This page
contains stories on Jade, Cassy, Dexter,
Harley , Sheba & Moose & Tiny an article on Training by Margo Milde, Moose & Tiny's owner.
Jade
 Jade (Ebony Jade)
was sired by Crossguns Billy Black and was born on 1st Feb 1997 she is a very
affectionate, loving and very much loved member of the family and lives near Cambridge
with her doting owners Paul and Shelly Thurston.
Jade is a Kennel Club Good Citizen Scheme - Gold
award winner and has worked very hard to achieve this, Jade passed her Bronze award at the
Newmarket handling club Christmas Party and had to work and concentrate very hard as
various games including a sausage race took place literally under her nose!
She then went on to pass her Silver award and recently passed her Gold award at the
EASBTC Breed Open show in September 2001
 Jade has also has a successful breed show career, at various open
shows. She is now on maternity duties.
There is also a 'sister' and addition to the family, Emmy (Araidh T' Devil A Daughter)
who is following in her Clever sisters paw prints.
Emmie is already carving out a breed show career and has qualified
for Crufts as well has passing her Bronze & Silver Good Citizen awards, she also took
part in the East Anglian SBT Club's Good Citizen display at Crufts 2002. Paul is now
working with Emmie and hope she will pass her Gold Good Citizen test later this year.
.
Cassy
 Cassy is owned and loved to bits by Kajsa Tylen,
Cassy will be 6 years old in December 2001 and has been doing Obedience for 2 years, Cassy
and Kajsa enjoy Exemption shows and have had some lovely sucesses with places from 2nd to
6th place (Cassy's mummy is very proud) a wonderful achievement considering the
usual enourmous entrys at these shows.
Kajsa says that Cassy enjoys entering sausage races and is a 'expert' at
this event using her Stafford desire for food as her motivation in this, her favourite
race.
 Cassy
is a 'Silver' Kennel Club Good Citizen and a super ambassador for the breed, who as you
can tell from the photographs is loved and spoilt to bits!
Dexter
Dexter (Lilsca Totem Dancer) is out of Ramblestaff Lauren Bacall by Araidh Dress to
Impress. He was born on 22nd July 1999 and is owned and loved by Stephanie Bedford and
family who live in Cambridgeshire.
Dexter initially passed his Bronze Good Citizen award at only 18 weeks old!!!
Since then he has moved on to passing his Silver award at the EASBTC breed open show in
September which was quite an achievement with all the normal distractions of an breed
show. Stephanie and Dexter are now working towards his Gold award.
Harley
 Harley (Jabba the
Hut) is owned and loved by Angela Wilson, Harleys story begins at birth he actually died 3
times in his first 3 weeks of life.
He was born with a harelip but this doesn't affect him in the
slightest. Angela decided to have a go at Working Trials with Harvey as she was
already competing with another of her dogs.
Angela has found Harvey very difficult to train as he doesn't search
naturally and being the shape he is (round and barrelled - Angela's description!), he
didn't jump very well either, but the motivation was found in the form of 'blue cheese',
Angela has also had a great deal of advise from Marney Well's who has been a wonderful
roll model for her.
 Harvey has had to be retired from Trials due to OCD (degenerative
bone disease) in both his shoulders and elbows, although he still competes in obedience
and has been placed at some shows.
Harvey shows true Stafford determination from an uncertain beginning in
life to a becoming a 'Clever Stafford'.
Sheba
 Sheba is my clever little Stafford
who was born on the 22nd of November 2000. She was bought from my friend, the day after
she was born I went to see the litter, she stood out to me like a twinkling star. I chose
her straight away and I was lucky because five people wanted her, but my friend wanted to
know that she was going to a special home.
 When she
was older old my mum surprised me by bring her home, she pretended one of my friends had
come to the house and when I came downstairs she was holding Sheba in a blanket. She
stayed in my bedroom for a couple of nights as I was off school so I could keep her
company. Then she had to move downstairs but she was really good and didn’t cause too
much trouble and soon settled down. She was very quick at learning the basis demands and
was soon sitting, giving me her paw and staying on demand. When she was housetrained she
was allowed to sleep in my bedroom and snuggle under the duvet. As I am now six foot two
there’s not a lot of room but she still manages to take over the bed and usually has
her head on the pillow!
 Sheba is now
just over two years old. She is a very warm, loving pet. The last two years she came on
holiday with us to Lyme Regis, Dorset, we had a chalet right on the beach and she loved
it. I took her down near the sea every morning and played ball with her, she loved running
back and forwards chasing the ball. The only thing she didn’t like was getting sand
between her toes. In August last year we took her to the vets to get neutered.
