Can you help me to identify my dog's breed?

[Lougle]

Long and short of it is that we bought a 'Staffy'. We did try to go to a rescue initially, but all the rescues in a reasonable distance only had dogs suitable for over 8s/over 10s.

When he was very small, a fried said 'long nose for a staffy'. But, we'd seen both Mum & Dad (we thought) at the house when we went to look at him.

I'll be honest - as soon as I walked in to the house I knew that this was not a proper 'breeder'. They were far more interested in their £200 than even telling me what food he should eat. In fact, gut feeling, he probably hadn't been fed proper dog food because I asked the question about diet 5 seperate times. Also, their dosing schedule for worming was way out. I digress.

He is a beautiful dog. He is eager to please (although cast iron stubborn if his mind is set on it), loves nothing more than to cuddle up and sleep beside us. Great with the children, as much as a bouncy puppy can be, etc. I have no complaints, except that toilet training is proving difficult.

Patch is 22 weeks old now, and the difference between his appearance, build, etc., and what I was expecting for a pure Staff is wide.

He is much taller than I'd expect, he's already 12kg, he is much more long and narrow than I thought he'd be, and his head is quite fine featured - no pronounced cheek bones, no huge 'staffy smile' but a narrower jaw.

I've uploaded photos of the beautiful Patch, and wondered if any of you could hazard a guess?

Key points:

Loves food
Loves being brushed
Loves belly rubs
Loves having toys thrown
Starting to 'retrieve' a bit, but often will just go to the toy then walk away.
HATES WITH A PASSION water. Won't willing step outside if there is a drop of rain in the sky. I had to be rescued in the shower because he was so determined to get away that he pulled me over.
Often stands with one paw raised if he's seen something in the distance, or heard something.
Tail is bent under body if upset/reluctant to do something. Straight out at times, pointing in the air if excited.
Incredibly agile and fast.

Thanks ;D

[IAmBooyhoo]

looks like jack russell to me but obviously could be wrong. others who know what theyr'e talking about will be along soon

[PersonalClown]

He looks very similar to my Staffy.

Mine has the long nose, very sleek (not the bodybuilder sticky look)
Very water phobic

My vet told me that mine is how a Staffy 'should' look. The stocky look has been bred in as desirable amongst the morons who give them a bad name.

[Lougle]

Hmm jack russells are short, aren't they? I don't think it can be that, because he's too tall and you can't get a taller dog out of a smaller one, IYSWIM.

Ooh interesting, PC. So it's possible that he's just not a 'typical' Staffy? (Typical as in what google shows, rather than 'typical' as in how they should be).

My Mum & Dad, and SIL actually, have all suggested pointer?

[IAmBooyhoo]

no not all JRs are short. some can be quite tall. have a look at google images of jack russells. some resemble your dog slightly.

[IAmBooyhoo]

also, if the mother and father you saw weren't the actual parents or even one of them wasn't then it's quite possible he could be part jack russell. i do think he still looks slightly staffy though.

[Prolesworth]

Could he be a staffy/JR cross?

[msfishneedsabycycle]

Looks a bit like my dog. She was rescue dog and vet reckoned a cross between Jack Russell and whippet. Also loves food, hates the rain, very stubborn and will chase a ball but not bring it back (likes to bury it).

[IAmBooyhoo]

oh hang on i've just looked at the rest of your pics. (didn't realise there were more than one) and yes you are right i think he is too big to be JR. still definitely staffy in there though.

[Lougle]

Anything is possible, I guess! The 'parents' were both there. Very clearly Staffy - shortish, well set, pronounced cheeks, etc. But, DH is convinced now that the owners were just too keen to introduce the parents, as if perhaps they wanted to put that across, but really they weren't both his parents.

[Lougle]

He is only just 5 months old and weighs 12kg. The Vet, at 8 weeks, thought he would reach 13.7 kg based on his weight at that appointment

[diedandgonetodevon]

There is definite staffy in there but what the rest is, not a clue .

[IAmBooyhoo]

i think DH might be right. do they breed regularly or did they just breed 1 litter from their two dogs?

[PersonalClown]

My Staffy is only 16/17 Kgs. Nice and light for when he sits on me.

Don't forget that traits from grandparents etc may still be in the line.
My friends still own the parent's of mine and they are both typical red Staffs. Mine happens to be the freak of the litter as all the others are red and stocky like their parents yet mine is a sleek Tan/white /blue mix!!

[Lougle]

Honestly? I'm cringing as I type, because I so didn't want to fall into the BYB territory, but I think they were 'novices' and I think they were more interested in their £200 than their dogs. Once I'd met him, though, there was no way I was going to leave him there .

They had him and his litter mate in the front room, 4 children, large TV blaring, couldn't tell me what he'd been eating (I wanted to make sure I bought the same), 'they thought' he'd been wormed at weeks 1,2 & 3 then needed it at weeks 9,10&11. Needless to say, that within a week of him being with us he had a very difficult poo and a thick long worm came out. They lied to us about his age, suggesting he was very nearly 8 weeks, and had told us on the phone that he was ready for his new home. When I phoned the next day to ask for his date of birth, they told me 21/11/11, which meant I'd taken him at just 6 weeks 6 days

[PoppadumPreach]

I'd say jack russell/ staffie cross. A ruffie?

[IAmBooyhoo]

yes the definitely do sound like BYB's . I think a lot of them must work off the idea that people wont walk away once they have seen the pup because i have heard it so many times from people who have bought from BYB's. in my more naive days i did exactly the same thing and ended up with a dog that was so unsuited to our family.

[IAmBooyhoo]

or a jaffie

[Lougle]

A ruffie jaffie

I am happy to say that Patch is very keen to please and loves food, so he is extremely easy to train. he'll even run back to me (sometimes) when next doors dogs start barking at him. Other times he runs away

[topknob]

Maybe a little american bulldog with staffy??? Cute boy though :)

[ginmakesitallok]

I'd go for staffie/jr cross too. He is NOTHING like a pointer!

[IAmBooyhoo]

i watched a programme last week where a girl had a jack russell X pug called a Jug!

[Lougle]

So nobody thinks he's pure breed, then

[RustyKuntz]

Do you know, as I was reading your post before I saw the pictures all I could think was how alike (temperament) he sounded to my childhood dog 'Dylan'.

Then I had a look at your pics and got a bit teary. Facially,and colour-wise, he is the image of Dylan.

Dylan was a very tall JRT but we always used to say that somewhere along the line he must have had staffy in him. We knew both his parents - his mum (a teeny JRT) was our neighbours dog, and his dad was a big, semi-stray, JRT that would always play with us (this was back in the 80's)

As much as I love my current dog and have loved subsequent dogs - there will never be a greater dog than Dylan, scaler of 6ft fences, escaper extraordinaire, chaser of cars (eek), defender of the defenseless (ie me when my mum would shout at me for being naughty!)

[Lougle]

Ah, RustyKuntz, you've made me shed a little tear!

Patch really is a beauty. A complete scoundrel but so eager to please at the same time. He sleeps with his paws crossed and talks in his sleep.

I'm softer than DH & clever Patch has worked that out already. I'd allow Patch to sleep under the covers, and DH won't. So the deal is that once DH gets out of bed to get ready for work, Patch can get under the covers. This is completely unprompted. It falls down if DH needs the loo in the early hours - Patch shoves his noise under the covers to be told that it's too early and is quite huffy!

[kitsmummy]

Oh wow, I just clicked on your pics expecting to see a staffy with a hint of jack russell. What I saw looked more like a giant jack russel with maybe a hint of staffy in there somewhere! He's gorgeous, I'm glad he's gone to a lovely home.