Did you do your homework?

Before taking on a Stafford?

Did you look into the breed traits?
The breeders?
Health tested parents?
Did you buy just for colour?
The training & Socialising?
Classes?

I think a lot of people take on the breed just for the look and not understand the breed at all - as we see all the time with the newspapers (which 99% of the time these dogs are not TRUE staffords!)

If you chose a breeder, why did you choose that breeder? Did you go for KC pups or from someone out of a newspaper?? What was your reason for it?

Or did you rescue? If you did - what checks were made to make sure you were right for that dog?

Interested to hear your replies.

Moo is a rescue, my ex kept my first Staff so when the time was right and I was settled again I new I wanted another, saw Missy aka Moo and loved her, 4 years later........

Rocky went into a rescue centre on 6th December 2010. We went in and saw him there on 16th December 2010. Just a coinsidence for the date he was not a Christmas present. They came out and did a home check before we bought him home and another about a week or two later to see how things were going. Nearly years later...............

Or did you rescue?

yep ..

what checks were made to make sure you were right for that dog?

no checks .. just instict
well no checks per say .. just asked myself do i have the means and  time to give her a comfortable life ..

didn't choose by breed .. it were the way she approached me when i looked into her kennel and how she behaved on her introduction walk
she wasn't barking like most of the other inmates .. she were wagging her tail and her body language were sayin' Pleeeeeeeeze Take Me Home with You .. I'm So Unhappy Here .. so i did do that ..

didn't know anything about Staffy's .. or Stb.x's .. prior to that .. never even contemplated one as a canine companion .. ..
( always had ignored the nasty newspaper articles .. )

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the rescue kennels made no checks on me to see if i were suitable

kozmos wrote:

the rescue kennels made no checks on me to see if i were suitable

I find that awful that the 'rescue' didn't do any checks on you - luckily you have offered a wonderful home I'm sure - but it could have been a different story for her.

My oh wanted a Stafford, but it was me who did all the research! I already knew a bit about them, but I bought books, telephoned a dozen or so breeders and asked a thousand questions!

The breeder I settled with kept all her dogs inside, with a family that had children from about 18 months to 15 years old. They were well looked after, extremely healthy & very friendly to all humans (although not so great with dogs, but that wasn't considered important in those days!).

She cried when we took Bandit home with us. 

I grew up with Staffordshire Bull Terriers from the age of 2 years old. My parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins (etc) have always kept them as pets and I loved the breed and felt that I understood them well. I'm currently studying for a degree in canine behaviour and have worked with dogs for 5 years, specializing in bull breeds.

I was working at a stray dogs home when I met Biscuit, she was very ill treated and fearfully aggressive on arrival and I was allowed to foster her as a project dog. They knew me and my experience/handling skills well as I had worked for them for 18 months previously, I wasn't intending on adopting her as I lived in a top floor flat and worked full time, but after she was diagnosed with skin cancer 6 months into fostering I agreed to adopt her, as I had let my heart overun my head and gotten attached. She would have otherwise been PTS that afternoon. They allowed this decision as although my circumstances weren't perfect I was responsible.

2 years later I have worked hard to ensure that we live in a quiet rural area with a big garden and I work shorter hours so that she's not left. And she survived the cancer I'm so very glad I kept her

I wanted a staff/x as I'd fallen in love with my sisters (we grew up with dogs but not staffs). Just love the caring, snuggly nature along side the crazy enthusiam for everything they have  

So many in rescues so I had to do that, standard home check.

Personally, I would never buy a 'breed' when there are so many superb dogs in need of good homes.  My dog is some sort of crossbreed, which suits me fine and which I even prefer (given the genetic weaknesses, cruelty and suffering that over-selective breeding can cause). He came from the rescue, where he had been for 8 months. He was still well under two years old. His situation seemed to be the classic case: dumped by some dog-is-for-christmas people who hadnt figured that the cute puppy stage is followed and accompanied by a lot of hard work.

I didnt set out to get a staffie, just a dog. His picture on the rescue website was a particularly unattractive one. I think that also made me convinced that no one else would have him. (However, if you run a rescue, putting up unattractive pictures of your dogs is probably not a sensible strategy).

When you rescue, you have to make sure your personal environmental ducks line up. For me, I had to wait for two things: a) for the cat to die (not fair to impose a dog on the poor old boy, he passed at age 22), b) to get made redundant from an employer, which meant that I could schedule the time. Now that I run my own company, I set my own schedule and Douglas and his walks and needs are part of that.

