How did you..

End up being owned by a Staff ?

I'm sure this has been done before but I can't find it so thought I would start a new thread just in case it hasn't.

With our Flo it all started with my eldest asking if we could take a look around Battersea dogs & cats home. I agreed on the proviso that we were "just looking". Well you know how it goes, there were 3 dogs that we liked but I still wasn't going home with one. My ace up the sleeve was the interview to see if we were suitable, of course we weren't as none of the dogs were used to being left alone.

Job done, or so I thought.

Following weekend my youngest says the same as my eldest just a week earlier, so off we set with the same proviso as before. 2 of the dogs we originally liked were still there but I kept coming back to this playfull little brindle Staff. Having read her Bio on the cell door I just had to meet her. We were shown into a meeting room and awaited the funny looking floppy eared Staff.

Well in she bounded, licks all round and we were left to bond, she was up on the chairs and table being a real little minx. The vet came in and explained that she was deaf etc and then asked if we wanted to walk her, of course I said yes. Out in the play yard she fetched a ball and played so nicely. The walker asked if we wanted her and without hesitation I said a big YES much to the surprise of my OH and son.

So that was it, a bank holiday easter Monday, no bed, no food, no lead but hey we could sort that. Asked when we wanted her, next week etc, I said now please. After some paperwork and suitable donation our Flo walked away from there and straight into the back of our car to be whisked to her Furever home. My eldest was home when we got back and Flo was so excited to meet him she did a little pee there and then

Flo isn't my first Staff but the first one I've had since raising a family. How did I ever go so long without a Staff in the house

So how did you end up being chosen ?

I went an errand for my nana and came across mia soon as she saw me she leapt on me had been thinking of getting a staff at the time anyway i got told her story and that was me hooked

I grew up around Pits and AmStaffs and always wanted one. My first wife overuled me so we got an English Bulldog. When she died my second wife was deciding what breed she wanted and said this one looks nice

we had friends to stay for a week and they brought their 6 month old staffy pup with them,by the time they went home we were smitten and within the month sash arrived

mine is a very long long story but i have always loved bully breads. i eneded up rouding up and reuniting a litter of pure staffs after a messy split of a couple i knew. it basicaly made me want to own a dog again and a friend of the guy i helped had a litter of pups and said because i helped out i could have a heavy discount. all that aside, i went there and sat amoungst lots of puppies with colour coded collars when along came my boy marley who wouldnt leave me alone. he snuggled into me and jeeves said i think i know who you are goingto take home as he just picked you. two weeks later i brought home marley, my right hand man and the best thing to enter my life for years and i still have that collar and love hime more than anything

Lovely stories from everyone so far :X

I grew up with staffies - both as family pets and lots of my friends parents had them too. When I began working in rescue kennels it broke my heart to see how they had "fallen from grace" and were no longer seen as loyal family pets. I fell in love with so many dogs in those kennels, but knew I wasn't in a position to have one, firstly because I was 19, living in a tiny flat and also working full time. After a few years of working in kennels, arrived Bis - this skinny, neglected, overly bred little ball of terrified aggression. And I fell in love. She did really badly in kennels, I began fostering, she got cancer and was going to be PTS and 3 years later, here we are. Absolutely adore her.

I work with the husband of a lady (Yvonne) who runs a small rescue.

It all started because I was dividing my time between my real work and helping out with the rescue dogs when needed.

I think this was a cunning plan on Yvonne's part from the start. Teddy (AKA The Tedster) was at the time a very unhappy dog. He hated being in kennels, was not sleeping properly, spendng his time pushing his bowl around the dog run.

He had been with us for a while and to try and de-stress him a little Yvonne asked if me and her husband would have him in with us during the day so he had some human company.

I was chosen either by The Tedster, Yvonne or both.

I eventually became the full time walker for the rescue and have worked with some really great dogs and had so much fun doing it.

All said and done The Tedster is my dog and has the most wonderfull home he could have found and I would not be without him.

Simon & The Tedster

If someone said to me a year ago i would have a staffy in future i would have thought they were mad.

When i moved to the country i thought about getting a dog and done research and decided a terrier would be best for me. Was thinking more of border terrier or Jack Russel a staffy had never entered my mind then i seen Izas wee face every other day for couple weeks, no one wanted her or another couple of litter.

So looked into a staffy and seen how great they are, seen all Izas family. Had 3 to choose from but was always gan be wee cute face.

I'm a first time dog person, never had one when growing up but she is just perfect for me and we are teaching each other.

All of these stories are so adorable!

