Proud!! And a bit of a rant...lol

So proud of Rips. Took her for a long walk this morning and she met loads of dogs and was great with all of them.

Had one bloke who had three westies with him ask me if she'd been fed this morning he then proceeded to let his dogs say hello and his westie started yapping away Rips just totally ignored it. She seems to ignore yappy dogs and generally be good with other dogs She'll tell them to go away if they get to much of a pest but it's not aggressive.

We're having to change agility classes though. Was an hours drive on a Tuesday evening which was hard enough but the group just seemed so clicky. It was all collies and even my mother in law who came with and has a gorgeous collie boy got very little from the group. rips was the only staffy In the group and is alwas really good but it felt like because she's a staff they ignored me and my mother in law because she was with me.
Even though rips does amazingly well to help dispel the staffy stereotype. She had a yappy papilion jumping all over her and rips didn't do a thing. And other dogs snap at her and not once did rips retaliate at all. Hey ho. Can't be bothered with clicky people.

I'm not a Chav and my dog is not a Chav dog and I work really hard to make sure she is a well behaved dog. And sometimes I feel that you have to try that much harder. You see the people panic when they see it's a staffy . When really she's a soppy madam.

It does sometimes feel like you're fighting an uphill battle. I've had three agility groups in my area who have refused to allow me to take part with Dempsey because he's a BT.

Sad, silly people.

Well done Rips, you clever boy! Agree with Caryll, it is an uphill struggle, my mum takes mine out for me and she has gotten comments from people, so its not just 'chavs' that get steriotyped! Can you find him another group? Such a shame but ignorant people don't deserve to have Rips in there group Xxxx

Well done to Rips!

you just have to ignore tw*** people you know you have an amazing dog and thats all that matters!

funny it must be a mainly UK stereotype for staffys because every one who sees Russell thinks he is just adorable and goes on to tell me how great staffy's are. I guess the hype of it being a dangerous dog hasn't spread to my home town which I'm thankful for!

it sucks that you guys have to put up with so much from the public and media.

I do recall when I was little (about 7 or and I was walking my dog and saw a lady walking a staffy and I remember thinking - those dogs dont like other dogs, and made a wide birth around it. ofcourse I was young and naive then someone had obviously told me they were vicious!

PS well done to Rips what a good girl!!! Russell still embarrasses me a lot with growling at other dogs, even if it is playful

I agree Meg.. staffys seem to really get picked on in the UK. Even though most dog attacks here in Australia are always a "staffy type" people seem to gravitate towards Jethro and Winston.. The majority of people I meet are more than happy to pat them..The people who give them wide berths are normally people with little fluffy mutts that are going berserk at us! As if somehow it is my dogs fault!! And when ever I see a staffy I always go and ask the people about them, and ask if it is okay to pat them..

well done rips

vanessa wrote:

The people who give them wide berths are normally people with little fluffy mutts that are going berserk at us! As if somehow it is my dogs fault!!

They could just be being responsible and doing it so their little fluffy things don't harrass your dog

I would like to think so Meg ! They might know that their dog would probably try to nip mine if they could !!

Well done to Rips!! Clever Girl.. Ive got a long way to go with Henry still, but I'm determined to make him as dog friendly as possible =D xx

i'd love to be able to socialise Jemma, but ppl always move their dogs out of the way as she tries to pounce on thm as they go passed. shes only wanting to play tho......... never really had a chance to c how Jemma wud b in the presence of another dog for a period of time as shes never had the chance.

laineybell wrote:i'd love to be able to socialise Jemma, but ppl always move their dogs out of the way as she tries to pounce on thm as they go passed. shes only wanting to play tho......... never really had a chance to c how Jemma wud b in the presence of another dog for a period of time as shes never had the chance.

Did you ever think about going back up to the rescue with Jemma and maybe helping out, (not sure if they do it but can't see why not), then your helping others and also socialising Jemma Xx Just a thought.

hiya all,
interesting walk today..................Jemma managed to slip her collar! (i nearly had a heart attack!!)
i was walkin Jemma as normal, wen i saw this HUGE dog. it was a bull mastiff cross great dane!!
anyways, i asked the bloke if it was ok to bring Jemma over to have a sniff, n he was fine with it. So they were sniffin, Jemma was a bit wary, but let this dog sniff her and slobber all over her lol.
along came a staffy X off the lead, which made Jemma very excited n she started sniffin and playin with this dog. my heart then stopped as i felt the lead go slack n saw Jemma without her collar on. she had some how managed to back up and out of it!!
she seemed fine, i called her back and she came (thank god!!) scared me half to death!!
i put her collar back on, with the lead and everything was back to normal.
she met lots of different dogs along the way, and was fine with them all, jus wanted to play.
i wanna let her off the lead, but am gunna get a long one first n c how tht goes as i wanna wrk on her recall a bit more.
ne ideas on how to do this effectivly? as wen i call her back in from the garden she comes, but i no id struggle to get her to come back if there were distractions such as rabbits or such. thanks as always !!

Thank god she came back!! Well done Jemma! Henry is a little git off lead, i got a long one, so training starts this week on recall. I'm going to get him something really tasty to treat him with when he comes back, cos hes not bothered with dog biscuits etc. i dont think you can ever stop them pegging it if they see a rabbit or a dog etc unless you've had them from a pup xx

when doin the recall you have to make yourself seem better than what ever it is the dog is doin at the time ive always found a good high pitch call always works for me with a good tasty treat at the end of it if your dog responds to food hope this helps

Jem does respond to food, but prefers human food lol, wht kind of treats wud be suitable?

Wow Jemma is a good girl ! Well done !!