SEENWORSTAFF

Hi , I'm Lorraine and I live in the North East of England with my partner Mally , my two children , Amy and John , not forgetting Jack our treasured family pet . Hope you find the following interesting reading , its just a little insight into our past , present and future plans .

When I was growing up we always had a dog in the house , fortunately all good natured as I used to dress the dogs up in dolly's clothes and push them around in a dolls pram , which as I recall none of them minded , as long as they got fed a treat or two.

I'd always been  drawn to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier , both my own and those of friends . Something about the whole character of the breed appealed to me , that gentle loyal companion , inside that broad , muscular , powerful , exterior , with a swagger and style that oozed attitude .

I lost my last Stafford , Bess , several years ago due to illness and vowed I'd not have another . Bess was a rescue dog , she had been brought into the police station where I was on duty , I had never seen such a terrified dog , never mind Stafford in all my life . At the time dog fighting was prevalent in our area and according to the vet who examined Bess , in his opinion , she'd been prepared indoors on a tread mill for such a purpose . Bess was about 2yr old , had been spayed her paws were pink and as soft as a puppies , (not seen any roadwork) her whole body was a mass of rippling muscle from head down to the tip of her tail and she had the biggest , honest brown eyes you'd ever seen , but for some unknown reason she was absolutely terrified of everyone and everything . 

I knew from that moment I was taking her home , I didn't have the heart to leave her in the kennels overnight . Bess came home with me ran in the house , lay beside the fire and made herself at home , a home where she lived with us until she was 13yrs . It took a long time to socialise Bess and regain her confidence and trust , it was worth it , she was a fabulous pet , irreplaceable , thats why I didnt want another .

Last year , 2006 , after being without a dog for several yrs we decided that we'd like another , Amy wanted a Beagle , John wanted an Italian Greyhound and Mally wanted a Dachshund or Pug , there was only one breed coming into the house , yep you guessed , a Stafford .

The search was on , I wanted a red Stafford as I'd always thought that they had the nicest expressions ,we looked at several litters but for one reason or another I couldn't find what I was looking for . I eventually got in contact with Carol Ridley (Jagsstaff) who at the time only had an 8 month old dog for sale .We went to see him and that was that , from the moment we saw his beautiful expression and confident attitude we knew he was the one .

Jack fit straight into our family , like a hand into a glove and very soon it felt like he'd been with us for ever . Jack is an absolutely  fantastic dog , with a fantastic temperament , he will do anything to please and is a total mummies boy , where ever I am Jacks close by , me and my shadow .

We'd only had Jack about a month when I decided that I'd like to show him , something that I'd never done before . So off we went to a local general ringcraft class and  with the help of Margaret and Ian , and plenty treats , we were off and running .

Jacks an easy dog to train he's very attentive and very intelligent and as I said before he'll do anything for a treat . Jack has been placed in most of the open shows that we have entered , winning a group too . Jack's main achievement so far was winning  Best dog at the NESBTC limit show in February 2007 , which was a terrific feeling , so much so that afterwards I felt like putting my jumper over my face and running around like the footballers do , bare chested , but then common sense prevailed fortunately , thought sounded fun anyway.

This year , 2007 , we're hoping to do as many Championship shows as we can , as one of our main ambitions is to have Jack qualify for crufts , fingers crossed .

Our Affix SEENWORSTAFF was bought as a gift for me from Mally , it started out as a joke . I shall try and explain , as we're from the north east of England and as most people know , geordies have a language of their own , we joked that the 'WOR' which in the Queens english means 'OUR' would be good to use as it would give an immediate locality and the subsequent names would always flow , example;  SEENWORSTAFF Bonny Prince Charlie = SEENOURSTAFF Bonny Prince Charlie, and so on . Well at least the affix is ours now and who knows maybe in a few years time with more knowledge and experience we may even venture into breeding and be able to name our pups .

We are hoping to aquire a bitch pup this year , again like Jack she will be first and foremost a pet , but hopefully she too , all being well , will take to being shown .

Our plans and ambitions for the future , to continue loving , enjoying and showing Jack , hopefully getting him qualified for crufts in the proccess  , the pup when we get her to do likewise and as previously said , later down the line  possible breeding , if we do decide to breed  it will be on a small scale as any dogs I own will be pet /house dogs . One final thing I may also like to possibly venture into Judging , who knows , watch out for the name .

12/05/07 .  Jacks done it , he qualified for Crufts 2008 , at Birmingham National Championship Show , Judge Mrs Margaret Ward . A Big Thank You Mrs Ward , for allowing one of our ambitions to be fullfilled . It was a great feeling , Jack did us proud he stood and behaved like a dream , we couldn't have ask for more .

31/05/07  We've got our new pup 'Tilly' Jagsstaff Flamin Gorgeous and she is , go see for yourself  , we are absolutaley delighted with her and very grateful to our dogs breeder Carol Ridley for allowing us to be her new owners .