I never set out to get a staffy, my family have always had labradors but I was living in south London at the time and there were so many unwanted staffies around. I met a couple of other staffie owners and their dogs and instantly knew I'd found the breed for me. I often feel guilty about not going down the rescue line but I have cats and really wanted to bring the puppy up to get along with them. Now Pru is almost 1 I am thinking about getting an older rescue staff.

I had done some research and was erring towards a staffy, I kinda fancied a rotty but already figured a rescue could be too big and strong for me a new owner to handle 

It was just a spur of the moment let's see what's at Dogs Trust as I was passing one day and there was such a sad staffy with a skin condition that took my eye, well I sat down and did the questionnaire and they said we have 'George' who would suit you perfectly he was massively kennel stressed so not on view to the public well they brought him out his bum waggled and he had the biggest grin despite the missing teeth 

I said I couldn't take him for at least a month as I was going to be away with work but they gave me the option that they would bring him for a home visit a week later if I passed he would stay and they would kennel him for free on the week I was away. Talk about being backed into a corner!!!

I visited three more times that week including once with my parents and their dog and I settled on the name Ledger which suited him so much better and the rest is history... He won over my parents immediately and they ended up looking after him for the week I worked so he never had to go back to the rescue centre

fay_elizabeth wrote:All of these stories are so adorable!

I never set out to get a staffy, my family have always had labradors but I was living in south London at the time and there were so many unwanted staffies around. I met a couple of other staffie owners and their dogs and instantly knew I'd found the breed for me. I often feel guilty about not going down the rescue line but I have cats and really wanted to bring the puppy up to get along with them. Now Pru is almost 1 I am thinking about getting an older rescue staff.

Same i have cats and no dog experience so thought pup was best but i am also thinking about rescuing a dog in future now i have experience.

I was working at the time, still had teenagers at home & a recently retired husband who sat and moped around all day.We'd always had dogs around but were 'dog-free' at that time so I suggested we adopt a dog mainly to get my husband out of the house for some much needed exercise but secretly me desperately wanting another dog. It was my son & his girlfriend who found our first Staffy girl Bree at the RSPCA. She was 10 weeks by then and had been 'found' wandering alone on a park in Leicester. Nobody had come forward to claim her in the two weeks and she had just gone up for adoption when luckily my son had spotted her, rang me and I told him to instantly put a reserve on her. Good job her did as there were loads of people after him wanting to have her. She turned out to be gorgeous after the first nightmare puppy times which of course they all seem to go through. I absolutely loved and adored her - totally my girl & loyal friend. She died of Lymphoma in April this year at the age of 12 years. I lasted 2 weeks without a dog, then went looking again. Intended to get a smaller lighter breed that I could cope with in my 'latter' years - but one look into the eyes of Milo and that was it. Glad I did - I adore him so much too. There's no better breed than a SBT !!!!

My eldest sister had got a Jack Russell/Staffy x called Toby from Battersea Dogs Home, he was brindle and white, a year old and someone had put out their cigarettes on his back end. She had him for nine years and then we took over with him as she moved and we had a bigger garden. We had him for another nine and a half years. When we lost him we needed a box to bury him in and looking around Halfords in tears. A worker there followed us out and as we put the box in the car asked us about it. When we told him he said he had a friend who had just had a litter of Staffy pups and had a brindle and white male. We went and saw them and the brindle and white female wouldn't leave us unless her brothers were busy and she could get a quick bite in and then run back to us to pick her up again. We ended up taking her as the other two only wanted our trousers. We had nearly eleven beautiful years with Holly and lost her four years ago. We've now got this heiferlump known as Stanley to keep with the Laurel and Hardy thang.
I'm proud to say he does the Staffy image the world of good too.
Just on the bus this morning a woman fussed him and said she has four, another said she has two and third said he has six.

wouldnt change mine for the world now. no they arnt pure but they have a staffy heart and i love em for it. laska looks more staff than marley and has floppy ears, staffy head and massive staffy legs. she is my pace setter while running and just runs and runs. marley may be the lead dog but she sure as hell keeps him running bless her heart. best thing ever is they love each other and when not pulling they are snuggled up together, if humans could learn something about team work we need to look at dogs

My hubby always wanted to have Staffy and I wanted to have Shiba (Japanese dog). I didn’t know anything about Staffy apart from bad news by paper/media so I wasn’t sure at first. Also I found very difficult to find Shiba in UK and very expensive if we buy from breeder. We decided to go to Battersea dog centre and surprise to see so many unwanted Staffy out there. I started to read a lot about Staffy and I changed my mind. After near missed 10 weeks old Staffy at Battersea we both wanted to have Staffy as puppy so on raining Oct 23rd 2013 I find breeder selling blue Staffy pup for 250 pounds I jumped and show to my hubby. We called and ask if we could come around to see today she said yes. I knew we are going to get pup that day so stop at petrol station and withdraw money just in case.

