We had our first ever dog in 1986. A Weimaraner called Jake.
We thought this was the right time to introduce a dog to our family

as our two young sons were of school age. We now had the time to spend on training a puppy.
We knew nothing about the breed, just thought they were beautiful looking dogs.
Although Jake was a real handful, he was also a lovable rouge!!









We were first introduced to Staffords by a friend who had kept them for years.





Jack (one of the dogs pictured above) had sired a litter. Most of the litter were black & white, apart from two
which our friend wanted to keep himself. He asked us if we could look after them for a short while, untill he
moved into a new home that was suitable for the dogs. It was a big favour to ask, but being soft where animals are
concerened, we agreed.





This is Bridie. She was with us from 7 weeks old until her owner moved into his new home,7 months latter. We prayed this day would never come, as we fell for her completely.


This is Tyler, Bridie's litter brother. Such a lovable dog.





Jake loved them too!





If we had know from the start we were to have the puppies for months, we would have never agreed to it. However, thanks to them we were hooked on Staffords.
The pups settled in fine to their new home as their owner had regular contact with them the whole time we cared for them.
We were, however, devistated when they left us.
It was all to much for us when Jake started to lose so much weight. Our vet couldn't find a problem, but suggested he may be pining.
As we all missed the puppies so much, we decided to get a Stafford of our own.


This is Honey our first very own Stafford.




Honey was a lovely bitch, a real pleasure to live with. She was very easy to train compared to Jake, despite the fact we put alot more effort into Jake's training, attending puppy training classes (and winning first prize!) We never got the same results as you can so easily with a Stafford.
However things didn't get better for Jake. He wasn't pining. He had a very serious problem. He couldn't absorb his food. The vet tried everything she could to help him, but we lost him at the age of four.
When Honey was two, we had our first litter because we wanted to keep a dog & bitch ourselves.









So now we had three lovely Staffords. Our friends thought we were mad, but we loved them all.
We only had one litter from Honey, her daughter never had a litter as our time was spent with our children & the 3 dogs. Life was busy.


This is Otis from honey's litter ,he had a wounderful life in a rural part of somerset with our brother and sister in-law





As the boys grew and we had more time, we introduced Charlie, a Bulldog puppy.





Honey out lived both pups. She was 14 when we lost her.
At this point we only had Charlie! It was now 2002 and we were Staffless again, but not for long!

After a few months, and much discusion on what we wanted from our lives. A drawback of living with a pack of dogs was we had not had a holiday for many years. We didn't like the idea of kenneling our dogs, just to take a break.
We are both probably too soft where the dogs are concerned, but we wouldn't enjoy ourselves without our dogs!
Another concern was that Staffords had become very popular and we saw many people walking Stafford type dogs that were very tall and had long faces. They looked nothing like a Staffords, but we're sure they were lovely dogs. But where could we look to get a breed standard pup?
We found out there was a Stafford dog show on, and went along to see if we could see a Stafford more to our taste.
We saw lots of lovely dogs there, quite a few different types. Some very short with good strong heads. We both now agreed on what we were looking for in our next Stafford.


This is Jess.





Our advise to anybody is to first decide what type of Stafford you are looking for. See both parents, if possible. We got Jess from an Adtrader advert, something frowned upon in the show world.
If you know what you are looking for, this doesn't matter. We took Jess to the stafford show. She came second in the puppy class against some of the best Stafford breeders around.
We took Jess back to the show at 18 months old. Again she did very well in her classes. This time we got a 2nd & 3rd place. We were told if we took her to lots of shows and she continued to get placed, we could gain enough points to quaify for crufts. However, we knew she was a good example of the breed. That was good enough for us, Jess enjoyed her walks in the woods at the weekends much better than the shows.
We found a stud for Jess at the show,took contact details & booked her with him at her next season.


Jess had a litter of 5 lovely pups when she was two years old.





We feel it's most important to socialise and introduce them to children at an early age.





This is Harry. picked by a family member. He is a lovely dog. See Harry's stud page.





