Long Legged Staffs(Irish Staffordshire Bull Terriers) Discussions

Hey ya Folks I was reading the long but old debate going on about the Irish Staffie, that is apparently not KC recognised or registered. Anyway, either way, I think they are a much nicer looking dog and would love to get one for my family. I live in Northern Ireland, but I am from London. We are hoping to go to London this summer in search of one. I am looking for the blue version also. Does anyone have any advise on where to get these dogs? I'm a little dubious about going to a breeder for some reason. I am worried that maybe they will be over bred there, but that is perhaps a misconception of mine I'm sure one of you will correct! Any help would be much appreciated;-)

hi,

there are breeders for the blue staff with KC Reg on the well known site gumtree selling for around £800, but be careful as sometimes they are scams or just puppy factories, other than that word of mouth or recommendation is usually best.

'long legged irish staffie' is often a pseudonym for put bull.
such dogs can be deemed as illegal pit bull types under section 1 of the DDA.

as you live in N.I, you would be better off searching Ireland instead of England for 'irish staffies', as it is my understanding that many of those in England are imported from ireland anyway?

although they arent a recognised breed by the irish KC either

As you live in the most prevalent place in the UK, to get a ISBT, you will more than likely gain success buying one there.

If you are dubious about going to a breeder, who do you intend to get your ISBT :? :?

Exactly, NI or here, none of these xbreeds are KC reconised.


Mmmmmmmm, I am also beginning o wonder, if Dogsey is on the hit list from Pit forums , as we seem to have a few new members, jump straight into the Pit debates, or open topics on the Pit/ISBT , without any introductions.:? :?

Um - you`re in Ireland. You want a Staffie. Why are you asking us? Bit bored are we?
Ah...just spotted the date! Who was banned for a bit? Blue Nun or something?

Thanks Minni, must remember to look at date, wonder why it was resurfaced ???????

My goodness, apart from being very surprised at a response after this lengh of time, you are all kinda mighty suspicious My apologies for not being up on doggie forum etiquette, I had no intention to offend!!! I've written this email twice and it seems to vanish, so this time for a change I'm not gonna waffle and see if it gets posted, then write some more.............................................TBC

By the way, who the hells bells is 'Blue Nun'?....................

If you are not looking for a show dog and want a pet specifically, then i would recommend contacting Staffie Rescue in ireland or here. There are thousands of Staffies in all areas of both UK and Ireland in desperate need of homes, and they come in all shapes and sizes. We have a beautiful red boy on our site at the moment who is stunning. Most are being rehomed due to credit crunch and lack of knowledge on the breed and not due to any particular problems so recommend you look at this route
good luck

Thank you for your constructive reply Brundog, much appreciated................................................................
I rescued a pitbull mix, so a mongrel when I was 19yrs old. She grew up with me, approved my hubby and watched my huge belly turn into our daughter. I couldn't have asked for any more in my canine companion Sadly, she was put down four years ago after getting cancer, she was 2 months short of her 15th birthday. We have such good memories of her, although irreplaceable, I liked her lean short haired build, and am now finally ready to love another dog. I was interested in the long legged type, as some of the staffies seem to have bent short legs, I know some love this, but I don't. The breed is also great with children and a good all round family dog and also the closest I'll get to the unfortunate illegal pitbull, who's reputaion is caused by bad humans. I don't want to aquire a dog that can be taken off of my family and put down, you need a licence here(N.Ireland). But it does seem from what people are saying and the initial response I got, that these pitbull type dogs are being called long legged staffies, mmh!!! I also want a puppy, which is why I haven't gone to the shelter. Thank you for your advise, we'll get there;-)

Hiya
I know exactly what you are saying, and your pit mix sounds adorable and got to a great age you should be proud of that.

I myself also prefer the longer legged staffie and the show type does tend to be shorter and not my preference. I volunteer for Staffie Rescue and many that we get through are the more original type, I know my dog certainly is slightly leggier than many I have seen.

My friends actually have a staffie ( bought from so called KC breeder) and it resembles more of a pug than a staffie no - she is about a third of the size of my own dog and just not a staffie as far as I am concerned.

My only concern in striving to get a pup from the longer legged type is the likelihood of you ending up with a dog that is more of a "pit" look than a staffie look and in NI that could get you into issues due to the DDA ( especially with cases like Bruce's currently) These so called BLue or longer legged staffies are notoriously being bred by breeders who arent doing it with the interests of the breed in mind more like their pockets and i am not aware of health tests etc. So i cant stress enough that if you are going down the pup route and looking at this type, then please ensure that when you look at breeders

BOTH sire and dam are health tested for L2-HGA, and all other relevant tests.
BOTH are KC registered with certification to prove it.
Try and see both parents, but most certainly the mum, and do not agree for one to be brought over to you from UK, unless you are going to get it yourself and seeing the mum at the same time.

