Bull Breed Owners

[KathyM]

Crikey, you mean people pay *more* than that? Horses for courses I suppose. Not to my taste though.

[Rumpole]

wot she said pink and lilac with and without diamante are very popular and yes they can be done in leather i know cos ive made them and they are hand made stiched everything theres not a machine in sight near any that i do, the old way is the best and i dont do off the shelf in leather either its very important that leather harnesses fit properly and i dont charge 75 quid either (which is possibly why im skint lol)

[GSDFan]

I would think that most people on here or on other rescue forums know a lot of very nice BB dogs and their owners. Even people who have had a bad experience will still have a generally favourable opinion.

 

In the real world though I suspect it largely depends upon where you live as to what general opinion you will form of BB owners.

 

The area I lived in for about 7 years had very few nice owners, I'm not judging by appearances I'm judging by actions. BB's were predominantly owned by kids who wanted to be 'ard, blokes that were 'ard, dealers and fighting people, either the ones that attended organised dog fights or the ones that took their dogs to the local field. When they no longer wanted their dog is was dumped or if it was lucky taken to the pound.

 

The area I now live in has very few BB's. I can only actually think of 4.

 

Two ( dog and a bitch ) live with a lovely family who adore their dogs and spoil them rotten. They unfortunately are in some ways an accident waiting to happen, the bitch is great and very well behaved, the dog isn't well behaved at all and every time he is let off lead clears off and won't come back. This happens about once a week on average but his ever adoring owners think it is cruel to always keep him on lead or to instil any form of discipline. He also likes to escape and terrorise his neighbours cats.

 

Another is owned by someone I know of sort of second hand, the only reason I know about her is that she was struggling to find homes for a litter of puppies she had bred. They were bred because she thought they would be a nice little earner. Very nice puppies they were too, I saw the photographs, but at 14 weeks old she still had 5 of them and was getting desperate.

 

The fourth is an adorable youngster, either Am Bull or Pit Bull, the young teenager who was walking her told me she was a Pit Bulll, I suggested she was more likely Am Bull. I was talking to her because the young bitch desperately wanted to come and say hello to me and had pulled the girl over in her attempts to get to me.

 

So, not many round here, and those are owned by people who are nice but possibly a bit foolish.

 

Recent events and the media coverage hasn't done anything to enhance the reputation of BB's or their owners.

 

There have been a few attacks lately by Staffy type dogs, the latest I think are the ones in the Peterborough area which I think must have been very scary for the people whose dogs were attacked and particularly scary for the lady who had an angina attack as a result of what had happened. I doubt the people involved in those attacks will have a terribly good opinion of the owners of the dogs which were attacking, neither will many people who have read the newspaper reports and seen the T.V.

 

Those sort of things have a knock on effect and make it harder for the good owners.

 

Like most things, people remember the bad and forget the good. Nice dogs, with nice owners don't tend to make the news.

 

Maybe BB's are unlucky enough, because of the way they look to attract bad owners, just as GSD's and Rotts did in the past.

 

Unfortunately though, let's face it, you don't get too many dealers who have a poodle in the yard protecting the back entrance, or lads who take their Labradors down the field to see which is the best fighter.

 

A few years ago it was Rotties, before that it was GSD's, no doubt in time it will be another breed.

[Ruby1Nic]

I seem to be very lucky where I live. I have read horror stories here, and elsewhere, regarding owners with lack of consideration and out of control dogs. I've never encountered a problem here and that's in 14 yrs of living here.

 

We meet a variety of dogs when out and about. There's a male staffy on our estate - he's lovely. We meet an older lady who has, I think, 3 equally older staffies who trundle along behind her . We often meet an EBT in our local park who plays nicely with all the doggies that meet up there. There's also a Rottie/Doberman cross owned by an elderly gentleman.

 

I took a walk to a different park yesterday and Ruby was charging about with a little JRT. I heard this snuffling noise behind my legs (sounded like a pig ), I turned round and it was a 'well conditioned' little staffie who was trying to get at the treats in my back pocket She was being pursued, rather slowly, by an apologetic and embarrassed gentleman who must have been in his 70s.......he may have been 'ard in his youth I guess

[EGAR]

Ruby, your post made me chuckle. Vivid imagination and all that .

