Our Non-human Companions

HighSpeed I’m sorry to hear that. I know how you feel. We said goodbye to Charlie on Friday. He was a great friend. It’s hard.

So sorry.  Thinking of you and your family in this difficult time, Marko

Two months ago, we adopted a couple of guys from a local Humane Society. Both were strays, and had been fending for themselves. One is now a year old. He was named Sylvester at the shelter. He and I connected, and being a fan of the B&W classic Christmas movie, The Bishop's Wife, the name seemed perfect. (Sylvester is the cabbie, and is a Character!)


His coat was so badly matted that they gave him a lion cut. It hasn't slown him down, but made him more aerodynamic and speedy! 

The other guy was named Buddy Guy. He really bonded with my wife. He is 6 to 10 years old, and she named him Tyler. We have no idea how long he'd been living on the streets, but we have learned to keep food covered or in cabinets, as Tyler knows how to forage! And we don't need him teaching that skill to his impressionable younger brother! 

This is Tyler at intake (shelter photo) 


And this is after a month or so with us

Also, they get along great! Tyler is very patient with the shenanigans of his kitten brother, who is just fascinated by Tyler's tail, pouncing and batting it as much as he can! 

Thanks for the support during losses of beloved pets, and for celebrating new family members!

Two months ago, we adopted a couple of guys from a local Humane Society. Both were strays, and had been fending for themselves. One is now a year old. He was named Sylvester at the shelter. He and I connected, and being a fan of the B&W classic Christmas movie, The Bishop's Wife, the name seemed perfect. (Sylvester is the cabbie, and is a Character!)


His coat was so badly matted that they gave him a lion cut. It hasn't slown him down, but made him more aerodynamic and speedy! 

The other guy was named Buddy Guy. He really bonded with my wife. He is 6 to 10 years old, and she named him Tyler. We have no idea how long he'd been living on the streets, but we have learned to keep food covered or in cabinets, as Tyler knows how to forage! And we don't need him teaching that skill to his impressionable younger brother! 

This is Tyler at intake (shelter photo) 


And this is after a month or so with us

Also, they get along great! Tyler is very patient with the shenanigans of his kitten brother, who is just fascinated by Tyler's tail, pouncing and batting it as much as he can! 

Thanks for the support during losses of beloved pets, and for celebrating new family members!

What handsome fellows.  I'm sure they'll have your wife and you well trained in no time (as only cats can do ).

That's a good lookin' dog Marko.

We had to put our oldest dog down approx' a month ago. I've been looking for a companion for our male ever since. No luck yet but that's because I want what I want and won't take a substitute. I want a AmStaff attitude but 1/2 the mass, and that's a SBT.

Our male has never cried so much. He goes outside and cries. He smells where she used to lay, digs and cries. We've had other dogs who mourned the loss of their siblings, but not like this. I never knew he was so attached. He's just not the same dog. We do our best to include him and keep him with us as much as possible and I think that helps, but he's just not the same dog.

What are we looking for? A staffordshire bull terrier with a tan or lighter coat. We have lots of ticks and while we give our dogs Bravecto we also pull the ones we find off of them. A light colored coat makes it easy.

That's a good lookin' dog Marko.

We had to put our oldest dog down approx' a month ago. I've been looking for a companion for our male ever since. No luck yet but that's because I want what I want and won't take a substitute. I want a AmStaff attitude but 1/2 the mass, and that's a SBT.

Our male has never cried so much. He goes outside and cries. He smells where she used to lay, digs and cries. We've had other dogs who mourned the loss of their siblings, but not like this. I never knew he was so attached. He's just not the same dog. We do our best to include him and keep him with us as much as possible and I think that helps, but he's just not the same dog.

What are we looking for? A staffordshire bull terrier with a tan or lighter coat. We have lots of ticks and while we give our dogs Bravecto we also pull the ones we find off of them. A light colored coat makes it easy.

I'm so sorry for you loss Brian.  We lost Jill in February and Jack at the end of July.  I can't say if Jack mourned with the intensity of your precious boy, but he was never the same after Jill crossed over.  In any case, it sounds like you are doing everything you can, and taking things one day at a time. --  Good luck.

Thanks ShadowsDad  Brian, that’s Charlie our Standard Poodle who left us in August. I’m sorry about your dog moving on. 

Dogs do mourn the loss of their friends. Charlie was 6 when we had to put down our older Standard Poodle Bill. The vet came to the house and we put Charlie in his crate in the laundry room for the duration. He missed Bill pretty badly. We kept his collar and tags on top of his box of ashes in the mantle and whenever my wife dusted and moved the collar and jangled the tags Charlie would come tearing into the room looking for Bill. A vet friend of ours told us that we should have let Charlie come and sniff around Bill’s body before we took him out. Apparently they’re ok with death and it eases the grieving if they know their friend is dead and didn’t just go away. Next time.

That's a good lookin' dog Marko.

We had to put our oldest dog down approx' a month ago. I've been looking for a companion for our male ever since. No luck yet but that's because I want what I want and won't take a substitute. I want a AmStaff attitude but 1/2 the mass, and that's a SBT.

Our male has never cried so much. He goes outside and cries. He smells where she used to lay, digs and cries. We've had other dogs who mourned the loss of their siblings, but not like this. I never knew he was so attached. He's just not the same dog. We do our best to include him and keep him with us as much as possible and I think that helps, but he's just not the same dog.

What are we looking for? A staffordshire bull terrier with a tan or lighter coat. We have lots of ticks and while we give our dogs Bravecto we also pull the ones we find off of them. A light colored coat makes it easy.

Staffies are the BEST Brian ! I miss our Allie..........

Yeah, I do my homework to figure out what will work for us. So far we've had 5 rottweilers, just the gentlest dogs until a different attitude is required. Then a cane corso (pronounced con a core so), the predecessor of the Rottie, and again just the gentlest dog, and agile! Then a pit mix and the AmStaff which we presently have. But we're getting older and I'm thinking ahead. A 30# dog is just right for us.

Somewhere in this dog pile is our female Staffordshire Bull Terrier. 3 out of the 8 are female.


SBTs are very people oriented and the woman we're buying from tells us that even at this young age if she goes near the whelping box they come to her all on their own. At one point AmStaffs and SBTs were called the nanny dog because children could be left with them and remain perfectly safe. We like to have 2 dogs. It makes it easier on us and they are companions for each other when we aren't home. And we'll never have 2 of the same sex again, too many potential problems with fighting. I had enough of that years ago.

Congrats ShadowsDad! Do you by any chance know the colors of the females? The one on the bottom of the pic (brown with the mostly black face and white paw) looks awesome.

We ended up getting another puppy on Labor Day Weekend. We were told it was mostly basset hound mixed with lab. Turns out it has neither and is only going to be a 20 to 25 lb dog. Doesn't seem to matter...she will take down our 1-year old 60 lb male (or at least she tries to, thankfully, he's fairly gentle with her). But we definitely agree with you, having a male and a female is just much easier.