I have a 5year old staffie bitch. We will have had her a year next month. Around the home she is brilliant and very affectionate towards people. I'm due to have my first child early next month. I understand staffies have the nickname the "mothering dog". I would like to hear from people with how you have got on with new babies in the home with staffies and their reactions, and what I should/shouldn't do and to watch out for.

Thanks
Sarah

as with any dog I would never leave the dog and the baby in the room unsupervised .
Staffies do seem to love children. Has your bitch been around children in the past - has she been brought up previously with children in the household .
We got my last staffy when my first son was a year old and so they grew up together ( and were the best of friends) . I never had to worry about the children with the dog EVER . He was a real softy .We have a staffy pup now with our two boys and pup just adores children - especially younger ones.
All i can advise is to carefully introduce the baby and dont let your bitch feel left out - by that i mean confining her to another room out of the way so that she doesnt come to resent the new little person in the house.
Lel

By the way does anybody know why staffys love people and especially children so much ?
Lel

the pit dogs of old had to be handled and doctored by humans in the dog pit under intense stress, while in a state of high adrenalin coupled no doubt with pain, the dog which bit their owners/handlers would be a real liability and were most likely culled from any breeding programs.if you imagine the stress of this situation you can also imagine many dog breeds would and could not stay as stable as these dogs bred to withstand such trauma.the stafford is bred down from this history so he is from dogs which were very stable around people under very extreme circumstances.it is very rare to see a people aggresive SBT.i feel the increase in APBT/SBT bites is down to idiots breeding for man stoppers as in days gone by the APBT was not bred for this activity and man biting was almost unheard of.i do not believe any bulldog should be bred for attack work as there are better breeds for the job and it should only be done by proffesionals (police handlers etc)here endeth the history lesson.

as far as being brought up with children, we don't know with Pepsi as she is a rescue dog. We have had friends round with children and she has been playful to start with, then when had enough she will leave them alone.

Thanks
Sarah

thanks Cooper
I have always wondered why .
Lel

Hi Pepsi.
since she is a rescue be very careful with her and any children.You do not know what experiences she has had in the past and so you don't know what may trigger a reaction of any kind.
Please be careful.Archer.

Hi Sarah,

Our lovely Staffie Kizzie died last October aged 13, she was indeed a "nanny dog". I met Kizzie's owner (my partner) 4 years ago, up until then she had never lived with children. My 3 children were then aged 9, 5 and 1, and from day one Kizzie went into protect mode with my 1 year old daughter, she would lie outside her bedroom door at night and by her playpen in the day.
My daughter would throw toys out that landed on her but she never even flinched. As my daughter grew they had a great releationship, with Kizzie mainly being used as a beanbag for my daughter to lie on when watching tv.:)

When my 4th child was born, he's 16 months now, she took to him in exactly the same way. We have an 11 week old Staffie bitch called Ryo now, and as she is a pup she chases and nips my older children when she gets over excited sometimes, but strangely has never even tried to mouth my youngest, just puppy licks his face and hands. It's as if she knows he's the youngest and is more gentle..weird.

As your Staffie has come from a rescue home, like others have said, you will just need to watch her reactions a bit more and never leave her alone with the new baby. Around 15 years ago I had a Manchester terrier/ cross from a rescue home for about 2 years before my first son was born, everything seemed fine till my son was starting to stand up. Then one day out of the blue with no warning , the dog leapt across the room and bit him savagely on the hand. It was extremely upsetting, I had to get rid of the dog as he had become a real danger to my son.:(

Every dog has their own unique personality, and your Staffie sounds lovely. I hope that she'll be your childs "Nanny dog" and best friend, just be careful at first and make equal fuss of her and your baby ;)

Best Wishes

Sarah xxx

Hi Sarah

Sounds like your children couldn't have had a better Nanny! Obviously, only time will tell how we get on. Pepsi is such a lovable dog, as long as we are careful, I think she will be ok. Hubby and I have to have the bedroom door shut at nights or else we find Pepsi creeping in bed when she thinks we are asleep. This wouldn't be such a problem if she didn't insist on licking us before she goes to sleep and then wake us up at 5am with a morning wash!! I did think about getting a stair gate for when baby arrives and then we can have the door open. The more I think about it and read about behaviours and advice on this web site, the more I think it will be a bad idea. Pepsi would feel like she is being shut out, which could quite possibly lead to problems that anyone would avoid in a dog and new child.

Did you find your staffie was protective over you whilst you were pregnant? Pepsi has with me during my pregnancy.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and opinions.

