So..tell me about Staffies!

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Mosh

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After losing my Scoobs we are slowly thinking about getting another dog and are starting to do research. I would love another greyhound/lurcher but apparently I can't be biased and only look at greyhounds!

One of the breeds we have looked at are Staffies. I'm not a big fan, not because i think they'll rip my face off but they seem so chaotic? And quite high energy but I'm basing that on about 4 or 5 staffs that I have met. All soft as and demanded lots of fuss and attention. I am used to a greyhound that barely got out of bed though.

So are staffs as mental as I think? Are they clever? Any known breed problems, Hip? Elbows etc

All I want in a dog is to have cuddles, enjoy walking and do the odd fun dog show in the summer with some possible agility thrown in, just for fun. Would a staff do that?


My solution of getting a greyhound and a staff did not go down so well!
 
All I want in a dog is to have cuddles, enjoy walking and do the odd fun dog show in the summer with some possible agility thrown in, just for fun. Would a staff do that?

HELL YES- they can be chaotic, and high energy tho- does depend on the individual tho- and age, and upbringing etc- I have known a fair few and some just potter, others are on the go 24/7- but thats because their owners are too!
 
All the ones I've met have been a bit 'mad' - hooning around etc but they're as daft as they come and very cuddly. I met a rescue one the other day and he had to be muzzled in public as not good with dogs (has a lot of scarring :( ) but he had the sweetest nature and his new owner said he loves snuggling with her on the sofa and watching TV. The only problem she has is turning up the volume on the TV to compete with his snoring!! She said he has a very bad wind problem too but is experimenting with different foods.
 
I wouldn't say they'd be ideal agility dogs, and whilst I am not an expert in the breed, the ones I do know love cuddles and snuggling, are total wimps wind and rain wise, and have a tendency to run to fat, if allowed to.
Of all the dogs I meet, they tend to have very sweet tempers and whilst biking, they are the most numerically large of the breeds I meet and actually the least aggressive/reactive toward my dog and the owners always make an effort to call them in.
 
Thanks for the info everyone.

I'm just so used to a dog that wouldn't even get out of bed if the doorbell went!

The staff we have been told about, is roughly 3 years old, black male called Harvey. He isn't the prettiest but has spent 2 Christmases in the rescue centre as he sits in the back of his kennel but once out of his area he is lovely, good with kids and female dogs, bit edgy with other male dogs but would be willing to work on that if we got him. Walks nicely on his lead and all he wants is some love.

Can cope with wind and snoring. I have a 10 year old brother and a 20 year old brother and the funniest thing ever is farting...!

Oh bloody hell, sounds like I'm quite smitten already!
 
I NEVER wanted a Staffy, but my OH did. I'd never known any personally and thought of them all as aggressive big bulky dogs. Anyway I gave in, and we rehomed an 18month old. He can be a bit of a whirlwind at times but in the evenings, he loves nothing more than cuddling up next to us (and he would stay there all night given his way!!)

Everyone who meets him loves him. He is great with kids and great with other dogs! (I will always remember the day after we got him, I took him for a walk and a JRT pup growled at him ... He hid behind me with his tail between his legs!!)

Of course you get the odd person who will cross the road so they dont have to walk past him but hey ... it doesn't bother me! It just means we don't have to squish past anyone on the pavement!

ETA: He HATES the wind, he HATES the rain and he HATES getting his feet wet and he really feels the cold ... We had to invest in a coat for him so he would at least go for a short walk in miserable weather! We get a lot of funny looks walking a Staffy in a little waterproof coat!
 
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My staffie (and others I have met) is loyal, loving, bouncy and full of energy at times - though she'll play the lap dog if you want her to and will quite happily sleep all day long!

She's got an ace recall on her (though sometimes doesn't stop quick enough and bounces off your shins!), is good with children and horses. She used to be good with dogs but has been bitten on numerous occasions and is now weary of them :( If a dog barks at her she runs off!! She can go out for hours to if you want to - I was going to do agility with her but changed my mind due to lack of time, the lady who runs our local one has a staffie and they are very top level.

Her bad points are: she snores VERY loudy especially if you are watching tv, she loves playing with her squeaky tennis ball - again especially if you are watching tv, and she has the worst farts ever!

She point blank refuses to go out in the rain even just for a wee which sometimes results in me dragging her out but she loves the snow, and loves sunbathing to.