I know that I might be preaching to the converted but there are SO many bad staffie breeders and breeders of "Irish Blues" out there that i just worry that the genuine ones are being swallowed up by the BYB and puppy farmers.

again good luck, and perhaps still worth contacting staffie rescue as they do get pups in all the time too-especially at the moment

Hey ya!!! Thank you very much for your lovely informative email. Wow, it took four months to get the first reply and less than an hour or two for the second, I'm impressed. I appreciate what you said about my 'Razer' ( I didn't name her by the way), we still really miss her. I know four years sounds madly long also to have waited, but we did get a mad full of character bunny!!! Will take your advise and look up the rehoming and rescue units. Battersea would be a great one, if you know what I mean, very sad though, always needed a packet of tissues when I went there. Many thanks again and keep up the good work!!!

Sorry forget to mention we wanted a puppy to socialise it with the rabbit. I thought we'd check out people who's own pets have had puppies, so you can see them. Is that a good idea or am I out of date with that one maybe! I don't like the sound of breeders at all. Funny we just rescued a dog in our street for the night, prob around six months, a dalmation cross or one with few spots. He was great, but got extremely territorial very quickly, so we kept the bunny away from him. We rehomed him, the rascal!!! Seesya!!!

why would people bother/ I think this has more to do with the usual crowd spitting there venom why have you such hatred against a breed you know nothing about???

You will have variations when there were so many types put into one melting pot and just because its slightly taller doesnt make it a cross breed,You will find longer legged staffs that are kc registered with an irish background
.
pics below show the 3 different types of staffords of old also note that a lot of the dogs look type


Miners stafford 1900

stafford from the 1930 then known as the pitbull and terrier

Dudley terrier extinct

kc champion 17 1/2 inches tall

old type stafford kc

Ch Jim and lady eve kc chs first kc staffs

SBT wales 1900

Princess judy SBT

Also for the record this is an ebt terrier from early 1900 before they were bred to be overexagerated but there are various breeding programs that are getting back to the original english bullterrier

As long as they have done ALL the relevant health tests then dont see an issue, and their dogs are KC registered and of good temperemant, but to be realistic any pup that you rear has the potential to be good with other furries ( or not) and it wont matter whether the parentsw of said pup have been ok with small furries etc.

However again its something you may come across in rescue - we have just rehomed a girlie who was cat, dog and furries tested.

P>S I would be inclined if you do go down the rescue route to aim for a Breed rescue ( such as SBT resce, Staffie Rescue, etc as they tend to have much more history on the dogs than places like Battersea etc as they dont tend to take strays more rehome from homes.

Hope that helps

Of course, you are right in what you say above, and i do defer to your extensive breed history knowledlge.

However, when it comes to the confines of todays legislation, historical pictures dont really get considered, unfortunately.
Even you modern colour picture, even though he is a KC reg staffie 1 inch higher than the desired 16 inches, he still clearly has all the stocky stout features (including the Queen Anne legs which the OP stated earlier he didnt like), features of a Staffie, as per defined under section 1 of the DDA.
- ie, no 1 to 1 stop, no 4 to 4 body, no slinty eyes, etc.

The long legged and/or Irish Staffies / American staffies are being used as pseudonymous by unethical dodgy breeders for breeding unsound pit mix types, not interested in welfare or betterment for the breed, but backyard breeding fast bucks to thuggish owners.

If the OP were to get a tall 17 inch staffie as per your picture, he would be ok, but quite often, these days, the long legged ones also have all the other features and measurements your local DLO would regard as falling as a pit bull type under section 1 of the DDA.

However, if they dont have enough of the features combined, they will pass the assessment and just be regarded of one of the myriad of stafffie crosses you get today

Battersea is indeed a good place to go, as every single staffie cross gets this assessment, so any cross/type you adopt form there would most likely be legal.
And 50% of the hundreds of dogs they have are Staffies or Staffie crosses, all lovely and deserving of a home

Im not supporting the law btw.

Hey ya Dani!
Great to hear from you again. Thanks for all your help and good information. I think you are right, if it's a Staffie I intend to get, then a rehoming centre that specialises in that breed is a good idea. Actually, I like most animals and dogs, I especially like the look of the handsome fella or gal in your picture!!! What a cutie....................still on the look out, but not rushing, sometimes animal come to you, my last gal did! I'll keep you posted if I get a new furry friend. Wishing you a 'Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year'!
Regards,
Bambi

Hey ya Longford!
It was great to see those pictures you posted, what beautiful dogs they were. It's a shame humans have messed with them so much, I think mother nature does a better job!!!
Regards,
Bambi