I have had another episode of Amber fighting with a spaniel and just wondered the best way to deal with the situation.
We were on the field this afternoon-Amber was offlead-shes absolutely fine with all dogs. I saw a woman ahead of me with a spaniel on an extending lead-Amber moseyed over to see them and the spaniel went for Amber snarling and trying to bite her.
 She came away so I called her to me to put her on the lead and as she walked towards me the spaniel went for her again. This time Amber retaliated-and I had the usual hysterics with the other person absolutely screaming,trying to  hit Amber on the head with her launcher,her dog trying to bite Amber and me trying to catch hold of her. I know at this time many of you will say-she should be under control and listen to you which I totally agree with-and normally she is very good but when another dog is aggressive towards her she just focuses on attacking that dog and nothing else.
I finally got hold of her-the woman was checking her dog over and I was trying to point out her dog was biting Amber too.
A bloke was walking past with his dog and I can almost see the thought going through his head-nasty bloody staffy again going for the spaniel.
She then screamed at me It should be on a lead. I told her my dog would have been fine if your dog hadnt been aggressive in the first place.
I know many dogs do have fear aggression, I always try and get her on the lead if I see other dogs on leads-many times people will say No its fine-I just dont let mine off, she runs away, he wont come back ect.
I know Im partly responsible but whats the best way to deal with this.
 Should I just put her on the lead as soon as I see others with their dogs on leads just in case. She is so sociable-I know not all dogs are and dont always want to be approached and I try and read the body language  of the  dog but its getting quite stressful now wondering if the other dogs are going to kick off which will always get a reaction-she never starts anything but will always finish it.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I had the same problem with Tasha and she went to 'play' with another dog who was on a lead. This dog bit her and ended up ripping part of Tashas ear off. If you look through the old blogs you will see my blog about it. I also posted pictures of her ear.

The owner of the other dog (stsfy cross) said she was nervous and like yourself i partly blamed myself as the other dog was on a lead.

Due to other dogs unpredictability and the injury Tasha got I put her on a lead whenever I see another dog unless its on I know is ok.

Kaz

Having a dog aggressive dog, I can only give you advice from my point of view - if you see the other dog is on the lead, it's obviously on the lead for a reason - whether, as you said, it's because it runs away or, like mine, cos they're dog aggressive.  I'd suggest as soon as you see another dog, to call Amber back, pop her on the lead until you can find out if the other dog is OK or not - if it's OK and is only on the lead cos it runs away, then you can let her go and say hello no problem.

 

I nearly have heart failure when I see some poor dog come running over trying to be friendly cos I know that Cairo will kick off and I don't want to traumatise or even injure the other dog.  I've often called (nicely I might add) over to people that Cairo isn't good with other dogs, so they might like to hold on to their own till I get past.  Most people do, but you get the odd few that shout back that their dog is OK (yeah, great, but mine isn't) and I fear that their dog would come over, Cairo would kick off and the other dog would retaliate (which I don't blame it for - if someone came shouting and threatening me, I'd retaliate too) and we end up with a fight.

 

I'm not in any way being critical - just trying to give you the scenario from the point of view of a person with a mental thug of a dog!!

I appreciate your thoughts ladies-I know I have to be vigilant but again as in  the last case the woman never said a word-just let Amber trot up- I thought the dog was ok because she never said anything nor started to walk away with her dog and then next thing the dogs lunging at Amber.
I didnt manage to get her on the lead straight away Margret-she was coming towards me-the other dog was on an extending lead and it jusy went for her as she came towards me again-which caused Amber to attack it.
I feel awful-I dont want anyones dog to be hurt-I dont want people thinking Amber is nasty because she isnt -and the thing is Alison not all dogs are on a lead for a reason-I have met numerous people who have dogs on the lead and when I ask them they just say I darent let him off-not that they have let their dog off and it does a runner but the owner is too nervous to let them off-which is their perogative but some dogs do go on the defensive when on the lead-I suppose thats my answer-to keep her away .
I suppose allI can do is get her on as fast as I can and see how the dogs are  when I reach them.
 Thank you ladies-I appreciate it-its no wonder I have high blood pressure.