[Fee]

I was upset at training class the other week, chatting to a woman there who is a trainer herself and competes in OB with her two beautiful GSPs. She's a lovely person, brilliant with dogs and extremely knowledgeable, yet when she mentioned meeting a staffie when she was out on a walk recently her lip curled and she couldn't keep the distaste out of her voice. Of course I stood up for them but I'm sure it did no good.

 

But then..... I was out for a walk with my own dogs recently on a narrow path when I saw a gang of lads walking towards me, not doing anything wrong but drinking special brew and being a bit rowdy with a staffie running around offlead and barking. I backed off and went a different way. It wasn't just the fact it was staffie, it was the combination of dog and owners - if it had been a staffie out with a family I wouldn't have thought twice. If the gang of lads had a cav or something (lol) running round with them that wouldn't have worried me either, but as it was I just wasn't preapred to take the risk of getting my three past their dog. Perhaps that makes me 'breedist' too

[Ian]

But then..... I was out for a walk with my own dogs recently on a narrow path when I saw a gang of lads walking towards me, not doing anything wrong but drinking special brew and being a bit rowdy with a staffie running around offlead and barking. I backed off and went a different way. It wasn't just the fact it was staffie, it was the combination of dog and owners - if it had been a staffie out with a family I wouldn't have thought twice. If the gang of lads had a cav or something (lol) running round with them that wouldn't have worried me either, but as it was I just wasn't preapred to take the risk of getting my three past their dog. Perhaps that makes me 'breedist' too

 

 

Just what have you got against special brew?

 

More seriously though, perhaps more a case of being sensible in that instance.

 

 

 

Sarah, Personally I wouldn't let peoples prejudices worry me too much. Why should you worry about their ignorance / prejudices?

 

Back in my teens a friend had a great little staffie called Tyson. If I hadn't grown up with a German Shepherd I might well have been tempted by a Staffie myself. (I don't have a skin head, piercings, tattoos or consider myself a nuiscence either by the way)

[~Canis-Equus~]

I've got to admit to loathing traditional staffie harnesses. Sorry. I think I've built up a stereotype locally of the type that *have* to have them, and then gloat about how it cost £75, despite the fact it doesn't fit and the dog's rattling round in it. I always think they could've spent that money getting their dog's immense knackers taken off.

 

I think it also stems from the fact that if you ask somewhere for gear for a Bullmastiff, that's what is automatically offered - "Do you want Yorkshire roses, or do you want these delightful Bulldog heads on it?". I felt exactly the same when I could only find a coat on eBay in Seth's size that was Burberry (bleurgh). I would love to see the big chunky harnesses done in pink. Don't think they'd sell quite as well though somehow *lmao*. And besides, if it's about £75 here for a staffie one in brown leather with tacky ornamental bits, God knows how much it'd cost of one in pink for a Bullmastiff.

 

 

Kathy, you can't buy the proper traditional harnesses in a shop as such, they are all hand made on order for individual dogs and may I say with matching lead and maybe a nice leather collar you spend more than £75 and Yorkshire Roses would be a insult to the Pride of the Black Country

 

There are actually red and pink leather collars to buy somewhere in Bristol

 

Im worse Kaffy......

 

I HATE the harnesses i see on staffies...... because i CRINGE seeing cheap leather, rivetted together, unfinished edges, chapes and turns not skived smooth.... machine stitching.

 

And then still hear that they paid over £80 for it!

 

My harnesses come in any colour you like, trad staffie knots, heads, daisies, clenchers, dots..... or non trad hearts, roses, stars, suns, moons..... swarovski crystal if you like!

 

Melf - you must be nicer than me, i charge around £95 for a plain harness, going up for padding, more decoration, different design, and leads START at £25!

 

Ive had staffy people spend HUNDREDS, and no, these are not chavs with a 'hard dog', these are normal nice people (well i say normal... yanno, dog owner normal), who take pride in their dog and the breed and like the tradition.

 

Would it not be weird and sad if say, those into traditional heavy working horses, did not dress them up in their finery, plait manes and tails with straw and flights?

 

Why should the minority be allowed to turn what is a tradition and means NOTHING about a dogs temperament, any more than being tattooed means a person is a thug or wearing a hoodie means they are a mugger...... into a sign that says an animal is dangerous?

 

Staffy people, go forth and retake the right to use leather harnesess, in whatever style you choose!