Our staffy cross rescue

2 mins to read

When their boxer Jaxx hit his teenage years, Suelin and Andrew decided it was time to add to their fur family. Enter Staffordshire bull terrier cross, Mitsi.

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“We decided to get another dog as our boxer, Jaxx had finally outgrown his puppy stage, and we thought he’d appreciate a playmate.

We’d been on the list at the boxer rescue place for a while, but nothing was coming up, and we looked at buying a boxer pup, but decided we couldn’t spare a few thousand dollars at this point, and decided to wait for a year before going on a list for a puppy. I then took it upon myself to find a rescue dog in the meantime.

As Jaxx is boisterous and loves to play a bit rough, I decided on a bigger breed, and was advised to get a younger female. In my mind there really wasn’t any other option but to rescue a Staffy cross. Having owned one before, and lived with pure bred Staffies, I know the breed well. They are the perfect mix of being active and lazy, they are loyal and protective dogs, short hair is a bit easier to clean, they don’t tend to have a lot of health problems, and they are super cuddly and gentle. Perfect for when we have kids, and because most of our friends either have young kids or are about to.

I had helped my dad find a rescue dog earlier in the year through Staffy and Bully Breed Rescue Inc, and I was really impressed by their process of matching humans and pooches. I emailed them and explained what our situation was, and what we were looking for. They came back with the profile of a puppy, who unfortunately wasn’t a good match for our family as Jaxx just wasn’t interested in her - he went out of his way to avoid her when they met, so that wasn’t going to work. Jaxx is our number one boy, so it was really his decision who’d be coming to join us.

About a month later, I saw Mitsi come up on an Instagram post. This gorgeous little girl has been in foster care for 3 months, so I went to meet her in secret, fell in love, and organized for her foster carer to bring her around to meet Jaxx. It was love at first sight for him too. He just wanted to play chasey with her and show off his jumping and boxer burns. He was so enamoured that he let her eat his food, and chew on his bones. I’d never seen him show such fondness for another dog besides his bestie (Duke the Weimaraner).

The following week, Mitsi joined our family.

Initially she was quite snappy and snarly around some dogs when out walking, it was hard to know what set her off because it wasn’t all dogs. We were worried that we wouldn’t be able to take her to the dog park or beach and be off lead.

Read more: The do’s and don’ts of dog parks

After giving her two weeks to settle in, Trevor from Top Dogz Training came to our house for a two hour session to help us with Mitsi’s obedience (she didn’t really like to listen and was prone to doing a runner at the first hint of freedom), and how to best integrate the two dogs. His guidance was really helpful, and within a couple of months, Mitsi grew from being an anxious, reactive girl, to a confident and well settled dog.

Her recall still isn’t fantastic, she will come back when she’s ready, but doesn’t stray too far. She loves the beach and is a fantastic swimmer. She is great with other dogs (unless they try and hump her, or steal her toy), and she is such a caring girl, always looking out for her older, sooky, brother.

We’ve lost a few shoes and thongs, new chew toys only last an hour, garden hoses have been replaced, random craters appear in the yard, and planks of wood find their way out of these craters, but we wouldn’t change a thing. Mitsi the menace has completed our family. She still has a few anxiety issues, particularly with separation, but I’m certain that with a bit more time, once she realises she’s found her furever home, she’ll be fine.”

Find out more about the great work done at the Staffy and Bully Breed Rescue on their Facebook page.

Related product:

PAW Complete Calm
Tasty kangaroo based chews that contains Tryptophan, B group vitamins and a blend of multivitamins and nutrients to support the general health and nervous function in dogs.