"Dangerous Dog" Pic of The Day

I woke up to news of a dog attack incident in Swindon. A two year old boy has been mauled by dogs BELIEVED to be Staffies. In my opinion, the media only reports the breed when it fits into the ludicrous 'dangerous dogs' category and not otherwise. The media would never report the breed to be a Labrador or a mutt, even if it was, as it doesn't make a story.

I've read some comments saying that Staffies should be banned! Grrr! I'm also very happy to see many people defending the breed.

Update: Just seen the news, reporter said a witness has said it's a bigger not and it doesn't look a staffy and one dog was involved. Not TWO! Why can't the media get their facts straight before putting any pictures of Staffies on their sites? If it's a Staffy, fine, put a pic of a staffy. If you are not sure yet, then don't!! 

Did you know that Dachshund can be agressive too?? No? Check this out. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2254479/Sausage-dogs-are-the-most-aggressive-dogs.html

>> I can't find any updated stats but I am sure Staffies are not on top of that list!

Not all staffies are dangerous. Some are trained to fight by idiots.. most are just trained to be good family pets. 

Here's a pic of Peanut Butter. Taken a month after we adopted her. I'm not sure who this boy is. He was at the pub and kept asking if he could play with Peanut Butter. I watched them play to make sure Peanut would not do anything bad to him or him doing things that Peanut might not like! We even took Peanut for a quick walk round the pub's beer garden while his mum was chatting to her friends!

Boy mauled by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier... NOT!!

Peanut's Story - Part 2

Part 1 of Peanut's story can be found here.


Our previous experiences in trying to adopt a dog had dampened our initial enthusiasm so we took a couple of weeks to think about what we were going to do next.

I had a day off on my birthday and decided we should go to the RSPCA to have a look.

The RSPCA officer asked us a few questions - are we employed, what hours do we work etc. We told her we were interested in Jess, the Staffy that was featured on their notice board. She told us that because my husband and I had not owned a dog together before (we'd both had dogs before we met) and we had no experience in a bull breed before, we couldn't have her.

She took out a folder containing details of the 25 dogs that are suitable for re-homing and went through each one and then said.. "Ah.. here's one. She might be suitable." Just ONE out of the twenty-five! It was a black labrador. Two year old.. and dumped by her family because it didn't like the baby..(ARGH!!) We met it but she didn't seem keen on us.

The lady then said.. "We have puppies".  That's it..we have to see the puppies! You should have seen my husband's eyes light up!

So in the puppy area, there were lots that were already reserved but there were these three staffies in the pen..wanting to get out for a play. 

I was attracted to a brindled one, and I thought my husband had spotted the same puppy, but when the one he asked to meet was taken out of the pen....it was the smallest copper coloured dog with the super tongue! Her name was Medusa - probably because her tongue was like 20 snakes! She also had a very bristly chin which even penetrated thought my jeans! First, she ran the wrong way but then the lady called her back and she saw  all of of us waiting she ran up and the licking commenced :-)

MIL and I were very keen to adopt this puppy but my husband wasn't sure as we would have to house train it. We told the lady that we would think about it and call back should we want to adopt her. We discussed on the way back to the car. Will we be able to train her? Will we be able to deal with the mess before she gets house broken? 

Before we had even got into the car, we had made up our minds. We went back to the RSPCA and said, "Yes, We'll have Medusa please!" The lady at the reception laughed and said that was fast.

A few days later, someone from the RSPCA came to check our house and said every thing should be fine and said someone will call us back and we can arrange for a time to collect Medusa. In the mean time, I was busy reading Cesar Milan's book - How to Raise the Perfect Dog!

On April 14th, we went to collect Medusa who shall now be known as Peanut Butter! I will always remember this day. 

We took her out of the RSPCA, a big truck went past us and she hid behind our legs. Awww! We got her into the car and she was shaking! She hated the car. She sat on my lap and was on her way to her forever home!

Peanut Butter's First Day at Home

She's dog tired...

Peanut's Story - Part 1

After finally getting our first home, my husband and I decided it was time to get a dog.

We looked at various rescue websites and they were mostly Staffies! My husband and MIL suggested getting one but I wasn't sure because I was a bit worried after reading all the bad press about them. (I'm sorry! I was one of those idiots!) but my MIL told me how nice they are and I did some research and decided "OK! A staffy it is!"

So we contacted a rescue centre and enquired about a few dogs there. One of the ladies came over to check our house and made sure that there's enough space for the dog etc. She then told us about the dogs in their care and we told her we were interested in Milo a two year old Staffy. She gave us a bit of his background. He was given up by his owner who bought him in a whim after getting a divorce and now doesn't have time to look after him! (ARGH!)  She gave us the details of the foster home and we went down the next weekend to meet Milo. They told us more about Milo and he seemed like a nice dog.

To cut the long story short, we decided we'll have him and made an appointment to pick him up and sort out the paperwork the next weekend. I was really excited. We bought a doggy bed for him, toys etc!

When we got there, there was the lady from the rescue centre, the fosterers, a dog behaviourists, us, my MIL and her dogs. We wanted to make sure that Milo would get along with MIL's dog. When we got there, the first thing the dog rescue lady said was.."Are you interested in having two beagles instead?". I went "huh? What the hell is this lady talking about? We want Milo!" Anyway, I could feel some tension in the air. It was strange. The rescue lady and the dog behaviourist seemed really nervous..and kept trying to sell us the beagles!

Anyway, we walked to a nearby park. I can still feel the tension. I think it came mainly from the dog behaviourist because of the way she handled Milo.. MIL's dog didn't seem to like Milo very much because of his behaviour. 

When we got to the park and let them off the lead. Milo ran around like a giddy pup and kept jumping on one of MIL's dog who was crying in distress! The main problem was that when MIL's dogs would tell him off he would escalate the problem. I knew it was all over... 

Then one of them mentioned that he's not very good with other dogs and he fought with the foster carers dog and there was blood! OMG! I was so annoyed because they didn't tell us this when we met Milo the first time! We said we can't have a dog like that as my MIL visits often with her dogs. The dog behaviourist suggested that we put Milo in the kennel when my MIL comes visit! That's ridiculous!  What kind of dog behaviourist are you? How can you suggest this? How can I boot my dog out for the day or weeks when my MIL comes visit! It's unfair to Milo!

I knew it then that we are not going home with Milo... so I cried! I was so disappointed...

We were really annoyed with the rescue centre because they weren't honest with us in the beginning. We told them we can't have Milo and the lady kept asking us to get the beagles! We were so annoyed and said we will think about it and left. 

I cried in the car on the way home.. :( 

A few weeks later, we revisited the idea of getting a dog and visited the Dogs Trust. I really like the profile of this old dog, Wilson, we read on their site. "I think this could be our first dog!" I said to myself. We went to Dogs Trust the next weekend and asked to see him. They took us to him and said.. "oh he's not very friendly now.. bit someone the other day". :((( Kennel stress... sigh. They said he's not suitable to be re-homed at the moment. We also met a lovely young lurcher called Jimmy. He was too energetic for us..

So again, I went home disappointed. :(