wanting pure blue staffy, how to avoide brindle/washed out blue

Hi, I'm new to this forum and was hoping for some info. last month my staffy a Red boy Bruno passed away with liver decease, he was only 8 years old and in perfect health then became ill very sudden and within 3 months he was gone. I find myself now looking at Staffy pups every day now. I was looking for a red which seem quite hard to find these days, but I am also liking the look of the blues.

Could anyone tell me what to look for, I want a pure blue?? no signs of brindle and not looking washed out. it seems that all the pups looks pure blue, but I heard they can grown into a different shade/colour.

do any blues keep the blue eyes or do all of the pups eye colour change as the age.

I know what the standard size if for a staffy, My Bruno was bigger than standard and stood at 20 inch to the shoulder and nice and stocky... I was hoping to get a large staffy again.

I would appreciate any help that can be offered and if anyone know of any trusted breeder that I could get a large red or blue boy... I am in northeast of England and will be willing to travel for the right pup.

thanks
mandy

Hi Mandy, so sorry to hear of your loss. Looking at your avatar Bruno was absolutely gorgeous.

I can't help with any breeder info but have you thought of going to a rescue. They ( sadly) always have staffs in and you could find a grown Blue so you would be able to see their adult colour.

Hi Mandy,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm really sorry to hear about Bruno. That must have been very distressing.

Especially given your recent experience, I would urge you to give some thought to not getting hung up on colour. You are much better looking for a pup from parents who are healthy and have great temperaments. If you think about it, a breeder who is focussed on just colour may well be less focussed on what for me are much more important factors. You also run a greater risk of running into inbred dogs who carry weak genes. A lot of the mess that breeding of many well known breeds has got into is due to breeding for a cosmetic trait rather than for health and temperament.

One of my favourite horse trainer authors has a book called 'A Good Horse is Never a Bad Colour'. That's true of dogs too - a great dog is a great dog, regardless of whether it is blue, brindle or green.

Good luck in your search!

If you really are set on a blue, choose a pup from DNA tested parents, one of which should be a black carrying the blue gene. Never choose a pup from two blue parents, as there are related health problems.

You can never, however, guarantee that the blue won't fade or develop brindling unless the pup has come from two solid blue parents - and that's extremely inadvisable.

If you contact the Kennel Club they will give you a list of breeders in your area with litters. Or you can look on Champdogs.

id also look on www.champdogs.co.uk . it gives in depth details of the breed line eye checks vaccinations etc . as a rule blue and blue staffys do have skin conditions but they are manageable they just have a more delicate skin compared to brindles etc .

Hi, thanks very much for your help. before I got Bruno I had rescued a springer spaniel (had him for 7-8 years) he was a huge challenge (food aggressive and knocking me over trying to escape everytime the door was open.. didn't like being told what to do either lol) and to be honest I think most people would have given up on him and returned him. After a very long time I did get him to change his ways and under all that he was a very loving dog. But if i'm totally honest after that experience I wouldn't want to do it again

I have had a look on champ dogs and messaged a seller about some beautiful pups on there, just waiting for a reply back

thanks again

Mandy

Let us know how you get on Mandy

Hi, thanks for all your help, I have bought a ball of fluff (8 week old shih Tzu) called Buddy who is very cute.

I am still looking for a staff but am going to hang out until I find the right one for us possibly a deep red, but main thing is a nice big chunky one.. seems to me that staffs are harder to come by these days..