28th February

Enclosed are photos of Dolly in her new home and with her new family. As you can see she is very happy and adored. However, less than a week before she was due to go to them, they rang me saying they were having "second thoughts". What had happened was they had contacted a trainer recommended by a friend, who on hearing it was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, albeit only five months old, had refused to take it in her class! She also said that just because Dolly was ok with other dogs now she could change.

This coupled with the reaction of friends when they excitedly told them what breed of puppy they were getting!

At first I didn't know how to answer them but said I would talk to my colleagues. Before I had chance to discuss it the phone rang again and it was a lady from another rescue also a Stafford owner. I ran the situation past her remembering as I did so that she had had that very situation, when her Stafford bitch whom she had always trusted one hundred percent, became very dog aggressive. Following a chat with my other "colleagues", Dave and Val, I rang her back to say we could not guarantee that she would not change and if they had doubts they might be better off with a different breed.

Well happily after much thought they decided to take her and the photos speak for themselves.

What answer would you have given?

At the moment there is uproar about an article written for a dog magazine by eminent Stafford people, informing people about Staffords and at one point stating care must be taken with some Staffords with other dogs and other animals. Some Stafford owners are upset because they feel it does not portray Staffords in a positive light at a time when their image needs to be promoted.

I personally feel it is irresponsible and unrealistic not to face up to the fact Staffords can be dog aggressive and as I have said before if you are lucky enough to own a dog who is good with other dogs you still need to own the breed as a whole and certainly not condemn your fellow Stafford owners who are not so lucky.

25th February

Still not much time or energy but we have photos!

Here is the very handsome Dave.



Sandy in the Kale field.

.And the lovely Battley, look at 'em ears!

24th February

Thank you Gareth for your wonderful comment on Lexus' disgraceful behaviour(22nd Feb)

It was a breath of fresh air on the other ghastly things we had going on yesterday. I think it lifted us to a rather cultured place, are we the equivalent of Radio 4 amongst blogs?!

Still struggling with time and energy, as of now I am out of both. I promise more for tomorrow....

23rd February

Bit of a hitch today so still no photos,sorry.

I promised to tell you of Sandy's progress at training and agility.

At agility yesterday we had the see saw for the first time. Sandy was not phased at all by it despite it tipping down with a big jolt as she came down it. Her attitude was commented on by another owner. She is incredibly bold, though she keeps an eye out for Anna the whole way round as her reward is a "snog" with Anna (honestly, who would be a dog trainer!)

Spryte's behaviour last night was dreadful even though I had her all evening. She kept "having a go" or setting up situations with the two Shepherds there. She was faultless on the obstacles!

At training on Sunday we had a brief test on our recall, Sandy was perfect, and then we learnt Sit Stay.

She has learnt Sit by the use of a toy held above her now we were shown how to back away to the length of the lead and then return and release the dog. It worked really well.

These classes are the best I have ever been to. You work with your own dog and there are whole families working together. The methods really work and you are told to practise at home. There are helpful notes given out at the end of each session.

Sandy has proved herself quick to learn, her recall is now excellent and she seems much happier now she understands what is expected of her.

We will try and take photos next week.

She has now been with us nearly four months with hardly any interest shown in her.

That's how bad things have become!

22nd February

Apologies, I am still struggling with time and energy so still no photos of our new boys Dave and Batley.

We had agility tonight on top of a busy day, I will try and fill you in tomorrow on Sandy's progress at agility and training.

Batley was neutered today. He probably wouldn't recommend us as a good hotel, two nights then we send him off to........well, you know what! Poor chap! He woke up quickly from the anaesthetic and is acting like nothing happened but is very whingey, sometimes they react like this, it would have been nice to have one quiet night! Though he has settled now.

Thought it was about time I settled with the vets and was shocked to find I hadn't paid since last June! Things have slowed down alot but even so we now have little left in the funds.

Which reminds me a HUGE thank you to all who have given donations recently, without your gifts we cannot continue our work, thank you.

To all Lexus fans out there you will be pleased to hear he cannot behave for long and  has been up to great wickedness again. Despite both Dave and myself only being in the next door room he managed to get into the dog food bin and "help himself"! This followed by drinking copious ammounts of water so that his belly is almost on the floor as he pads back into the room.