 Tilly has the same mum as Jack , but different dad thus making them half brother / sister . You can see they are related , like Jack , Tilly has that very intelligent lovely expressive face , the kind of face that you find hard to say no to  . Tilly has already made a big impression on all the family including Jack who regularly has Tilly hanging from his face or neck , she has been very easy to house train and hopefully all being well will train well for the show ring too . Ringcraft classes starting next week after her final injection .   

11/09/07 Just an update on Tilly , as we first thought Tilly is one intelligent pup , not only has she been house trained both night and day since about 11 weeks , but she has taken to ringcraft like a duck to water , with very little prompting Tilly stands and walks up and down that mat as if she'd done it all before  , just takes it all in her stride . She's never chewed anything that she shouldn't and even off the lead  when out and about behaves so controlled  . We couldn't ask for more , both she and Jack are a pleasure to have and so easy and well layed back  .

Tilly will be entered in her first open show on the 7th October and her first Champ show at Midland Counties 27/10/07, fingers crossed the judges will love her as much as we do .

A New Year ...... First championship show of the year , Manchester and our Tilly managed to get a 3rd place gaining her Crufts 2009 qualification , we're so pleased , it was a big class with some lovely pups in and despite Tilly still  holding a bit of puppy fat , her qualities were still seen by Mrs Dootson whom I'm sure made an allowance for this , something for which in my book has to be admired as to many judges forget sometimes that they are looking at puppies and want to see the finished article before the pups are even a year old ........ Jack also did well , despite not gaining a qualification , got a respectable 4th , one of only 3 red Staffords lucky enough to gain a place out of some 100 plus dogs , in the dog section ....You may draw your own conclusion from that , to say the least .. Discriminative/Personal Judging springs to mind to me as it certainly wasn't the quality ..........

24/02/2008 North east Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club Limit Show 2008 , Judge Mr JACK COATS , Jack did us proud , again , attaining 1st in Open , Best Dog , Best opposite Sex and Reserve best in Show ,we had a great day at a well organised , hospitable , Club Show , with some great feedback from a lot of people who have seen Jack develope over the year . I would also like to add that everyone whether exhibiting or watching seemed to speak  highly about  the professional Honest manner in which JACK COATS accessed each dog  well to the breed standard . .Tilly didnt have such a good day unfortunately , at the moment shes getting bored and isnt showing at her best infact she might as well lie down and have a nap so think we're going to have to try a different approach with her , it would be such a shame if she lost interest all together , but then there's not a lot that can be done about that .

9/03/2008 CRUFTS . An excellent day with a great atmosphere , we were so pleased to be showing there having qualified during our first year showing , unfortunately Jack didnt get to show at his best as only mins before going into the show ring Jack had his foot stood on which caused him to limp whilst showing . .......I was aware of it so I knew that others ringside including the Judge would see this too . Just one of those things , we'll just have to hope that we get Jack there next year too ......

24/03/2008. Jack has just qualified for Crufts 2009 in style , he was awarded Best In Show at the North & South Shields Canine Society Open Show , by Mr Dominic Browne , I was overjoyed to say the least , infact  I was reduced to tears ..... I was so proud to be on the other end of Jacks lead , he showed himself , standing four square never taking his eyes of the judge . I couldn't have asked for more , he's  , A STAR ........ Our Tilly did very well too she took Best Puppy and Puppy Group 2 , as she did last week , she's a little dream ......... Many thanks to the other judges who thought so much of Jack and Tilly today , Mr Neil Evans (Ryestaff) Breed class judge and Miss A Batley Group judge.              

Jack did his breed proud today achieving something I think only a lucky few manage to attain .

22/06/2008 . Lets see , whats happened of late , well ,  Jack won first place in  post graduate at National Terrier Championship dog show under Lesley Macfadyen a result which we were absolutaley delighted with . BIG THANK YOU Lesley . He has sired his first litter of puppies which are all little chunky stunners and proper reds at that  , with more proposed matings on the way , and just to top it off , Jack has gained his KC Stud Book Number at Blackpool Championship Dog Show under Gary Hinsley , qualifying him for Crufts for life , an achievement which for us is the ICING ON THE CAKE.........VERY VERY BIG THANK YOU GARY .

As for our Tilly , well shes still a gorgeous big soft dumpling  , still carrying a tad bit weight for the show ring but as fit as ever , I'm confident , aslike Jack she will lose those few extra pound as she developes . As for the show ring shes gaining confidence , showing & handling well and even looks at times to be enjoying herself  , I'm sure with time on her side like her big brother , Tilly will have a successful show career too!

What more can I say , up to now weve had a fantastic year with Jacks Show career and I hope it continues , Jack like his sister Tilly is a fantastic family members who we all love to bits and wouldn't be without , they both bring so much pleasure and happiness into our lives giving so much love , loyaly and companionship , we wouldn't part with them for the world .