Post by dakota on Sept 26, 2003 0:27:26 GMT -5
The biggest heart, the biggest faith.
Never, ever, ever scream and lose your temper at an AmStaff. If you have a short temper, or like to insist on instantaneous obedience in an untrained puppy, you can completely damage this dog. You can break its heart, and once damaged in this way an Amstaff might not recover its confidence, ever.
Burly and bouncy and funny and confident and sassy, the American Staffordshire Terrier dog needs to be respected for what it is: a strong, intelligent terrier, with the most obedient and faithful heart of any terrier. If you cannot look at a "pit bull" - looking dog without fear in your heart, stay away from this breed, because you will betray the faith of the most faithful of dogs. Please, please do NOT make the mistake that because the dog is tough-looking on the outside, and acts hardy like a terrier, that they can handle harsh treatment. AmStaffs are actually VERY soft hearted, and if you make them think you do not trust them they may never forgive themselves. I cannot emphasize this enough. They NEED to know that they did it right for you (whatever "it" is) and that you are impressed by them. Dont be decieved by the apparent devil-may-care, independent-teenager attitude! It is a front. An American Staffordshire Terrier can be softer in this respect than a Golden Retriever, if you can imagine. This does not mean they cannot handle corrections, in training. It means they cannot be trained by "dominating" them; they must be trained by appealing to their substantial reason and intelligence. They cannot handle rage or emotional overloading from their handler. If you cannot manage your temper, you cannot train this dog.
Here's a tip for puppies: AmStaffs are terriers, though they look like bulldogs. They will naturally be mouthy, especially with other dogs, and will naturally want to play-fight with other dogs by play-biting at the throat. DO NOT PANIC, this does NOT mean your puppy is a scary pitbull killer! It means it is a terrier puppy. If the behaviour bothers you, teach the puppy to soft mouth and to "leave it" when you say so.
AmStaffs can be trained to do absolutely any single thing imaginable - if the trainer can bring a faith to the dog that matches the boundless faith this dog is born with. This dog believes in God, if any dog does, and once taught to believe anything or in any one will hold that faith in its big jaws like a bronze statue, you will never shake it.
A final note: These are the descendents of american fighting dogs. Some of them, by no means all, like to scrap with other dogs. You need to know for CERTAIN the degree of willingness-to-fight of the parents of your puppy. As a rule, don't kennel AmStaffs together alone (in your absence) unless you absolutely know that the individual dogs arent inclined to fight. Keep an eye on your AmStaff puppy (males especially) until it is at least four years old. If you find that it likes to fight with other dogs, take the appropriate precautions and dont complain. A liking for fights does NOT signal meanness, or unsafeness with people, it is not related. It does mean however that you had better achieve reliable off-leash obedience with your AmStaff, or else take the responsibility to keep it leashed when other dogs are around.
[glow=red,2,300]Dakota says :[/glow]
does anyone agree with his way of thinking or which way of training you find the best (well if you can talk about best, every dog is different so every traingattitude will be different I think)
Never, ever, ever scream and lose your temper at an AmStaff. If you have a short temper, or like to insist on instantaneous obedience in an untrained puppy, you can completely damage this dog. You can break its heart, and once damaged in this way an Amstaff might not recover its confidence, ever.
Burly and bouncy and funny and confident and sassy, the American Staffordshire Terrier dog needs to be respected for what it is: a strong, intelligent terrier, with the most obedient and faithful heart of any terrier. If you cannot look at a "pit bull" - looking dog without fear in your heart, stay away from this breed, because you will betray the faith of the most faithful of dogs. Please, please do NOT make the mistake that because the dog is tough-looking on the outside, and acts hardy like a terrier, that they can handle harsh treatment. AmStaffs are actually VERY soft hearted, and if you make them think you do not trust them they may never forgive themselves. I cannot emphasize this enough. They NEED to know that they did it right for you (whatever "it" is) and that you are impressed by them. Dont be decieved by the apparent devil-may-care, independent-teenager attitude! It is a front. An American Staffordshire Terrier can be softer in this respect than a Golden Retriever, if you can imagine. This does not mean they cannot handle corrections, in training. It means they cannot be trained by "dominating" them; they must be trained by appealing to their substantial reason and intelligence. They cannot handle rage or emotional overloading from their handler. If you cannot manage your temper, you cannot train this dog.
Here's a tip for puppies: AmStaffs are terriers, though they look like bulldogs. They will naturally be mouthy, especially with other dogs, and will naturally want to play-fight with other dogs by play-biting at the throat. DO NOT PANIC, this does NOT mean your puppy is a scary pitbull killer! It means it is a terrier puppy. If the behaviour bothers you, teach the puppy to soft mouth and to "leave it" when you say so.
AmStaffs can be trained to do absolutely any single thing imaginable - if the trainer can bring a faith to the dog that matches the boundless faith this dog is born with. This dog believes in God, if any dog does, and once taught to believe anything or in any one will hold that faith in its big jaws like a bronze statue, you will never shake it.
A final note: These are the descendents of american fighting dogs. Some of them, by no means all, like to scrap with other dogs. You need to know for CERTAIN the degree of willingness-to-fight of the parents of your puppy. As a rule, don't kennel AmStaffs together alone (in your absence) unless you absolutely know that the individual dogs arent inclined to fight. Keep an eye on your AmStaff puppy (males especially) until it is at least four years old. If you find that it likes to fight with other dogs, take the appropriate precautions and dont complain. A liking for fights does NOT signal meanness, or unsafeness with people, it is not related. It does mean however that you had better achieve reliable off-leash obedience with your AmStaff, or else take the responsibility to keep it leashed when other dogs are around.
[glow=red,2,300]Dakota says :[/glow]
does anyone agree with his way of thinking or which way of training you find the best (well if you can talk about best, every dog is different so every traingattitude will be different I think)