Do you need to be breed experienced to have a staffy ?

[frumpet]

Still looking at getting another dog , I like pointy type dogs and pointers , but DH would prefer something smaller and likes staffys . All the staffys I have met have been lovely sweet cuddle monsters and I quite like the idea of having a dog that wouldn't take up all the sofa even stretched out !

Have looked at a few breed specific rescues and a lot of them seem to suggest that previous experience with the breed is a good thing , which obviously we don't have . My friend has terriers who seem to spend their whole lives attempting to find new and amusing ways to kill or maim anything small or furry , actually forget the small they would take on a mammoth if they still existed . Are staffys very terrier like ?

Hehe, yes, she does strut around as if to say "look at me!"

A little about her rescue here:

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/puppies-found-new-homes-after-3663246

Suspect we'll always have a Staff now at the end of our bed

I'm lost for words after reading that story, Godstopper, the poor little things.
She looks so happy now, though, and obviously couldn't be more loved.

Staffy and staffy cross puppies come up a lot n rescues as well. It might be safer for a less experienced family to have a pup.

I've had some type of bull terrier all my life, so not much to compare them to, except family members' dogs, which always seem a bit bland and characterless in comparison. But staffies, like English BTs, are very people centric which is the upside of them being not always so dog friendly...

My current pup was from a rescue, aged only 9 weeks and is very shy and afraid of other dogs - despite being socialised a lot, going to puppy classes, and my lifetime of experience of bull breeds. But she is not aggressive to other dogs, and I have had one staffy that was - and another staffy that totally wasn't. A lot is down to the individuall dog, in other words.

Prey drive has always seemed low in my staffies and EBTs (with the exception of one of our childhood EBTs who hated cats). Never had a staff with much of an interest in small furries - but my current one has, finally, aged almost 2, started wanting to chase pigeons, squirrels etc out on walks. But she is half Jack Russell so I put it down to that.

Here she is. That's what is called 'the staffy smile' - never seen another breed of dog that can smile.

She's lovely, Joffrey: I've seen dogs smiling, but even her eyes are smiling (if you know what I mean!)

She's smizing JoffreyBaratheon :)

I'd forgotten about this thread. RoseDog your SSBTR girl is lovely, looks quite like our old girl. Our boy's sister ended up in the same village as us after we both (without knowing each other) drove over 200 miles each way, in winter, to fetch them. We first bumped into her at a dog show when the dogs were 8 months old and the two of them went crazy, they were so happy to see each other.

I adore Staffies. I grew up with one and she was the best dog to walk the earth.

She was super socialized and trained well though, so I think as long as you're willing to do that, you'd be OK.

As it stands, I have a Chipit (Chihuahua x Pit bull) and she's an asshole. I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. She loves people (me) though.

I miss my Staffie girl

Our first ever dog is our almost 2 year old DEAF staffy. We've managed with her, the hardest part is her being deaf but it's also great because she doesn't hear the doorbell. She's never chewed anything that she shouldn't have, is absolutely not aggressive. Love her to bits even though she is a trip hazard that has to be by your feet at all times. Obviously no idea if that's a staff thing or just a security thing with her being deaf.

If I can do it anyone can!

Here she is

and is absolutely not aggressive.

A lovely, relaxed dog, Dontdead.
Do you use hand signals for communication and training?

pippin yes, we've tought her what we can hand signals wise. It might not be the same signals as everyone else with a deafy uses but we know and she knows so that's the main thing. She's still learning recall. It's a nightmare when out walking as she loves people so much that she forgets just plain ignores us to look at us so we can't let her off her lead. She's got a long lunge line for horse training so she can have a run safely. Maybe she'll get there one day.

Also look at rescues that use foster homes so may get better idea of nature

Oh my. The smiles.

I had a staffie collie cross from when I was a student until she was 15. She was awesome. She let my DC's climb over her, she cuddled sick kittens and when I was in the army she even came in a tank with me. She was bomb proof. She thought she was human, understood a range of about 60 words but really wasn't bothered about strange dogs especially those who sniffed her bum.
Yes she was stubborn but brilliant. I'd have another tomorrow.