Could you talk to me about your staffies and children?

[lottielob]

Hi,
We have found a KC registered staffy puppy through a reputable breeder. We have three children, 2, 7 and 10 and just want to know other people's experiences of getting a staffy puppy with young children. We are experienced with dogs and puppies (and are going in to dog ownership with our eyes wide open), so it is particularly the breed I'm thinking about. I was excited but now a little worried because other people's responses have been really negative when we said it was a staffy. Thanks so much

The staffy we know is incredibly gentle and soft with young children. He is incredibly caring and lovely with children, it's really nice to see. But, that's an adult and I'm not sure how a puppy would be around a child as young as two.

Our staffy was one when our dd was born, she would come and Have a sniff but other than that she didn't bother. We now have 3 dds she gets grumpy if the younger two go near her, she's getting on now but loves a fuss from our eldest they often lie together on the sofa. The thing with staffs is they are very energetic and can have mad moments so can bash into the little ones and knock them over that's the only worry I've ever had. They don't wear out easy either and will want lots of walking. Our staff is such a lovely natured dog and we wouldn't be without her.

I've known Staffords who were fine with both people and other dogs.

That said, the only bad dog bite I've ever had was delivered by a staffie. He must have known he'd hit human, but he kept on biting down. I have slight but permanent damage to my hand, and it hurt like fuck at the time.

They and related breeds are over-represented in the dog bite fatality stats. In your shoes, I would look very carefully into the temperaments of not just the parent dogs, but related ones as well.

All the staffies I've known are big cuddly babies. They can have some dog agressive traits in their nature but are also extremely affectionate and loyal. if you're an experienced dog owner that shouldn't present a problem.

As you have puppy experience you know all about sharp little teeth on Staffie pups ( and all pups)
My DUncle was a Staffie breeder back in the day ( KC registered) and I would have one with children, absolutely. A well brought up Staffie is a joy to live with.

I wouldn’t have a puppy and a 2 yr old tbh.

But nothing to do with the breed, just any puppy.

Well bred staffies are biddable, trainable and yeah a bit over enthusiastic - but they’re also quite dinky, so not hugely likely to knock over children tbh even when they do get over excited.

Oh and they’re over represented in fatal attacks because people really don’t know what a staffy is, anything not fluffy pretty much gets identified as a staffy

She didn't live with them, but my late lamented Staffy cross often had my nephews and nieces around from young toddler age and was incredibly patient and gentle with them, and very tolerant of childish antics. That said, when we acquired her around age one she was very excitable and bouncy - still gentle, but it could have been an issue with a very young child. As much as I think she exemplified the nanny-dog side of Staffies, I'm really not sure that as a puppy she would have mixed well with young children. She was also very strong in comparison to her size.

I must have said this a hundred times on here ( sorry if you’re sick of it) that I attend a lot of dog shows, at least before they were stopped with this bug.
Always either the terrier classes at big championship shows or special terrier shows, I have terriers but not Staffies. But, without exception, the terrier show rings with the most families, small children, even babies around them are the Staffie rings. Lovely family dogs, belied by their thuggish looks, which isn’t something you can say about my glamorous but bolshy breed.

We had a staff when I was growing up, he was fantastic around children and an ideal family pet.
I will say they can be aggressive towards other dogs but then again I have a shih ztu and she's a nightmare with other dogs

We had a staffie from when our kids were babies. She was the most lovable gentle dog and protective of them (in a good way) never had any issues with her.

Oh and they’re over represented in fatal attacks because people really don’t know what a staffy is, anything not fluffy pretty much gets identified as a staff hmm
I'd suggest you look at a few ID photos. Dogs that look remarkably like pits, staffs and ambulls (and are usually ID'ed as such) are alarmingly common.

“Dogs that look remarkably like pits, staffs and ambulls (and are usually ID'ed as such) are alarmingly common.”

My point was that rarely if you actually look does a dog identified as a staffy after an incident look anything like an actual staffy - ambulls and staffies are very very different for instance, yet people use them to describe the same type of dog.

Most well bred staffies are smaller than most cocker spaniels, American bulldogs are twice that height.

Some dogs identified as staffies have been a mix of a few dogs, none of them in any way related to staffies...

And breed traits aren’t passed on by someone deciding they look a bit like that breed.