My, almost a vicar, husband sat down to watch a programme on how the king James version of the Bible came into being, interupted by Lexus burping, farting and eventually throwing up! His over indulgence is still working it's way through his system today with various manifestations disrupting our life, ahh Staffords, love 'em or hate them you certainly know you have got 'em!

21st February

Hi, A very brief blog tonight as I am very tired. The reason for my tiredness is I have seven ponies to look after this week as well as seven dogs and everything else.

We have taken in a new dog from Anna and Glenn as they were inundated. He was a stray and is called Batley on account of his huge bat like ears! Apart from his ears he is pretty perfect. Short-legged, good with adults, children, other dogs. Excellent off lead, well trained. He is so good Anna and Glenn wondered how he could have been lost and felt sure someone must be missing him.

Photos on tomorrows blog.

18th February

First thing this morning I managed to watch CD's sent me by Kerry of Reah who was one of our puppies (in 2009 we took in a litter of 6 week old pups) Kerry competes at agility with her other female Stafford and the CD's were of Reah's first runs and her first competition. She is awesome and so well trained for her age.

I also managed a letter to Petlog to transfer some microchips into our name. This is something I have a complete mental block with and keeps getting put off. I think I am clear now about what to do, shame it involves writing ans can't be done over the phone or online.

Then I went to Dorking to meet Dave, a very handsome blue dog who is coming on to our website.

On my return Steven had arrived to start what was meant to be the main job of the day, digging a trench for my dog poo project. We get a lot of dog mess and knowing how to dispose of it is a problem.

I have used the dog loo which is like a plastic bucket with no bottom, you dig a hole put in some large stones and then flush it down with water and a natural bio chemical. These work well but we just filled them straightaway. So this idea is based on them but on a far larger scale.

Steven has dug a grave like trench, if my husband disappears you know where to look! then I intend to put in large stones to a depth of 6 ins then in goes the poo and gets flushed with buckets of water and the bio chem.

I will let you know if it works!

The digging of the trench was not all straightforward as Steven needs keeping an eye on else he goes "Off piste" and undertakes his own ideas.

Part way through the digging we walked Khan, Spryte and Sandy spoilt by the fact I had a nosebleed for the entire walk.

Two phone messages one from a lady with two four month old brothers whom she had got from her sister-in -law  who had a litter of ten pups in a council flat! Now this lady could not cope as they were chewing, she could not give them what they needed so she was putting them first by re-homing them! She told me they were crosses as the dad was short-legged and the mother long.

The other message from a lady who had adopted a dog from E. Anglia Rescue but was in this area and wanted me to ring her back on her mobile to give advice about kennelling!

17th February

Ooh! It has been another lovely day. We keep getting these hopeful days amongst the bleak, cold, wet ones.

Due to the way the day went I did not walk Sandy and Spryte until after 4pm. It was still lovely and light! In fact I saw the sun sink from the Kale field and by the time we got  home the birdsong filled the dusk.

Early Spring and I love it.

 Not so pleasant for the next few days I believe.

There is lots going on with the dogs but we are not always able to share it with you for one reason or the other.

We had an email from a lad wondering if his dog, whom he had bought at 9 weeks as a Stafford, was a Stafford as his vet had said it was a Pitbull and refused to see it. He enclosed lots of photos which we forwarded to John Laker chairman of SBT Welfare. John replied that in his opinion it was a Stafford, although bigger than the breed standard which should be no more than 16 ins to the shoulder, this chap was a good 18ins at 8 months.

It is very hard to tell a Pitbull from a Stafford and it is a lot more complicated than just height.

I recently heard of a vet telling someone who had a rescue Stafford that it was not a Stafford but a Pitbull because it was too tall for a Stafford. I have not seen this dog but apparently it is calm and well behaved, good with other dogs and in a home with children, so for a vet to say that seems to me very un-helpful.

I know my horse vet seems to spend considerable time debating this topic with his pals at the pub, concluding that it is just a question of height, I ought to put him right on this but we are always pre-occupied with something else so unless I join them at the pub.............no, they deserve to relax and probably would not listen to my opinion anyway!

