A savage attack on owner

Hi right were to start i lost my staffy lilly in april this year very suddenly id had her from 7 weeks old and she was only 9 years old when she died she was my first pet and the love and the loss i experienced was unlike id ever felt before i was very depressed and longed for another staff but i didnt want to get a puppy knowing what i do now about back yard breaders i wanted to rehome one so i see a notice online a pic with a handsome chap and his then owner he was called lennox and is 3 years old they wanted to rehome him as they have never had the time to walk him over 100 people applied for him but his owners chose me he said he was very scared of lennox getting into the wrong hands anyway they drove him free of charge from manchester to grimsby and i had myself another addition to my family my  b\f used 2 stay over 4 nights a week he was equally involved in lennoxs life like me anyway we had lenny about 3 month when me and my ex had a huge argument we was throwing punches it was pretty explosive my ex grabbed me n pinned me down on the bed and what happened next i will never forget lennox was on the bed latched on to my ex cheek and head i couldnt for the life of me get him off and the screams and blood will stay with me forever finaly he let go and my ex went straight to hospital were he had over 100 stitches to his cheek ear and thumb he reported lennox to the police but nothing has been done about it he wants him destroyed i on the other hand no it was our fault for acting that way in front of him but also dont want to risk him ever attacking again any advice plz i really need it

So sorry for what happened lennox was undoubtedly protecting you . Dont know how this will go but i wish you and kennox all the best please keep us updated

thanks u guys

So sorry you have had to go through this and so sorry for your loss of your first Staffie. It does sound like poor Lennox was so scared and just trying to protect you. They are such sensitive souls the argument would have scared him. Hope your ex doesn't try to cause trouble for you and him. Ps just seen your pic, what a handsome boy x

Really sorry you experienced this, it must have been very traumatic for the both of you. I agree with Crystal Lennox was only trying to protect you as they are very loyal to their owners. Hopefully someone more experienced will be along shortly to advise you but again so sorry you had to experience this and keep us updated wish you and Lennox the best.

I'm afraid I've got a warning bell ringing in my ears here. I've never heard of a queue of 100 people for a 3 yr old staff, are you sure there's not a different story behind his need to be rehomed?

Although it may well be that he was just protecting you, it's also possible that he got excited by the fight and joined in, as a dog may do if two others were fighting. Going for the head/neck is exactly what they'll do. If there's even chance that this is possibly part of what happened, I do think you need to be careful in high energy situations.

For the time being, I'd keep him on the lead when you're out, and monitor his reactions to people all the time. I'd be especially careful around children, not because I think he's going to go for one but because of public perception and the fallout if (big if) something did happen.

I hope it is a one off, just protecting you, and I don't want to paint Lennox in a bad light, far from it, but I do think you need to consider other scenarios seriously for your sake as well as his. Better safe than sorry and all that.

3 months can still be very early days with what is effectively an unknown background almost rescue dog. You don't know what problems he may or may not have had, and if he has any associations with former events. Sadly, some people tell all sorts of rubbish when they want to get rid of a dog. Daisy, who we had last year, was signed over by someone who said she'd lived in a very happy family environment, and the only issue had been with their other dog who went for her, but she used to wet herself at the sight of a human and hated children. You just never know until the dog tells you.

Terrible experience but I'm afraid all I can say is that Lennox loves you and was protecting you. If he'd been a Chiuhaha or Jack Russell obviously the bite wouldn't have been so awful but because it was a Staffy ....well we all know how strong their jaws are.

Milo gets really wound up if he hears any loud voices or arguments - they're such a protective breed and its not their fault. I definitely wouldn't think it has changed him...just know that if anyone (god forbid) attack you again they'd better watch out x

I'd be careful about sticking photos of him online given that he's been reported by the police and I agree with Liz, you need to monitor his reactions to keep him and everyone else safe. That fight with your ex sounds absolutely terrifying. I think if someone had grabbed me and pinned me down on the bed during a fight then my dog would try and protect me but I don't know if he'd go for the face.

I hope he really is your ex, Lennox like any dog that cared did what came natural to him to defend the ones he cared about. Remember, you are his owner, nobody else, so move on and start fresh. As for Lennox, give him time to show what makes him truly tick. Hopefully as you've had dogs before you'll know how to give him what he needs, including leadership and security.

Agree with Liz - I've worked with rescue staffies for a long time, and getting one home for most of them is hard enough, let alone 100! Something sounds amiss.

I would hire a professional, qualified behaviourist to assess him and work on a moving forward plan for you. Hopefully this was a one off, rare occurrence for him to have to witness and react to, but protective behaviour doesn't equal trying to rip someone's face off. Let's not romanticise this.

How long ago was this? I'm surprised the police haven't been in contact.

hiya and thank you everyone for your help this happened the 23 rd august,and  totaly agree on the dog behavourist or something along them lines as for keeping him out of childrens way i always have done as he growls at small children, something which his last owner said he never did do and that he loved kids,also he has a front garden which he goes in and anybody walking by gets the full on barks saying this is my garden or if he hears the gate go hes barking like mad warning of whoever through the front door, i couldnt understand this as his last owner said he is going to love this the garden with all the people going past he will love the attention,can i say aswel tho he is such a loving  boy and ill protect him as it was our doing why this even happened and thanks again for your advice guys

has any of his behaviour matched up with what his old owner said? because it sounds like you have been mislead an awful lot.

Please be wary about leaving him in the front garden. Even if nothing else worse happens, you could be leaving yourself exposed to complaints about him intimidating people and complaints of noise. It could take just one person to lean over to stroke him for something worse to then happen. To be honest, I wouldn't leave any of my dogs unattended in a front garden.

Don't feel you need to become all worried and fearful, but I think you need to reassess how you see Lennox. I fear you have been duped and that you do have a dog with issues that were possibly the reason his previous owners were so keen to put pressure on you (the 'long queue waiting' is the oldest trick in the book, I'm afraid), and why they drove him to you before you could change your mind. He is still your boy who you love to bits, but one that you just need to start thinking of as one with issues.

Rach and I can both vouch for how much you can do with even seriously stuffed up dogs, so there is no reason why, with the help of a good trainer, you can't pick through a lot of what you're now seeing. In the meantime, though, you need to think risk management. It hopefully won't be forever, but for now just keep worst case scenarios in the back of you mind and avoid them where you can.

Where are you based? May be able to recommend a behaviourist.