Identification

Hello everyone, my husband and I are about to rescue a dog from our local SSPCA that we fell in love with, my sister is freaking out as she is worried about her 3 kids, aged 8, 6 and 3 as she doesn't like the look of the dog. Any ideas on the cross, we think he is part staffie, thanks everyone.

Have the SSPCA given you any info on him? Just looks like a staffy to me.

Never leave the dog alone with the kids, train and exercise him well, and make sure the kids do not tease or harrass the dog and there should'nt be a problem whatever breed he is.

He looks a lovely boy but seems sad to be in a kennel. Well done on taking a rescue

Defo staffie in it and a lot by the looks of it, for me to take a staff into a house with kids and not knowing the dogs back ground which could take months to see is only asking for trouble in my view so take care..

Looks staffie to me, but I can't say for sure without knowing the size of the dog. I own two staffies - and have owned the breed most of my life. There isn't a more reliable breed in existence for children. Our older staffie was used for hunting. We got her from Gumtree and the fellow disappeared as fast as he got the money. When we called up the next day he tried to pretend he hadn't sold us a dog. It turned out she had been used to hunt badger. Her canines were broken and she had gashes and punctures everywhere which we didn't notice until I felt the bumps where cuts were. They were well on the way to healing but still. My youngest was under 2 when got her and although we were watching closely he fell head first off the settee onto her hurt leg the next day. She carefully crept out from under him so he wouldn't fall again. After all that abuse you'd think she would be aggressive, but she isn't. I do believe she had a good home once as well though. I know she changed hands a number of times.Unfortunately though, she is still a nervous dog and jumps up on people. You can make her sit for a short while but then she is bouncing again. This is common with staffies, although shouldn't happen if you raise the dog from a pup. I would keep the dog leashed around your sisters children when they first meet to keep him from jumping.

I also hope the children are well behaved with dogs. I've seen far more children hurt dogs than the other way around. We are sadly in a position now where my sons best friend can never be allowed near our pup again. He has just hurt the dog one time too many. The pup puts up with it, I won't . Thankfully I have never left them alone for a second so I saw everything that happened. If this were going on without my knowledge the dog could end up pushed to the point that it defends itself -- or dead. Also, he is generally a very nice boy, I would have never dreamed he could not be trusted around animals if I had not seen it myself. He is actually terrified of them but rushes in and pokes or shakes something at the dog then panics and hits. He will also jump at the dog and then run away screaming like a banshee. I suppose I should have had a warning when he was so frightened of our bird and although he loves the fish panicked when one splashed in the aquarium. The poor child is terrified of everything, but he simply is not safe with animals. No matter how much I trust the children - I wouldn't leave any but my own alone with a dog, and I would not leave a new dog alone with them just in case. that said I have enough confidence in this breed that I once grabbed one that had broken away from an owner to start a fight and restrained it until the owner could be brought back and on another occasion tackled one spooked by fireworks and held on for dear life until the owner could come with a leash. I just can not imagine a staffy biting but then my confidence may play in my favour as well.

.So many children now are not taught to handle animals with respect at all, but then growing up in area rife with hunting I suppose that may have something to do with it. If the children are not used to dogs though, no matter how kind they are, you will need to go over basic ground rules with them " no riding the dog, no poking, no pulling ears no throwing rocks, etc..." Most of all, it can be great fun to see an athletic staffy leaping for a toy held high in the air, but there is always the chance of the dog misjudging and catching a finger. I still have scar from doing this with a pup over 20 years ago. It wasn't the dog's fault - it was mine. Also my dogs have always had a child free zone. The older staffy has a den under a table with a bed and an outdoor dog house for daytime use only. If she retreats to either of those, and she does when other children come over, she is to be left there - hands off. The pup has a bed under another table, or will lay down to sleep at my feet. Either way, if he is napping he must be allowed to sleep. A shame he doesn't extend the same courtesy to my son. They sleep together but I have to take him the morning as he will keep climbing on, licking, whining, barking, throwing toys on him, etc in attempt to get my son to wake up and play, but sure is still a baby and will learn. While rescue dogs tend to be desperate for attention, I think they need their own safe retreat even more than most dogs.

But assuming the children are nice, I would suggest showing your sister some literature on Staffies. They are called the Nanny dog for good reason, and hopefully she will come around, but if not her fear is apt to make the children jumpy around the dog as well. I would give the dog a few days to settle in before having them over, and then a good walk before it meets them. I do not tolerate food aggression with my dogs, but this is a rescue so don't leave the dog with something like a big meaty bone or tasty chew while they are over, just in case it growls over it. Just lift up anything the dog may be too possessive over. and of course watch the dogs body language etc... if the dog begins to look very nervous, move it to a quiet place for awhile. But I really would not anticipate problems other than possibly getting to excited and knocking little ones down. Be aware that staffies are especially likely to get overly excited in play and end up jumping to hard, or worse, barrelling into a child. I have literally been knocked flying by a running staffy before, and it honestly can hurt when they crash into you. it takes awhile to progress to that level of excitement, so put the brakes on play if things are getting to wild.

best of luck with your new friend, and he does look like a sweetheart. Staffies are meant for hugs not for thugs