Last night Lexus did join me on the bed where we both then fell asleep and were found by a very angry Daddy on his return home! Tut, tut!

16th February

Last night we had a brilliant agility! Sam and I took Sandy and Spryte, there were not many people there so we all had plenty of runs and it was a really good, fast course.

Part way through we swapped dogs because I could not stand the way Spryte was behaving with the other dogs, also Sam had been the main handler on Sunday when we took Sandy to training.

We still keep hold of the leads which makes the jumps quite difficult, Sam was much faster than me and did a fantastic flight of three jumps in a row with sandy.Both dogs are incredibly fast and have no problems now with any of the obstacles it's just keeping up with them and keeping control!

I must charge up the camera and get some photos.

Sandy is coming on fantastically and was noticeably better at agility after her training session on Sunday.

My husband has a rule that no dogs are allowed in the bedroom."We must have one dog free room in the house." He says. He is out tonight so I have snuck Lexus upstairs to assist with the blog! He is lying on the floor(with his eyes open) emitting a laboured snore. Ah!That explains the eyes and the snore, the snore turned into a whine and he sprang to his feet, he really wants to be on the bed!

He continues to wind the rescue dogs up by bounding in from the garden and barking for breakfast every morning, until they think this is part of the routine and join in the barking.

He is a terrible influence resulting in the dogs learning bad behaviour they  didn't have when they came in.

We have spoken to him about this but so far he is un repentant!

14th February

Yesterday I had a very different day. It started with the need to get my daughter to work in Dorking for 8.30 am, normally not a problem but the level crossings in the village were closed which meant we had to go through Guildford and round, coupled with my lack of direction we ended up going via Leatherhead! This set the tone of the day when I did none of the usual Sunday things. Well, a change is as good as a rest!

The weather was apalling! Not good for Staffords, but despite this Sam and I took Sandy to The Doghouse basic/puppy training. The idea was for Sam to do the training with me as backup.

Sandy was very good.

We learnt recall by fussing our dogs and playing with toys then moving into the middle and ignoring the dog for a few seconds and then returning with more fussing and play. This was repeated several times then we returned to the middle and one of the instructors took the lead we returned to the fussing spot and called our dog.

We also learnt how to get a sit by using a toy and holding it above them. This worked really well with Sandy who does not know sit and we had struggled to establish it.

The majority of adult dogs we take in do not know sit. I would think most of you reading this find that astounding as it is one of the first things you teach a dog. As we were instructed yesterday, to get a sit the dog needs to be looking up, most of the dogs we take in put their heads down when given an instruction which shows you what sort of training they have had! This is not the odd one this is most who come to us which surely speaks volumes!

We also learnt how to hold a dog when greeting people so they did not jump up.

All in all a worthwhile time.

 Which goes to prove old owners can still learn new tricks!

12th February

I tried to put a comment on yesterdays blog but it doesn't seem to have worked, I cannot work my own technology!

In reply to the comment that is on there, we didn't find any sunshine, the photo is an old one but it does show Steven on one our typical walks, also Nettie who is mentioned in the poem and sadly no longer with us, the other two dogs are Khan and Spryte.

I find the picture both poignant and beautiful, it seems such a long time ago.

Just as I sat down to write this the phone rang. It was a gentleman from Surbiton who ran a hairdressers and also owns two Staffords. A young girl took a young male Stafford to him today, knowing he was a Stafford owner and asked him to take the dog else she was just going to let it go in the park!

When he tried to introduce him to his dogs he wasn't good so he had put him in a large crate he used occassionally. He was really ringing for advice and I was able to reassure him the dog would be fine in the crate overnight.

He was in his sixties and he and his wife had always had Staffords, he was heart broken at the way they had become so "disposable". From his description the difference between his two loved, well adjusted dogs and this unruly, ill bred youngster was apparent. He was still hoping to be able to keep him.

11th February

Apologies if on reading todays blog you feel as if you have fallen into a parallel universe! Life is often stranger than fiction!

After my rant the other day about how you cannot win in rescue I would like to share another strange phenomenon which occurs and that is some days the phone is red hot, call after call, the same with emails and other days, nothing! It is so quiet I think there is a fault on the phone. Today has been one of those days. Hardly any calls and no emails, whereas last Friday was mad and I spent all evening returning calls. I have no idea why this happens, if anyone can explain it let me know.

