As I have said above I'm thinking about adopting staff from a shelter. My uncle had a staff and it was great, never barked, never gave people bother climbing all over them or whatever just minded its own business and great with me when I was younger.

However that dog was a puppy, and its said most Staffs in shelters end up there because their previous owners were chavvy morons who treated them like trash and as a weapons and as a result the dogs are headcases for life. I want to adopt a dog rather than get a puppy because so many dogs out there deserve a second chance, and I would get more satisfaction from helping a dog whos had a shit life live the rest of its days the way its whole life should be, fun relaxing and trouble free.

Just wondering if thats likely to be the case with most Staffs and if there is much of a difference between Male and female, my Uncle's old dog was female, if that is of any help....

staffies are overbred which means there are tonnes in rescue they end up there in general because of bad socialisation from unknowing owners or unknowing owners not being able to meet their needs for stimulation most of them may have poor training but most of them will love people and be fine in a household the down side is a lot of them may already be dog agressive.

I don't own a Staffie myself but have known a number of people that have had them as pets including a close family member. I feel they often get an unfair press, usually due to incompetant owners and the strong jaws and stocky appearance. Plus, people seem to get them confused with pit bulls and dog fighting!
In fact one of the sweetest dogs I ever met was female staff where on the other hand it was a 'cute' little Peke that was one of the most aggressive dogs I ever came across!
It's great that you are thinking of giving a rescue dog a home.
There's a fact sheet that may give more info.

www.battersea.org.uk/document.rm?id=87

i can PERSONALLY vouch for rescue staffies - having said that, ours is still a pup. a mad, mental pup! but even though he's had the wallpaper from behind the kitchen door and under the heater in tatters, some of the (already ripped, he was just helping!) lino off the floor by the door, and does excited-pees frequently (he goes from sleeping to manic in under 3 seconds, its really rather fascinating lol), we wouldn't change him

back on topic, the older staffies we came accross were predominately unsuitable for homes with children and not to be mixed with other animals, some had come from responsible loving homes and had been left with the dogs trust for legitemate reasons - one was there as the owner was heavily pregnant and could no longer cope with a dog due to additional health problems.

whatever dog you choose, best of luck, and well done for deciding on a rescue dog

There isn't any children or animals in my house anyway, so those two shouldn't be huge barriers. Obviously I will take extreme care in choosing the dog.

im sure that goes without saying

have a look a the Staffie rescue site - they will probably help


http://www.sbtrescue.co.uk/dogsneedinghomes.htm

There are plenty of staffie/staffX pups in rescue if you'd prefer a puppy.

You might want to try posting on the 'homes offered' section of dogpages.co.uk

If your looking for a staffy as well as trying rescues you could also try pounds. A lot of staffies end up in them as people just chuck them out and they normally only get on average 8 days before they are PTS.

I heard of one place last week that PTS 8 staffies

I really wish people would just STOP breeding this type of dog. Far too many are ending up in rescues throughout the country!

from my understanding all dogs are assesed for suitability to be rehomed so if the dog shows signs of aggresion it is simply put too sleep.

you can also look here they have loads of staffies to be re-homed

http://www.dogsblog.com/category/sta...-bull-terrier/