Staff bad reputation

Hello everyone,

I am getting really tired of the extremely negative responses I get from people whilst I about and about with my dog.

She is a rescue with some quirky anxiety issues when she is at home, but none of these are exhibited outside of our house, so when people on the street come across her, she is on best behaviour. She is good with other dogs, submissive and not a barker, and she either ignores people who walk past or wags her tail to people coming to greet her.

I have had people literally jump out of the way and scream (OTT!), lots of people cross the road (fair enough), and lots of people tell me about how they have "lockjaw", are "too strong" and one man called her a "killer dog". I'm sure lots of you have heard worse, but it seems mad to me. Especially having had all kind of other breeds in my life and never having had the same response! And she is so kind and gentle, especially when you consider her potentially troubled past. It gets on my nerves!

I'm sure this is something that all SBT owners have come across in their dog's lifetime, but it is really upsetting me and would love to hear other people's experiences and/or how people deal with it!

Hello from me and Hank

I am yet to experience anything that extreme but it think where I live there are a lot of SBT so everyone here loves Hank, but if I was you I'd honestly just try ignore them as hard as it is as you want to defend your baby but these people are uneducated A holes.

The amount of little "old lady dogs" as I call them.. no offence to anyone on here who has them but I just don't know the names, they have went absolutely ballistic for hank and has tried to get at him
And he hasn't batted an eye lid, just stood there as to say what have I done wrong, but they look as me likes it my fault, I just laugh it off.

The best response is a positive one by showing how well trained and good Dee is. Nothing repairs that bad rep than showing how good Staffies really are.

A thick skin goes a long way though have to admit to having said that my girl has had her dinner when I've seen some princess pick up her handbag dog in blind panic

In response to being a killer, well yes if your a tennis ball but not to anything else... Ok maybe a rope toy too

Everybody loved Gus when he was small, now he is bigger some dog walkers are definitely more wary and some move away. It does upset me sometimes but everybody gets a big smile and a hello which helps.

Ian's hit the nail on the head, a well behaved, happy dog who bothers no one is the best thing. I've found going to more populated places tends to increase the risk of idiot comments so we avoid them and walk in quieter places only, particularly with Chaos.

If you do get someone who gets after you, maybe telling you your dog is a banned breed, should be shot, etc., just smile sweetly and thank them for their concern. Trying to explain or arguing will get you nowhere, it's not worth your breath to even try.

Thank you, Daily Mail and other enlightened media organisations.

Also it does go the other way too. I've lost count of the people who come to see misty just because she is a staff!

It seems as well when you get a Staffy you automatically join a special club with owners of other certain breeds. People with Alsations, American bullies, Huskys, Rotties, Dobermans etc always give misty a huge smile and always talk to me as they suffer the same ignorance from people too. You will always get a knowing smile from them too!

Plus the other staff owners I have met have been lovely, the majority are old ladies who have the Staffords for company and cuddles!! I saw two gorgeous big boys heading into the pet shop the other day and I smiled and said how good looking they were .

My boss has a German Shepherd and says a lady actually started crying because she saw his dog! He has People cross the road too which shocked me as I thought people would love Alsations due to their police work but oh no people are terrified! It's crazy!

I agree with Misty's Mum. Far more people go out of their way to come over to say hello and fuss Dodger than people that are negative. In fact, sometimes I wish there weren't quite so many because it can take ages to get anywhere with all his admirers!

As a a forner staffy owner while u sometimes have to ignore peoples negativity its important to also be an ambassador for the breed . You do get a lot of ignorant people having a thick skin has been standard over the years. Mia was alienated all of her 11 years you know how well your dog is behaved that is the important thing nothing else matters.