for instance staffies?! okay back in the day bullterriers were used for bull baiting an dog fighting, when they were stopped they were used for ratting and badger baiting.
then the breed was modified to be a more family pet and they changed the name of it to staffordshire bull terrier, (yes i know there are still bull terriers around) :)
staffies (to me) are renowned for being lively compact dogs that when well trained are great family pets, great companions aswel as being fantastic guard dogs..
but my dad on the other hand still thinks of them as vicious maulling need all to be put down to prevent the breed continuing....
i understand that these days there are a lot of Staffie and other large breed dogs in news reports for attacking people and children. but isnt that because they are so powerful they just cause more damage, and because some people love to hate something?
all dogs can/could bite, just depends on how strong the dog is on how much damage it does..
but my main question/ concern is, isnt the bad owners for not training these dogs and beating them mistreating them etc that are to be blamed not the whole breed of dog?!
other examples of breeds like pitbuls, rotties, german shepherds etc...
i have a staffie and he is so gentle!! i have a 20month old and a 4year old and they climb all over him sit on him feed him 4year old can even walk him on lead cos he doesnt pull...(because ive trained him!) when someone comes to the door he'l bark and growl till i say stop then he sits behind me unless he needs to come up n protect me... ( which he has had to do before and could quite possibly saved me getting robbed or worse!)
i would never leave any dog alone with a child, but i do fully trust my dog regardless what are your opinions on this breed and similar.. and does anyone see where im coming from that a whole breed of dog shouldnt be said to be vicious just because a small percentage of them have mucked up?!

pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

there are people in this world that rape murder and steal, that doesnt mean the whole human race is scum?!!!!

IM IN TOTAL AGREEMENT !!

I ADORE STAFFYS !!

I've saved so many off the streets and they're so loving !!

It's the people that do it.
Was not Sparky on Little Rascals a staffordshire bull terrier.

i totally agree. people have narrow minds because they're uneducated, out of fear, listen to mainstream society, breed the said dogs to be aggressive, etc. it's all humans fault.

There is no problem with any breed of dog, it is usually the owners and how they treat the dogs. I have always found smaller dogs to be the worst, especially terriers as they seem to have the 'Big Man Complex'. If you treat any dog as a family member not make them fighters then you should never have a problem. I have always had big dogs, staffies, german shepherds etc and never had a problem. You look after them and they will look after you but be the best friends you could ever ask for.

Bull breeds have been designed to kill, they share the same trait as most terriers in that they are tenacious and won't stop until they have completed what they set out to do and it is near on impossible to stop them. This is what makes them so much more dangerous than other dogs such as lhasa apso's, pomeranians etc which I believe are a lot more aggressive than bull breeds in general. You never see children being savaged by an pomeranian gone wild in the papers because the impact is so much less! I fully agree with you that owners of some of these aggressive dogs are sometimes to blame but sometimes just like people and all breeds of dogs you do get the odd bad apple! I think that there are a lot less staffies attacking people than other breeds of dogs but it is just the impact that they make by being so powerful. It is a shame as they are such lovely dogs, really good people dogs.

The reason people are so narrow minded is because they lack the education in the dog dept. If they studied up more and didn't soley rely on the media for advice/info they'd be better off. There's no better information than personal experience! :)

You are accusing people of making sweeping, inaccurate generalizations of breeds, yet you yourself are doing the same. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
The majority of dogs that attack are not beaten and abused. Some are even very well trained.
I am not saying all dogs of any breed are bad, but there are certain breeds that have certain temperaments that are more likely to be involved with aggression issues, either from poor handling, lack of training or even just poor genetics.