Thanks for your thoughts. It's a tough call to make and I do know that things will be tough with a toddler in tow. Need to make a decision and stick by it!

Hi Op, my first ever dog was a Staffy and he was 3 when DS1 was born. I was worried because DDog was used to being my baby, but we were careful to follow all the guidelines for introducing the dog to the baby and he was absolutely fine, even when DS2 came along less than 2 years later.

About a year before he died we ended up adopting what I thought was the most mental dog I'd ever met (long story!), also a Staffy, but she has been great with the kids too. Then after he died we got a rescue Staffy from a dogs home. He is also great with the kids, although not so much with strange dogs, sigh.

I think a 2 yr old is far too young to have any breed of puppy in the house, to be honest no matter what the breed is.

They have razor sharp teeth and chew anything/everything for the 1st 6 to 9 months. They have no manners, no social skills and require a huge amount of time and effort in terms of socialisation and training, especially toilet training. It made me really low at times to be honest, our youngest dog is now 2 but she's put me off every wanting to go through a puppy phase again. And she was a very much wanted puppy that it had taken me about 5 years to talk DH into!

Vet nurse here , very popular breed in the area i live and at my work .
They are usually the most wonderful , good natured happy dogs , lovely with families .
It is not very often we see ones aggressive to people , i am not going to list the more untrustworthy breeds we see as don't want to cause a fight! but staffies aren't on the list .
I agree with previous comments , the media call anything vaguely resembling a staff, a staff, which certainly gives them a unfair bad image.
Saying all this if you get one that dislikes other dogs it won't be much fun , but with plenty of training and socialisation you should be fine .
Sadly in practice we aren't seeing any where near the amounts we used to see ,there is a very small group of "fashionable " breeds at the moment that we see lots of .

I got my staff when she was 6 months old. She was a rescue.

When she was 2, I had my first son. She has been brilliant with him since day 1 - the only thing I have ever had to be worried about is staffie kisses (they are never ending and it can be difficult to breathe throughout) and the fact she's a bugger for pinching food. She adores him.

She is now 14 and he is still very much her boy. As soon as he sits on the floor she will crawl onto his knee for cuddles...and would still pin him and kiss him given half the chance. They've grown up together. I genuinely fear for the day we have to say goodbye to her.

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman

Oh and they’re over represented in fatal attacks because people really don’t know what a staffy is, anything not fluffy pretty much gets identified as a staff hmm I'd suggest you look at a few ID photos. Dogs that look remarkably like pits, staffs and ambulls (and are usually ID'ed as such) are alarmingly common.

That just says it all really.

Dogs that look a bit bull terrierish are seen as thugs by people that wouldn't recognize the differences between them.

I have a staffy cross who is also adopted when she was two (we are her third home) my boys were 5 and 3 at the time and we couldn't have asked for a better dog. great with the kids, very docile and just wants to be stroked and cuddled. staffys are meant to be good family dogs.

That just says it all really.

Dogs that look a bit bull terrierish are seen as thugs by people that wouldn't recognize the differences between them.

These are ID photos of dogs involved in human fatalities. They are plainly not pointers, Labradors or greyhounds.

“These are ID photos of dogs involved in human fatalities. They are plainly not pointers, Labradors or greyhounds”

Doesn’t make them staffies... oh and lab crosses are fairly often misidentified as staffy types, criss a lab with a ridgeback and you get a very bulky looking dog, about 4 times the size right enough, but people seem to think staffies are larger than they are.

Bully not bulky

but people seem to think staffies are larger than they are.

Yes to this! I am forever being told that my girl who is the exact size and weight for the breed standard "can't possibly be a Staffy" because she's too small.

That’s the size a staffy should be...

The dogs that are id’d as staffies after fatal attacks are usually giants compared to staffies...

Is there an issue with dodgily bred bully type dogs with god knows what genes in there being and god knows what background being over represented in fatal attacks - absolutely, but it’s not caused by people thinking they’ve got a passing resemblance to staffies and identifying them as that.

Okay, fair enough, I've learned how small pedigree Staffies are, and they don't appear to be the problem.

But the larger-than-pedigree random bred 'staffie' that got my hand, and other bad experiences with similar types of dog... Let's just say I remain wary of bully-types.