Today I walked the dogs with my friend Steven. This used to be a once weekly occurence but due to one thing and another we have not met up for months.

The first thing you need to know about Sreven is that he originates from Liverpool and that he lives in a world war two bunker on the edge of a wood!

He also hates litter and picks up plastic bottles and other rubbish from hedgerows and verges.

He told me today that some of the signs say,"There is not a dog poo fairy, pick it up!" or something similiar.

He came across a whole pile of poo bags just dumped, so he picked them up and headed for the nearest bin.

He passed a gentleman walking in the other direction who on seeing him remarked,"So, Your the dog poo fairy!"

He also writes poetry, here is one he wrote to cheer me up though not one of his best.......

Staffie dog rescue.

A Chav must have, of a noble breed, bred to fight, that's their plight, in a gentler age.

I have watched them come and go, and remember ones like puppy Peter, and Hippo.

And many more, come through the door, to find good homes,

Not too many like Nettie, put down.

We just wish there weren't so many around, and Ali and her friends, need many more pounds.

So please donate or rescue a Stafford terrier,

They may make your life merrier!

10th February

It fell to me today to walk all the dogs and unfortunately it coincided with the rain which spoilt things a bit, but we have not had any for a while so I feel we shouldn't complain too much and I find it preferable to the wind.

There are signs of Spring and it is almost Valentine's day. I remember the weather man John Kettley quoting this little rhyme, Todays the day the birds choose their mate,

                         And if I choose you I'll not be too late!

The birds have been getting very excited lately and I thought it was too early but Nature does not get it wrong, the seasons just seem to fly past, It must be my age.

What of the dogs?

Sandy and Spryte had their run in the Kale field. Sandy loves to run, going some distance away but she comes back and comes to me for a pat. She is also getting used to the point when I put her back on the lead and comes over readily, showing she will respond well to a routine.

I am very impressed with Sapphire lately. One of the farm Spaniels came down to the yard whilst Saff was playing ith her ball and she just went up to her and sniffed and then back to her ball! She has also ignored them when she has been playing in the field and also ignored another dog going past on the bridleway.

This shows she can be fine with familiar dogs, not in her pack. She is such a good girl in the house, no trouble at all, I do so wish she could find a home, a dog of her age should not spend so long in rescue.

If anyone reading this could help or knows anyone who could help............

8th February

Our blog tonight is this excellent article sent us by Ali Taylor of Battersea.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/227803/The-Staffordshire-bull-terrier-our-most-misunderstood-dog

We made agility and Sandy did brilliantly flying over the jumps and down the tunnels and across the dog walk. The course tonight included the dog walk twice. She was very fast and very bold a cuddle from Anna at the end is her reward! She really understands what is recquired of her and really seemed to be enjoying herself tonight. We hope to start a course of basic obedience training with her at the weekend.

7th February

Sorry if my recent blogs have not been up to standard, all due to the flu or whatever it was. I am still not one hundred percent so todays might be found wanting too! I am quite dismayed to find a bout of flu effects my inspiration so badly, even though being exhausted and struggling to keep my eyes open doesn't. I had always hoped, should I be struck with some debilitating disease, I would find comfort in writing down my daily struggles but now it seems that would not be case, I would lie dejectedly in bed unable to form the simplest sentence!

What news of the doggies?

Dolly has been homed. I have received reports of her lying on the sofa with her new owner in front of the fire! Lucky Dolly!

She was an absolute delight whilst she was with us, I dropped her off on Friday and it was hard letting her go. Had someone been with me on the drive home they may have noted,"Alison was unusually quiet."

It's great to hear she is having such a wonderful time she is of course much better off in a home of her own.

With one less it means the other dogs get more attention.

 Sandy and Spryte have recently been having a run in a huge Kale field. Sandy is beginning to relate to Spryte although she will chase her away from me on occasions. Sandy is still good, returning to me for a pat before charging off again. Two high energy girls tearing round the field (Sandy and Spryte I mean, certainly not me at the moment) I managed to take them to the field on most days last week before collapsing back into bed. We will hopefully make agility tomorrow if energy levels allow.