I did some reading and research before I got Douglas, but it didn’t (and probably couldn’t) totally prepare me for the live experience. The only ‘safety-net’ I had was that I believed the rescue would take him back if it didn’t work out. There were deadlines that were reluctantly mentioned – like if he was taken back within a week, then I would lose the fee that I had paid but would not have to pay an additional admittance fee. If I took him back within a month, then I would have to pay this admittance fee, which I believe was £50. In practice, I suspect they may have honoured the within-a-week scenario, but they were so awash with staffies (and staffie-crosses) that I suspect that it would have been very difficult to return after more than a week. Still, if you’re running a rescue and are thinking of ways to get people to come forward, some sort of safety net like this does give the prospective rescuer some comfort. I didnt care about the money, but it did make a difference that there may have been some kind of exit strategy.

The oh was not involved in the transaction or the decision. We always had an 'on your own head be-it' scenario here (which also is contrary to the official advice where family members are meant to be in favour). But it was probably just as well as oh involvement would have meant that Douglas would have been vetoed. Even if I had got a dog, it wouldnt have been Douglas. Naturally, eventually, the oh is now in love with Douglas.

Straight out of the rescue, Douglas was a very naughty boy. However, I know this was because he had been off his head in an alien environment where he was being fed ok, but his emotional needs were not being met (no criticism of the rescue – how could they do otherwise?) We persisted and now, of course, he is calm and settled and no one could buy him off me - not even for the sort of fee that could be obtained for a Crufts winner.

Didn't do any research with my first staff and consequently made some daft mistakes early on, not enough socialisation mostly and she was never good with other dogs! However she loved all people and was a brilliant example of the breed. She wasnt K.C registered but i did see her mum and her brother who hadn't gone to his new home yet. Other than that I knew very little. 

I suppose I would say I learned on the job, it was difficult at times but very worth it. I had her for almost 14 years and knew when she passed I would always love this breed. 

I got nico from a rescue, he is a staffy cross, a lot of thought went into this decision. Part of me wanted a full staff and the other part of me knew that there was a perfect wee staff, cross or not out there needing a home already. I knew roughly what age of dog I would go for 
( training reasons, time available) and that I would want to know something of their background. Nico stole my heart from the kennel, took. Him out twice and he was great, they told us he had been handed in by his previous owners as the lady had just had a baby. 

We went home and talked it over, slept on it and picked him up the following day, so glad we did! 

As much as I love the pure breed staffys, my conscience wouldn't let me go and buy a puppy when there are so many full  and cross staffs in rescues.

I wanted a bully so knew a fair bit about them and we wanted a dog when we moved into our house.

We bought harvey, from a breeder and no i didn't buy him for the colour, although white is my favourite and the colour i'd like to predominately own. His parents were health tested but unpapered.

I don't like typical training classes beyond the puppy party things which we took harv too but we socialized him massively from day one

We then got Chance or i choose him from a rescue center but he is an ambull not staffy, but i knew alot of the breed and their completely different traits to staffies, we were home checked not very well mind but basically we were checked to see if we were confident enough to have him, lied to about his background/personality and i would never recommend their rescue which is why i never mention their name

rescuestaffords wrote:I find that awful that the 'rescue' didn't do any checks on you

i rekon i probably volunteered some info. about myself
and the area where i live ..
plus i had to fill out a form which included my address / contact info.
and part with a donation/fee for the adoption ..

i probably spent 45 min. or so .. looking around ..
asking questions .. interacting with 'Lady' ..
so i guess they had time to make a judgment of sorts

she was microchipped as i waited ..
and it were by chance she was ready to be adopted that day ..

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the kennels be about 40 miles from where i live ..

Kozmos, they didn't home check us for nico either, but they did ask a lot of questions, how we planned to settle him in, where we would walk him in the local area, past knowledge of the breed etc. they phoned us the other day to see how he was doing and if they could help us with anything but as far as really being sure he was in a good home, well anyone with basic knowledge could have bluffed it!  Guess our doggies are lucky they got us and wer lucky to have them x

we knew we wanted a dog but it was'nt till our friends came over to stay and brought their staffy with them that we knew a stafford was the breed for us,i'm ashamed to say we did'nt look in to breeders and we did rush in to getting sash,but looking back i dont regret getting her one bit,she's our baby girl  

I foster and adopt rescue dogs - 13 in the past 17 months - and the kennels are as full as ever.
I spend the rest of my time trying to talk neighbours and locals out of breeding their bitch so "she can experience motherhood".
Bloody kennels everywhere are loaded to the gills as it is.

I would honestly never, ever buy a puppy from a breeder - I'm all for rescues, think there's enough dogs out there without encouraging breeders  I work in a boarding kennels who house, train and look after rescue Staffordshire Bull Terriers as well as bull breed crosses which are rescued from death row or taken from a hard life and brought to us by the police. I didn't research the breed since I worked with so many different breeds I learnt behaviours working there and you can't always rely on what you read.

