Talk:Staffordshire Bull Terrier
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Article Grading: The following comments were left by the quality and importance raters: (edit comments - comment history - watch comments · refresh this page) There is one point not raised here. The Kennel Club of the UK states there are only TWO breeds of dog that are recommended for families. Only 2! The first is the Chesapeake Mountain receiver and the other one? Staffordshire Bull Terriers! I have owned Staffords for many years and would have no compunction about leaving my son with any of the dogs I have owned. They are not only intensely loyal, but they have never even entertained an attack in their heads. This only comes from owning a Stafford for the right reasons. They should never be seen as status symbols, only as a great breed of dog. With firm and strong guidance, plenty of exercise (2 hours daily) and consistent rules, they are a truly excellent breed. |
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[edit] Experimenting with children and dogs?
Removed the following: "The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is known in Australia to have saved many children's lives. Children and these dogs are placed in a pen and left unattended. Anything from bugs to snakes are killed by the dogs, and along with anything that could be a hazard."
This makes it sound like studies have been conducted, putting snakes into pens with children to see if the dog would kill them haha. I'm guessing whoever wrote it meant there have been reports by the public of such events happening. Nevertheless the claim is strong, such that it should not be in the article until reports can be verified.
[edit] Get Your History Right
Please, the Bull-and-Terrier was bred for the purpose of dog fighting, while specimens may have existed pre-1835, it was purposefully bred only following the prohibition of bullbaiting. Therefore, the dog could not have served as a bull or lion baiter - though some records show it was placed against apes armed w/ clubs and against Donkey. And the Staffordshire Terrier is a "Bullterrier" not because it descends from terriers matched against bulls, but because Terriers were crossed to Bulldogs to create the prototype/ancestor of this breed. Get your facts straight, seriously, it looks despicable.
There are many accounts of Bull Terriers being pitted against anything from a lion to a bull, it is a common misconception that the dog was bred for the purpose of dogfighting.
[edit] No Deadly Attacks by Staffordshire Bull Terriers
The article mentions how the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is often blamed for vicious attacks on people. This is quite unfortunate because it has been bred into the Staffie to never attack people. Even when this dog was a pit fighting breed back in the 1700's, owners would often carry injured Staffies home on the wagon right next to the baby. I have done quite a bit of research on this and there does not appear to have ever been a single deadly attack on humans by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in North America. There have been many documented deadly attacks on humans by American Pit Bull Terriers (unscrupulous people have unfortunately bred many of those dogs for modern-day pit fighting, and as vicious guard dogs), and there have been 2 or 3 human deaths by American Staffordshire Terriers since the 1940's. Even the weenie dog (datschund) has killed 2 people in the past 60 years in North America. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier has killed exactly zero. The larger ones (mine is approx. 85 pounds with a 28-inch round neck) can look like vicious pit-bulls, and could easily scare off would-be burglars who don't know the difference. However, the dog would just as soon lick an intruder to death as to bite him. And, all the stories you hear about Staffies being affectionate toward children are true. In fact, it is downright bizarre and almost scary to watch how these dogs respond to children. It appears to be bred into them to be especially loving to kids, and they somehow just know the difference between kids and adults. I've owned many dogs in my lifetime, and in fact have several different breeds of dogs currently. As useless as Staffies seem to be as guard dogs (other than looking tough), I wouldn't trade my Staffies away for any other breed. You just have to make sure that the young ones have something to cut their teeth on or they might start thinking your furniture is a chew toy.