5th February

Someone said I sounded fed up in my blog yesterday, I am not sure I was, just pointing out whatever you do you seem to get it wrong as far as someone is concerned and it is pretty thankless!

Just a few thoughts tonight on homes and following what I said the other night, that there is no perfect home.

Even amongst the helpers we all do things differently.

However, we have seen something that has occurred several times when, a home comes along for a certain dog and it is such a perfect match it is as if you have fed the details into a computer and it has matched it up for you. I suppose the dogs in question all had specific needs, which is why they needed special homes, also why it is so important to assess them and identify their particular needs.

The dogs that come to mind are :- Hippo, Reuben, Poppy and Saffy but it is true to a certain extent with all of them. And a few I feel it is very generous by those who have taken them on and I remain very grateful to them.

So tonights blog is dedicated to all Guildford Stafford Owners.......thank you for opening your home to one (or two) of our dogs. We salute you!

4th February

Mark aired his frustrations with trying to adopt a dog from Battersea, but you know, this rescue "lark" is a pretty thankless task!

We are still receiving a high number of requests to take dogs in. These come from email  but also by phone despite the caller listening to a message saying we have no spaces and only to leave a message if they are calling about something else!

People who leave a message are dog wardens or other rescues, someone acting as a third party for someone who needs a dog rehomed, people who "I know you don't have any spaces but can you give me anyone else to try or some advice." People who just ignore it anyway!

One message this week was from someone who said he had found a dog running around the estate, had taken it in but couldn't keep it as he had two dogs of his own. I rang him back about to tell him to contact his local dog warden but maybe he had forgotten who he gave what message to as he answered the phone and said "Yeah it's my dog I need to rehome him!"

Another lady had given the "I know you are full, is there another number....."one. When I suggested Battersea she launched into criticism after criticism and said "I don't know how often you get there?" When I said I had been there that week and had found it fine she said I was obviously more with them than her and put the phone down!

Then I cannot tell you the number of times I have agreed to take a dog, only for them to change their mind or just not show up. This week I agreed to take a dog having heard about it for the second time only for the apparently "desperate" family to change their mind yet again.

"Are" I hear you say,"It is different for those wanting a dog." Not so! In fact hearing from someone wanting a dog I consider unsuitable, I find the hardest part of the job. Then there are the ones who do sound suitable, you get your hopes up and never hear from them again. Or the ones who want the perfect dog so every dog you suggest they reject despite wasting hours of your time. Or the ones who sound perfect but then they start stalling and then you find out it's not all so perfect after all....

And you start to think of all the things you could/should have been doing instead of wasting your time doing this..............but then every now and then it all works out..........happy people, happy dog..........happy ending! That's what makes it all worthwhile.

3rd February

Thanks to Valerie for writing the blog this week and telling the stories of some of our dogs, I hope you have enjoyed hearing about the happy endings and sharing with us the satisfaction of seeing a dog taken from kennels or an unsuitable situation into a loving home.

I rarely get ill and maybe I am not very good at it, but whatever I had this week certainly laid me low. After such a busy week the week before I was looking forward to catching up with things, but ended up doing only the essentials each day before crawling back into bed. I also lost all inspiration for writing the blog too.

 It's good to be feeling well again.

Yesterday I bumped into Jim who adopted  Buster. Buster was the first dog I took in when starting the rescue and the first dog I homed. He was ten when he came in, from a chap whose marriage had ended and  he had then lost his home.

I had been wondering just the day before whether he was still with us, as he must be pretty old by now and I knew he had health issues. Jim positively glowed as he told me that despite an enlarged heart diagnosed over a year ago, and back legs giving way plus sight and hearing fading Buster was definitely still with us! He told me what a joy he was and how happy he was, still greeting his master in the morning and that as long as he still enjoyed life they would keep him going. His love for his dog was apparent. But, Jim and his family were not the most conventional home when I checked them which reminded me of Lucy who went to Gareth a local Farrier. A friend in church told me recently that Gareth shoes a horse at her yard and Lucy plays with the Spaniel puppy.