Unfortunately she was allergic to the inside stitches and got an infection and had to have
another operation to replace them. Fortunately she recovered quickly, although we were
very worried at the time, and is now her normal bouncy self.She loves giving me cuddles
and puts her paws on my shoulders and licks and nibbles my ears, she is very affectionate
and I wouldn’t swap her for a million pounds. She is my best friend!
Moose
 Moose is owned, bred and loved by Margo Milde from
the USA, he is out of her bitch Champion Fursouth Miss Shady Grove UDT OA (pet name
Mischief) by Champion Bucklands Arkenstone UD (pet name Lazer) Margo says that Mischief's
sire is out of Yankeestaff bloodlines which is what gives her (and through, her)
athleticism and drive.
Mischief has several 1st's for the breed,
 | |
| |
| The 1st TD (AKC Tracking Dog title) Stafford bitch. |
| The first CH UDT (AKC Utility Dog/Tracking Dog) Stafford bitch; |
| The first Stafford to have earned 3 Utility Dog titles (from the AKC, Canadian Kennel
Club, and United Kennel Club), |
| The first AKC NA and OA Stafford (Novice Agility and Open Agility titles.) |
Margo trained/handled her to all of those titles!
Lazer is of Cressstock bloodlines, Cresstock being known for their stability, good
solid physical structure, and working aptitude. Moose was the dominant male puppy in a
litter of six. His sister, now CH Fursouth Wanda of Shady Grove CDX (pet name
"Wanda"), lives with Virginia Antia; Wanda went Winners Bitch and Best of
Winners at the 1994 Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club Inc National Speciality.
Margo kept a brother of Moose', Shady Grove's Fortunate Son UDX MX MXJ
("Tiny"). As a puppy, Tiny was rebellious and hyperactive, and she knew he'd
have to have a constructive outlet for that energy, so he to was put to work in Agility.
Tiny is the first Stafford to have the following awards:
| AX (AKC Agility Excellent), |
| MX (AKC Master Agility Excellent), |
| NAJ (AKC Novice Agility Jumpers), |
| OAJ (Open Agility Jumpers), |
| AXJ (AKC Agility Excellent Jumpers), |
| MXJ (AKC Master Agility Jumpers) |
Tiny finished his UDX only one month after Moose; Moose is the first Stafford dog with
a UDX and Tiny is the second.
Here's the statistics.
 Moose
earned his AKC CD (Companion Dog) title in April 1995, his CDX in November 1996, and his
UD (Utility Dog) title in August 1999.He finished his UDX in January 2000. He
earned a "DOG WORLD" award with his CDX title, meaning that his first three
scores were 195 or better.
His first OTCH points came in November 1999, when I was showing him to his UDX. He
finished his OTCH on August 20 2000 at the "Admiral Perry Dog Training Club"
Obedience Trial, at Erie, Pennsylvania, under judge Patricia Hess; he earned 20
points that day by taking 1st in Utility B in a class of 21 dogs, which put him up to 109
points (over the 100 he needed.)
Moose is the first Stafford to earn an OTCH.
To earn an OTCH a dog must have also: one 1st in Utility B, one 1st in Open B, and an
additional
1st. Moose did much better than that. By the time he earned his OTCH, he had four 1sts in
Open B, and seven 1sts in Utility B; he had also earned five "High In Trial"
awards (High scoring dog of any class in the trial), and seven "High Combine's"
(highest combined score in Open B, combined with Utility B or A).
Quite an impressive record! - and not content with that meet Margo's other Stafford,
Tiny.......
Tiny
 Tiny is MACH Shady Grove's Fortunate Son, UDX MX
MXJ. He is by Ch Buckland's Arkenstone CD and out of Ch Fursouth Miss Shady Grove UDT
OA. On February 4, 2001, in Lawrence, Kansas,
Tiny finished the requirements for the AKC MACH (Master Agility Champion), becoming the
first Stafforshire Bull Terrier to earn this very difficult title.
The requirements for the title are: A dog must earn 20 "DQ's" (double
qualifiers) by scoring perfect 100's and being under course time in the AKC Excellent
"B" Standard class AND the AKC Excellent "B" Jumpers with Weaves class
on the same day, and also earning 750 "MACH points", which are full seconds
under time on the AKC Excellent agility courses. Only the most gifted and athletic agility
dogs have been able to earn this title, the highest title the AKC offers in Agility.
Tiny was born on October 2, 1992, and has been training for agility (in several
different venues) since he was nine months old. He was one of the first dogs involved in
the AKC agility program when it began in 1994, and remains one of the few
"originals" still actively competingin AKC Agility.