Before really knowing much about dogs and the breeds I'd always wanted a dog - parents always said no and that I wasn't ever allowed a dog while I lived with there! I'd grew up with my aunties rescue collie called Spot and he was my best friend, I loved being with him! I then got involved with my other aunties shepherds, not too much but I was very fond of the breed after that! When I was older I was involved with my aunties other rescue dogs after Spot had passed away and I just loved being with and around them! Then my nan got a rescue dog and we looked after her for a few weeks and I hated not having a dog in the house and walking her ect.

While I was at work within the first couple of months, my favorite breeds such as Labrodors and Shepherds were no longer my favorite after meeting a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier called "Rex". He was in isolation as he was incredibly aggressive, it took 2 people to feed him so you could call him in and shut him in and give him his food then you'd call him out so you could top his water up and call him back in to pick up his poop ect and it was a total nightmare looking after him. We had behaviourists come see him and they said he was a lost cause as you couldn't even put your hand near the door or he WOULD bite you. Yet I wasn't scared of him, I wanted to learn more about him and help him, all of the staff there worked so hard with him, sitting outside his kennels on our days off, coming up to sit with him, staying and treating him when he stopped barking and snarling for all of a few seconds, after a few weeks he would sit on command through the door and would no longer snarl or bark, we then took a big risk in going in with him, he had a few growls but we just sat there, he eventually came round and walked over to us head down tail under. He wasn't aggressive he was just a scared dog. He hated being on a lead and broke many but we kept working with him and he thrived. He stayed with us just under 2 years/1 year 6 months ish and got given to a adult only home who had trained and kept staffies for over 50 years! He was a gorgeous red with a white stripe, in sure I could find his plea video for you all to see but that moment when I saw this dog transform I fell completely in love with the breed. I fell in love with plenty of dogs while being there which my parents wouldn't allow me to have, after a lot of tears and arguments I finally got my mom to come to the open day, "just to see what I do"

I got to work and told the people at work I wanted to to view Will and Ebony - my mom fell in love and within a week we had a home check and fostered Ebony as sadly her brother was rehomed on that day. I never thought much of staffies, never really noticed them if I'm honest! But my life has changed since I started working there and working with the breed. Staffies were always my moms favorite breed, and now I know why. 

Later on I adopted Charlie. 

Having a Staffirdshire Bull Terrier was, and still is the best thing in my life.

I knew I wanted to rescue and that I wanted a dog sized dog but knew that as a first time owner to go for too big a strong dog could prove problemetic so after some research staffys came out on top for my lifestyle and what I could offer and sadly I knew that there would be a choice of staffys in the rescue centres

My visit to dogs trust was just to get a feel for the place, I wasn't planning on rescuing for another couple of months as I had a course and a week away at work coming up. There was a gorgeous brindle staffy called Alfie who had been suffering with a skin condition but was healing and had such a lovely temperament he was the one I asked for more details on and the staff sat me down and we filled out the questionnaire. After talking through everything the lady said we have another dog who would be better suited to you, he is massively kennel stressed so isn't out for public view. They brought out a waggy smiley bundle of cuddles formally known as George and the rest is history.

Dogs trust offered to kennel Ledger for the week I would be away with work if I could re-home him straight away (a week later) pending me arranging him to meet my parents dog. As I live about an hour from the centre they decided that they would bring Ledger to the home visit and if suitable he would stay with me My mum was massively in the concern from media hype corner but he won her over immediately to a point where my parents insisted on taking him while I was at work so that he wouldn't have to go back to the kennels

When I was a small kid, my Granada had a staffy, she was a fantastic dog, really friendly and I honestly think staffs are beautifully looking. I wanted one ever since and I said to myself when I was ready to have one once my house was complete etc I’d get one, that’s exactly what I did. I’ll not deny it I first saw a blue staff and it was a colour which stood out for me so that’s what I was looking for. Although people may not agree with the blue colour, that was the colour I wanted for my first. (Even now I’m endlessly stopped and people compliment cassius’ colour and coat). However if I got another I honestly wouldn’t care what colour he was but I would still get another male.

I’ve grown up around dogs, we had an Alsatian and my uncle had a big rotty. I do like powerful dogs, I respect them and am in awe of brute size and power. If you’ve not already looked/ heard of bossykennels.com take a look. Now I know they might not be to everyone’s taste, but I would love one of those XXL pitbulls. I think their genetics and pure size is fantastic. Ridiculously overpriced but it is America.

I was always going to get a pup because yes it could be seen as naïve because I didn’t know about rescue too much, but I had a niece and nephew to think of and if a rescue ever did something to them I couldn’t forgive myself, so I got a pup and they’ve grown up with him too. He was always going to be from a reputable breeder who had all the papers for him. Again what I got. It was through a good friend of mine.