magical Merlin Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 also run dog training classes and fun agility....worst behaved dogs - huskies and mallys. often have very poor social skills as never let off lead to socilise, very vocal, distracted by anything that moves, prey drive on the smaller dogs etc Staffies (yes even dog aggressive ones) owners able to keep their focus at all times because they are people dogs, they want to be with their humans. Huskies, not people dogs want to do their own things..... tranability - staffies win. dogs under control - staffies win. concentration - staffies win. Maybe it depends on what you class as dumb? A dog who follows its owner around and will stick with that owner despite how much they are abused or a dog that runs off after something small and furry and gets hit by a truck.... Don't get me wrong i love the sled breeds and I totally agree they are highly intelligent but as far as trainability goes they are poor. Merlin can do loads of tricks etc but only when he wants to or is having a moment where he understands whats going on. My rotti will do anything i say as soon as i say it, jumps a 6ft fence on command. The greyhound HA! She can sit....if the mood takes her. whos the most intelligent? probably the greyhound...We assume she is dumb but actually she doesn't have to do much, nothing is expected of her other than recall and to be well mannored and she gets to sleep on the sofa.... the Rottie must do what she is told when she is told purley because of what she is and the general temprement associate with rots. I want her under control at all times. Merlin bless him has so many problems and illnesses that he takes each day as it comes...they greyhound is able to manipulate humasn to get what she wants. She has trained us All dogs can turn, Merlin bites people on a regular basis without reason or warning. He has nurological issues and a difficult past but he is a husky so by deffinission should love poeple? My previous rotti x gsd was used as an attack and protection dog for a drugs dealer. He was really messed up and eventually PTS due to turning on me. Highly intelligent but just couldn't be retrained despite two years trying. A SBT pup of 12 weeks attacked a girl at rescue this week resulting in damage to ligaments and tendons in her leg, sever bruising and puncture wounds...its 12 weeks old. Rotti riped off a womans arm in resuce, she bled to death in the kennel. Family Pits suddenly turn on a child resulting on her decapitation just from being shaken, family collie bites child in the face resulting in the loss of an eye. Any dog can turn, without warning. Most are small dogs because biting is acceptiable from them to many people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 A little research into Staffies and various other dogs like them, will tell you clearly the breed emerged because of dog fights. This is not too dissimilar to the way slaves were bred, the biggest were allowed to mate, the small ones weren't. They also had to be dumb, because the whole idea was to get big, strong, stupid slaves. Dogs were bred initially a long time ago, way before our life times, to do specific jobs. Dogs like Jack Russells for example, were bred for badgering and fox holing, because they could fit down the hole and were viscious enough to fight and win against a badger! These days, people don't even know these facts, let alone think them, and Jack Russells are gorgeous little pets, I adore them, but have you ever seen one turn? Not a pretty site I can tell you! Learning simple commands is easy for most dogs, even the dumbest of the dumb get it to some extent, but try extended training with a staffie, you won't get far. As for socialising with other dogs, yeah sure, you can test a dog with other dogs, with cats, with kids, but the simple fact is, they can turn, and you'll have no idea why, they just do. I'm not saying ALL Staffies are bad, I actually quite like the breed when they're well homed and well treated, but they have a tendency to be homed with idiots with tattoes and gold chains and Ford Escort RS Turbo look-a-likes etc. (Sorry for being stereotypical there, needed to get a point across, those things do not an idiot make) who play things like tug with them in all the wrong ways. I'm positive your staffie is lovely nixy, because you care for your dogs, you clearly have a passion for them that is second to none. Huskies aren't stupid, the people who say they're stupid are stupid. The problem here is misunderstanding, stupid in a dog, does not mean you can't teach it to sit, it doesn't mean you can't teach it to play tug or play dead, it means there are limits to what you can train it to do. Dogs like GSDs, Labs, Collies, Huskies etc. all have large learning capacity, they can learn things forever, they also can learn to do lots of things that many dogs can't. Of course all dogs are different as I myself have said this very day on this very forum, but as a rule, compared to the breeds I've named above, Staffies are just plain dumb! yeh like u said i adore my staff - n he is lovely but he did comee from an abusive background where im sure he was bred for dog fighting - he has whippet in his so strong and FAST - hell even now at 13 years old with a bad leg he can still outrun the sibes - the point is even when they are being bred for this which isnt what they were originally bred for - same as pit bulls where @Paranormal Wolf will agree with me when they get online - but idiots bring them up this way - ANY dog can