Staffie Stories

Staffie Stories

Staffie Stories

In this blog we focus on one of the most popular dogs we see come through our training programs – the Staffordshire Bull Terrier’s (Staffies’)

Did you know?

  1. They’re not afraid of much – One of the reasons that people prefer to have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier is the relative lack of fear in these dogs. Whatever the situation is, these dogs are prepared to always take things in their stride without fear. With this they’re also high energy, if your staffy hasn’t gotten the exercise they need, they can be quite destructive.
  2. They’re very muscular – Having great muscle tone, these dogs are so good at virtually everything they do. It’s the muscular body of the dogs which makes them look extremely strong (and they are) and this is why people consider having it as a mode of protection.
  3. They have relatively long lives – Usually, the dogs have a life span of 9 to 11 years but that’s not the case with Staffies. These dogs tend to have a longer lifespan than the average one, which makes them live for around 12 to 14 years.
  4.  They’re extremely resilient – Dogs usually develop a lot of diseases but surprisingly the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is very much resilient to it. These dogs tend to stay healthy and active and usually don’t get struck by diseases, even when they are in old age.
  5. They’re powerful dogs – You might have guessed it by now that these dogs are very powerful. Anyone who owns a staffy should always get them properly trained to avoid being dragged around by them rather than you walking them.

Whether you did or didn’t know these facts about Staffies, most agree that they are one of our favorite home breeds.

See below some of our Staffie friends who have come to our trainings over the past 6 months!!

MY NAME IS KHODA.
I’m an American Staffie and I’m 3.5 years old. I’m a good girl and I’m well trained. My problem is that there are some situations in which I can’t remember all of my good training techniques. This happens when I’m around other dogs, especially on the lead. They say that this means I have a threshold distance for being able to cope around other dogs. My humans are learning about some of my subtle body language signals that tell them when I’m first becoming uncomfortable on the lead. They’re learning to offer me alternate behaviours to use before I get too close and “lose it” on the lead. As I said, I’m well trained; I just need to apply my new “good girl” training to these more challenging situations. Wish me luck!

OUR NAMES ARE CHACHI AND BOWIE.
Chachi says: “I’m a Staffie x Husky and I’m nearly 12 months old. I’ve been to puppy school but now that there’s another dog at home I need to learn good manners on the lead and how to share my family and yard with another dog. I guess cos I’m the older brother I need to learn to set a good example.”
Bowie says, “I’m a six month old Staffie x Bull Mastiff. I’m looking for security and clear guidance as I was rescued from a backyard breeding situation in which I was attacked by my littermates. I’m pretty nervous about even venturing out from home, let alone meeting other dogs.”
The boys are enrolled for three private lessons in which we’ll gradually introduce other leashed dogs into the equation.

 

My name is Zephyr.
I’m an English Staffie and I’m 5 months old. I’m fresh out of puppy school and I’m learning what people out in the big wide world do and don’t like. Apparently they don’t like dogs jumping on them during a greeting. Here I am learning an “alternate” behaviour to jumping when being greeted by a human. The behaviour is called “sitting” and apparently humans like this far more than an enthusiastic Staffie jump. Oh well, whatever keeps the peace!

Check out the video of my training here

 

MY NAME IS CHEENO.
I’m 18 months old and I’m an English x American Staffie. My life has changed a lot since the older dog in our house died. I’m feeling a little vulnerable and “exposed” now that my “soldier” is gone. My pulling on the lead has intensified as has my reactivity to other dogs. My human is learning new strategies to help me feel safe and calm out on the lead, even though I don’t have my buddy here to protect me any more.

 

We hope you enjoyed our Staffie Blog. Watch out for our other dog highlights in our blog!