This is Frankie. She now lives within the family as we rehomed her due to a family split.





This is Frankie now. She has settled in very well to her new home.





When I was younger, all the dogs enjoyed a long walk, often twice a day, I'm now unable to do this, due to a bad break to one of my legs, so having more than two dogs was out of the question.


Having alot of time on my hands, as I was unable to work, we found raising a litter such a lovely experience. If only we could find a way to have another bitch to join our family and possibly breed from. Although the house was a large 4 bed, it only had a small garden. We wished for enough space for the dogs to excercise at home.
This was just a dream at this point, but it was something we both would have loved. Were we prepared to sell up and downsize our home in exchange for extra land, and was this possible?


We were in a good position, having moved up the property ladder several times. Why not put the house on the market, and see if we could find a suitable place to suit our dreams? We wanted enough space to grow fruit and veg, and to keep a few chickens. In an ideal world, we would have space for a few flowers in a dog free space, but the dogs would have plenty of space to play. Jess was ball mad, so as long as there was room for her to play, this would be a solution to make our dreams come true.

It must of been meant to be. We sold the house and found a very suitable place for us and the dogs.
The next step was putting our name on a waiting list for a puppy. We were very impressed with the Crossguns dogs, but really wanted a pied. Much to our surprise, we were contacted to say there was a pied pup if we were still interested.


We accepted the offer. We couldn't believe our luck, so we called her Magic.

Jess, Charlie & Magic (Crossguns Kiss Me Quick) enjoying the new garden.



We fenced of part of the garden, Built some raised beds and planted our vegtables.






We produced more than enough fruit,salad and vegtables for our family. The chicken's helped eat the rest.



We had a broody hen so we raised some chicks.




.

Magic at 6 month's old.



Jess was mated again, so this time we would keep a pup. To our disappointment, the scan showed no pups. We were very disapointed. It was at this point we decided to try to find a blue male. This was a hard task. There were many blue pups around for sale, but not breed standard. Could we find a solid blue that was bred for true Stafford type as well as colour?

We chose Levi . He was the best pup we had seen. We had high hopes for him. If he turned into a good representative of a Stafford, we would get a blue bitch. Only time would tell.



After all, Jess was having a litter. She only had two. Sadly we lost one,leaving us with Archie (Solo Surprise). See Archie's stud page.
Sadly Jess had to be spayed, due to two complicated whelps. However, we do have Archie and Harry to carry on her line. Both dogs are owned by family members.


Magics 1st litter of 7. 2 dogs and 5 bitches.









It was at this time we could see levi was everything we hoped he would be. A breed standard solid blue Stafford. We could see he would make a good stud.



It was at this point we started to look around for a blue bitch pup. Levi is 16 inches at the shoulder. As our aim was to breed blues meeting the breed standard, we were looking for a bitch a little shorter. As so many blues seem to be very tall, this was not easy.

We were looking for a pup sired by this dog.



We found a litter born around the same time as Magic's litter. Doing nothing by halves, we picked two, as it is such fun for them as they grow up together. Having had two young staffords before, many years ago, we knew what we were taking on. Double trouble!


This is Lilly and Lola at two weeks old. It was very hard to pick a pup at such a young age, but we liked the parents. They were a good choice. See Lilly/Lola page.



Magic's 2nd litter, sired by Levi.





Jess was such a good mum, but became destressed when Magic had pups. She wanted them for herself. When magic had her second litter, Jess went to stay with our cousin Jo, who ownes Archie. She loved playing with her boy, and settled in so well that she has stayed with Jo and Archie. Both dogs seemed happier together.



It was now summer2007. We had Charlie the ten-year-old castrated Bulldog, Magic was coming up three. Levi was 18 months, and Lilly and Lola were a year old. Jess is stll very much part of the family, but lives with Archie and Jo (our cousin) and her 3 children. It was very hard for us to let her go, but we do feel it is best for her. She is happy and we see her every week.