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- There are no 80lb Staffordshire Bull Terriers from any reputable breeding program. this is more than twice the size of a Stafford. Please refer to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier breed standard from ANY kennel club for more information. Your dog would appear to fit the standard for an American Pit Bull Terrier ( excellent breed of dog) American Stafforshire Terrier ( also excellent) or possibly a Stafford mixed with a very large breed of dog and therefore not true SBT. Hope this helps. Tony Avenson, Thunderstruck! Staffordshire Bull Terriers
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§§§ It’s good you choose to defend the much maligned Stafforshire; it’s unfortunate you fail to grasp the harm maligning breeds unjustly can cause. Why have there been more documented attacks by Pit Bulls than Staffordshires? Mainly, because the lowlifes who want to own and/or fight vicious dogs ONLY know of Pit Bulls, or else have themselves bought into the myth that they are by nature more vicious than Stafforshires. The other explanation is that news reports of an attack by a Staff would almost certainly refer to it as a pitbull. The word “Pitbull“ makes for a more sensational headline than would “Staffordshire,” which would mean nothing to most Americans.
In fact, with a converstation with the head of the American Humane Society a few years ago, he remarked that most fatal attacks reported as having been committed by pit bulls were not actually purebred pit bulls at all. Any remotely bully breed is likely to be referred to in such situations as a “pit bull.” Even boxers and part boxers have been called pit bulls in some articles, and, in fact, on labels in some dog pounds.
You speak of Staffordshires being bred not to attack humans. If you’ve ever seen “Animal Precinct” on the Animal Planet channel you will have noticed how little fear animal control officers have of pit bulls they seize in the big cities where they have become very common in gang situations. None-the-less, in some cities - Detroit, for example - they are killed as soon as seized or surrendered, with no chance to be adopted.
The Staffordshire is named for the mining town in Britain where they were bred for pit fighting; the Pit Bull and the American Staffordshire derived whatever temperament they have from the Staffordshire’s “fighting spirit.” In fact, though, it is much more difficult to breed temperament or behavior into a dog than to breed changes in its appearance. In my own experience I have worked training two pit bulls for service dog routines; the only dogs in the program that became violent were a golden retriever (a seasoned service dog) and a German Shepherd. The pit bulls placidly ignored the quarrels.
In defending a breed of which you are fond you unfairly condemn another. I guess you shouldn’t be surprised when equally uninformed people condemn the Staffordshire, which, like the Pit Bull, the American Staffordshire, the American Bulldog, the Bull Terrier, the Boxer, or other dogs originally bred for blood sports, is an excellent, good-natured breed when not deranged by cruel training techniques.
~ John Mayer''
[edit] A news article from german Spiegel
The following article - http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,428158,00.html (german) - is on an incident where an American Staffordshire Terrier has bitten an old lady to death. So they're childfriendly but kill off the elderly? Some kind of society rejuvenation progam perhaps? I don't feel capable of rewriting the Staffordshire Terrier wiki article, being a strong dog hater and incapable of keeping a NPOV - but I really think it should be done. Essentially it trys to persuade people to disregard the dangers emanating from a Kampfhund (german word for a dog bred for fighting), so it reads like propaganda.
Do you know the difference between American ST and the original SBT?! It's clear that you don't
What are the differences then? The one is a pet dog an the other nastily bytes people to death? Strikingly, both wikientries advertise their respective species as "friendly". As the species are closely related it might not be overly feasible to have them mentioned in different wikipedia articles - particularly if some of them defend "their" species as the one having to take the blame for the agressiveness of the others. Additionally I would suggest not using the word "Staffie" in an encyclopedia article, it makes the writers lack of npov all too obvious.
All breeds of dog are of one species. Breeds, strains, crossbreeds, and mixed breeds are different varieties of the single species Canis familiaris (sometimes classified as Canis lupus familiaris). 72.251.79.99 (talk) 18:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
It seems silly to deny that any breed of dog can bite and harm humans, since most breeds contain dogs that have hurt or killed someone at some point. However, none of the other dog breed pages I have seen on wikipedia listed dog attacks perpetrated by that breed. Why should the Staffordshire Bull Terrier page be any different - I don't see why this page would discuss dog attacks by this breed if the other breed pages don't? Or do you think that all dog breed pages should list all attacks by that particular breed? Sounds like a big job to me.
