balls for him!

Aaah you must be so excited we were! It's just so great to see them out there on their first walk meeting people and dogs! They sleep so well after the first time as well Koda is adorable I'm sure everyone will be wanting to cuddle him and say hi!

One of the problems in Australia is the press.

Most dog attacks are firstly reported by the press as being committed by a Staffy.

A few days later the true comes out that the ättack dog" was actually another breed altogether or was a mixed bred dog.

When I read these type of reports on the web, if the reporters details are published I sent them a rant email.    

Ah that is so true, the media here is bloody woeful !

oldsalt wrote:One of the problems in Australia is the press.  

Most dog attacks are firstly reported by the press as being committed by a Staffy.

A few days later the true comes out that the ättack dog" was actually another breed altogether or was a mixed bred dog.

When I read these type of reports on the web, if the reporters details are published I sent them a rant email.    

You're not wrong - the press has a lot to answer for   

Just last week, a friend of ours in country Victoria, his 4 year old son was attacked by a dog and he needed stitches to his face. Poor boy is now ferried of dogs including his own. Reports to the police have gone unanswered and nothing has been done to the breeder (yes it was a registered breeder that they were at when it happened and apparently this same dog also attacked and hurt her own grandchild). The breed responsible was a BORDER COLLIE. Had it been a staff, rottweiler or any other molasser, it would've made front page news and the dog put down.