She's also a very good guard dog - not in a nasty type of way, more in a 'her barks worse than her bite' kind of way.
 
Hi I am new to the forum. I have owned a rescue staffy for 3 years. I wasn't sure about them before we got Kia but she has definitely changed my mind about the breed. She is the most loyal affectionate dog I have ever had.
She likes nothing more than getting cuddles, she also hates the rain wind and cold.
She does have the usual staffy traits of snoring and farting.
Kia is a rescue staffy and has definitely found her forever home.:)
 
And if needed Charcoal Capsules,one daily,from Holland@Barrett!! Super super pet dogs,another plus..no smell of wet dog ever....even if you can persuade them out into the rain that is! I find the gentle snoring restful
 
Thanks for all of the advice.

Going to take it all on board and have a chat with the family tonight and arrange a visit..maybe!

Scoobs had some dietary issues and my local pet shop will order things in if I need them and will look at the charcoal capsules too.

I decided I'm going to sell Scoobs coats and if I do get a staff, I'll buy him a coat (a funky one!) and the money left over will go to a rescue charity such as GRWE.

All the advice is much appreciated
 
I have a rescue staffy and he is the most loving and loyal dog I have ever met. He is kinda crazy
for the first 5 mins of his walk but soon settles. In the house all he wants to do is cuddle up on the sofa. When we first got him he had terrible wind, but feed him skinners now and it's cleared up. He does snore like a drain thou. He is my first staffy but def won't be my last. I've always liked them but I'm now a total convert.

He was in the pound and then rescue kennels for 7 months and getting him is the best decision I ever made.
 
Mosh said:
After losing my Scoobs we are slowly thinking about getting another dog and are starting to do research. I would love another greyhound/lurcher but apparently I can't be biased and only look at greyhounds!

One of the breeds we have looked at are Staffies. I'm not a big fan, not because i think they'll rip my face off but they seem so chaotic? And quite high energy but I'm basing that on about 4 or 5 staffs that I have met. All soft as and demanded lots of fuss and attention. I am used to a greyhound that barely got out of bed though.

So are staffs as mental as I think? Are they clever? Any known breed problems, Hip? Elbows etc

All I want in a dog is to have cuddles, enjoy walking and do the odd fun dog show in the summer with some possible agility thrown in, just for fun. Would a staff do that?


My solution of getting a greyhound and a staff did not go down so well!
Click to expand...

Dont be silly Mosh, nothing will ever be as good as a greyhound and (much as I dont have anything against staffies in any way) thinking of another breed is futile :D

Get another greyhound, you know you want to :p
 
We've got a lurcher who is greyhound x staffi - the best of both worlds!!! Loyal, affectionate, protective when he needs to be & likes nothing more than curling up and having a good snooze after a walk! :)
 
Just need to say in my experience a sbt is what you make it. Mine was a private re-home at 14 months old and he is now 7 yrs old and I can honestly say he is the best thing that has happened to me. We have done companion dog shows, just for fun, and we got better and better and has won over 600 rosettes inc over 100 firsts and 15+ pedigree best in show! My son qualified for and competed at crufts in junior handling, my son was 10 years old at the time! We've done obedience competitively, and beaten collies and we are now competing in agility, and at the uka grand finals we finished in the top ten in our class. There is even a sbt agility league in the uk. And Mason loves going to hydrotherapy, and also swims in the sea. He loves his walks in all weathers and I feed him defrosted minced tripe, bought in frozen blocks and he rarely farts !!
 
I like your original idea of having both! I have a staffie x and a lurcher. I' d recommend both. My staff was a rescue who arrived a week pregnant so I ended up with 9! She's an old lady now, stone deaf, and has an inoperable tumour, but she is just a wonderful soul - fun, loyal, faithful, brilliant with other dog, cats, kids, happy to go for a walk or smuggle in bed all day! I've never found her high energy TBH, she will be as energetic as you ask her to be (we take it easier these days!). They are what you make them and don't deserve the reputation some numpties have given them.
 
Sorry I haven't all posts
But why not a staff x whippet ( another type lurcher ) there's one in foster at scruples whippet rescue not sure yet rehomed

We hav lots of staffies around my area ,some nice n well behaved some not ,depends how they're brought up
Good luck
 
I have a bully x whippet x grey, she is hard as nails, harder than all the breeds in her (build like she is on steroids):eek:, she can bear all weather and is low energy dog (whilst the rest of mine blast around) she forages for food (she is very greedy) and she does like to cuddle up and suck in the heat from the fire but can also walk in blizzards with no coat, she is effective for what she was bred for which is hunting/killing;) but she has fantastic recall (now);) and is very placid and bidable.

