Talk to me about Staffies

[Pollydon]

Me & dh getting a dog when he retires. Had pretty much decided on a springer,then he meets a Staffie bitch yesterday ( was lost, wondered into his work, other person dog phobic, dh looked after her, got her to local vet, she was chipped, owner contacted, happy ending ) & he is besotted.
An uncle had one when I was a kid & all I remember is he luffed me & my brothers.
Staffie as a family dog with older teenagers & visiting elderly parents ?
TIA

I have a female 12 year old staffy!
I love her, she loves us. And she has a great smile!
She's great around other people, children & dogs now.
When she was a little younger she would bark at other dogs but she's mellowed with age :)
Our girl has never been a huge walker. She's always been happy with a stroll round the local park & a little run but I know others who need a good couple of hours exercise.
Most staffies I know including ours will lick you too death, refuse to go out in the rain, walk around puddles & will want to sit on top of you at all times.
When they're pups they can be quite a handful. With the chewing etc so will need a good bit of training.
We would always get another staffy in the future.

I have a four year old boy Staff and I've never known a living creature so full of love. He bloody adores people and is constantly by my side, even following me to the loo! He is a right whinge though - he cries to go out and woofs in my face if I dare to take a nap on the sofa, rather than pet him.

I think I've spoiled him rotten

Crispycake is describing mine to a T. Rain/waterphobic, wants constant kisses and cuddles, happy with a half hour charge around the local field and always want to be physically touching you.

Count Staffula is 4 now and calming down even more than ever. He was never a boisterous pup as I wouldn't allow too much. Kids and little old ladies love him, they are more afraid of the Doodle due to his size and no brain cells. He is intelligent and learns quickly to training.

Looked after and trained well, they are lovely dogs. They are 'my breed' now.

(He's on my profile)

We rescued a staff x pup last week, 11 weeks old. She is currently snoring her head off on the sofa.

She is a very clever dog and we love her to bits already. Don't get me wrong, she can be a pain in the backside, as any pup can, but she is so loveable that anything she does wrong is soon forgotten.

They aren't all water phobic, my FIL's lies in muddy puddles like a little hippo! She's very friendly with people but doesn't like all other dogs so walking can be a little stressful as she's try and have a go at random other dogs.
I would go for a Springer but I am biased, our last dog was a springer and very easy.

We rescued a staffie last year, she is my 3rd baby, we have dc age 10 & 8 and she luffs them and me and dp and loves nothing more than cosying in on the sofa snoring and farting she isn't very energetic very lazy , she also hates getting wet.

Go and look at staffie rescues localish to you, there will be loads and loads needing homes.

I think there is a pic her on my profile I think.

My next door neighbours have 3 and they are the most loving people friendly dogs ever. They are very well trained and very well exercised. They do seem to have boundless energy ( we once took them with us on a 20 mile charity walk and they were still going strong at the end when we were hanging!).
Although they are well socialised they are quite shy of other dogs and particularly don't like large dogs approaching then, will cower or hide. They are about as far away from the aggressive stereotype as you can get.
The rescues around here are full of them, or bull terrier crosses :-(

Thanks everyone, I think I need to start looking around rescue centres nearer the time, he thinks he wants to buy a pup, but if there are loads in rescue that seems a bit selfish.

Polly You will still find puppies in rescues, unfortunately. There will be so many to choose from, perhaps even a pregnant dog that's had her puppies in the rescue.

Worth looking for a rescue that has dogs with network of foster homes. Then you'll be able to get a dog/puppy that has lived in a home situation and you will get an assessment of how that dog is with other dogs/children/people, which I think is invaluable.

Matilda!

Yep I agree with puppies in rescue, people breed staffies to sell the puppies then no one buys them and they end up in rescue, one of the rescues I am involved in got 4 9 week old puppies last week as the owner couldn't shift them, mind you if your dh is a soft touch he will fall for an older dogs sob story.

Also agree with a rescue that uses foster home, both rescues I am involved in only uses foster homes and not kennels unless really really stuck for a foster home, a good rescue will give you a home visit and a home trial and support after you have adopted the dog.

My old lady is a 14 year old staffie. The cleverest softest dog ive ever had and ever met. She was a battersea dog and beaten for her first 6 months. She is frightened of drunk people, loud noises and bad weather.

She has won several people over to the idea of staffies.
Theyre really special dogs that dont deserve their bad rep.

Interested in a Lab/Staffie cross called Hermoine

She's in kennels in Staffordshire - Action Aid are great, will give you backup/help/advice if you need it. Lovely bunch of people trying to find homes for dogs. I'm fostering for them at the moment and have found it very rewarding.

You could always offer to foster, a great way to help out and get to know the dog - you can always adopt if you fall in love!

please don't buy a puppy - get a youngster from a rescue centre, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to get a staffy pup when there is so many in rescues.

So shouldn't have clicked on that link lady turmoil - i think i may have something in my eye.

Please tell me about fostering, am considering this myself

Our staffie was best dog ever. Brought up with my two young daughters. Thoroughly recommended.

Well LEMis (great name by the way, makes me smile each time I see it, being partial to a swear word now and again, and Hugh Jackman of course ).

I'm fostering for the first time, was just about to sign on with a local rescue, when I saw Aggie (pics on profile) on Action Aid website. She was about to be put to sleep and had been shot at in the past in Croatia. Asked the rescuer in Croatia loads of questions about her character, as I have 14 y/o daughter, husband who wasn't keen on idea at all, and I'm not an experienced dog owner (just looked after friends and family dogs for weekend/holidays etc).

I felt I got honest answers re. dog, talked about fostering to the UK based charity people, had a homecheck, was already on their FB group page so knew I could get in touch with them very easily and saw other people's experiences with fostering too.

It's been very easy - she's a fab dog, NO issues at all except a bit of playbiting (she's only a year old and only really does with me anyway), could go off lead after 3 weeks which made trips to parks for walking much more fun. I haven't done a whole heap of training with her as she didn't need it. No pee/poo accidents in house at all from day 1. She's really good and I felt I had backup of charity all the way (a few days in I had a panic about the responsibility of it all but they calmed me down completely and it passed!). They will also reimburse any expenses you've had (trips to the vet, even food but I'm not going to claim on food just £90 for vet and medication for upset tummy).

I've had Aggie since beg. of October and she's found a home now (they visited me and charity organised their homecheck) so she'll be leaving us soon, which suits me down to the ground for various reasons... but I'll do it again in the spring . I think it's a great option, if you see a particular dog you like who needs fostering, then it's kind of "try before you buy" because you can always adopt the dog if you fall in love. You're helping dogs who would otherwise be in a crappy shelter (if abroad), kennels here, or at worst, put to sleep.

SORRY for long post but hope it's helpful.

PS Pollydon a friend of mine has a coal black Staffy, very small and compact, a real softie, won't get out of bed til about 11 in the morning and is afraid when people sneeze! Not really as well 'ard as their reputation is it?!

Having said that, I've heard they're pretty boisterous until they're about 4-5 years old but I'm sure it just reflects the amount of time and training you're prepared to give... good luck in your search.