oh and a puppy thats gonna be abandoned for ‘school hours’ will not be properly trained or socialised.

I’m sure opinion on this is divided, but for our dog we decided we didn’t want to leave him home alone all day. We could manage it as I work from home a lot, and when I’m not both me and mrs blobby work 5 mins from home so can easily pop in. Even now he’s almost 2 he never gets left alone for more than a couple of hours. He also goes to a sitters house two or three times a week which he gets very excited about as he gets to run around with a bunch of other dogs. Very good for socialisation and definitely recommended. I think this is right for our dog and I’d not leave him home alone all day. (Not that I am judging those who do!)

Can even be tricky when working from home as I like to fit in a couple of walks and a decent amount of play time. It’s difficult to say no when you’re in the middle of some work and he walks up with a toy in his mouth wanting to play.

Owned two and threy are brilliant dogs, one was rescue (Badger) and was great with other dogs and cats, he did eat a washing machine though 😯 very clever beast could open any doors and play fun games, hopeless as a bike dog as he kept trying to bit wheels but in a playful way. The only thing that would send him off were squirrels he would chase them all over the place.

The first one (Caeser) was a thick as a brick and was awful with other dogs, he wouldnt go looking for trouble but if a dog came over he would get a bit fiesty. Just modified where we went for walks, he was a great bike dog and incredibly protective. I once crashed and knocked my self out, he wouldnt let anyone come to help untill I came to. Just growled at them.

If you get one dont exercise hard till about a year old, socialise them with dogs and cats ffrom very young.

Badger had a Staffy friend in the street and they would play together even though it sounded like they were killing each other. They are noisy dogs in as much as they are always talking in little grunts and squeaks and have the most rubbish bark 🙂 My vet described Badger as a canine tank. They dont last long Badger went at 12 which is a good age and Caeser died of Cancer at 10. Badger was a chewer and they can go through anything yes he really did eat a washing machine.

if you squeeze them they squeek

(i must get round to watching the first half of snatch, seems like an informative film from what i’ve seen)

I’ve got one, a boy of nearly nine. He is superb in everyway and I can’t fault him. He is my third and is the most important thing to me. Get one you will not regret it. The love, funny little things/sounds they do and the big soppy eyes asking for your last bit of food are priceless and he makes me laugh everyday 🙂

Got Chewie as a pup, he’s great, intelligent, loyal, well behaved, good for 15-20 miles offroad with bursts up to 35mph, an absolute scream racing him on singletrack. So lots of riding and long walks.

You do have to put in a lot of work to get the obediance but it pays off in the end. You must be pack leader at all times.

Took a while to get his food right, Royal Canin Sensible, otherwise it’s funny poo’s and pub emptying farts.

We have a dog walking service who walks him in the morning and a neighbour who comes in to check on him in the afternoons before we get home from work.

He’s a great people dog, lives with 18 ferrets who play with him (just keep an eye on him incase the ferrets get a bit excitable and try and over clean his ears).

Downsides are he’s a bit jumpy uppy still (working on that) and is a bit grumpy with other dogs occasionally, especially small angry ones that want to kick off (again working on the “walk away”).

i love the way you are all happy as larry with any breed* till its crossed with pitbull, weird as pitbulls are no worse than any other fighting breed.

Personally; I am not after a fighting dog* and all those generations of instincts and genetic memory can’t be undone that easily.

Its up to you, but personally if I was looking at a Staffie, I would try and get a rescue one, as there are thousands of them put down each year (Battersea dogs home, took in almost 4000 staffies last year and had to destroy well over a 1/3 of them 🙁 and that’s just one dogs home!) and a good rescue home can match one to your requirements, without the risk of getting one which has been crossed with a Pitbull.

* Personally, I don’t see pure bred staffies as fighting dogs. That might be a mistake on my part though, as everyone I’ve met has been an amazing dog, albeit a little single minded.

my brother has had 2

both lovely dogs, slightly puddled, but lovely

the first was a grumpy bugger with other dogs

the current one is soft as sh and is submissive towards everything, even next doors cat!

