Rant about staffy discriminative home boarder!!

This happened yesterday and it is still playing on mind LOL

I know that a lot of Dogsey members have differing views on home boarding as opposed to kennelling dogs if you need someone to look after them but a the minute we are seriously consideringthe home boarding option IF we can find the right person to do this who has Insurance and who we have a year or so to get to know before we go on our honeymoon.

I received details of a guy nearby who does homeboarding and decided to contact him by email, I explained about Ben(including his back operation) and our wants and needs and stated that I would initially look for him to walk Ben for an hour at atime to see how they got oon then maybe a couple of overnight stays and then a weekend stay etc etc

Anyways he kindly replied to my email yesterday stating that when he started his business he decided that he would not have a staffy in the house as he has a child to consider and that was a risk he was not prepared to take

OK I get the fact he has a child and he feels the nneed to protect his child but really is a staffy anymore "a risk" than any other dog he may have in his house???? Is a staffy anymore a risk than the person who's dog he takes after an initial consultation rather than what we were trying to arrange ie a year to get to know Ben

I realise this was a very lucky escape and it has made me rethink the whole home boarding as it did noteven occur to me that a "professional" would be so discriminative.

He said his decision was based on the fact he walks 2 staffs and they are very excitable.....As said yes his kid is important but there are plenty of other excitable breeds out there and in fact not just breeds but as each dog is individual dogs of all breeds can be excitable.....but he stated categorically that a staff was too big a risk...

May have to work on mum and dad a bit more or failing that build up to the kennel situation, I am just worried that he won't cope and will gett depressed Wonder if kennels have policies on such things like how to handle a dog that is not coping?And maybe we could do the same as we were intendingto do ie build it up justan hour ata time until he seems happy?

Anyway rant over ....

As you said, at least you found out now!
Would you consider having a petsitter come and stay at your house? That way you get the added bonus of not leaving your house empty, and Ben can stay in an environment he knows well. I know there are a few companies that specialise in this, or maybe ask your vet if any of the vet nurses do something like this?

It's something I notice is happening more and more, several people locally won't take Staffs, Rotties etc. Having asked one of them why she felt like this, she said that she feels it's a risk not worth taking, she feels if something goes wrong when looking after most breeds that a bite won't be the end of the world, however a bit from a Staffy/Rottie etc could be very different.

It's becoming apparent that there is a lot of discrimination...caused by a minority of owners who encourage inapporpriate behaviour in their dogs and I think the Press plays a big part by showing certain horrible photos of certain breeds and labelling anything (it would seem) them 'devil dogs'.

Hope you can find somewhere for George xx

Yeah krylyr a very lucky escape.
We looked in the local phonebook etc for house sitters but there were none and I have looked online and really only found 1 company animal aunties butthey were in England. I may look into it further. The vets had no info at all they said they don't advertise or recommend businesses in case it goes wrong.

I would not consider leaving my dogs in a house with other people`s children. Too risky IMO. So personally I think you`re well out of it.
Are there not proper companies where you live that have sitters?

That's a shame. Whereabouts in Scotland are you based? Are there any Dogsey members nearby that may help? Or maybe you could even invite a Dogsey member up to stay for a little Scottish holiday, a warm bed and a stocked fridge in return for looking after Ben!

This is the reason I specialise in bull breeds and larger dogs.


One woman I know has a huge rottie, a staff X and a Neo mastiff and she hadnt gone on holiday for 5 years as no one would house sit for her look after her rottie and mastiff (the staff is a recent addition) . Understandable if there was an issue with having big strong dogs etc but she had been told by 3 seperate people (one big organisation and 2 private) that they would not have the rottie!

I had them last year for 3 weeks after knowing and walking the dogs for about 18 months I think. None of them even put a paw out of line. Ive had more trouble with labradors/ doodles than I ever had with them!

The same thing happened with a Great Dane X English mastiff as well. I know he weighs 76kg (so the owner told me ) but hes a big softie!

We are near Dundee. Ben is not very accepting of other dogs in house and most dogsey peeps have their own fur family
We will continue working on my mum and dad There is a lady hear Stirling who has said she would be delighted to have him aswell, and she seems to have all the relevant experience, insurance refernces and has a very thorough enquiry form and we have been emailing back and forward and intend to set up a meeting with her but its a fair bit to travel for us, BUT if it's right then that won't be a problem and she has no probs withStaffies
Will maybe look again at the house sitting though not exactly sure how that works and things like insurance etc (me being a worrier - what if their was a house emergency what oifthey got keys copied and came back and stole Ben I know HUGE what ifs LOL)

Well done you....ever thought of expanding nationwide LOL if you do give me a shout. Seems breed discrimination is rife

Whilst I appreciate this guy has the right to decide which dogs he will or won't taken into his home for boarding, I think he is very narrow minded in that he won't even meet Ben (or any other individual dogs of breeds he considers a risk) and then make a decision.

I have a friend whose parents, in Edinburgh, home board. Would that be too far for you Lynne? I could enquire whether they have space etc if you are interested?

Failing that I would definitely look into the pet sitting option, which I feel must be the least upsetting in terms of routine etc for a dog. Have you parents refused to help?