sorry if this post has been done already but coming across a few ads on the internet today (im looking for a blue staffordshire bull terrier) i have found quite a few ads regarding irish staffys do they actually exist or are they just staffy crosses

The name is sometimes used as a euphemism for pitbull, which of course is a banned breed.

There are plenty of ads for blue staffys im sure you could find one, people are cashing in on the rare colouring? which if im correct doesnt always have the correct skin pigmentation colour so alot are not show worthy. I wouldnt recommend trawling the ads on the net why not get on the list of a decent breeder, who probably wouldnt be breeding blues though unfortunately. I seem to have a bit of a vendetta against blues but having a piczo site and with tonnes of staffy breeders breeding blues that are almost 20'' tall hardly resembling a staff and charging £800 [Mod edit] or whatever saying he has 28 ch in his pedigree i looked at his pedigree and the same ch appearing 6 times and the others several times again. Very inbred dog.

Why do you want a blue staff? [Mod edit]

Louise

[Mod - Name of stud dog removed]

[Mod quote removed]

bit extreme louise, if i wanted a staff i'd like a blue to because they are a gorgeous colour. how about not accusing people right of the bat...

blues can be shown i'm pretty sure (not very successfully at 20" though...)

> blues can be shown i'm pretty sure

From the KC breed standard
Colour
Red, fawn, white, black or blue, or any one of these colours with white. Any shade of brindle or any shade of brindle with white. Black and tan or liver colour highly undesirable.

I've only ever seen the 1 blue 'staff' (looked rather large for a staff!), but he was a fantastic looking dog, a complete goofball that wanted to kiss everybody it saw :)

> I've only ever seen the 1 blue 'staff' (looked rather large for a staff!),

pics of all the colours

http://www.staffords.co.uk/sbtbc/standard.htm

as said by Jeangenie some people call pitbulls Irish Staffs to bring them over here and breed them , Also DEFRA has officaly said that it is often used as term for pitbulls by there owners, along with other things like American Stafford Terrier (even though the american kennel club say is not the same breed as a pitbull)
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/domestic/ddogsleaflet.pdf

but some people also call long legged staffs Irish staffs and as normal staffs have been taken in the past under the DDA as pitbull types (as a dog only need to look enough like what they say a pitbull looks like to be classed as a pitbull type) i would personaly advoid anyone selling an Irish Staff, as i wound be constantly worried that it would be taken.

You wouldnt pay £800 for a blue staff would you though? or trawl the free-ads? or buy from non tested parents? These are the people that are breeding them, trying to make money from a colour with barely any resemblance to a true staff. They can be shown but not many are as the colour isnt a common occurance among show stock.

LouiseDDB - you could say exactly the same thing about some breeds!

Did you edit your post to change the word 'your' to 'some' by any chance?

You could say the same for many breeds i know, including my own i see it all the time. But buying into this trend is doing nothing but supporting the trade of bybs. So i would recommend that the OP doesnt look in the free ads and contact a responsible breeder, maybe through the breed clubs but im not sure if she will find the specific colour she is after. I bet there would be tonnes of blue 'staffs' in rescue.

Louise

Hi Louise

No - I didn't :) I put "entire" but that wasn't really what I meant so I edited it. But, since you've mentioned it, your breed has been seriously targetted by unscrupulous breeders who don't health test and see the breed as a money making device.

I do think that the OP has the right to have a colour preference - it is after all a standard colour! The OP will just have to careful not to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous breeders.

I am fully aware of this sad fact, i dont live under a rock. When i took my pup into town for abit of socialising this morning i was asked by many undesirables 'what dog is that' i reply Dogue de Bordeaux and leave them with an expression as empty as their heads.

Im not saying she doesnt have a right to the colour, im just saying that the breeders that seem to be breeding this colour, and only this colour, specifically for its colour and the money it brings in are not responsible. So i would be VERY careful on your search for one, you may get a blue dog but thats it.

Louise

> You wouldnt pay £800 for a blue staff would you though?

i don't know, i haven't tried to find one i'd buy so have no clue what they cost. if what you ment was i wouldn't pay extra for a blue staff no i wouldn't.

> or trawl the free-ads?

were i less informed i might

> or buy from non tested parents?

what makes you think the op would?

> These are the people that are breeding them

i am sure not everyone who's been duped in to buying a badly bred dog has gone into it for money and its very unfair to effectively accuse someone of such without cause.

> Im not saying she doesnt have a right to the colour, im just saying that the breeders that seem to be breeding this colour, and only this colour, specifically for its colour and the money it brings in are not responsible. So i would be VERY careful on your search for one, you may get a blue dog but thats it.
>
>

which is good advice, however what you said before was just rude... and no the op did not deserve it.

can i just add that although blue colour is accepted in the standard,the standard also states a black nose which a true blue dog wouldnt have ,it would be blue/slate in colour,making it have an obvious fault for the show ring.

I believe the standard also mentions light eye rims as a fault and therefore often people who are breeding blue to blue end up with blues that are even more dilute.  The blues I have seen with dark eyes are stunning though.

there are some very pretty blue and white pied puppies out there,if i was to have a staff i think i'd go for one of those,though it would attract too much of the wrong attention where we live as there are loads of "irish" staffy types including blues and the seemingly popular "red noses" that again seems to be a byword for pit x.bad enough having idiots stop in their cars ask if they can use rumble(our ddb) on their dogs.i just keep walking..

I'm afraid I'll give my stock answer as normal...
There are Staffordshire bull terriers that exist in Ireland, but this does not make them Irish staffies :) 

Blue's are not rare...good examples of them can be.

I suggest you join or speak to your local Stafford breed club OP and go from there. 

hth

actually, ETA, Kerrie don't you already have Staffords? 

hiya all thanx for your honest replies i really appreciate it.
i was confused about the whole irish staffy thing i thought they were all crossed....the reason i want a blue staff is i just fell in love with the colour i think they are striking looking dogs

and yes i do have two staffys but my brother is moving out and takin bailey as she is his dog so ill only have kacey