I’ve got a 14 month old bitch, short legged so not too big/ ‘ard looking.
She is fantastic with everything she’s met so far, i think familiarisation is the key. Letting them meet lots of humans and as many other dogs as possible as early in there life as possible.
I think the owner and what you yourself put into the dog is reflected in there behavior above anything else.

Staffies are usually good with people and kids and if you have it from a pup theres no reason it couldnt live with cats, hell I know lurcher owners with cats and if they can learn so can anything!

Having said that I wouldnt want one as they are pretty hard headed with other dogs a well trained and socialised one will be fine but still wont turn its back to a fight. I would rather have a dog like mine that just runs away from fights (having said that she did have a set to with a staffie recently that too close to the pram).

Ours is a staffie boxer cross (we think). Great with kids, so affectionate, fine with cats introduced into the home, but in the garden they are fair game. He has separation issues, but don’t know if that stems from him being a rescue pup. He can’t be left with access to the kitchen if we want any cupboard doors left on. His problem is with other dogs – some he’s fine with and wants to run amd play, others he wants to rip apart, but he’s so unpredictable with it.

He’s behind you!!

mrblobby – Member

Maybe it’s just what the press choose to report.

yes.

Staffies are super good with kids, very funny dogs indeed with a big personality,they seem more human like than canine,.weird.
will be getting another one in the future for sure,love the breed,miss Benson alot,and the tuther one. 🙁

I can’t get a rescue one as i need to have it from a small pup due to the kids and cats issue.

is that because you dont think that a suitable dog will be found through a rescue or that the rescue wouldnt let you adopt because of the kids/cats issue?

My brother has a rescue staffie called Bruce, who’s been with the family for 6 years or so. Lovely dog, he’s the friendliest, sweetest tempered thing you can imagine. He can be a bit excitable when people come to the house for a few minutes (jumping up, etc), but he soon settles down. Out of the house, he’s lovely to walk – inquisitive rather than aggressive with other dogs, and with good recall (although that took a lot of training!). He’s always been very good with my nephew too – the in-laws Jack Russell was far more aggressive, both with people and dogs!

Bruce was only neutered a couple of months ago at the age of 9-ish as he had a lump on his nuts. I hasten to add the lump was visible, my brother didnt regularly fondle his dog to check for cancer…

Downsides include the ability to hunt down and consume expensive chocolate intended for the sister-in-law. After three incidents (anniversary, Christams and Valentine’s Day) my brother learned that staffies can’t get into the top cupboards in the kitchen.

We had a staffie/ border collie cross and he was brilliant- had a problem with alsations after one attacked him when he was a puppy but no issues with any other dogs or indeed cats – in fact when we introduced a cat into the house he was walking around with a cat claw sticking out of his nose without getting agressive back to the cat at all!

when he farted you just had to say his name and he would walk out the room- very funny!

Great bike dog as well- but would run himself into the ground if you werent careful

I need to have it as a small pup so that it grows up with the cats and more importantly, i have two young girls, i am not going to even take a slight chance that the dog may have had experiences earlier in life that may adversely affect my girls. Small pup or nothing I’m afraid.

Ours was 4 months old when we got him from doncaster dogs trust. Try not to buy a ‘bred’ dog when there are so many needing homes.

I would say then do your homework on the breeder, Staffy pedigree do have a few rare problems, talk to a vet or a local Staffy Club.

Staffy pups have teeth like needles and will be a bit mouthy they are just playing but could play a bit rough with little kids. That is no reason not to get one, my next one will be from a rescue place.

Personally, and its a very personnal thing dog ownership.
I wouldn’t rehome anything older than a couple of months.
Mine is a pedegree dog but i’ve no papers for her, i have however seen and played with both her parents and 3 of her grand parents so i had a good idea what i was getting.

Problem with rehoming a Staf is that you’ve no idea what the poor thing may have been subjected to by some low life previous owner.

we didnt get a rescue lurcher becuase we knew we were planning a family, I wanted a puppy to shape myself…. puppies are cool as well!!!

just for balance my staff was terrible with kids…