It is great to hear of these dogs still doing well as they were very early days for the rescue and neither home quite complied with the rules but they were obviously the right homes for these dogs and then there is never the "perfect" home......a theme I will pick up tomorrow.

2nd January

After telling the reasons why Daisy, Honey, Oscar and Doris were in rescue, my mind went back  to May 2008 and a very special Stafford called Percy. Percy was a stray in Treetops, Alison had noticed him and her heart went out to him, he was finding life in kennels stressful, he was entire, had broken teeth, a poor gait and only a stump for a tail. Most nights when we talked Percy would come into our conversation. Although I had not seen Percy something that I cannot explain touched me about him. Alison and I agreed that if Treetops would sign him over to Guildford & District SBTR I would pay for his veterinary treatment to make him more re homeable. Treetops agreed and to Alison's Percy went, it soon became apparent that he was not over keen on other dogs to say the least. Alison took him to Jane the vet and it was decided that he would be castrated, bad teeth taken out vaccinated and put on a joint supplement, with this done in June 2008 Percy went up on the website, including The Oldies Club website for re homing.

Also at this time Alison had taken a call from an owner who was expecting her first child and felt that she could no longer keep her dog and could we re home him. Alison explained that there was not any available spaces, instead offering her placement of him on the website. Although she would have to keep him until a home was found, she agreed. As the dog was in inner London I went to assess him for his suitability for re homing. Knowing the area from driving through it to one of my customers I found the address without any problems. The area is densely populated with hoodies and their Staffords in tow on large thick chains as leads, not the best place to try and re home a Stafford without the help of a rescue!  As the door opened I was greeted by the owner and a beautiful red male Stafford called Blaze. Observing Blaze in the home I listened intently on Blaze's life and his character. Blaze had been attacked in the local park as a puppy whilst on the lead by another Stafford running loose. The attack was so intense it was reported in the local paper and had left Blaze with a damaged tear duct. My assessment of him was a good all round 18 month old Stafford. You may be thinking how does Percy come into Blaze's life? Well on 19th July 2008 an adoption enquiry was received from Luci for Percy, it was a  perfect application but not for Percy as Luci already had a Stafford called Tara and a horse called Goose. The lifestyle would be to much for Percy but not for Blaze! Blaze was put forward as a more suitable dog for the Luci and Tara. A meeting ensued  between Tara and Blaze on neutral ground. Tara and Blaze were great together both accepting one another, it was the best a meeting could be. Luci agreed to adopt Blaze and Blaze was taken back to his owner with agreement that the handover would take place the following weekend.

Stuart and I collected Blaze the following rather eventful Saturday. We had just got out the car to be greeted with a hoodie and a Stafford with a large chain around its neck also acting as a lead, the chain must have at least 3ft of it being dragged on the floor behind the owner, it was unbearable and I wanted to say something but just looked at Stuart who shrugged his shoulders knowing there was nothing we could do. Blaze was ready and waiting and quite frankly I could not wait to get Blaze and get out of the area. Blaze's owner handed over bedding, toys etc to help settle Blaze into his new home. The owner handed me a carrier bag which contained photos of Blaze including the newspaper article for Luci. Blaze did not turn back for a second glance when we left but happily got in the car. Petrol  required then we would be on our way, but as we got to the petrol station  opposite where Blaze had lived Police cars descended from every direction there had been a robbery just a few minutes before. We arranged to meet Luci with Tara again on neutral territory all was fine, now to Blaze's new home and life, he happily jumped out of  the car following Tara into the house. I handed over the carrier bag and went through the photos with Luci when I stared with disbelief at a photo of  Blaze with an electric collar on!!! This was obviously used when the owner walked him as she was unable to stop him from pulling and had used this method as opposed to correct training.

Blaze now lives a charmed life with Luci, Tara and Goose and has a new friend Chico the Jack Russell. I cannot thank Luci enough for adopting Blaze and giving him such a great life. Luci has been so much help supporting GDSBTR at Battersea D&CH reunion event every year raising funds. I feel blessed that she has also become a friend  and wish Luci, Tara and Blaze a long and happy life together.