be aggressive - but u only hear about staffies rotties gsds ect attacking cuz wheres the 'horror' in hearing a jrt or a poodle or a labrador attacking - even tho it happens ! all 3 of my dogs have been attacked - and i can tell u the breeds ov ever single attack - bingos attackers have been , 2 jrts a collie and a lab x gsd , blaze has been attacked by - another husky, a husky x mal a jrt and labradors - skyla has been attacked by a jrt and a staffy x - who was a bad owner - he was wanted by CID - so out of all the attacks on my dogs (and ive had bings for nearly 9 years ) theres only been 1 staffy x attack and that was on my sibe girl not my other staffy and there are HUNDREDS of staffies in coventry - its nickname is chaventry LOL - im also curious as to what u mean by extended training with a staffie? ive also been guilty of playing tug with bings with a stick or toy going get it bings get it attack - in a grrr kind of voice - but then i know my dog n know what hes like - if i play fight with him - if i say ow - even if his mouth was nowhere near me he will stop n lick me - i trained him that too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 too add to this @bingblazeandskyla , i wasnt sayin anything bad on the pitbull's i just heard that before might not be true anyway YES all dogs can turn , iv heard a border collie suddenly jumping in a car and attacked a child due to " jealousy" and yesterday my friends 8 month old lab yes a lab! attacked her 1 and a half year old daughter out the blue and she had to go to hosp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 too add to this @bingblazeandskyla , i wasnt sayin anything bad on the pitbull's i just heard that before might not be true anyway YES all dogs can turn , iv heard a border collie suddenly jumping in a car and attacked a child due to " jealousy" and yesterday my friends 8 month old lab yes a lab! attacked her 1 and a half year old daughter out the blue and she had to go to hosp nah it wasnt directed at u hun - i only just saw that comment u put lol i mean just look at all the pitbulls ceaser milan has - they are amazing dogs! got i hope ur friends daughter is ok! i forgot to mention the rottie x akita near me thats good as gold (tho for sum reason blaze doesnt like him) and the other akita owned by that 'type' of youth whos also good as gold theres also to rotties who leave near me (across the road) and they are always offlead - stop at roads - see my dogs keep walking - one stopped n started at blaze going mental the other week - n turned around n walked off lol was so funny - blaze going mental at this rottie n the dog just looking at him like hes an idiot lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magical Merlin Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Loving this debate but got to sleep. Have fun guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollow Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Ok first off I'm going to end one side of this argument with something simple, many of you are insisting staffies weren't bred for fighting. All dogs were bred for a reason, tell me what a staffie and a pitbull were bred for. End of argument. Second, nothing wrong with playing tug nix, I play tug with all my dogs, I may not have been clear with making such long posts and not explaining it very well, but the type of tug I'm talking about is where the dog gets hit on the nose to encourage it to play harder, pull harder, growl more, etc. When I play tug, I growl, so does my dog, end of story But he doesn't get hit on the nose unless he did something wrong, and even then I don't hit him, I shout, he immediately knows he's done wrong and appologises, all my dogs have been this way. Third, I've never had a dog attacked by another dog. EVER! My Lab Collie cross attacked our post lady once, and I mean once, but that dog spent the following 10 years being walked, with no lead whatsoever, in big fields, public streets, along dual carriageways etc. and would never leave my heel, until I told her she could. I literally had cats and squirrels and badgers run right in front of us, the dog never flinched. If I then told her to go, she would, but at some point, before she got too far away, she'd turn, look for me and if she was too far away, she came back. The one post lady she attacked, was a known dog hater in the local community, tried to sue several dog owners on her route and every time Mitzi heard her coming up the path she went nuts, one day she managed to get out the back door and well................ enough said. @magical Merlin - Any dog can turn - That's exactly what I was saying? There is usually more to it with some of the dogs I've mentioned than just the dog getting nasty though, Rottis are another particularly odd dog, known for turning for no apparent reason whatsoever. The definition of intelligence in a dog changes through the breeds. Intelligence for a staffie is one who doesn't bite your arm off and learns to sit and stay and not kill the mailman. Intelligence for a collie or a Lab, is how quickly it can round up the sheep, how many fences it can jump over to do a certain job, how quickly it can respond to commands, etc. Intelligence for a Husky, well, I'm still learning with this breed, no experience until now with Huskies. I imagine intelligence for a husky could be the recall command, it could be how often he ignores you, it could be the most disobedient, is actually the most intelligent because he's thinking for himself that much, I just don't know yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 no dog turns for 'no reason' theres always a reason a dog turns! sorry to say on this kind of subject you wont get me to agree sorry - im a strong beliver DEED NOT BREED and i HATE the DDA and BSL and think the whole idea should be scrapped - there is no such thing as a bad dog ONLY bad owners! im off to bed b4 i get myself worked up - cuz this is 1 thing that pees me off to no end - more so when people cross the road when they see me walking bings or give me filthy looks specially if he is offlead n ask me if they all get on ok when i mention i have huskies and a staffy - corse they get on ok - theres nothing wrong with staffies -grr i always get on my soap box about this n takes me ages to get back down off of it - even mum tells me to get my soap box ready when theres a story in the papers or on the tv ect lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal Wolf Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 I do agree with Nix Staffies and pit bulls were not originally bred for fighting. It is part of their history but it was not their original purpose. American Pit Bull Terriers were first bred as butcher's dogs. Their job was to help butchers control and take down bulls and boars. They were bred to have strong jaws to grab the bull or boar by the snout and hold it in place until the butcher could kill the animal. They first participated in "sports" such as bull baiting, it wasn't until said sport was outlawed that dog fighting even came to be. MYTH: The pit bull was bred for dog fighting only. Fact: The history of the pit bull far predates the time when bans on bull baiting caused blood sport fanciers to turn to fighting dog against dog. The very name "bull" or "bulldog" gives us the clue as to what the original purpose of this breed was. Far back into history - too far for us to see - man had bred dogs for gripping large game like boar and bear. From these dogs developed the Butcher's Dog, or Bulldog. The bulldog was an animal from 35 to 80 pounds, long of leg, sturdy in body, athletic, with a strong head and muzzle. The pit bulls of today descend directly from these animals. Quote taken from the following site which has tons of great info. http://www.workingpitbull.com/history.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollow Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Nothing wrong with staffies at all as I've said earlier in the thread, personally love them, several friends have them, but, simple as can be, they are one of a few breeds, which are known to have "the switch" in their heads. Unfortunately the no bad dogs only bad owners thing isn't true either. If you believe that, then there are also no bad humans, only bad parents, no wait, they're human, only bad policemen, no wait, humans too....... sorry I don't mean to take the bleep, but dogs are like humans, some are naturally good natured (Most thankfully) and some aren't. They are much less complex than humans too, humans have psychotic breaks, turn and kill hundreds of people, happens all the time, what makes you think a dog can't have a psychotic break for no apparent reason? Unfortunately some people are more prone to these breaks than others, same applies to dogs. When you look at humans, some people are born with a defect in the brain, we are finding out more and more about these defects by the day and many of them are genetic, even if they didn't affect the parents, or grandparents, you can usually find the history of it in the family somwhere. This "defect" doesn't affect their motor skills, their ability to communicate, but it acts like a switch, at some point or another, it gets flicked by something, could be something as simple as a body language movement by someone else (I've actually seen this happen in both humans and dogs), and that's it, switch is on, complete personality change! This doesn't have to be an aggressive switch either btw, it can also be a defensive one, the switch goes off and boom, completely different person/dog, but instead of being friendly and confident, scared and defensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollow Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 I do agree with Nix Staffies and pit bulls were not originally bred for fighting. It is part of their history but it was not their original purpose. American Pit Bull Terriers were first bred as butcher's dogs. Their job was to help butchers control and take down bulls and boars. They were bred to have strong jaws to grab the bull or boar by the snout and hold it in place until the butcher could kill the animal. They first participated in "sports" such as bull baiting, it wasn't until said sport was outlawed that dog fighting even came to be. Quote taken from the following site which has tons of great info. http://www.workingpitbull.com/history.htm Yip, so the dog was original bred to be an aggressive dog towards other animals, then bred further to be even more aggressive in a blood sport which was banned, then bred further again to specifically fight other dogs. Nah, the dog wouldn't have any aggressive tendancies at all and wasn't bred for fighting, oh no wait................... So the dogs origin origin wasn't dog fighting, it was to harm other animals, just as was the job of the Jack Russel originally. My point still stands exactly as I made it, the dog was bred to fight and before the sane world kicked in and banned dog fighting as well, it was pretty much all it was used for, for quite some period of