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Post by madrigal on Mar 4, 2004 8:37:44 GMT -5
Here is the situation. I am looking for people with years of experience with amstaff/pitbull breeds to comment. Please indicate wheather you are a breeder, trainer, owner and how much experience you have. I am married and have a family with 3 children aged 8, 3 and 1.5 yrs. My wife is a stay at home mom. We have a female dog which is a collie shepard mix. (age 3 years) We were looking for another dog and I like the bully breeds, so we did a little research. I read about amstaffs and was aware that we need to socialize them, as well as put them in obedience school. I know they also need to have something to do to be kept
busy, and need lots of activity. I was fine knowing all of this and we adopted a male puppy last week. The puppy is 10 weeks old and the mother and father are
both amstaffs and are in families with children. We love this dog, however my wife was reading a magazine called Bully Breeds, made by the people that
publish dog fancy magazine. This magazine had a number of things that we not found on any of the web sites we went to. Here are some of the quotes. “To a stafford, nothing in life is as good as a fight. Once they get a taste of it they love it.” “ An owner must walk his or her Stafford on a leash as if they have a hand grenade with the pin pulled out.” We are not worried about our ability to watch the dog when we are around. My wife is concerned about what could happen if we are out and the dogs are alone in the house. We know that we can crate one of the dogs but one of the reasons we got a second dog was to be a companion to our first dog.
If there was a fight is it true that it will not end until one of the dogs is killed? Do all amstaff owners that have multiple dogs crate them? Have any of you had an incidents with multiple dog households. My wife is afraid we will come home one day to find one of the dogs dead and she wants to return the puppy now before he becomes too attached to us.
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Post by dakota on Mar 4, 2004 16:51:01 GMT -5
i'm not an experienced owner but we do have many friends which have some dogs, well most do own amstaffs or pits or one of this breed with another breed together.
This doesn't bring a problem with the friends we have.
hope some other members can tell their storey
Kim
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Post by PitBullLeri on Mar 12, 2004 11:26:50 GMT -5
Hi, I'm Leri from Long Beach, California USA. I am a breeder and trainer of the APBT and have been for close to twenty years. I have multiple dogs/breeds and now grown children. General rule of thumb is never trust your pit bull not to fight. With this being said, we never leave our dogs together unattended. It is very possible that your dogs will get along for many many years just fine. But then there is also a stronger possibility that you could come home one day to find one severely injured or dead. It has happened to many experienced owners/trainers who thought there dogs were fine together. Unfortunately, some of us learn the hard way. We should keep in mind, our breed does not generally fight for the same reasons other dogs fight. It's not for dominance, or attention. Not for toys, food or sex (although these things could trigger the aggression as well!). Our breed usually fights, simply because they enjoy it. One need not "train" a pit bull or am staff to fight. They breed was bred for combat. Many many years ago, but that does not change the genetic hard wiring. As responsible owners of this breed we must take extra precautionary steps in order to insure everyone (dogs and people alike) are never in danger. This is only my opinion of course, but I feel it's better to return the pup now, if you are not fully prepared to do what must be done as a responsible pit bull/am staff owner. Regards, Leri  |
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Post by Cheyenne Indians AST on Mar 14, 2004 13:09:08 GMT -5
I think that is it very important that your dogs are living in a group that in balance , so if you have more dogs that they all let one be the alpha dog and the rest lower in rank.
Thats very important , as long as a group of animals ( same with monkeys , lions , giraffes etc etc) agree with the alpha , its ok.
But if you have two more dominant dogs they will fight to see how will be in charge , thats always the case .
So look for a pup that fills in the spot and look at the characters first.
john
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Post by Cheyenne Indians AST on Mar 14, 2004 13:10:14 GMT -5
Leri , i reduced the size of your posted picture , it was hugh - hope you understand ;D
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Post by Cheyenne Indians AST on Mar 14, 2004 13:28:06 GMT -5
I forgot to introduce myself , but my name is john meijer and i am proud owner of a small hobby dog kennel , own 7 adult amstaffs that we placed in france , czech rep. , italy and three with us.
We have amstaffs since 1988 and had a few litters - since 1986 i train my dogs and i teached others.
Your story is important for all people that dont know our breeds , as i wrote in my previous answer , it has got nothing to do with a certain breed , all breeds are alike , as long as they except the leader of the hurdle.
Amstaffs , apbt , staffordshire , bullterriers are not more agressive , but they have a strong will , they know that they are stronger and more competitive.
I have placed dogs with other partner breeders , the reason was simple , we have a good group and they know and agree with the leader , if there is another dog that wants to become leader and a fight is coming , i have to find a solution for that problem.
If you have more then 4 dogs that situation can always happen , with just two i dont see any problems at all.
But you as the boss / leader of the group have to educate and socialize your new pup , and train her or him well .
If your present dog dont like strange dogs and is anti social , you will of course have a problem , you can wait for it to happen.
So its all up to you as leader of the group , you are in charge and you have to make that clear to the dogs in question.
john
Ps im also founder of this board
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Carla
Junior Member
Posts: 19
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Post by Carla on Mar 28, 2004 0:26:37 GMT -5
My name is Carla and I've had Am Stafs for 25 years. I have been the manager at White Rock Kennels for the past 10 years.
With just one female and one male dog, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. They may very well get along just fine and be fine companions. But they do not have to be together when you are not home, and I would highly recommend you DO crate one when you are not home.
There IS a possiblility they WILL NOT get along and then you must be prepared to keep them seperated always.
Be sure you spend time with each dog ALONE and AWAY from the other dog. If you do not, you will find your Am Staf puppy may prefer the company of the other dog to yours ;and this will make him more difficult to train.
Carla
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bones
Junior Member
Posts: 11
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Post by bones on May 1, 2004 16:48:04 GMT -5
hmmm. I have been breeder (Staffbull), I have a dogschool and I'm experienced in dogsport (Schutzhund, Obedience, Agility). Right now I have a female Malinois, because the law here doesn't allow the breeding of Staffbulls. For years I had a heap of Staffbulls (7), we integrated grown uncastrated males and females into that group and never had a problem, we never separated any of them. Our alpha was a guard dog who protected our farm (in Africa) against wild animals and street dogs, he killed some as well. But with his pack, with his family he was the most gentle dog I have known. The dogs also got along with the chicken, geese, sheep, cows etc. on the farm. Maybe Staffbulls are different from other bull breeds, I have a dog school and we had quite a few Amstaffs and Pitbulls, I always had the feeling that once they experience a real fight, they start loving the thrill of it. They usually never start a fight, but they wont back down if another dog begs for it.
One very important thing: A lot of people confuse aggression behaviour towards other dogs with aggression towards humans. Those dogs know the difference between humans and dogs very well, the most vicious dogfighter can be the very best and most reliable friend of a 4 year-old. In my eyes there is no dog breed as reliable and trustworthy with kids as a Staffbull. It's for me the ultimate dograce for small kids.
Any dog(race) might turn out to be aggressive towards your dog so with any second dog you must be prepared to separate the two IF they don't get along. That's the responsibility of a two-or-more-dog-owner.
Greetings
Mareike
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