Riley's Best Friend - Staffies are softer than you think

Riley's best friend is my Mum and Dad's dog, Lily! She loves her, whenever she sees her she has the biggest grin on her face. She giggles while Lily runs round and round. Lily seems to quite like her too, she will sidle over a bit so Riley can give her a pat and she gets all excited when she sees us. All in all they seem to have a developing friendship.

So what kind of dog is she... nope not a beautiful lab or a bouncy spaniel... she's a Staffie, a Battersea stray. Staffies are given a really unfair time of it, it is very unfortunate they resemble pit bulls and have been kept by many people to look tough. But the truth is yes there are a few aggressive staffies just like there are a few aggressive labs or spaniels. But on the whole the breed have a natural bond with people and are often known as nanny dogs because they are great with children.

Battersea dogs home is full of unwanted staffies and Lily is one of them... a battersea stray.

www.battersea.org.uk

She is great with people, dogs and goes to work with my Mum so is around horses and in the office. Of course we're careful, obviously any dog can be aggressive, never leave a child alone with a dog even for a second. Lily is great, she's never shown aggression to anything, my friend's cat even scratched her face and she just ran away!

Research has shown dogs can benefit young children, it can improve communication and self esteem. It also has been shown that babies who grow up with a dog are less likely to get asthma and get less colds and ear infections. My theory is there is good dirt and bad dirt, I don't over clean the house, I'm not paranoid about wiping Riley's toys if they fall on the floor but I make sure all kitchen surfaces etc are wiped with disinfectant... Dust - good, Salmonella - bad!

All in all I think dogs are a plus for kids and staffies shouldn't be ruled out as a family pet, give Staffies a chance, think you might like them.