time. They are more domesticated now sure, good thing too, but think how hard it is to get rid of some of the instincts of a Husky, now think what the instincts of a pit bull and staffie were originally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arooroomom Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 With any "bully breed" the chances of dog aggression are high, I agree. That doesn't mean that every dog fight between bully breeds are because of their disposition to be animal aggressive. @Hollow I think you need to understand that this forum functions as a family. There really is no need to make a dig at anyone... We have different opinions but we can all usually manage to discuss them and at times agree to disagree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollow Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Dig? I was joking. If a joke isn't welcome then that makes it a pretty boring place! Which tbh I already know it isn't! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Yip, so the dog was original bred to be an aggressive dog towards other animals, then bred further to be even more aggressive in a blood sport which was banned, then bred further again to specifically fight other dogs. Nah, the dog wouldn't have any aggressive tendancies at all and wasn't bred for fighting, oh no wait................... So the dogs origin origin wasn't dog fighting, it was to harm other animals, just as was the job of the Jack Russel originally. My point still stands exactly as I made it, the dog was bred to fight and before the sane world kicked in and banned dog fighting as well, it was pretty much all it was used for, for quite some period of time. They are more domesticated now sure, good thing too, but think how hard it is to get rid of some of the instincts of a Husky, now think what the instincts of a pit bull and staffie were originally. theres no need to get sarcastic >_>, you said that they were bred for dog fighting, you stated this as FACT, Fallon was pointing out that it is not fact and they were bred originally for bull baiting..... dog fights or scuffles happen allllllllll of the time, not all dogs get on, 2 dominant dogs, terriortorial disputes etc, this is in all dogs genes, but the problem seems to be that Bull terriers do not back down, or rarely do at least, where as most other breeds will have a 1 minute fight and then its done neither dog wants to get injured, but the bull terriers don't have that stop in their heads, but they were bred not to stop or give up, until they have killed the opposing dog I suppose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollow Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 I apologise for the sarcasm, it was meant as a joke, clearly it wasn't taken that way. When someone states one thing, then another, I have a switch that says, BE SARCASTIC! lol sorry. The FACT as you put it, is this, the dog was bred to fight, granted it's original purpose was to fight something other than a dog, perhaps I should have gone into every detail of the history of the dog, rather than stating dog fighting as it's original original origin, but I didn't. Simply put though, you have said much clearer than I have, the dog was bred for aggression, they are tamer now thanks to domestication, but they still just don't have that "stop" point in their heads, which makes them very dangerous. Yes dogs all fight, no one can deny that, but equally no one can deny that bull terrior type dogs are even more proned to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal Wolf Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 theres no need to get sarcastic >_>, you said that they were bred for dog fighting, you stated this as FACT, Fallon was pointing out that it is not fact and they were bred originally for bull baiting..... dog fights or scuffles happen allllllllll of the time, not all dogs get on, 2 dominant dogs, terriortorial disputes etc, this is in all dogs genes, but the problem seems to be that Bull terriers do not back down, or rarely do at least, where as most other breeds will have a 1 minute fight and then its done neither dog wants to get injured, but the bull terriers don't have that stop in their heads, but they were bred not to stop or give up, until they have killed the opposing dog I suppose Thank you and I agree for the most part. While street fighters will allow the dogs to fight till the death that is not how dog fights were originally carried out. Dog fighting when it began was actually dictated by a strict set of rules known as Cajun Rules and matches were conducted much like a boxing match. Organized fighters still use these. The dogs were to fight until one of them would no longer do so. The dog that stopped fighting, tried to run away etc. was declared the loser and the winning dog proved it had more Gameness. While in organized matches the dogs did not fight to the death this is not to say dogs wouldn't die after the fight from their wounds, blood loss and exhaustion. Either way dog fighting was and still is a cruel blood sport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal Wolf Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Yes pit bull type dogs are prone to dog aggression but not all of them have it. There are many pit bull type dogs that live alone with other dogs happily and peacefully. Nix has a staff cross living with 2 Sibes and my American Pit Bull Terrier Koopa lives happily with my Sibe and gets along great with other dogs. Does this mean he should be allowed