oh not what an awful experience.  I will reply  to this blog a little later after work cos I don't have time now but i just wanted to say that amber is not at fault at all, she was attacked and she defended herself.  You can't have amber on the lead always, the poor angel.  Will reply later xxx

thing is, will a average adult staff be attacked without having ago back?? i wouldnt have thought theres many? even the best trained dog will get selective hearing when something as interesting as a fight is on the cards! she wasnt really attacking the dog, just letting them know she wont sit there and take it, a full blown attack is a different story altogether. not a great deal you can do, most people think staffs are aggresive anyway, its only sbt owners who know different. i suppose the best thing to do for the dog/s safety is to keep her on a lead unless you know she will be fine with the other dog/s. theres no real fix, think ive said it a million times but its the only downside to owning one...hth

Thanks Elena and Ozbod-I do agree with you hun-most adult staffs arent going to take a dog lunging and snarling at them without retaliating. I can honestly say Amber has never been aggressive to another dog without it starting first-she once told a pup off because it was going for her stick-and she now goes for a poodle and a westie without provocation-I have to put her on the lead when we see these two dogs but again-they went for her first and she remembers them so obvioulsy thinks she will get her attack in first.
Also-she wasnt in a full blown attack as you so rightly say Ozbod-Ive tried explaining this one also to other owners but they dont understand-with Staffys sometimes and with Amber in particular-its very much a warning for the dogs-there is a lot of growling and noise and you think shes murdering the other dog but there is not a mark on them-occasional fur missing but if she really wanted to cause severe damage to that dog or any other with her jaws she could do it.
Im not excusing her at all but I do think in the circumstances she cant be completely blamed for reacting to a dog going for her several times in the space of a minute..
Speak to you later Elena-thanks for your comment Ozbod1. xx

Hiya hun.

Not nice and it must of frightened the life out of you it did me when mags had a tantrum with a westie, all you can do is be vigilant and keep up work on her recall, like you say its not all dogs its just those 1 in 10 that make you paranoid to high hell and back every time you go out.

Hope your both okay xx

It's a rotten thing to have happened.  And really bad of the woman not to say anything.  See, if that had been me, as soon as I saw Amber and that she was off the lead, I would have just turned swiftly round and headed in the opposite direction - which would have given you an indication that there was a problem and would have put some distance between my aggressive dog and Amber.

 

And it's definitely right - I wouldn't ever expect a dog not to retaliate if another one was having a major go at it.  I have been working with Cairo and had got him to a point where he would just sit nicely for another dog to go past - until an old man let his aggressive, moisy little dog have a go - it was on an extending lead and he let it get closer and closer until Cairo couldn't contain himself anymore and retaliated.  I had given him his toy that day too when I saw the dog and he ended up with blood pouring out of his mouth cos he obviously bit his tongue or the inside of his mouth when he was having a go back.  Anyway, that incident wrecked any progress that we'd made.

 

It's such a shame though that it gets to a point where a walk becomes a less than pleasant experience.

 

Thank you Margaret,Yas ,Alison-you are right about what you say-its partly my fault and partly her fault.
It does take the pleasure out of walking-I have two JRT  as well which adds to the stress but as we all know everyone focuses on the Staffy-and because the JRT just tend to do a lot of barking then i go for Amber first to stop the problem escalating.
I just wish people with dogs on leads would explain and open their mouths or like you do Alison-walk away-then if Amber gets bitten in the process or she bites another dog I am 100% to blame .
Thanks ladies-always appreciate your advice. xx

Hi hun sorry this hapened, its always worrying when a squabble breaks out.
My feelings are - and I am trying to achieve this with Venus at the moment is that I want my dogs to do my bidding basically. Toby is fantastic, he will chase his ball and fetch it back and repeat till its time to come home. The ball is paramount, the main source of fun. Toby dosent even notice anybody or anything else. I am getting there with Venus but still have a little way to go - she stands and you can see her mind thinking shall I go play with that dog or should I stay here. I am acting like a complete looney to get the message across that its far more fun to stay and play with us. Up to this time if I saw a dog approaching on a lead I would pop her back on her lead and concentrate on fun, praise, treats, and watch me.
My aim is to get her at the level of Toby. We own dogs that others are quick to condemn and its up to us to have as much control as possible over our dogs to prevent situations arising which give people the amunition they need to spout off about our dogs. 
When you are meeting dogs and owners on a regular basis and know that the dogs will interact well together then thats just great. We had 3 dogs joining my two this morning chasing after the ball. Its obvious her dogs like chasing the ball but the silly woman never brings one for them!!
Sorry I'm rambling - my advice in a nutshell is dont let Amber approach any dog on a lead then they cant turn on Amber.