So we had 4 Staffords & Charlie the Bulldog, quite enough to cope with, but with Jess settled, thanks to Jo. We felt we had room for just one more.

This is Armani. It was love at first sight for her and Levi.



Armani at 6 months old. We were pleased with everything about her.



We would like to end chapter 1 up by saying we are very much hobby breeders. We love and care for our dogs. They are all part of our family. It's just normal for us. We have lived with many dogs for many years. We would be lost with out them.

chapter 2

The first chapter was finished in december 07,we must say were are surprized, that so many people have been interested in our story so far ,so we feel the need to keep this page up to date! Magic & Harry had been mated in november ,so we were hoping for a litter from them in January Lilly & Lola were in seaon aroung the same time ,we had planned for them to have their first litter in the summer 08. But Lilly had other plans ,we had kept Levi away until we thought we were safe ! however it seems we were expecting two Litter's in January .

We had our first blue litter 2 bitch's & 3 dogs



We had hundreds of enquires even before the pup's arrived ,deposits were taken on the pup's from the most suitable family's,one sale fell through ,but the pup was only on our web site for a few hour's before he was snapped up. Lilly is a short compact little bitch ,she has a nice bully head ,but femine with it,see the pups on Levi's puppy page they were just what we were hoping for ,chunky pups with short muzzles.



Lilly & Lola being litter sister's had never been apart, Lilly took to the pups ,she was a very good mother,but Lola was very confused as to why Lilly was no longer sharing her bed, but charlie looked after her.



Within a few days afer lilly had her pups ,Magic had a litter of 9



So its been a very active start to 2008 ,Magic is crossguns bred her pup's are very nice,we had so much interest in her litter,we do not ship our pups but have people willing to travel from America to collect one! another went to Scotland! see the litter on Harry's page

Are aim is to produce pups that meet the breed standard from health tested parents,but we like the pied staffords and this time we had three







Just to be sure we had enough to do, Armani had her first season right in the middle of all the pups to care for! We have decided we must invest in a heated Kennel for Levi as it is very difficult to avoid an unplanned litter's when you have your own stud dog

Here is Armani at 9 months



All the 14 pups,have very nice new owners,they leave us healthy & out going little pups ,see them on 2008 litters page We have paid a good price for our dogs, we ask the same as we have paid out on the parents for the pups,as we feel this is fair,many of the people we have sold to have looked long and hard for the right pup,we find this a complement as many have said ,we are the type of people they wish to buy from and will come back if they are looking to add to their dogs in the future.


We invest money from our puppy sales, back into the dogs our grass has been covered in membrane & 30 tones of pea shingle put down to give them an all weather excercise area we have three kennels with runs with electricity for heating the dogs now travel in style as we have a dog van with travel crates
Our dog do not live in the kennels, but when a bitch is in season you really need them to be sure you do not have unplanned litters,they all enjoy a meaty bone in the kennels & we can be sure they do not get into a fight over them by giving them a secure place to enjoy a treat!

This is our secure kennel every part is galvanised metal on a concreate base so they can not dig their way out it is 4ft wide and the run is 20ft long we have found the bitch's more despetate to mate than the stud dog, as long as Levi can not see the bitch's he is fine but he does go off his food for a couple of days!



This kennel has been built with the pups in mind, its ajoined to our bungalow giving them inside and outside space it is fully enclosed and roofed but the galvanised mesh allows plenty of fresh air


we like our pups to have a run in the garden, but the local foxes show far to much interest in them, by building the above kennel,we have saved them taking any of our pups!