When we arrived at her place there are 9 pups all in small cage and that wasn’t pretty site. We soon discovered only one male and one bitch are selling for 250 because they became blue brindle and someone reserved him changed his mind in last min. Lucky for us we both wanted to have male so no choice but picked up Zeus. I knew we found our dog when I saw my hubby holding Zeus and he said “Come on let’s take him home” that was it.

We didn’t have bed/leads/bowl anything and it was so strange we become dog owner just like that. We are so pleased that he turn that to be lovely dog and we wouldn’t change anything for it. He changed our life and became our loving fur child now.

What wonderful stories, loving reading all of them.

Our first experience of staffiness came through Bobbert. I was looking on DogPages for another dog, as we knew that our retriever, Mungo, wasn't going to be around for much longer and we wanted to make sure Harley (lurcher) wasn't left alone. There was an ad for a great dane x, and I love danes, so I opened it. This is what I found



The thread said no other dogs as he was dog aggressive but we have an annex, and I was still working as a remedial horse trainer, and just felt I had to try and help. I should say that Bob had been in kennels for 2 1/2 years at that point, since he was 11 months old.

Adopting him wasn't as straightforwards as we'd hoped. I tried to contact the poster - she hadn't put which shelter - but couldn't get in touch. In the end, I thought well they've found someone for him, and we adopted Nola instead. A few days later, my phone rang...

It was awful, we didn't feel it was fair on old Mung to blast him with two new dogs at once, and Nola was quite a handful, but I promised that we would get in touch again if he was still there in a few months.

To cut the rest of the long story short, neither George or I could stop thinking about him and that Christmas, without the other knowing, we promised him that that would be his list Christmas in kennels. A few weeks later, he came to live firstly in the annex with me, and then moved into the house with us all together.

Bobbert, of course, had no dane in him. His dad was a staffie x lab (he was in the same rescue centre), and his mum was a lurcher of unknown mix. By character, though, he was so staffie - affectionate beyond belief, loyal, playful, bright, just wonderful.

I have a lot to thank Bobbert for, and introducing us to staffiness is certainly high on the list!

What great tales  weather your Staff is rescued or a puppy bought for whatever reason, once you have one in your life you'll never go short of love.

Thank you everyone for sharing, it has been a joy to read the love and affection you have and get from all our wonderful Staffy's 

If you haven't add your story yet, please do 

Vin is my first staff, and very much my bestest bud, when I decided on a staff after much researching, I took a year to decide on Vin. But I think he is pretty pleased with his Mum

I was looking at spaniels or x spaniels then my oh spotted Katy's pic in Friday ad. He said she look pretty & looked like she would have character!!!! When we went to meet her she was in a basement flat in town, she had been taken away from her mum at 5wks old The woman was heavily pregnant with a 2yr old kid, the pup lived in the kitchen & while we were there the kid kept slapping her in the face  That was it for me, she was coming home there & then. A 6wk old pup was hard work but she's been more than worth it. She now lives in the country, comes to work with me & lets us share her bed with the heated quilt!!!!!! I would definitely pic a staff again, I've even converted a lot of people in our village that have met her

Dizzy came from a Dogs Trust and we weren't intending to get a staffy, we were looking at a Lurcher or Alsatian but going round the rescue centres there were so many staffies it broke my heart and one of our best friends had one and said they were fantastic, so we decided to broaden our search.

Dizz had been picked up as a stray and was only just in but he looked so sad and unsure when we saw him - yet when I asked him to sit he did and came over to sniff my hand. That was it as far as I was concerned, I was the one he wanted.

One week later paper work signed, house visit done and Dizz came home. My little bundle who walked round puddles and didn't know what to do with water will now search for the muddiest puddle and swim in the river just because he can!! Wouldn't be without the stubborn little so and so!

When I met my oh he was owned by an ex breeding bitch called Rosie she was so well behaved never needed a lead etc I had a collie x who was the opposite but Rosie took him under her paw and taught him some bits. He also had an old toy poodle. When the kids were born Rosie took to them great. We then got a gsd pup and again Rosie taught jade how to behave. We lost Rosie to cancer at the age of 6 (
We then got another gsd (I had been brought up with gsds). We lost my collie when he was 11 and stayed with the 2gsds loosing one aged 13 and the other a year later aged 11 both to cancer. We adopted one of their grandson but lost him to bloat aged 7. Feeling a hole in the family we looked at gsds but only found ones that had sloped backs and decided on getting a smaller breed. My oh found Skye she was 12 weeks and the last of the litter. We Meet the mum dad and all of the other pups and it was love at first sight. She's not quite as well behaved as Rosie but she is still a great addittion to our family.

