Staffordshire Blue Coats

[Borneogoat]

My first post as I have recently joined in my research for finding a canine companion. After a lot of research, internet and playing with mates' dogs, I have settled on a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. They suit my desire for temperament, my available time for grooming & exercising the dog, and the house/yard I own. Doesn't hurt that I find them a handsome breed!

I have begun my search for a reputable breeder, with some preference for breeders in TAS. I live near Hobart, so recommendations are welcome. My first 2x criteria are temperament and health of the individual pup. Coloration takes a distant, but still relevant, 3rd place. On the puppy pages on Dogzonline there appear to be a great number of breeders focusing on the "blues".

After doing a bit of research on this forum, I find many comments that suggest the Blues have been bred poorly or it's difficult to find a healthy example. If this is true, I will avoid them. However, can someone explain to me why some people express negative views towards this coloration? I tried to find an answer myself, but have come up empty handed.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[SwaY]

After doing a bit of research on this forum, I find many comments that suggest the Blues have been bred poorly or it's difficult to find a healthy example. If this is true, I will avoid them. However, can someone explain to me why some people express negative views towards this coloration? I tried to find an answer myself, but have come up empty handed.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Two reasons - And they would have been mentioned on the previous DOL threads you read...

1) Many breed Blues to make money, they sell them as 'rare' and for much more the "regular" colours.

2) The standard also says 'Must have black nose', Blues have a blue nose, can not be black - therefore they don't meet the standard.

[Sandra777]

In almost all cases it's not specifically the COLOUR people are concerned about - it's the lack of ethics of the breeders of blues

Blue is a recessive gene which means to keep the colour to the forefront (ie produce lots of blues) you have to mate blue to blue (which will give you all blues) or blue to a son/daughter of a blue. This means that for the majority of the breeders of blues they choose the breeding pair based on the colour of the dog.

Any ethical breeding programme concentrates on health, temperament, conformation and the vast majority of ethical breeders don't really care what colour the pups are so long as they are healthly, with the correct temperament and good conformation. Yep we all have our favourite colour(s) but when it comes to breeding there are far more important things to consider than the colour of a dogs hair.

You miss conformation off the list of things that are important to you. Please reconsider this. Correct conformation isn't just something show dogs need - having shoulders, hips, stifles and topline where they belong are basics to allowing a dog to life a normal life - great bulgy bulldog fronts, turned out hind legs and sway backs are not natural or normal in an active breed like a Stafford and a dog with these problems can't live a happy active life.

You would be well served to look interstate, not because there's no good breeders in Tasmania (there are) but because there's not a lot of breeders there compared to Victoria so you might get frustrated with the wait.

Best of luck.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Sandra777

[SwaY]

Just a quick look at the puppy listings will show you the price difference

Blue $2500

Brindle or red $800

[Podengo]

Do blue staffords get colour dilution alopecia or any other skin problems associated with dilution?

[LizT]

Do blue staffords get colour dilution alopecia or any other skin problems associated with dilution?

Yes. I believe that ongoing skin conditions are also of issue.

[Missymoo]

good on you OP for wanting the breed to own and are not worried about a colour :D

[Borneogoat]

Breeding for a recessive treat does sound like a bad idea. We have enough inbreeding jokes about TAS as is! I will likely avoid the Blues now, as the SBTs come in many other attractive coats. As I mentioned, the color of the dog is of secondary importance to health & temperament. Are there any other coat colors I should steer clear of for the same reason?

Thank you Sandra for mentioning conformity. They is a sensible trait to look for. I mistakenly lumped that concept in with "health", a novice jargon mistake. I will indeed look for a breeder that emphasizes a well proportioned dog.

Edited June 9, 2012 by Borneogoat

[Alkhe]

Breeding for a recessive treat does sound like a bad idea. We have enough inbreeding jokes about TAS as is! I will likely avoid the Blues now, as the SBTs come in many other attractive coats. As I mentioned, the color of the dog is of secondary importance to health & temperament. Are there any other coat colors I should steer clear of for the same reason?

Thank you Sandra for mentioning conformity. They is a sensible trait to look for. I mistakenly lumped that concept in with "health", a novice jargon mistake. I will indeed look for a breeder that emphasizes a well proportioned dog.

Not to my knowledge, in SBTs. In various breeds, colours go in and out of fashion (eg apricot and red, in poodles), but a good way to tell this is to look at dogs that are doing well in the ring. To my knowledge, which is limited regarding Staffords, there tend to be lots of nice looking black, black/white and tan dogs. I'd suggest asking in the Stafford breed subforum for suggestions for breeders either in Tas or on the mainland as there are lots of experienced Stafford people on here :)

http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/50264-stafford-fans/page__st__23475

[Staffyluv]

The only other coat colours that I can think of are liver and the black and tans are considered undesirable.

To be honest, good breeding (temperament) and health would be my priorities over colour...

I would never choose a dog on colour..

My sister has always had the darker brindle dogs until she rescued a beautiful red girl... After her old red girl passed away she went back to a breeder she used many years ago and this time around she ended up with a lovely little white guy with a tan patch over his eye... She wanted the darker pup but the breeder suggested that the little white guy was a better fit for her family...

Choppa has been a perfect fit... I think it is wonderful that the breeder took a few meetings to get to know them, check out their yard and ask loads of questions about them, to work out which of her pups would fit in with them best...

[ellz]

I'm a registered Stafford breeder and I live in Hobart.

There are certainly breeders here in Tasmania, however there only a couple who I would recommend and certainly none of those who I would personally feel comfortable purchasing a puppy from have puppies available at this time.

In my opinion your best bet would be to contact some of the clubs and/or breeders on the mainland and after doing your homework and asking the necessary questions to satisfy your own requirements, get on their waiting lists and wait until they have a suitable puppy for you.

Oh and don't listen to anybody who tries to tell you that it is unwise, unsafe or otherwise difficult to bring a puppy from the mainland to Tasmania. It is easy, quite safe and not necessarily that expensive to freight a puppy. And the main requirement is that the puppy has been wormed with Drontal (or equivalent) within 7 days prior to arrival in Tasmania (and evidentiary documentation such as letter from vet or the packet from the wormer attached to the crate for AQIS inspection). This is simply a safeguard against bringing hydatids into Tasmania and no other reason.