off lead around other dogs in a public park? No ... Does it mean he should be left unsupervised around other dogs or animals? No ... and that is where owner responsibility comes in. Any one owning a pit bull type dog or other powerful breed needs to understand their dog and the breeds history. This is also true for any breed. A responsible bully owner will know that the breeds can be dog aggressive and will take the needed steps to insure their dog and other dogs are safe. They will also know how to break up a fight if one does occur. It takes a lot of responsibility to be a good pit bull/staffy owner. This is a responsibility that many are unwilling to take. A few side notes: A pit bull that comes from a fighting line doesn't mean it will be dog aggressive. There are many pit bulls bred from fighting lines that are "cold" and show zero dog aggression. Sadly many of these dogs end up as bait dogs. Also there are different types of aggression, food, dog, small animal, animal, toy, human and so on. Just because a dog has one type doesn't mean it has all types. (Not saying anyone claimed this, just throwing it out there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal Wolf Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 I apologise for the sarcasm, it was meant as a joke, clearly it wasn't taken that way. When someone states one thing, then another, I have a switch that says, BE SARCASTIC! lol sorry. The FACT as you put it, is this, the dog was bred to fight, granted it's original purpose was to fight something other than a dog, perhaps I should have gone into every detail of the history of the dog, rather than stating dog fighting as it's original original origin, but I didn't. Simply put though, you have said much clearer than I have, the dog was bred for aggression, they are tamer now thanks to domestication, but they still just don't have that "stop" point in their heads, which makes them very dangerous. Yes dogs all fight, no one can deny that, but equally no one can deny that bull terrior type dogs are even more proned to it. Like you said other breeds were also bred to be aggressive towards other animals like Jack Russell and other hunting dogs. All dogs were bred by humans for a job. Some jobs involved aggression to other animals. Other jobs involved guarding and some were simply to be companions. In the end its humans who have domesticated animals and manipulated them to preform the tasks we desire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollow Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Well said, I'm clearly not being very articulate tonight, because most of what you've said, is what I've been trying to say (Although with my back against the wall a lot of the time it felt like). Bully dogs have more of a tendency towards aggression, in my experience at least, they also tend to have far more aggression towards dogs than they do humans. Owners should be aware of these facts and be aware at all times. Also, as I mentioned earlier, "the switch" is there, be aware, be very aware! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal Wolf Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 oops tried to edit my post and replied to it instead oops ignore this hehehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laine Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 You've just illustrated my point exactly! Collies have a rep to keep up for being smart, which they are, but only in the sense that they can learn a LOT! They don't think for themselves, if they did, then they would be TERRIBLE sheep dogs. Can you imagine a sheep dog that thought for itself? There'd be no sheep left! However, if you own a collie, you will NEVER doubt that it'll come back to you when you whistle or call it, and I do mean NEVER! With a staffie, you can never be sure of anything and with a Huskie, it seems to depend on the dog. Syntax has learned to sit, stay, bed, down, no, oi (My favourite atm) and his name, and he's already challenging me by when I call his name, he just looks and me as if to say, WHAT!? If I was training a collie right now, I'd be done, he'd be fully trained, not toileting in the house, coming back on command, jumping through hoops on the trampoline in the garden, etc. but only if I bloody well said so! Just wanted to comment to this bit - since the whole staffie/pittie debate is more opinion for me than fact - that not every collie (and granted, I'm talking Border Collie's here) will come back to you. If that dog is in high drive, the only thing that'll matter is what's got it that way. If you train the dog properly, you can divert that attention from the object of their drive back to you, but it's not an instinctual thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hollow Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 I had intended to say "However, if you own a well trained colliee..............." and for some reason (Probably looking behind me for a way out at the time) I didn't write all the words I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal Wolf Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Well said, I'm clearly not being very articulate tonight, because most of what you've said, is what I've been trying to say (Although with my back against the wall a lot of the time it felt like). Bully dogs have more of a tendency towards aggression, in my experience at least, they also tend to have far more aggression towards dogs than they do humans. Owners should be aware of these facts and be aware