Loved reading everyone's stories
I think I might have put a little about our first staffie Keiko on another thread.
We had not long bought our first house after moving back to Scotland from Texas. Everything was brand new, carpets, lino, couches, beds  and I was clear with my husband that I wanted no pets. I was more a cat person but was adamant I didn't even want a kitten.  I didn't want to be tied or have the responsibility that comes with a pet nor did I want my new things ruined. We had 2 cats and 2 dogs during our time in Texas and I was ready for a break. Besides it was too hard when they passed.
I woke up one night to a weird sound like a baby seagull and my husband said he would take care of it. He'd only brought a staffy puppy home and put her in the bathroom to sleep !  I was sooo mad I didn't speak to him for 2 whole days and wanted nothing to do with the pooping, peeing, squealing little creature that was brought in against my wishes leaving smudgy nose prints all over my lovely patio windows !. I was horrified to find out it was a 'vicious killer breed' too ( yes, that is me hiding-my-face-in-shame)  I naively believed the bad press.  I can't say how I ended up naming Keiko ( I really was very opposed to having a dog) or how she won me over and stole my heart. I can only describe it as being the same way she would take over the couch. She took the  tiniest opening and squeezed herself in. She then wiggled a  little and then a little more, then she would stretch , gently at first then more insistently until she had all the room she wanted. This is what she did to my heart and by the time we had to say goodbye she totally owned me. I miss her everyday.  
Auri is different- no tippy-toe stealth attack from her ! She's full on puppy joy & madness and has totally bowled me over, staking her claim from the get go ! How they can be so different but so alike is a wonder to me, as is the love they bring.
sorry I know I go on a bit but I'm sure we all could talk all day about our darling staffies and what they bring to our lives. I'm a definite staffie convert ( Oh yeah and I don't give a toss about the couch or the carpet..they can be easily be cleaned or replaced )

Well.....I was diagnosed with severe depression in August and have been off work since. It all stemmed from numerous deaths in the family (also losing my Dad on boxing day 2 years ago) and a relationship break up this year

I was hitting the bottle quite a lot and just staying at home with the curtains closed and shutting off the world. My friend suggested I get a cat to keep my mind occupied but as I am not a cat person I balked at the idea. I found an old photo of my GSD and remembered how good she was and how much fun it had been with her and decided to get a dog instead.
I noticed that there were a lot of staffies stuck in kennels and also people wanting 'rid' and did some research on the net about them as I too had thought they were devil dogs. The more I read, the more I realised it was, for the majority, a load of bull so decided on a staffy.
My sis had just bought a pup of a website she was looking at so I took a look and sent emails and called people but got no replies. I was in the process of giving up and received a call about a 2 and a half year old staffy.
I went to see her within the hour and when I got there she came bounding to me, tail wagging and sat between my legs. She looked a bit neglected and sorry for herself so I decided to take her.

On the way back my friend who has a cat called the vet she uses and I got an appointment straight away. An hour after getting her she was in the vets getting checked out and was determined she had a bad case of demodectic mange and also otitis.
Well, my heart dropped, I knew I had to get her back to how she should be so all the money I would have spent on drinking myself into a stupor is now spent on her.
Not only has she brought me back from the depths of darkness and got me back on my feet, she has now got a loving home and a safe one and is on the way to being the staffy she should be. We spend many hours outside just wandering about, I've met a good few other dog walkers with other dogs who Nita loves playing with too and its changed some of their views on staffies too.

Despite the fact she needs some training as she still poops and wee's in the house on occasion, she has given me a ton of joy and laughter too. She is such a character (as we all know they can be)

I'm now considering getting another one too.

Unconditional love from a pooch, can't ask for much more, bless her

We had talked about getting a dog for the last year..... discussed it with the children, talked about do's and dont's etc. We scoured rehoming centres but really struggled as we have a 10year old daughter and 2 cats (do you know how difficult it is to fit that criteria?!). Anyway.... we found a dog in foster care with a lovely family. She was a Romanian street dog so was rubbish around other dogs but was great with kids and cats and as she was the closest to perfect for us we enquired further.... just a little anxious to remove her from such a loving family that were not in a rush to let her go. With this in mind I happened to notice a beautiful blonde face on a social network page. She was a stray that ended up at a pound, rescued from the pound on "vet day" and taken to a rescue centre. We went to look at her, just to put our minds at ease..... and fell in love instantly. Our beautiful Millie fit our needs perfectly and to top off was a stunner so within a week we visited her again, had a home check and brought her home.
We are all completely smitten by her..... the cats aren't overly impressed but with careful introductions and much love given to all things are slowly coming together. We are one happy family