Puppy Rottweiler

MrsE_2

suki1964 wrote: »

Tell me - why are so many staffies in rescue?

Serious question

I understand greyhounds

But staffies?

Because they are "fashionable" as a pet among people who aren't fit to care for a goldfish in too many cases.

Frugalista

mrcol1000 wrote: »

But the majority of people just want a nice pet that they can take for walks. If you need all that in connection with having a pet then good on you and no-one is stopping you going to a breeder. But the majority of people just want a pet and don't even think about rescues as they think of them as a line of cages with unwanted dogs on death row. They do not even realise that they can get young dogs or even puppies. Good on people for recommending they try rescues if they just want a pet. If all the above worries you then I doubt anyone posting on an internet forum about rescue dogs is really going to make much difference. I really don't care about the above. All I know that my dog is a lovely little dog and when I get home tonight she will make a fuss of me to say hello and then wait by the door ready to go out.

And that is what I am saying - that is your CHOICE - though I do find the fact that you say you don't care about temperament and long term health more than a little disturbing Responsible, reputable breeders are doing their best to improve every generation in these areas - unlike the puppy farmers and backstreet breeders whose animals invariably find their way into the rescues - so you really should care if that is where you are sourcing your pets from.

mrcol1000

Frugalista wrote: »

And that is what I am saying - that is your CHOICE - though I do find the fact that you say you don't care about temperament and long term health more than a little disturbing Responsible, reputable breeders are doing their best to improve every generation in these areas - unlike the puppy farmers and backstreet breeders whose animals invariably find their way into the rescues - so you really should care if that is where you are sourcing your pets from.

As I said. People just want a nice dog that they can take for walks. They really don't care about making sure its got the right size mouth for its breed. As the uproar about Cruffs a few years ago showed when the winner had to sit on a cold plate to keep it cool because it had breathing problems due to its flat mouth improvements in breeding.
A dogs temperament and health is affected by a number of things not just its parenting. I think you need to be careful not to give people false hope that they can just get a dog from a breeder and it will be the perfect dog. Getting a well balanced dog comes from the way you treat it and train it not just because its grandparents were good dogs.

Lobell

mrcol1000 wrote: »

As I said. People just want a nice dog that they can take for walks. They really don't care about making sure its got the right size mouth for its breed. As the uproar about Cruffs a few years ago showed when the winner had to sit on a cold plate to keep it cool because it had breathing problems due to its flat mouth improvements in breeding.
A dogs temperament and health is affected by a number of things not just its parenting. I think you need to be careful not to give people false hope that they can just get a dog from a breeder and it will be the perfect dog. Getting a well balanced dog comes from the way you treat it and train it not just because its grandparents were good dogs.

A lot of temperament and health DOES come from parents, though. If you have a dog that comes from a long line of dogs with bad temperaments, then it doesn't matter how well you treat and train it, likelihood is, it'll still have a bad temperament. Likewise many of the inherent health problems in breeds.

Of course, there are no guarantees with living creatures and buying a dog from a reputable, ethical breeder does not mean that the dog will never develop a health problem...but it does stack the odds in your favour somewhat.

If only the reputable breeders were breeding dogs - i.e., those who accept responsibility for the puppies they produce for the whole of their lives, not just until the cash is in their back pocket - then there wouldn't be the thousands and thousands of dogs in shelters that there are today.

lostinrates

Frugalista wrote: »

And that is what I am saying - that is your CHOICE - though I do find the fact that you say you don't care about temperament and long term health more than a little disturbing Responsible, reputable breeders are doing their best to improve every generation in these areas - unlike the puppy farmers and backstreet breeders whose animals invariably find their way into the rescues - so you really should care if that is where you are sourcing your pets from.

Only read this far since last post, but the reason people might want to encourage good breeders if they care about a breed is to see the breed continue healthily into furtur generations, and to see poor breeding of less well monitored dogs with less research going into them cease to damage a breed and produce damaged individuals.

moomin5

Hope the lil pup doesn't end up with any problems for your friend. Its sad it was unwanted at such an early stage.

Polly is gorgeous, spotted her the other day. Not blue either but this girl is also lovely. I think they'd be classed as dun if they were greyhounds but don't know if thats the same with SBT's or if its an allowed colour. http://www.freshfieldsrescue.org.uk/index.php/animals/detail/pippy/

I agree someone needs to carry on producing the well-bred health tested staffies so that good examples of the breed exist in the future.

Most people go for the pups in the free-ads or from a mate whose bred a litter. They wouldn't get a rescue dog as they want a cute pup and not a problem rescue dog that might savage the kids, but I doubt rescues would home to a those owners anyway.:p

I've seen a few litters of greyhound pups advertised in the freeads recently, they certainly don't need to be bred for pet homes either.

MrsE_2

mrcol1000 wrote: »

As I said. People just want a nice dog that they can take for walks. They really don't care about making sure its got the right size mouth for its breed. As the uproar about Cruffs a few years ago showed when the winner had to sit on a cold plate to keep it cool because it had breathing problems due to its flat mouth improvements in breeding.
A dogs temperament and health is affected by a number of things not just its parenting. I think you need to be careful not to give people false hope that they can just get a dog from a breeder and it will be the perfect dog. Getting a well balanced dog comes from the way you treat it and train it not just because its grandparents were good dogs.

I wanted a pair of colourpoint exotic cats.
They are fairly rare. Exotics are not exactly commonplace & colourpoint varieties less so.
So I had to find breeders that actually breed this type.
Nothing to do with wanting a show pet, just after an unusual coat type in a not common breed.

suki1964

Obviously nurture plays a part but nature plays a huge part of how an animal turns out.
Thats why when people are looking for pups that are told - see the parents. We all know that we all turn into our mums and dads, so do dogs - they inherit their traits - good and bad

Mutter_2

Kim-DogsBlog wrote: »

They're really a lovely breed, very misunderstood which partly attracts the wrong owners I suspect in some cases.

Talking of a Blue Staffy though:

http://www.dogsblog.com/blue-22/

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. I look at that dog and for the life of me can't say it's pretty, just the opposite.
It say's Staffie X. Can anyone here say or guess crossed with which breed?
When I look at the face of a Retriever or Spaniel say, I see kindness.

Just as well we differ or we wouldn't have such a diversity of breeds.
My concern with Staffies isn't their temperament with people, but how they react to other dogs whilst off the lead.
Though two have left a child fighting for his life a few days ago.
That's another thing, why I wonder do so many owners have Staffies in pairs?

Mutter_2

mrcol1000 wrote: »

As I said. People just want a nice dog that they can take for walks. They really don't care about making sure its got the right size mouth for its breed. As the uproar about Cruffs a few years ago showed when the winner had to sit on a cold plate to keep it cool because it had breathing problems due to its flat mouth improvements in breeding.
A dogs temperament and health is affected by a number of things not just its parenting. I think you need to be careful not to give people false hope that they can just get a dog from a breeder and it will be the perfect dog. Getting a well balanced dog comes from the way you treat it and train it not just because its grandparents were good dogs.

What I am picking up from Suki and Frugalista's posts, is that a prospective owner who does careful research, is more likely to be a responsible owner, than one who buys on a whim from a card in a shop window.