at all times. Also, as I mentioned earlier, "the switch" is there, be aware, be very aware! It is sad but true that pit bull type dogs are prone to dog aggression. Though most pit bulls if bred properly should have ZERO human aggression. When first being used, raised, bred and trained for fighting any pit showing human aggression was killed and never bred from. Dog fighters would not tolerate a human aggressive dog because the dogs were handled in the ring. However, now you have street fighters who breed and train pits to be the biggest, baddest thing on the block and they will attack anything because they have not been bred to standard. A lot are even mixed with bigger breeds. Like you said a responsible owner will be aware of the tendency for dog aggression at all times. As a general rule of thumb you can never trust a pit bull not to fight. There are many, many pit bulls out there that live their whole lives peacefully without ever getting into a fight. Then there are others raised just for fighting. And others still that fall somewhere in between. Pit bull type dogs really can make great pets but they need a special and responsible kind of person. The key is education, that goes a long way with pit bull type dogs. Like the saying goes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The situation in the article could have been avoided had the owners known a bit more about their dogs. Really they shouldn't have been off lead. I love my pit bull Koopa and I have owned/fostered 3 others. However I know about the breed and I know they can be prone to dog aggression. Hence why they were never off lead around strange dogs. Another side note: pit bulls can get alone with each other. I owned a red nose and fostered a female pit at the same time. They got along great and played all the time. They were always supervised however. Koopa has also been around a fostered female who sadly came from a very abusive home. They also got along great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Tao&Sky Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Staffies were bred for Bull Baiting plain and simple............Ron History Before the 19th century, bloodsports such as bull baiting, bear baiting and cock fighting were common. Bulls brought to market were set upon by dogs as a way of tenderizing the meat and providing entertainment for the spectators; and dog fights with bears, bulls and other animals were often organized as entertainment for both royalty and commoners. Early Bull and Terriers were not bred for the companion animals of today, but for the characteristic known as gameness, with the pitting of dogs against bear or bull and exotic animals testing this attribute along with the strength and skill of the dog. These early "proto-staffords" provided the ancestral foundation stock for the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the Bull Terrier, the American Pit Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier. This common ancestor was known as the "Bull and Terrier". These bloodsports were officially eliminated in 1835 as Britain began to introduce animal welfare laws. Since dogfights were cheaper to organize and far easier to conceal from the law than bull or bear baits, bloodsport proponents turned to pitting their dogs against each other instead. Dog fighting was used as both a bloodsport (often involving gambling) and a way to continue to test the quality of their stock. For decades afterward, dog fighting clandestinely took place in pockets of working-class Britain and America. Dogs were released into a pit, and the last dog still fighting (or occasionally, the last dog surviving) was recognized as the winner. The quality of pluckiness or "gameness" was still highly prized, and dogs that gave up during a fight were reviled as "curs" despite being trained to be aggresive towards fellow dogs they had to be of good temperament with people as the handler would have to bring the dog back to scratch for each round. As time went on the modern breed evolved into one with a temperament suitable for a pet and companion. It gained respectability, becoming a dog worthy to show, and was accepted by The Kennel Club of the United Kingdom as the Staffordshire bull terrier in 1935.[3] Examples of the breed currently found in the United States have no local fighting history, being descendants of the later show dogs who migrated over the Atlantic from the United Kingdom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Really they shouldn't have been off lead very true, but the number one dog i see off lead, espcially on the streets........... yep Staffs, they seem to be glued to their owners heel though o_O but you do never know when you will see another dog, I saw one the other day off lead and with no collar o_O just following a guy on a bike it was near a VERY busy road though :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranormal Wolf Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 very true, but the number one dog i see off lead, espcially on the streets........... yep Staffs, they seem to be glued to their owners heel though but you do never know when you will see another dog, I saw one the other day off lead and with no collar just following a guy on a bike it was near a VERY busy road though :eek: You know I rarely ever meet another pit bull and have never seen a staffy in real life lol. I do know someone who owns a staffy though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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