5th February

Sorry it's me today folks!
Alison is have a rest after a very exhausting day. I am sure she will have recharged her batteries for the next blog.

            Alison mention in her previous blog Staffie with Responsible Owner a Facebook Group.

 Ali Taylor, of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and The Paul O'Grady show For the Love Of  Dogs fame, started this group 2 years ago. It now has 1,790 members, it is an open group of which I am happy to say I am part of the administration team along with 6 others.

Sit nicely for the camera!

The group is about responsible Staffordshire Bull Terrier owners, Promoting education and the positive side of the breed.
It is also about having fun with our dogs and each week there are different fun competitions that are free to enter on the page.Supporting one another and promoting this breed positively. We pride ourselves on keeping this page a friendly one.

Support is given in many ways, behavioural issues, which Ali Taylor often deals with. Dogs urgently needing re homing.
One such case was a 6 year old Staffie who needed re homing as his owner had died. A lady was  interested, she had been home checked and already had an elderly Staffie, but the lady had no transport to get to see the dog. Someone kindly volunteered to pick the lady up and take her there and drop her home again. Success, the Staffie is now in a new home!  
Help comes in many forms and members are all over the U.K stretching as far as Australia, S.Africa and America.
 Why not take a look? I think you would be pleasantly surprised and who knows you may decide to become a member. 

Sadly on another note......We all have at sometime known or heard of the public's perception of our beloved breed, through newspaper article's. Experiencing pedestrians crossing the road as we walk our dogs, to comments such as they are demon dogs, those dogs bite etc. ..
Well,  I visited a well known rescue last week. Here they strip all dogs of their collars and leads, for health and safety reasons and issue them with new ones. They are the same for every dog with no distinction on breed or sex, except for their registration number tag. I was shown a collar and lead that was taken off of a dog that was bought in. As you can see from the picture the size of the collar. The lead has been re modelled with a chain and fasteners to attach to the original handle and clasp. The chain is such a large gauge that it could pull an articulated lorry and would not break! The collar would break away long before the chain. The rescue informed me that they have even had dogs with these type of collars on and the collar had been padlocked!
What type of society do we have today that feels justified in placing such a barbaric thing around a dogs neck???? 

On a happier note...

Honey and Tara

 Tara is doing well and has settled in with all of our 4, she will now cuddle up next to them instead of sleeping separate or jumping off the sofa when they get on.
 She loved the snow and ran around with Oscar, it was beautiful to watch, amazingly she can out run him!
I now have three alarm clocks to tell me it's their dinner time Daisy, Nugget and Tara. It is not until the food bowls come out Honey and Oscar show their heads. Tara is fed last and she does not attempt to go to any of the others bowl but waits patiently for hers.


Lastly Honey and Nugget, will be going to Crufts on Thursday the 7th March, Terrier Day to be in the Temptation Alley team. Honey I am hopeful will succeed, she has never let me down before but there is always the first time. While Nugget will probably pick up all the treats, the little tubs,  see someone or another dog and decides she wants to say hello! Which no doubt will bring roars of laughter from the crowd.
If this gets someone to reconsider a staffie then I am all for it!







 Author Valerie