Howya Buddies?

Hello everyone,

My name is Michael and I'm from Birmingham. Yesterday me and my family adopted a beautiful 1 or 2 year old Staffordshire from Dogs Trust. A beautiful dog, very very playful. Me and Belle (not my choice!) hit it off straight away and well, I couldn't say no to her!

She is our first Staffordshire Bull Terrier in about 20 years. Our first dog was a SBT crossed with a Labrador who was bought when she was just 6 weeks old and when I was 6 months old. She was a lovely dog but sadly died when she was five. After that, we had a border collie for 19 years until again she passed away quite recently (about two weeks after turning 19). It did hit me really hard, so you can imagine how special Belle is if she's made me feel good again!

So yeah, I'm here to learn and share experiences about owning a wonderful dog! And I hope to learn a lot about the breed

Hi &

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Hi & welcome! It's very ahard when you lose a dog that you've had for so many years - you must have looked after her really well.

Belle sounds a sweetie - any pics?

If you don't like her name you could change it. Just decide on a new name and give her a treat every time she reacts to it.

Cheers, she was very well looked after. The mother would feed her can's of Tuna and cooked chicken. She was fed better than I was!!

And no not yet. We're picking her up on Sunday so I will upload the pics then!

Well I didn't choose the name, my sister and Dad did. She seems to respond to it, and it's better than the name given to her at the dogs home: Blue Ivy.

Hiya and welcome from me and Moo.

Congrats on your new addition and well done on rescuing Looking forward to see some pics Xx

hello and welcome to the forum form me and billy, looking forward to seeing lots of pics

Hi and welcome from me, Millie and Bella

Hello and welcome from me the wife and marley

Hi and welcome to the forum from Rocky and me.

Belle sounds lovely, bet you cant wait until Sunday to pick her up, how exciting, we would love some pics too.

Hi and welcome from Tyson & me.

Thank you all for the welcome! Wasn't expecting it to be this friendly, it is a nice surprise!

hi & welcome

Welcome to the forum from me and my girls Kita & Izzy

Hi and welcome

welcome

Hi from me Skye and buster

Welcome from me and Max

Welcome from me and Tilly , well done on the rescue and don't forget them pictures

Hi welcome! Sorry about your loss, but 19! Wow thats a good age

Hope you enjoy belle, it's great that you rescued. Lots of pics required!

Hi and welcome from Roxy and me
Well done for rescuing looking forward to seeing the pics!!

Big welcomes from me and my gang and congrats on your new family member. sorry about your collie but what a fab age x

Thank you everyone for the kind replies

As soon as she comes home and I get 5 minutes (which is a luxury right now!) I will post pics

Hi, and can I just say a big well done for getting a rescue dog, staffies have such a hard time of it, so unfairly too.

I'm new here too and we adopted ours from the blue cross just before christmas after losing our staffy x before that, they are such a lovely breed to own x

Sorry to hear that! It was hard for me anyway going round the kennels looking at all the dogs. I'd take them all home, but I got a bit emotional too as I remembered my old dog.

The one thing that shocked me, and you might have noticed this (seeing as your from the West Midlands like myself) but at the Birmingham Dogs Home about 90% of the dogs there are SBT's. I asked a woman why there were so many, and she wasn't exactly friendly in her reply. She said "we don't choose what dogs come here, these are what we find". I didn't like that, I genuinely wanted to know why there were a high number of them there. I still don't know why even now, but it doesn't matter

HI Mick, I'm the other half.

To answer your question, Staffies are a much maligned breed in this Country. The reason for this is the stigma they have attached, due to those who use the dogs for a specific kind of attention. This is both cruel to the dog, and other people.

They are also fiercly overbred, and are particularly hard to rehome due to the reasons mentioned above - so the poor things get looked over, in so much as, many people just don't even consider them.

The fact remains however, that with key training, love & care (as with all dogs) they make for exceptional pets & companions (as you know).

I am not surprised your reception was a little frosty, it is a very emotive subject for many rehoming centres. Even after having a staffy previously, The Blue Cross grilled us firstly, in a way that felt as though they were testing our resolve and commitment - and at a VERY sensitive time! After going through the whole process however, not only did I understand WHY, but I was very glad they did.

In summary it is a combination of many factors. The breed's stigma & incorrect reputation, leading to many having an incorrect perception. Back street over breeding. And people who do not understand bull breeds and their commitment/reward nature, finding them troublesome to train and understand, and thus giving them up. This is leading to there being a hugely disproportionate amount of staffies in homing centres.

Staffies require commitment. They need solid but compassionate training, but the rewards, love & loyalty they show in return is more than worth the time investment required. A balanced, well mannered, well trained Staffy is one of the most characterful & amazing dogs you can imagine - the problem is, the public do not know this. They remain feared, overbred, maligned, & unfairly judged - a recipe for very busy doggie centres....

They are, a true dog lovers dog.

We just need to re-educate the public. This is something I'm getting more actively involved in now. I will pass on more information in this regard, as things develop.

I hope this helps clear up the issue. Let's all keep our staffies well trained, well mannered, & create ambassadors for the breed!

Staffies ROCK!
Richie

well said

Thanks Richie, it does make sense what you've said. I've never thought Staffs were violent dogs, especially after having our first dog. But there are alot of people out there (my girlfriend included) who put them in the same bracket as the pit bull and other dogs. From my girlfriends point of view, it's the way they sit that makes them intimidating, and I see her point. But if you look at their eyes they aren't very vicious eyes, they're quite friendly really.

