I visited a staffie mum today, she just had nine pups. Her owner does love her dog. But I sense has been overwhelmed by a mistake in breeding her staffie, with her boyfriends dog..a bull mastiff. The little terrors have torn her room apart, and she is wanting to get rid of them pretty quickly! They are five weeks.


I have had the privileged of four dogs during my childhood.

Living in South Africa, with huge gardens it was never a problem for their stimulation. But I am a single girl, who yearns for a dog, but feel an imense responsibility of what a dog requires. Loads of love. (not a problem), time, (a problem due to work constraints), walking, (not a problem, any time I have will be dedicated to their exercise. Location (a problem) I am finally buying my first property, a maisonette with no garden.
Please be truthful, am I being cruel?

But I do think about these poor animals, this girl is only twenty one all her potential buyers are her age, do they really want a dog, or do they want a trophy.
Most of the pups are female, and she is getting few takers, cause all the "doogs" want a male pup. I fear for these pups will they be sent to RSPCA....

In South Africa if pups are not taken within six months they are put down.
So the big question is, would my little flat be a sanctuary or just another hell hole for a precious animal?

I know you feel sorry for the pups as anyone with a heart would, but be sure its right for you before taking on this commitment.

I don't know if cruel is the right word and I'm sure there are people who successfully manage to own a dog without access to a garden but this is a situation I have had cause to consider lately.

I have two large dogs and a decent sized garden which the dogs have as much access to as they want when we are at home. For the last week, we have been having the garden landscaped/paved etc so the dogs are banned from it due to wet cement and the like. It has been really difficult to manage without access to outside. Every time one of them wants to pee or get a breath of fresh air, one of us has to stop what we're doing, get all wrapped up and take them out for a trip aroud the block. This is in addition to their regular walks. It would probably be less of an ordel in summertime but the reality is that, without a garden, you will have to spend a lot of time outside, in the dark/wet/cold etc.

Certainly, house training a puppy without a garden would be more difficult and would undoubtedly take longer. Also, I assume as the maisonette has no garden, it is upstairs? It is advised that large dogs (as a staffie x bullmastiff is likely to be) should have exercise and access to stairs carefully limited whilst they are growing to minimise damage to joints. You would therefore have to carry the dog on at least some of the trips outside for the first 18 months or so and a pup of this crossbreed is likely to become heavy quickly!

If you are dead set on having a dog, perhaps seek an older dog (already housetrained) of a smaller breed that is more suited to apartment living.

I understand that you feel for these puppies but, honestly, they are not your responsibility. If the breeder had done any research at all, she would have known that staffie crosses are currently wildly overbred and difficult to home. She is learning a hard and expensive lesson. If you are in any doubt that your circumstances are not correct at this time, then you really are best to forget about these pups and wait for something more suitable to come along. It would undoubtedly be harder for you and the pup if you were to take one, only to find out some way down the line that it's not working out and, potentially, have to rehome the dog.

at 5 weeks old they are much too young to be rehomed yet, they should be at least 8 weeks before they leave their mother, for health and socialisation purposes. Perhaps you could let her know this in the politest way possible.

The worst thing you could do is to buy a pup because you feel sorry for it, I know how difficult this would be but its better than heart break further down the line if thing go wrong, as the above post said perhaps you would be better off with an older dog or a smaller breed or to wait untill you are in a better position to have a dog as you said you have a fiew time and location problems at the moment. Just think long and hard so you make the right decision. I wish you luck

Thank you for your advice.
I am going to think seriously about this as it is a big responsibility.