Tiny has a number of other AKC Agility "first Stafford"
accomplishments": he was the first AX (Agility Dog Excellent), MX (Master Agility
Dog), NAJ (Novice Agility Dog Jumper), OAJ (Open Agility Dog Jumper), AXJ (Excellent
Agility Dog Jumper), and MXJ (Master Agility Dog Jumper). Together, with his dam, he tied
for "first Stafford" NA (Novice Agility Dog) in February 1995 and several months
later for "first Stafford OA" (Open Agility Dog), since they both completed the
third leg for those titles on the same day!
 Tiny is trained with food and toys. We go to advanced Agility
class once a week. Additionally, I have practice jumps, weave poles, tunnels etc. in my
yard, and during the more temperate months of Spring and Fall, I set up miniature practice
courses in the yard for us to run several times a week, practicing on our "weak"
areas. Tiny loves it when I run as fast as I possibly can with him on an actual course,
with a minimum of positional changes. Actually, he is a much better Agility dog than I am
a handler, and would have finished this title many months sooner if it hadn't been for all
of my mistakes!
Tiny and I currently train with Roberta Whitesides and Dave Behrens of Lemont, IL, who
are highly respected agility competitors with their own dogs. My first instructor was
Nancy Nevin, and later I also trained with Mike Bond, who both gave me a great deal of
knowledge of the sport. You can see from these pictures why I call Tiny "my Agility
dog"!
These pictures of Tiny were taken
professionally by Lewis Hizer
Margo Milde's
Training Methods
 Margo has written the following article giving us an insight into
Moose's daily training.
"OTCH Staffordshire Bull Terrier" is a
real oxymoron, but then Moose is a very exceptional dog! Although his obstinacy well
illustrates why there is a "bull" in the breed's name, he has enormous
self-confidence, drive, intelligence, and athleticism that carried us through to
obedience's ultimate accomplishment, the AKC OTCH. He finished this title on 8/20/00 in
Erie PN with a big 20-point 1st in Utility B, becoming the first Stafford to achieve this
lofty goal. Moose is out of my bitch, Ch Fursouth Miss Shady Grove UDT OA, who several
years ago became the breed's first NA and OA. His sire is Ch Buckland's Arkenstone CD, who
lives in Sale Lake City, UT. My thanks to Pat Schultz and my fellow class members in her
Wednesday competition Open and Utility classes for helping me accomplish this goal.
Agility has its "Law of 5,000" which states "Do something 5,000 times
and it's yours!" Moose made me carry this rule over into obedience, and had me add a
few 0's to the 5,000! The foundation for our success has been tireless successful
repetition, rewarded with treats and praise. I've spend endless hours perfecting the small
stuff—-pivots; fronts; finishes; turns; article, glove, and dumbbell pickups;
transitions, and the like. I tear down each exercise into its smallest possible
components, and practice those each day. At least 95% of my training is done on leash or a
flexi, and at a close distance, with an emphasis on positive motivators. That way we
establish successful habits, and Moose is not given a chance to develop evasive actions or
terrier creativity! We spend long hours in obedience training; during 1999 and 2000 I
trained Moose an average of 8 to 10 hours a week.
While Moose does not know what "OTCH" means, he does know that he did
something absolutely wonderful that everyone just adores him for. He relishes in the extra
attention and treats that his "OTCH" title has given him. He's so proud of
himself that he just glows when he's out in public! Since our ongoing foundation work has
given Moose such a clear understanding of his job, he's very confident and happy in the
obedience ring, which is why he is able to consistently perform so well. Moose earned 174
OTCH points in the year 2000.
Our best advice came from Grace
Gregorich at Burr Ridge Dog Training Center, who told us a few years back: "He's a
Stafford; don't try to make him into anything else". She meant that I should not try
to make him perform obedience exercises in the image of a Border Collie or Golden, but
instead fulfill the Obedience regulation requirements using his Stafford attributes. My
advice to others with unusual breeds aspiring to obedience is: Work hard. Be patient,
persistent, and persevering. Love your chosen dog and your chosen breed. Work harder.
Mentally critique your performance each time you walk in the ring, and work on the rough
spots during the week. In obedience, it's the details that count! Find out what motivates
your dog (both positively and negatively) and utilize those during training. Make certain
your timing, footwork, body language, commands, and signals are all perfect and consistent
both in training and in the ring. And work harder still! Set workable goals, devise the
means to achieve them, and set up a training schedule. Learn how to read your dog,
something only you, with experience, can teach yourself to do. Develop the mental image of
your dog flawlessly working the exercises, and carry that into the ring. The AKC OTCH may
be a difficult goal, but it is an exceedingly worthwhile one that other dogs from
"non-obedience breeds" can accomplish with the proper training.
Margo has also sent a table showing the top 15 terriers
competing in Obedience in the USA, Number 1 is Margo's Stafford 'Moose' followed by a
Miniture Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier, quite impressive for the
Bull breeds!
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August 13, 2003