Not sure what to do

Jen

Jen

Hi All,

So my friend has got a Staffie pup. It’s about 8 months old now.

She uses the same dog walker as me and Stanley and the dog have been walked together a few times a week as they get on.

This dog is a temperamental little thing and has gone for the dog walker a few times. Apparently yesterday he went for another dog on his walk, when Stanley was there but he was fine with Stanley.

I’m not keen on them being walked together anymore. My friend and the dog walker are saying it’s ok because he adores Stanley so wouldn’t go for him, but I feel as though my dog is being used as the experiment to a certain extent and I don’t like it.

But then I also don’t want to make my friends dog worse by taking his pal away. He’s a lot smaller than Stanley so I’m not too concerned about him really hurting him but Stanley absolutely wouldn’t stick up for himself and I don’t want him upset if he does turn on him.

What would your thoughts be?
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
Without being in the situation, it's impossible to say whether the interaction is appropriate, worrisome or anything. But, your responsibility isn't to ensure your friend's dog is OK. Your responsibility is to Stanley. Whatever your decision, put the other dog's welfare out of your mind, as that's not your concern here.
 
Jen

Jen

Charlie said:
When you say 'gone' for what does that mean, an attack as in aggressive behaviour or bite or exuberant puppy behaviour? xx
Click to expand...
No he’s gone for her properly. When she was preparing his kong he jumped up and bit her and bruised all of her arm and he has done similar things a few times.

I won’t have him around Rory but he’s always been fine with dogs so I thought he would be ok with Stanley.
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Jen, as Fiona says your responsibility is to your dog, not to your friend's dog. I understand your dilemma, but that puppy sounds like trouble in the making. I would not be surprised if the dog walker stops taking him, as she is putting herself and her business at risk. I don't really know enough about Staffies to be able to judge, but it doesn't sound like appropriate or normal behaviour to me.
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

We have a family with a sort of staffy/bulldog cross in our road. He looks tough as anything, strong black dog, though actually he is well behaved and has never shown any aggressive behaviour. When he was a puppy I went out of my way to make sure Poppy and Merlin knew him, that they had supervised 'meet and greet' interactions. This has resulted in a relaxed sort of situation, and they just pass quietly by on the street, and sniff at each other through the fence, but I don't let them play anymore, as Flocky (yes, I know...) is now two years old and entire and plays roughly (though not biting, just lots of charging around and some body slamming), and I don't want it to escalate. The owners were a little upset, as we used to let them play off the lead, and then one day I decided no more - my gut said 'enough'. Young male dogs often get on well, and then when the testosterone hits it can suddenly turn bad, faster than you expect.
 
Ashley

Ashley

A definite no from me - as he's only 8 months old, things can change as he gets older and you are not there to see/judge the behaviour yourself.
 
Boogie

Boogie

Moderator
Location
Manchester UK
No. I wouldn’t. Staffies can be lovely but once they bite they don’t let go, and that can be a real problem.

The dog that attacked Keir and held his muzzle in her mouth for ages was a Staffi. I give them a wide berth now.

☹
 
Candy

Candy

Biscuit Tin Guardian
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
I'm fussy about who GGJ spends time with. She's only really comfortable around gentle dogs, so that's what we stick with. I don't mean things like Bitey face though, she and Tess love a game of Bitey face and sound very fierce, but we all know that it's a game and no-one gets frightened or hurt.
 
Lisa

Lisa

Moderator
Location
Alberta, Canada
Yeah the fact you are uneasy about it probably says all you need to know. It’s tricky because the owner is a friend, but even so, seeing that the dog has attacked both the dog walker and another dog you are not being over reactive. I also wonder how long the dog walker will put up with it.
 
MrChew

MrChew

I definitely wouldn't want a dog that has gone for another dog being walked with Chewie without my supervision. No reflection on your friend or the dog walker, but you trust your gut.
 
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Loraseal

Loraseal

Location
The Hague, The Netherlands
Yes @Jen I agree with the others. I don't know the facts, but the dog walker should already have alarm bells going off about the behaviour of the Staffie?The Staffie is still a puppy and being a puppy is not an excuse to ignore such behaviour?
I also echo @MellowYellow on the testosterone reaction. I have seen it with Hunter and his friend "Jack" the 15 year old Jack Russel. Hunter and Jack were having a good old play bow/sniff session and Jack's nemesis walked by on the opposite side of the road. The nemesis is actually Hunter's "kissy" friend. Jack the old man went crazy and Hunter kicked off with him too. I know it's tricky as a friend. X
Has the dogwalker talked to your friend about its behaviour?
 
Natalie

Natalie

Bear is being a bit humpy at the moment and the dog walker mentioned there are a couple of dogs he is particularly attracted to right now (male castrated dogs as it happens). They have just made the decision to put Bear on separate group walks with different dogs, no fuss as at all, they just mentioned it one day when I asked how Bear was getting on. (between three of them they run around 4-6 separate group walks for many different dogs each day, so easy to do) In know humping is different to what you are describing, but if it was by dog being humped then I would definitely expect them to do something about it.
 
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