As for Percy he inadvertently found homes for 4 dogs including Blaze whilst looking for a home. Eventually we adopted him, surprisingly he was fine with Daisy, Honey and Oscar. Daisy was forever licking his face and he would stand there allowing her to do it, at times I thought his head would come off! Honey would snuggle up and sleep with him whilst Percy was Oscar's best friend having their own form of chase. Sadly Percy died on the 3rd June 2010, after drowning in our fish pond, he had never taken an interest in the pond during the 22 months he was ours. How and why it happened will always remain a mystery. Although no longer with us he still promotes adopting older Staffords with his picture on the banners for the rescue stand. When not in use a banner hangs at the side of our bed and Stuart wishes him Good Night before going to sleep.

1st February

Peace reigns at last! My daughter and grandson Charlie who is 6 years old, arrived for dinner this evening with a  cacophony of noise from Daisy, Honey and Oscar with Doris quietly waiting at the rear for some attention. Charlie gently strokes Doris and gives her a kiss on her head, respectful of her age, she licks him in return. Once they have greeted one another Doris lays in her bed. Charlie and Honey have a special affinity, she absolutely adores him and is never far away from his side. Oscar once he has had some attention will lay down and get on with dozing on the sofa. Daisy on the other hand treats Charlie like a naughty puppy, gently mouthing him if she thinks he is getting to boisterous. Charlie and the dogs are never left on their own together a practice that we have always done and is recommended at all times.

Daisy, Honey, Oscar and Doris are all rescues, each are different, varying ages and reasons why they where in rescue.

Daisy adopted from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home (BDCH) age approx 1 year. She had just had a litter of pups, when the puppies were 6 weeks old and all sold, Daisy was handed into BDCH the owner stating she had killed two kittens aged 3 weeks from a litter they had bred. Daisy is now 10.

Honey, BDCH aged 16 weeks reason for re homing:- She bit, chewed and jumped up. Honey is now 7.

Oscar, Guildford & District SBTR aged 16 weeks, reason for re homing:- Relationship break up, the owner had a young child,  she moved back in with parents, dog being neglected and mistreated. Oscar is now 3.5years.

Doris, from a pound with a put to sleep date, rescued by Animal Helpline Peterborough aged 13+ years, reason:- was a stray. Doris could not walk far due to breathing difficulties when we got her and would not have been able to walk far we therefore assume that she was dumped somewhere as she would not have been able to walk far from where she lived.

Sadly there are many myths that people perceive about re homing  a rescue dog.  Many think that rescue dogs are unwanted because they are problematic. Most dogs are given to rescue centres through no fault of their own, common reasons are relationship break-ups, moving abroad, moving home, allergies and the arrival of a new baby. Some owners cannot cope with the dog. This is rarely down to the dog but usually because the owners have chosen a breed on looks alone and not done their research on what the specific breed of dog needs to be happy.

You can't train a rescue dog! All dogs have the potential to be trained but they are also individuals with different motivations and will learn at different speeds. Poppy was a problem dog but with Mark and Cats devotion Poppy is a credit to them and a testimony to what can be achieved see blog for 22nd and 23rd January. This takes commitment, time and effort on the part of an owner, which many do not want to undertake. Many are misguided to think a dog instinctively knows what is required of them, they should walk without pulling, come when called, sit and stay. These all have to be taught with consistency, all members of the household following the same training routine using the same commands to avoid confusing the dog.

All rescue dogs have medical problems. Not all rescue dogs have medical problems, the majority are young and healthy, those that come in with a medical problem are treated and are not re homed until they have made a full recovery or the prospective owner is informed about the treatment the dog requires.

Rescue dogs are not damaged goods and not all have been cruelly treated either. Rescue dogs go on to make loving loyal companions. Which is why we now have four Staffords of our own.

After our German Shepherd Max and  Jack Russell, Sally passed away, Stuart and I had vowed we would never have another dog, finding it to difficult to make the decision to have them put to sleep through ill health and subsequently the loss. For 9 years we enjoyed  the good life, travelling to the far parts of the world, which are all now a distant memory. Instead we have a life filled daily with laughter, frustration, joy and love thanks to Daisy, Honey, Oscar and Doris. We have come to terms that everything has its lifespan, although it does not stop us shedding a tear and the pain so unbearable when they die. With so many dogs needing homes we will continue adopting a rescue dog.   Valerie