Meet Maya, 6 months old and 13kg (around 28lbs) of pure muscle.
Her mum is a Staffy and her dad is a Border Collie. She’s inherited all their best bits: she’s athletic, really well-behaved (very obedient actually), calm, patient, and doesn't chew things up except her toys. She’s so loving too.
It cracks me up seeing her even more excited than me when she nails a new trick. We’ve started doing some basic Heelwork to Music at home; yesterday she learned 'spin' and got so hyped about it, she bolted over to my partner to show him how well she could spin around.
Anyway, I’m not trying to sell her to you! 😁
The more she grows, the more she seems like the perfect halfway point between the two breeds. Do you think she looks more like a Staffy or a Border?
I think she’s quite small in height—she’s roughly the same size (maybe a few cm taller) as a Beagle or a Staffy.
Do you reckon she’ll keep getting taller? She’s got a very slim waist like a Border, but she’s muscular like a Staffy.
My vet has her down as a Border cross; she didn't think she looked 'typey' enough to need categorising (though she's still young, so we’ll see what the vet thinks when she’s fully grown. No hate about her breed mix, please!)
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Oh definitely!! She's already listening quite well, doing things like 'sit' and 'paw', so it's going great – and then, pop, she gets a treat whenever she does something right.
At three months old, there’s not a huge amount you can expect from him, strictly speaking. You work on socialisation and teach him the house rules (like not wrecking the place!), but you can’t blame him for having accidents or getting into mischief.
In my book, a puppy that isn't house-trained, is a bit of a handful, and keeps nipping is just... a puppy! 😁 That doesn’t mean you don’t do anything, but results come with time, consistency, patience, and the right approach.
I really feel like with Maya everything just fell into place, and yet there was a lot of hard graft involved!
Personally, I let Maya mouth my hands when she was a puppy, just to show her that human skin is quite thin and that those big teeth of theirs can really hurt – “ouch!” and all that. It also helped her learn to control the pressure of her jaw (I think it’s called bite inhibition?).
Mind you, it doesn’t mean she’s a biter now; she hates any kind of aggression and is very sensitive to it.
When we come across reactive dogs, she always looks back at me and waits for me to give her a cue. She puts up with a lot from other dogs as long as they don’t actually hurt her. A doggy friend of hers once nipped her on the snout; we heard her snap back, but it wasn't aggressive at all – it was more of a little scrap.
So far, it’s all been really positive. She did try to nip me once, but I raised my voice, and since then she just licks people without any biting. With other dogs, though, she stands her ground; she wants to play even with ones much bigger than her. My cousin has a Staffy cross Malinois who’s a year old, and when he tries to eat out of Maya’s bowl, she barks at him, but when she’s not at home she’s submissive, which I think is normal. She’s also very playful and gets really excited around children, but she’s only three months old, so I’m working on it with her :) As for toilet training, she’s still struggling a bit during the night, but that’s also normal, and I’m so happy to hear she’ll likely keep her eye colour—they’re gorgeous, haha.
Yours has definitely got that Staffy face! I’m not sure about mine yet as she’s still growing... she’s just got her mother’s colouring, and she’s already listening quite well for her age, although yeah, it can be a bit of a struggle. Here’s a photo:
oops, that posted a few times! :)
Absolutely adorable, she looks like a real mix actually. Just like mine.
You’ll see that they listen incredibly well! Despite what people say, Staffies are actually super docile and just love to please. Border Collies love having a job to do, too. There’ll be plenty of work to do in terms of exercise—especially mental stimulation—but personally, it’s been nothing but a positive experience for me.
Well, ever since she was 8 months old, Maya has started doing the same as Padja. The first time she put a puppy in its place without being prompted (though there were no issues from my side or the puppy’s), I was a bit taken aback. I was worried it was the start of some reactivity, but it turns out it wasn't. She just likes being a bit of a madam with the little ones.
As for children, I’m actually really surprised (in a good way). I never specifically taught her how to behave around kids because I don’t think they should be used as training tools. I’ve always kept her at a distance from children while making sure she associates them with something positive; so if she doesn’t try to approach them, I give her a pat and a "gooood giiiirl". But that was about it; I really thought she’d end up knocking the little girl over with her clumsiness. But no, she actually supervises her activities, watches what she’s doing ever so nicely, and stops her from going into the pool. We still keep a close eye on her because, well, it’s Maya—she’s a bit of a tank. But I’m so proud of her natural behaviour.
Once, a baby started crying on the bus and Maya insisted on trying to get close to them, whimpering slightly. Obviously, I said no! Poor baby would have been terrified 🤭 but it was a really sweet reaction.
Yours has such a Staffy face! I’m not sure about mine yet as she’s still growing... she’s the same colour as her mum, and she already listens so well for her age, even if she can be a bit of a handful! Here’s a photo:
