Hello, my name is Elizabeth Harris, thank you for visiting Rockstaff's website. I became involved in Staffys (as many people affectionately call them) after I got my first female, "Sadie", in 1999. If this is your first look at Staffordshire Bull Terriers you may want to visit the AKC site and read the breed description. I started in Staffys when my family decided we needed a new breed of dog for our family and farm dogs. We had 3 Border Collie and Australian Shepherd type dogs that were great till my little sister Becky came along. Becky is a rough and tumble, in your face type kid and the farm dogs we had couldn't handle this. They would snap at her occasionally and finally one bit her below the eye. After this incident I was put in charge of finding a new breed to take the place of the former dogs. The new breed had to meet the following criteria:
1. Short-haired: I live in the South and have had my fill of long-haired dogs and all the extra work and problems that come it.
2. Medium size: Big dogs need more room and space. While smaller dogs might get injured by the larger livestock so as Goldilocks might say, I was looking for a dog that was, "just right", around 40lbs.
3. Tough: These were going to be farm dogs so I looked for a breed that could run behind a 4-wheeler, chase cows out of a pasture, take an occasional kick from a cow, and still be ready to play ball in the evening.
4. Absolutely LOVE KIDS!: I don't consider any breed 100% reliable around kids all the time and I would never reccomend leaving a child unattended around any dog. Having said that, I looked for a breed with a long history of people friendliness. My folks had a U-pick farm and families with kids are constantly coming and going, so a people friendly dog was a must.
Enter the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. After a long search I got my first Staffy and haven't been disappointed yet. These dogs have a way of growing on you. My Dad has always looked on dogs as a tool to be kept outdoors. "Houses are for people", he'd say and swore he would never have a dog in the house but if you were to look in our window on most any night you'd probably see him moving "Duke" over on the couch so he can sit down. I believe I found the right breed.
