New to forum but not staffies.

[Cait]

Hi, I am new to the forum but not so new to staffy's. My family has long as I can remember have always had rescued staffies and bullies. I joined to ask others about harness as I am still looking for the right harness for her.
My sisters old rescued staffy finally convinced my hubby to look at a rescued staffy instead of something fluffy and pedigree. We know have an 18 month old staffy/english bull terrier cross. Pink was found by the dog warden in a very bad way, covered in bruises, very badly bitten, fur missing, badly underweight and pining for her puppies [vet estimated they may have been 2 weeks old at most]. The vet thought she had been overbreed then used as a bait dog.   She was so distressed and withdrawn she needed sedation for the first few weeks, a lot of vet care and TLC from the Dogs Home before she began to turn around. She is one lucky dog.

I spent time getting to know her at the home before I bought her home, she spent the first six weeks being very submissive and quiet. We made sure everything we did she could back away from and used firm slow strokes so she did not panic over being touched. She finally settled when I let her on my lap, its like having a large pile of blue bricks snuggle up but it helped her relax. Worringly she was scared to eat so I hand fed her till she got the idea she could eat at ours. I tried a wide range of food to tempt her including raw but she just did not want to know, she perked up over Burns Wet food and kibble so thats what she gets. Kelties are the only treat she will consider eating as she seems to prefer lots of fuss...lots and lots of fuss complete with belly rubs, head rubs the lot.

Since she worked out we do not hurt dogs, do all we can to ensure she only gets close to nice dogs and she is more settled and showing the cheeky staffy side along with some of the stubborn bully bits.   She no longer needs to be glued to my side in our garden, loves a game of fetch, surprisingly she loves to meet other friendly dogs and going on days out with the family.

Who cares if she looks a bit like Frankenweenie, she is a lovely dog.

[ColinW]

Aw lovely ending to her story and she's a beaut    well done and welcome from Iza and me.

[shegsy]

Oh what a lovely story. Nearly cried reading that. She is so lucky to have a happy and loving home after all the distress and unhappiness she must have gone through.  Well done to you and welcome to the forum from me and Stella.

I hav'nt used a harness before so unable to help but I'm sure someone will be along shortly who can advise you 

[-Ian-]

Hi &

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[-Ian-]

Hi and Welcome to the Forum from Flo and me   

what a lovely story and well done on taking such good care of her.

I use a harness with Flo but it's from a French market stall and quiet unique (I think). I know a lot of people here use the Ezydog harness though.

[Sazzle]

Hi and welcome from me and Daisy, well done of the rescue, poor girl, sounds like she's been through a lot x

I like the xtradog harnesses bests as they are fleeced so dont rub at all, heres a link   

http://www.xtradog.com/shop/shop-by-product/harnesses/fleece-dog-harnesses/fleece-harnesses.html

[stella]

hia from me and sasha   ,well done to you for rescuing her and giving her forever home  ,i use a ezydog harness with sash and found them good.

[yeahbut]

Hello from me and Douglas. Glad you can join us.

Douglas uses a harness called Ancol, which he needs in 'large'. It has padded bits, is fully adjustable and, though black, has luminous threads that would stand out in car headlights. Here is the link: http://www.ancol.co.uk/dog-products/training-and-control/harnesses/padded-harnesses/size-7-8-padded-harness-black.

Interested to read your story. My Douglas is also from the rescue and, although I dont know anything about his history (except that he spent 9 months at the SSPCA with everyone passing him by), many people - mostly strangers in the street - come up to say they think he's a staffie/EBT cross. It's true, he's too bulky for a straight staffie.

Pink looks like a lovely dog and I would love to see more pictures of her.

[Debs01]

Welcome from me and Axl What a touching story i'm so glad Pink is improving and glad you found each other your story made me want to give her a cuddle bless her

Anyway looking forward to seeing pictures of Pink and I love the name by the way!

[Maximus green]

Well done for the rescue ,who knows what poor life she lived before . I'm glad she's in safe hands now. Oh and welcome to nice board   

[lumpydog]

What a story! She certainly is lucky to have such a happy life now compared to the one before she came to you. It makes me angry that anyone can harm 'man's best friend'    Welcome to the forum from Meg and me.

