Staffords - Great Friends for Life

Allow me to introduce myself - my name is Julie Gaskin - I am forty something and a passionate dog lover - I have been so for many years! I can barely remember a time when I have not had a four-legged companion!

As I sit here in our home office in South-Western Victoria, Australia - I am surrounded by dogs. Currently there are five in our home and another one "on order".

I absolutely love Staffordshire's - life without them would never be the same. Our house has been modified to enable our faithful companions to share their lives with us and this is the way we prefer it - of course the dogs love it too.

Actually though, my life has not always included a Staffordshire, though terriers of some type have always been my choice - initially when my husband mentioned that he wanted a bull terrier, my reaction was quite negative!

Head over Heels

My preference up until a few years ago had been towards small dogs specifically the Australian Terrier and crosses of the breed, a combination of the Australian Terrier and Silky Terrier. Terriers by nature are fun loving and faithful companions, yet whenever the term Bull Terriers was used I instinctively thought of the
English Bull Terrier and was not particularly fond of the look of that particular dog with its distinctive head and nose shape. I'm still not keen on the type, though my husband still has a soft spot for them.

So when Steve used the words Staffordshire Bull Terriers the picture in my mind caused me to immediately think of a dog that I was not interested in. Little did I know that my immediate dog loving future was about to change!

While gardening one-day, I heard noises at the back fence and upon investigation found a dog attempting to dig under the obstacle. Eventually this dog managed to dig a big enough opening that I was able to touch her muzzle and make contact! Well, that was it! It turned out this dog was so starved for attention - that once she had experienced a friendly hand - she became seriously intent on escape! Minutes later this determined dog was in our backyard, courtesy of a newly built tunnel under our fence!