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Yes Kizzie was protective when I was pregnant, not in the aggressive way mind :)

I called her my "Little shadow", she would follow me everywhere, even to the loo, and when I shut the door to have a nice relaxing bath she used to snort under the door. I kept tripping over her all the time and a heavily preganant woman isn't very stable on her feet at the best of times :) I always made sure she went downstairs first, or she'd literally bowl into me halfway down the stairs.

You can email me anytime, and I'll send you some pictures of dear old Kizzie with my children.

Take care

Sarah xxx

Hi Sarah

The way you've described how Kizzie was, is exactly how Pepsi is. Not being able to bath or go to the toilet without the dog there watching you! I can't even sit down without her glued to my side! She has taken to lying with her head on my bump now! Maybe they are getting the bond already?!
We've been to the vets today so Pepsi could have her booster. She quite surprised me on how good she was. Despite the surgery being quite full of cats and couple of dogs, she wasn't that interested. I don't know whether it was becuse she was terrified of the fact of being at the vets!

Bye for now
Sarah

Hi
All my staffies are fantastic with my kids who are 14,10 and 6. My staffs have been brought up with the children around them. Like others have said as she is a rescue best to keep a close eye, but from what you have said I think she will be fine. One of my staffs is too called Pepsi so if your Pepsi is anthing like her namesake then she will be wonderful :-).
My daughter the 6 year old puts tiaras, feather boas, sunglasses and all sorts on ours and they don't bat an eye, infact when she as them finished they walk round quite proud!!! :D

I hope the feather boas and tiaras are only put on the girls, you don't want the boys getting a complex!!! :)

Oh of course only the girls, the lad gets the sunglasses!! :D

Hi Pepsi

As cooper said they were bred to be handled by humans under very stressfull conditions. Also back in these days the dogs wouldnt just be for fighting it would double as a home guard dog family protector rodent catcher etc and would have spent most of its time with the owner and family unlike most working dogs who would have been kenneled.
With kids you wont get a better dog. However never leave dog and baby in the room together even for a second. This is the only way anyone can be sure of safety. I always worked on the principal of dogs out in the garden on there own only when no kids were in the garden. Kids went out to play dogs come in.

Regards Mick.

Hi Mick

Thanks for that. Apart from the fighting part, Pepsi is certainly all of the above so to speak. Being the home guard dog etc. I've had several dogs in my time, but Pepsi is one that gives 110% loyalty and love and protection (but not in a nasty way).

Cheers
Sarah

Hi Pepsi,

Just as a matter of interest to you, I don't have children but have nieces and nephews who visit often.( in fact because I'm close to the junior /infant school where 6 of them go, in fact I think they live here!)

Anyhow the point being my old bitch Gyp, was fantastic with them all when they came out with us on walks, and someone approached she came back and walked between the children and the "stranger" even if they were holding our hands. She spent the first 4 years of her life with little to no contact with children but she loved the children coming.

Just use common sense.

And you should be fine honest. She sounds like she has a loving nature, just keep doing as you are.

You will be aware how food mad staffs are but Gyp was addicted to shape biscuits you know triangles,squares,cirlces etc.

My one nephew, is autistic and likes to line things up and he would take her biscuits from the cupboard and line them on the kitchen floor (obviously we tried to distract him beacuse we though Gyp would think he was teasing her, but she didn't she'd lie flat out like staffies do and my Nephew would lie by the side of her and arrange the biscuits and she'd help him nose them straight odd eh!)

She'd do this for no one else. She'd just eat them.

Gyp thought the world of my nephew, and would follow him around and seemed to know he couldn't communicate like the other children.
And she seemed to think he needed looking after more than the others.

Have a new pup now she'd 11 weeks old and as someone earlier said their pup was gentler with their youngest. Well Sal is gentler with my nephew than the other children even though he's 9 now she treats him so gentley it's unture.

No idea why! She obviously realises there's something special about him.

Its heartwarming to see all these stories. It makes me sad to think my boyfriends best friend gave up his Staff as soon as the baby was born, his wife was convinced that the dog was just too wild and boisterous and would jump through the baby to catch a fly on the window.
Maybe she was right, but poor snoop sure never got a chance to proof her wrong!!

I have had and homed lots of rescue staff and staffx and NEVER ONCE has one of these dogs proven to be a liability around children. On the contrary, these dogs simply adore humans and want to be with them all the time.

Taylor

More history, ANY dog tht bit a human in the pit would be disqualified, so love of humans was bred into them throughout their "working" history.Also it was by no means unusual for a sbt injured in the pit to be taken home in the pram, With the baby in it! Hows that for in built human affection!