It does make me laugh though that people seem to think one dog is born to be dangerous compared to another. Obviously the SBT was bread for fighting 100's of years ago, but that doesn't mean they will automatically bite you if you give them a rub. The biggest joke of the lot is that people view a Jack Russell as a "cute" dog, and the two I've known have been yappie little blighter's who given half a chance WOULD bite you.

At the end of the day, dogs are like humans. If you mistreat a human and abuse them early in life they will turn out bad. If you treat a human with love care and attention they will grow up to be respectable adults who are incredibly friendly. The same goes for dogs.

But yes, I will be doing my best to prove that these SBT's are lovely animals, and are much better than Jack Russells

Hi Mike,

Again mentioning the fighting aspect - yes they were used for Pit fighting. Again however what is little understood (from my own research), is that whilst they were using them for the "sport" there was a key issue, & this was the judges being able to handle, and inspect them AFTER a fight had taken place. Back in the day it was completely unacceptable to have a dog that would attack a human - even directly after taking place in this "sport!". So whilst, in this particular reference, they were being bred for strength & courage, they were also bred to be SPECIFICALLY PLACID with humans!

Think of a boxer, they fight in the ring for sport - but it would be most frowned upon (to say the least lol!) for the boxer, after winning a bout, to then attack the referee lol! It is a bit of a daft and hopefully funny analogy, but it is actually how it was viewed. An attack on the judge was an absolute NO! I have however also read notes suggesting they were bred to BE a nanny dog, and protect the gentry's children from being taken & then held for ransom - there does however seem to be more evidence I have found supporting the former.

This research also let me to startling findings! I may have this wrong now, it's from memory, but I believe they were bred from a mixture of English Terrier, Bull Dog, Greyhound and Dalmation!

I also (from memory) read an insurance report that recorded dog attack claims. The list included the likes of Jack Russels, Dashunds, Chihauhau's - all WAY ahead of staffies in the list (don't recall them even being on the list!).

Staffies have cheeky, mischievious & loving eyes in my opinion. As for the way they sit, it makes me laugh, and I find when they lie down they remind me a bit of a frog haha!

Not everyone will love staffies, short haired, stocky, bullish & stubborn at times - but their characters are so unique to their breed I just adore them!! I grew up around them, they scared me when I was younger I have to admit, & when we had our first (Staffy/Jack Russel cross ironically lol) I was very concerned I had done the right thing as our daughter was only 1 year old! However, she would have done anything for our daughter - a real guardian - never saw her as her master, & as such wouldn't really listen to her lol, but they were damn near inseparable. Testiment to her beautiful temperament is that my daughter would grab her tail, and the dog would take her all round the house like the cutest little train you have ever seen haha!

Thing is, even though we were devastated when she passed away just before Christmas - a week of not having a staffy in the house made us realise something.

Our house would never be a home without one. So now we have the absolute nutter - as my daughter calls her "The Tinselator" haha. Also you can let your partner know, that my daughter will also be dog walking soon at our local staffie centre, she is only 11 years old & is a HUGE staffie fan now - there is NO WAY we would let her do that if we did not have faith in the breed. (Our daughter is also partial to chastising anyone at her school, who dares breathe a negative word about staffies, or even pit bulls lol!)

Hope this helps
Richie

A truly marvellous breed.

looby wrote:Again mentioning the fighting aspect - yes they were used for Pit fighting. Again however what is little understood (from my own research), is that whilst they were using them for the "sport" there was a key issue, & this was the judges being able to handle, and inspect them AFTER a fight had taken place. Back in the day it was completely unacceptable to have a dog that would attack a human - even directly after taking place in this "sport!". So whilst, in this particular reference, they were being bred for strength & courage, they were also bred to be SPECIFICALLY PLACID with humans!

That's partly true, but also the fighting dogs were originally kept in the home. Small houses with loads of children in them, all running around & crawling on the floor! The dogs had to be good with people, and especially children, for them to be kept in the home.

looby wrote:This research also let me to startling findings! I may have this wrong now, it's from memory, but I believe they were bred from a mixture of English Terrier, Bull Dog, Greyhound and Dalmation!

I think you have your breeds a little mixed up! The staff was bred mainly from crosses between bulldogs & terriers (ie bull & terriers). It was the EBT that had dalmation added during its formation. Greyhound? I've not heard that one before, but again, I think it would be more likely the EBT than the staff.

Hi and welcome. Sorry to hear about your loss but what a special girl to have a good home.

Right well we got her home on Sunday and she's adorable! Very playful and is very fond of licking faces. I think she is suffering from separation anxiety as whenever someone leaves the room she'll stare at the door and whimper. This has started to ease though and she's getting used to us leaving the room (and going to bed!).

I've attached some photos, but whenever she see's me with the phone she comes up and starts sniffing!

hiyas from Pippa and I I am originally from Erdington, but have been in Australia for most of my life My first Staffy.. very interesting dog.. so loving and smart

Blakrose wrote:hiyas from Pippa and I I am originally from Erdington, but have been in Australia for most of my life My first Staffy.. very interesting dog.. so loving and smart

Why would you want to leave Birmingham? Hello!

Hello and welcome from Zac and me