I do agree that this page (like most dog breed pages) tends to be dominated by the pro-dog crowd. However, since these are the people that are most interested in and most knowledgeable about their particularl breed, I don't feel this is suprising. Just like the siamese cat pages tend to be written by people who like siamese cats, the dog pages will tend to be written by people who own and like each particular breed.
Incidentally, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (SBT) and the American Staffordshire Terrier (AST) are two distinctly different dog breeds. The SBT was developed in England from bull-terrier type dogs quite a while ago; whereas the AST was developed in America much more recently, from American Pitbull Terrier (APBT) ancestors. In appearance, the SBT tends to be smaller and stockier than the AST. Both were orginally bred to be friendly towards humans and aggressive towards other dogs. All three breeds (SBT, AST, APBT) are commonly termed 'pitbulls' in America, after their two original functions (fighting other dogs in a pit, and baiting bulls). However, in the UK, Australia and NZ, only the American Pitbull Terrier is considered a 'pitbull'. Just FYI, since you asked! - Rachel 23:06, 3 Oct 2006
VERY HAPPY SBT OWNER
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- I am a very satisfied SBT owner and I am sick and tired of pathetic non dog owners and ignorant people saying vile things about this fantastic breed of dog.
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How can anyoneBold text who has never had the pleasure of owning such a wonderful and loyal breed of dog criticise them in this way. I 100% trust my dog around people and children. Dogs only behave bad when they are not properly handled by their owners,this is evident in any breed of dog not just solely the SBT.***
Should somebody add to the article that SBTs in the USA are becoming popular in the relay retrieving sport of Flyball? This is a sport that requires the Staffordshire to work with many other dogs and different handlers. The SBT excels in this sport (along with Border Collies, and many other small terriers) because of its agility and desire to please its human handlers. Obviously a vicious dog would not qualify for this sport. (No, I don't own an SBT). 72.251.79.99 (talk) 18:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)
I am a proud SBT owner also and you may have not noticed that this is a discussion about STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER's and you qouted an atack by an AMERICAN STAFFORDSHIRE TERRIER this does not enque as an attack by an SBT. people like you are who give SBT's a bad name and reputatation —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.5.126.54 (talk) 00:00, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Breed Specific Legislation
Can't believe that this article neglected to mention that SBTs are banned or restricted in many parts of the world! It seems like a pretty important point to mention when discussing this breed, so I put a new section in the article. - Rachel 23:28, 3 Oct 2006
can u proceed to mention were they are banned because to my knowlegde they ar not banned ANYWHERE!! You are probably making a very common mistake made by so many Ignorant people confusing a pure breed SBT with the Pitt bull terrier!! Why are the SBT called nanny dogs???? think about it. Jo..
Any dog that is deemed a "pitbull or pitbull mix" is banned in Ontario Canada. It is a stupid law that is more of a guilty until proven innocent method than a fair law. The owner has to "prove" their dog isn't a "pitbull" which is defined as anything with pitbull, or staff(american or otherwise) in it. We've had dogs that a CKC judge has declared as a no pitbull mix be killed because a legal judge has diagreed....What a stupid law.
[edit] Ignorance is bliss!
I am, and have been a happy SBT owner for over 20 years. I find it very disturbing that mis-informed, close-minded and ignorant people can believe the labelleing that the SBT has received, mainly by the media. Who, let's not forget, post articles to sell papers or attract viewers to make money. Objective. I think not.
I challenge any of these people to spend a little time with SBT's and get to know them before passing judgements or trying to get SBT's banned. I am certain that these people would find the SBT to be happy, strong, playful dogs with lovely personalities.
I agree that the SBT needs lots of attention, needs to be well socialised with both people and other dogs and needs to be supervised. But if a SBT owner is willing to devote the time necessary to keep a SBT they will not only have a beautiful pet but a loving member of the family.
Be objective and only pass judgement gained from personal experience. Only then, are your comments fair and indeed valid.
Brad, loving SBT owner. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.120.116.180 (talk) 21:21, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