This kennel is insulated and heated, it can be used for bitch's visiting our stud dog, we feel as reasponsable breeders we should be able to take back any pups that need rehoming from our litters, this accomadation would be a safe holding place if required (we have found a new homes twice now, breeders should be able to help out if thing do not go to plan)

June 2008

One of are main aims when starting our blue Stafford breeding, was to breed dogs true to type and temperament, colour blue our preferred option, but not any cost! We are hobby breeders and have spent so much time looking into the Stafford breeding lines, We love the Crashkon & Valglo lines,When we found Armani's litter we could not belive our luck,her pedigree was just what we were looking for
At one time the blue Stafford's were hardly seen, they are very popular at the moment it is quite easy to find a blue litter,but not all are good examples of the breed
Our aim is is produce Quailty pups, Blue's are not often shown is this because they are not good examples or the fact that they are not a colour that the judges favour?
This is crashkon Jacko Blue he is on Armani pedigree/he is a very good example it is our dream to produce blue stafford's to this quality


Lola was mated with a short stocky Blue in June from valglo & crashkon bloodline
We didn't use our own stud dog, we traveled a 8 hr distance, just to make life interesting as we felt Lola and blue are a better match
We were hoping for a short stocky litter of show type Stafford's, this was not a success, but will try again on her next season

We had been thinking about getting a French Bull Dog puppy, for along time!

Many people that keep Stafford's have Frenchies as a second breed, we asked as many questions as possible about the temperament,we wanted to be sure they could live with our dogs without a personality clash
After visiting a breeder of Frenchies & Stafford's we were sure that a French Bull Dog would make a very good choice for us
it is not easy to find a litter of Frenchies !
We are very fussy, when looking for a puppy both parents need to be very good examples,we made enquires about importing a pup from France,but the puppy needed to be 10 months old due to rabies requirements
thanks to the internet we found a sire that we both were very impressed with
Fabulous Vander Pater Hoek who has recently been imported from Belgium ,he is a really nice Dog ,& Crufts qualified

we found a litter sired by fabulous,
pictured below is the dam Taboo Zam De L'Etang Sur La Touze


her owner had imported her from france, she to is a nice example

So in september 2008 we now have our First! French Bull Dog Mini


We would like to thank Sean Uren for breeding such a nice little Frenchie, she is very well socialised and is settling in nicely
We cant wait till she can join in with the other dogs,she is very delicate ,with a big personality ,she loves a cuddle & we have fallen for her 100%

Introducing a new member

we have been offered adult dogs for breeding purposes, we are not a breeding kennel, all our dogs are like part of the family.
It has been commented on by other breeders when visiting us, how very surprised they are to see our dogs all in together!
We would not have it any other way, it is our opinion that a dog should not be brought just to kennelled and breed from, even if the dog has excercise and is fed and kept clean
Our dogs have plenty of human company,and benefit from living in a pack of dogs.
When Mini came home she was tiny compared to a stafford puppy,we have a puppy pen in our lounge, the dogs were introduced one at a time, all of them have excepted her as a new pack member
Mini loves to play with them, and is learning from the adult dogs.

Mini watching the older dogs play outside


Levi is very gentle with her, she gets into his bed , & tries to take his bone, she thinks it is great fun


Magic is very exciting to, Levi rolls onto his back to play just like the bitches


Lilly thinks she is her puppy,but is learning to share



Armani was our baby,but she has accepted her to



Lola loves to chase, Mini is a fast mover! but they get along fine.


Lola in the play bow position, front down back end in the air, this tells us Lola will not harm Mini


October 2008 magic came in season ,we had advertised on our future litters page that we were thinking about a reapeat mating with magic and Harry as three pups were booked before the mating took place we were happy to go ahead
On the 4th of January 2009 we had another stunning litter of nine
Magic & harry are both good examples of the breed,they complement each other very well producing puppies that we our proud of/we encourge people to bring back puppies as they grow, to see what we are producing as adults, all pups are lovely but we have seen some very good examples come back to visit us
You can see them on Harry's page

Febuary did not get off to a good start,Charlie had been sleeping all the time he had lost his sight & his legs no longer were strong enough to take his weight
so we did the kindest thing we could for Charlie
He was a lovely dog and will be missed by everybody that knew him

This is the last picture we have of charlie he was put to sleep on the 3rd of feb 2009 he was 12 years and nine months old





charlie loved to sleep in a puppy bed but had great difficulty getting out!!

We feel the about us page is long enough now!