Sbt's are mad at the best of times but you could not ask for a bubblier breed, they do love to please, they do love heat and are wimps it's true (in rescue they do worst in kennels) than any other breeds we get through due to their single coat and solitary confinement which they hate as love to be socialising (very sad to see them kenneled). They do snore and fart:D and generally have very good recall due to their (bond) with their human and never met a one who is not obsessed with footballs:D and they mkae wonderful noise whe excited or recovering from an operation:rolleyes::D
All the ones I deal with/have dealt with have been super, i fond them easy to train as they are bidable and like to please. But they are like a bull in a china shop:p
I have 2 huge staffs living over the road from me and they are wimps to the extreme, they wont eye ball a cat or another dog in the street for fear of being beaten up and they sleep under the duvet and are like babies, same as my sisters sbt really:D
 
I've a bull lurcher staff x greyhound on foster at the mo, they don't seem to find homes as quick as the other pointies, Pru has been waiting nearly 2 yrs. She's more people orientated & responsive than my greyhounds, not so keen on the staffy lickyness but the cuddles make up for it. Not much more active than my lazy dogs, though she's now entering senior years. I love her chunky chops & is a cross i'd like to own now in future sadly i can't adopt her. Pru is with Lurcher Link and they've a few others, Dave is lovely too.
 
Thank you guys.


Going to the kennels tomorrow hopefully to see a staff we heard about. My compromise was that we got a staff and a small lurchery thing! Its something parents are considering. I'm a bit like a 5 year old child and have been constantly going on and on and on and on!

Had a look at dogs trust last night and was a bit disappointed, I know its a stressful environment for the dogs, but the majority growled at me or my brother or walked away. I asked the staff about some of their temperaments and all they could do was find fault why we couldn't have that dog. One dog launched himself at the window growling and one dog hid behind her bed, shaking, growling and looked very distressed
 
Picklenash said:
You took the words right out of my mouth CC.....:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Not sure the comment's entirely fair though. I think they do actually put a lot of time and effort in to the dogs they have - well, our local DT seems to anyway. The same woman has managed it for many years and I got my dog from there. She was actually pretty chilled in the kennels and wasn't interested in us at all. She was manic when she was introduced to us and they were very honest about her being reactive with other dogs on lead.

What they obviously didn't know (as they'd not had her long enough) was she was scared of strangers and barked quite aggressively at them. I found this out when I got her!

Dogs act a lot differently in kennels and I don't think it's a true reflection of their character. Yes the downside with Dogs Trust can be quiet awkward it would seem about rehoming BUT when you hear of the amount of 'returns' they get you can sort of see why. It's almost like they are making sure they only get the trued, determind adopters!!

I really don't envy any rescue centres in the work they do.
 
I have nothing against rescues and would never negate the work that they do, I have supported DT financially, I even remember when it was called the NCDL :p, but having owned a lovely, shiny coated, healthy looking bitch, who was completely gone in the head in a way that nothing could fix, I think people need to realise that physically healthy is not mentally healthy.

I think in the current climate when rescues are full to bursting, those which are mentally and physically fit and healthy should get the spaces and be promptly rehomed to free up space and then if and when things are ever better, more time and resources can be spent on the dogs with bigger issues.

JMO.
 
CC you are so articulate....sighs in admiration.....:D

No, seriously, I agree totally with what CC said :)

I was horrified to hear that a local rescue that I support was proposing to pay out 4k for reconstructive surgery on a dog's leg following an accident :eek: IF it was not possible to save the leg (which isn't yet known) the cost of amputation would be around 1/10th of that amount, and the dog would still have an excellent quality of life.

Not an appropriate use of donated money IMHO :(
 
Not an expert on staffs but they are loyal, affectionate, friendly dogs from my experience. They are high energy, especially when they're young, but as long as you get them out and about to keep them mentally ticking over they aren't too much hard work. A friend has one who is the cutest, sweetest dog I've met. Health wise I'd be careful not to over exercise, despite them being high energy (which is why I say it's more important to keep them mentally exercised, not necessarily physically) my friend's one has had cruciate injuries.
 
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