[Cait]

Hi Yeahbut,

The shape of the eyes and ears are certainly very familiar, Pinky has a slightly rounder muzzle but she has the whip tail, longer legs and the splayed toes on her feet of the Bully. Her back end looks staffy her front end bully with her head a mix of both. She looks more like a bully when she is relaxed and asleep. Will try and upload some more photos of her when I have worked out how.

[janey]

Hiya from us

[flowerbud]

Welcome from me and Alfie.
Wow what a poor start to her life, but she has really landed on her feet with you. Cant wait to see more of her. This should help with photos.
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t12017-how-to-post-a-photos-onto-the-forum

[JStaff]

Hi and welcome from us and Suki

[Rupertsbooks]

Hello - I also used the Ancol harness before Rupes got anywhere near being able to walk properly with a collar.

Rupes is also a rescue.

Why did Pink stand out to you?

I am so glad you persuaded your other half to rescue. You saved a life there.

How long have you had her?

More pics, please.

[Cait]

Hi Rupert,

For a start every animal [ rabbits esp the RSPCA hard to home very aggresive ones, guinea pigs, feral evil cat and dogs] we have ever had has come from a rescue, we only ever failed after trying for months with a collie who had spent all their life locked in a room and had severe agrophobia and could not cope with any noise. She was returned to rescue and sent off for intensive work so she might be rehomed with an adult only home away from city noises.

We then spent a year looking for the right rescue dog who would be happy to live with us. Saw loads of staffies but none of them made us both go 'thats the right dog'. Pink had spent so long in the dogs home it was her home, the staff had made her feel better and safe. In the kennel she appeared very quiet and was doing her best to ignore the kennels noise. Unlike most of the other staffy' she was refussing to interact with people who said hallo to her and had her nose wedged up the wall. Then I spotted the squeeky ball that appeared to have rolled out under the door gap of her kennel. I pushed it back under the door so she could get to it, Pink came to life and began to play by pushing the ball back under the gap and then waiting for me to push it back. When I stopped she shut down and hid back in her bed.
We then asked if we could meet her outside of her kennel. Away from metal bars she came alive again. It was clear form the scars she had been horribly treated but there was that 'something' that made us ask if we could spend time getting to know her whilst we set our home up for a possibly nervous dog. With each visit she began to pay more attention to us instead of being glued to the kennel staff who had nursed her back to health, she seemed less sure what to do with toys and widdled from nerves.
When I found myself and my kids counting down till we could go and see her at the kennels again that was when we knew she was the dog who would like to live in a large family with people around most of the time. The look on her face when I took her into our back garden for the first time was priceless. She behaved like she had never seen anything so big and green before and went and hid. Taking a ball outside and teaching her how to play fetch with room to run in really helped her. We spent the first few weeks just letting her explore and letting her decide if she wanted to come to us. Now she loves the space and will take a stuffed kong bone to sit outside the back door for a chew and I have a pretty hefty lapdog!

The cat lives upstairs with us till mt eldest daughter gets a house, the rabbits have a giant hutch and kennel with a giant enclosed run and the dog has downstairs and our big back garden.

[Guest]

Lovely story, Hiya from me and Vinnie   

[flowerbud]

Great story, well done

[Nathan]

Hi and welcome from me and my two

[Rupertsbooks]

This made my day. Thanks for taking the time to write it all down.

I would love to see your pics, when you work out how to get them on here. What a lucky girl. Does she still have issues? It is so wonderful seeing a dog develop, and that process never ends.

[Guest]

Hi and welcome from the girls and me

[djstratton]

Welcome from Marquez and me. I love your story and so happy that Pink has found her forever home

[VikkiGT4]

Hi and welcome to the forum from me and the zoo xx

[Kathy]

Hi and welcome to the forum from Rocky and me.

My goodness Pink has definitely not had the best start in life, well done for rescuing her.

[Guest]

Welcome from Darcy and me

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