It has been 20 years now (2009) since we purchased our very own stafford puppy, over the last 20 years we have had a total of 8 stafford litters
Every puppy has gone to very good family homes, we feel it is such a responsibillity to bring a litter into the world, I have joined the Kennel clubs accredited breeders scheme, since joining we have found that we are attracting just the sort of people that we wish to sell to
People that care for their pets as we do
Our furure aims at bluestafford is Give our dogs the best life we can, plenty of human company good excercise , A good diet,warmth and affection with the benefit of living in a pack of dogs
Any future litter's we have will be a bonus not a reason for having our dogs
We hope to improve the standard of the blue stafford, we have selected our blues with care
please take care when chosing a puppy
This was going to be the end of the about us page ! however we feel the need to add chapter 3

Chapter3

On Tuesday the 24th of March 09 Armani has her first litter of five beautiful pups


She whelped easy, we were so pleased for a first time mum she was doing very well
As soon as the whelping was over she started to vomit
We called the vet, they said it was more than likely the 2 placentas she had eaten had up set her belly
but two days after the birth, she was taken to the vet for a check up as her appetite was poor
We are used to our bitches being very hungry after the birth of a litter
she was examined and given tablets to settle her stomach
For 58hrs she seemed fine
Devoted to her puppies and no more sickness
On waking the next morning, we found Armani had brought up all the food we had given her over the past 58hrs
We had been feeding her every two hrs with very small amounts, and syringe feeding water hourly
to avoid her taking too much at one time as this can cause sickness
We were very worried she was admitted to the Hospital for a full investigation
We were left with a litter to feed
Armani had not kept any food down for five days at this point the pups had mum to suckle on until now at least they had the colostrum from mum
It was time for us to step in a help feed the pups


we had never had to do this before

But after 8 hrs in the hospital, we had good news Armani was given the all clear
The pups were very pleased to be back with mum & we were so happy to have her back home


However she was not hungry, we contacted the vet again I think they thought we were being a nuisance
The nurse told us there was nothing the could do as she has the all clear the day before
we were told once her antibiotics were given she would soon be hungry
However the sickness, started again she was unable to keep her tablets down
So that evening we took her back to the vet, the antibiotics were injected into her, plus a vitamin jab to perk her up?
We were sold a special high energy liquid food and a told to bring her back in the morning if she wasn’t getting better
Sadly we took her back
she was looking after the litter even playing with her ball in the garden but we were not happy
Once again she was admitted to hospital
At this point she had not eaten for a week
She looked thinner every day, what the hell was wrong with her?


Once again we were left holding the baby so to speak, we decided to try to hand raise the litter what ever the out come
Armani was weak and needed to regain her strength
We were so worried about our girl
And could we get the pups through this with out Armani?
The pups would not take a bottle
We had no experience of hand raising pups
After making a few phone calls, we started feeding with a tiny syringe


Just dropping tiny drops onto the tongues to start with
We were told that if any milk went down the wrong way it would go on the lungs And the pups would die, were have been so scared but so careful with them
we stimulated the pups as mum would to help them wee


They brought up wind just like human babies



The vets called to say they had found Armani’s problem
There was a blockage in the gut
They operated on her & removed parts of a rubber ball
It was nothing to do with whelping, just bad timing
Once again were we relived, thing now would surly get better?
This was not to be!
A second operation, was made two days after the first
Her gut is infected and we feared dying
The vet did everything possible for Armani
We just hoped!
We were told the next 24 hrs would be make or break
To be honest I do not know where we have found the strength to carry on hand feeding the litter,both of use were so upset,one phone call from the vet was positive and we were uplifted only to get bad news the next day or so
We were feeding the pups every two hrs and it takes an hour to do so 60 mins later its starts all over again
I found it hard to talk with out tears
But I needed my strength to get the pups through
The pups at 12 days old were getting stronger every day


Eyes are starting to open and nearly up on the legs,we gave them a little baby rice


We just wish Armani was doing so well
Armani is not just a breeding bitch, she is one of the family, and this was destroying us both

