SBT - Stubborn But Terrieriffic! (Bull Terriers)

Member Name: gothiron

Product:	Bull Terriers
Date:	14/09/01 (995 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loyal, devoted and brave, a right character, doesn't bark much

Disadvantages: prone to skin conditions, difficulty with bredding for bitches, other people's mis guided opinions that SBTs are pit-bulls

OK I admit it, he's our baby - my parents always say that they have 3 grandchildren (courtesy of my brother and sister) and one grand-dog!

We have a male 7 year old Staffie called Cerberus - after the three head dog from Greek legends - not because he is evil but because as a pup he had such a massive head!

Reading some of the other opinions on the site, I realise how lucky we are with him while he was growing up. He was house (or rather flat) trained really quickly, OK there were the odd accidents but on the whole the litter box provided for him was accurately used. He slept through most of the night - only wanting to play at about 4am for a while and then zonking out and the only things he chewed were a feather duster - yes it did look like Chicken Run - The Outtakes and a bottle of washing up liquid that fell out the shopping bag (thankfully no harm done)

THe one thing that made a real difference was that as soon as he was old enough, he went to Dog/Owner Training Classes with my husband (best investment ever!). Admittedly this has relegated me to "ceta dog" in the pecking order, with hubby firmly ensconced as Alpha Dog, Ceri as Beta dog and me as the one that feeds them both and does the washing! I cannot say how strongly I recommend any SBT ownerto go to training classes. Not only will you end up with a controllable dog (and a superior smirk to the owner of the Yorkshire Terrier who refused to sit down the entire course!) but also with a dog that is socialised with both people and doggy people.

What nobody prepared us for was the noise SBT's make. No - Ceri doesn't bark much (apart from when he encountered the life sized JUdge Dredd promo cutout in the hall on a dark night) but the snorting and snuffling! Do they have pigs in their ancestory? He snores like an old man, and makes the most peculiar noises to express annoyance.

The only thing that is a drawback is that fact that like
many Staffies, Ceri suffers from chronic skin atophy which flares up causing him bad rashes and sores on his feet and muzzle. We are fortunate that our vet is a skin expert and recommended immunotheraphy for ceri (Thank You Petplan you marvellous people) which means he has a dose of what he is allegeric to to prevent a serious flare up. His allergy is helpfully hay pollen and dust mites - cue in the hepa filter dyson and ioniser! The immuno controls the condition most of the year, with antibotics any reallyneeded when it's exceptionally hot. It doesn't come cheap - I reckon to treat Ceri has cost over £5K in all over the seven years but the treatment improves his standard of life.

Staffies are lovable, devoted and excellent with children - if they have good owners, which is the case for all dogs in my opinion. They are ideal city dogs on account of their size, the "Tonka Toy" of the dog world. Wouldn't be without him, have only ever once put him in kennels for a night - and that was on our wedding day. He is dog-sat by my parents during the day as we both work and the weekends are fun as exercising him means we both get a good walk to. I wouldn't be without such a devoted companion and would recommend a staffie to almost anyone thinking of getting a dog. Probably not as ideal to being an addition to a dog owning family, I think they like to be clearly number one!

Summary: