Hello.

[Laura]

Hello.

Just a quick introduction, John pointed me in the direction of the forum, I am Laura (think the username may have given that away). I live in Cumbernauld and am owned by two dogs, Kip is a 7 year old Stafford Collie cross (she is a rescue dog) and Cassy a 5 year old Stafford. My main passion is fitness and keeping the dogs in excellent physical conditoin, we attend athletic shows with our younger bitch and she has done fairly well at these events which means lots of work on her and our part but it's all fun too and benefits us all. Look forward to chatting with you all.

[John Thomson]

Hi Laura,
thanks for taking the time to register and post an introduction. I didn't know there was such a thing as athletic shows!

we get Staffies and Staffie crosses joining the club.......there seems to be quite a few getting re-homed at the moment. Any help with the breed would be greatly appreciated and I hope you will check in regularly.
_________________
John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[marcella]

Hi Laura!

welcome to the forum, nice to have you here.
Your experience in raw feeding will be a great contribution to those who have yet to be convinced!

Marcella

[kendal]

hey and welcome
hope you have fun hear i know i do

i didn't know there were athletic shows ether, whats involved in them

[Deborah Hamilton]

Hi Laura,
Welcome to the forum.
I'm sure you will have good fun.

[Laura]

Thanks for the welcome. Yes the athletic shows we have been attending for the past five years, they are fairly popular. There is only one held in Scotland each year, they are open to all bull breeds and molossers and the focus is on dogs that are not exaggerated in any way and bred more along traditional lines. They involve conformation and agility events. We spend about eight weeks training before a show which involves bringing the dog into peak fitness. Unfortunately, the situation with Stafford's has been dire for some time now, their popularity being their own worst enemy. Most breed rescues are full and most non breed rescues also have lots in for re homing. It's an uphill battle that doesn't seem to be showing any signs of changing.

www.staffierescuescotland.co.uk

[marcella]

Hi Laura,

like many others it's nice to hear someone so committed to the welfare of their pet - I'd love to see them, you should post a pic or two in the picture gallery forum. Maybe even a pic of them at an athletic show?

[Laura]

Hi Marcella,

Sorry it took so long to reply. Here are a few pictures from the first athletic type show held in Scotland. This was purely conformation based as I mentioned it was their first show the next one is 27th July in Ediburgh again and hopefully there will be more events.

Cassy took 1st in the female Staffords, 1st in mixed Bull breeds (basically the winners from other classes) and second best in show. We were really pleased. There was a lovely variance of breeds turned up from American Bulldogs to rotties to Dogue de Bordeaux, bulldogs, Staffords and everything else you can think off in between.

Cassy with some of her winnings.



Some beautiful Dogues




I dont know how familiar you all are with Victorian Bulldogs but this is one, they are (as far as I can tell) a "breed" dating back 20 years that were bred to improve the health of bulldogs after bringing in outcrosses from other breeds they were not eligible for registration (KC) so carried on with a line of their own. From what I can see they are not too far from the look of the bulldog without the associated health problems (I know they whelp/mate naturally and breathe far easier)



Dogue bitch this lady also had four rotties with her, I never pictured one.





An American Bulldog, again I dont know how familiar many of you are with this breed. They date back to the early 1900s and were imported to the UK mid 1990s. There are three "types" or strains if you like, bully, standard and hybrid. They are unlike the above a well established breed however again they are becoming more popular in the UK and sadly for the wrong reasons. The top picture is an example of the bully kind and below is an example of the standard kind, then you have the hybrids which are a mix of the two.





Cassy again

[marcella]

Some very strong looking dogs there! All of them beautiful. You must have been chuffed at Cassy doing so well

The Victorian Bulldog is lovely! I think bulldogs all have great smiles

[Laura]

Yeah me too Marcella, its nice though these bulldogs youu dont need to wipe their bums!!!

[marcella]

[shirley c]

Sorry, I never got round to welcoming earlier


I like how people are changing more to the traditional bulldog, rather than these malformed ones I hope it continues but at the same time hate the fact that people get them for the wrong reasons too.