A few days passed, we were happy, Armani seemed a little better ,the gut is starting to act more normal,she was eating a little & even managed a tiny poo!
we just prayed this would continue
we had almost given up hope & so had the vet,we have been at this point before we just hoped this would be the start of her recovery
We were so tired
My cousin JO stepped into to help us
The pups had in their heads that I am mum now,they refuse to take milk from any one other than me after Jo had been handling the pups for 24hrs with me & she has managed to feed them but with me holding them
It's a two handed job ,they were tiny but strong
the plan was for Jo to help me ,while steve went to bed,then she would sleep over and do the night shift with steve,then It would my turn to sleep
It had been a week since I have had more than 1 hour at a time
I just cant keep this up for another week with out help
we have been taking pictures of the pups feeding and being winded just like babies
They will only wee and poo with our help
we will use then on our web site in the future as a hand rearing a litter section on our web site in the hope it may help anybody else in the same situation
hand raising a litter from such an early age is almost an impossible task as we have never had to do it before & have little or no knowledge on the subject, Steve lost his job in january so we are both at home full time
With friends and family shopping for us and even cleaning the house, & now Jo was helping with the night shift,we were more hopeful that we could contine & see this through
After a good few days,we were getting ready to pick Armani up she had been in hospital for ten days
But it was not to be the sickness returned ,a third operation ,was done ,but we were devastated thing were so bad Armani was put to sleep on the operating table
Words can not explain how we felt, we were so lucky to have owned the best Blue Stafford in the world
every thing about her was perfect she was such a lovely dog to live with ,we will never forget her


The pups under the circumstances were doing ok
The vet checked them at two weeks
Each pup was the same weight
A wormer was given to us by our vet to use over the next three days
I usually use my intuition I felt it would be better to wait until the pups were 3 weeks before worming
I feel this was a big mistake
The wormer gave them the runs
With out mum in the whelping box to clean them up As soon as it happened the skin became inflamed and sore, so quickly as soon as we cleaned them up one had done it again
We had to give them a bath not ideal but the only way to clean them as they were covered in poo


we applied a barrier cream to protect the skin


They lost so much fluid and became dehydrated
We used a re-hydration fluid in an attempt to save them
The gums and tonuges were pale & things looked bad
The pups would take the milk from the syringe, but not the fluids they so badly needed
We lost our first pup he inhaled some fluid & could not breathe
We sat up all night with him, in the morning he was put to sleep by our vet
The others were weak, we were given an antibiotic by the vet but, we still had to get extra fluids into the pups
this was very hard we tried to drop the fluid on to the tounges but as it wasnt milk they didn't swallow
So we mixed it into the milk ,this was not recommended but how else would we get them to feed ?
the vet warned us we may loose all of them he really didn’t think they would make it
But we would not give up on all that we had left of Armani
six days had passed since we lost a pup and the 4 remaining pups look better each day
They started lapping and eating some solid food




what a messy pup!


We hope they all make it only time will tell


The pups at 4 and a half weeks were eating well and getting stronger daily


The pup at 6 weeks old (5th of may 09)
The two dogs


The two bitches



The pups were all a good weight and ready to leave us between 7 & 8 weeks old ,all went to very special people because they were very special to us
The plan is to do a hand rearing a litter page,where we will up date the progress of the puppies as they grow
We must at this point say a very special thank you to Jo and her three daughters the eldest Carley spent many nights here helping Jo feed the pups,Mollie was a great help she cared for Archie Jess and Jo's new puppy Dimpsey,and the youngest Lilly was a star, she helped with the dirty jobs and never complained once
It is at times like this when you find out who your friends are ! thank you all so much
Even my two grown up Boys proved they do know how to do domestic chores ? they both really were a good help



It was a sad day when the pups left here but we have Lacey our new addition from this litter,but we were feeling down it has not been a good year for us first we lost Charlie ,then Armani
How ever we were uplifted as our first Granchild decided to arrive early meet Saskia mai she sure will have lots of dogs to play with as she grows up!