9 year old staffy being violent help???

Hi my names tasha I have a staffy bull called marley he is 9 years and we have had him since being a pup he has always been great with other animals including a older german shepherd, humans and loved being around my baby niece but after a recent move from a well gardened house in the country to a town centre house with only a yard and the death of our other dog the german shepherd he has become quite violent but mainly to one dog in particular another staffy much younger. He is still very loving to me and the and every other human he comes in contact with also most other dogs. we do walk him every day but with being in the middle of town unable to let him off and run like he used to. I dont know if its age, the move, the loss of his main pal or just this one other dog that he has a problem with. We do tey and keep them away from each other but if by chance they do me they fight and I hate seeing my marley like this im just scared one day one of them may get hurt or he turns on me orany one eles. Please help I dont know what to do thanks in advance. Natasha

Sounds like it could be a combination of things there are a number of dogs that Ledger is fearful of either too big or too full on, he has a low tollerance of rude dogs but clear 'back off im not happy' signals

Some dogs just will never get on particularly with the same sex Ledger is generally fine with all females but one staff girl a few doors down is reactive to males and good with other females

Could Marley be in pain at all? As that could cause a change in behaviour. I would just be wary of your own behaviour try and stay confident of Marley as if you worry he will react he will pick up on this down the lead and think that there is something to be fearful of i.e. the dog that you are looking at

See I am always very confident when I have him on a lead as he is very good but the dog that he doesn't seem to get along with is always out off the lead so if I go out say just to nip to the car for something and marley follows me thats when problems start. Im kinda lead to believe this other dog has been the alfa male on the street until marley showed up. Im just going to have to be very careful of them meeting off lead as marley will just walk right past him when hes on his.

It may be a combination of all three (the move, the loss of his friends and now living in a busy area where he cannot go off lead). Meg is normally very placid, but there is a dog that lives near us that sends Meg bananas! I'm not totally sure if it's the West Highland that lives near us or the Yorkshire terrier that comes with a man to take the Westie a walk. the yorkie is always quiet when they walk down the cloose, but Meg gets on alert. The real trigger point is when they come back up the cul-de-sac. The Yorkie starts barking, this sets off a husky that lives opposite, and this in turn sets Meg off on a mission. I have a 5 foot fence and she can nearly clear this. I think if she did, she would rip one of the dogs apart! I went to a dog show the other week, and she was an absolute star. There was an dog behaviourist there and I was going to ask her why she was like this, but seeing as she was so good all day, I didn't bother, but maybe there is an animal behaviourist in your locale you could go to? Meanwhile, you could always find a nearby open area that's safe to let Marley off lead, so he can burn off some energy? It may be that there will always be some dogs that will not get on, rather like humans, don't you think?

Yes i just think they just don't get on. Its just not nice seeing your best friend act like this. IM gonna try taking him for longer walks burn some of that energy off and just be more vigilant keeping them away from each other. Thank you guys

Sounds like a combination of the recent life changes. Is this dog allowed to roam the street then? If so could you have a word with the owner?

The owner is with it but he is always off lead as we all know if I dog goes for something it can be hard to control when not on a lead but I thimk I will have a word we are friends with the owner so I cant see it causing problems and would be in the interest of all parties really

Great advice above, I would have a word with the owner if I were you. There's one thing I want to point out though. You mention you are worried he may turn on you or someone else, dog aggression is completely different from human aggression so don't mix the two up

Also, my boy is very calm with some dogs and then all of a sudden he'll take a dislike to a dog and go nuts, we just keep him on a lead when other dogs he doens't know are around and try not to put him in any situations that could end up in a fight i.e. if I see someone coming down the road with their dog off lead I will divert and go a different way, I've just found it's easier and less stressful.

Yes, try to avoid this dog if you can. Have a word with the owner by all means if you think it will get you anywhere.