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I have a re-homed Staffie - a few pictures in this thread - so can try to answer some of your questions:
Reggie is crate trained and will happily spend the entire day in it if absolutely necessary, which is rare. I'm fortunate to have teenage kids and a niece who lives locally, who will feed and let him out, but he's fine to be left all day if I have to. Typically (i.e. not lock down) I will be at home a couple of days a week, so he has three when he is mainly on his own, but will have a visitor.
I spend about £60 a month on food, £25 on insurance (would be cheaper, but I had a claim) and nothing on training or care. Staffies are generally pretty easy to train because they are desperate to please you and mine is treat motivated. It is important to train them to at least have very good recall as they will otherwise be off introducing them to other people. I adopted mine at about 16 weeks, so still young enough for me to train - he did come house trained.
Only you know whether a Staffie is the right dog for you. I've had two (both males) and would characterise them as incredibly people friendly, craving attention insofar as they want to be around you whenever they can, will take as much exercise as you can throw at them (mine gets an hour's walk twice a day, plus lots of chasing, fetching, tugging, etc.), don't shed much fur, few health problems and rarely neurotic. The main difference between my two is that the first was sometimes dog-aggressive, whereas the current one - at two - seems not to be in the slightest, but that might change. Socialising with other dogs early is essential but, I don't care what anyone says, given their fighting/baiting/ratting heritage, they do have a strong prey drive and potential propensity for aggression to other dogs. And it's not a growl and a nip, they can bite, hold and shake with strength. They also have a very high pain threshold.
I'm not sure whether Battersea are re-homing at the moment and they're known to be stringent in their requirements of potential adopters - being at home and having a garden is a huge plus. Look at the Blue Cross too and these people - https://www.staffierescue.co.uk/
Happy to try to answer any other questions you might have, and you're welcome to meet mine and take him out for a test drive once lock down allows. I'm in Brixton.
One final thing I would say is that rescuing a Staffie these days is likely to get you a better and healthier dog than what you'd get from most breeders. The fashion over the last few years for chunky, blue, big headed, low slung, short legged dogs that bear no resemblance to what the breed originally looked like will bring a host of health issues at eye watering prices - £1-1.5K for a pup. Blue is a recessive gene in Staffies and reliably breeding them involves a lot of in-breeding.
Good luck, whatever you decide.
Markyboy-
Really helpful thanks, definitely up for a stroll around Brixton once it's safe to do so.
In your experience do they prefer large crates they can move around in easily or is smaller better in terms of feeling more like a safe space for them? I take it you lock them in the crate so there needs to be enough space for water etc?
I've started going for walks/jogs in the park in the morning to get into the habit. Sadly I noted missing posters for a Staffie taken from someones home/garden (didn't specify, I guess more likely the latter). Although we're pretty secure where we are I'm hoping this isn't common, knowing me I'll pick the ugliest dog possible so maybe a slight deterrent!
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The fashion over the last few years for chunky, blue, big headed, low slung, short legged dogs that bear no resemblance to what the breed originally looked like will bring a host of health issues at eye watering prices
There's a Staffie we've got to know really well that lives near my parent's house in Suffolk. It such a lovely dog, super gentle and fun. It takes part in dogs shows and has been shown at Crufts. It does not look like any of the staffies I see in our local parls. Its taller, has a smaller head, no underbite. As you say, the difference between the breed standard and what you see out and about is huge!
jono84
Stonehedge
Getting a cat talk has recently turned to getting a dog talk.
I grew up with rescue dogs and we've always wanted a rescue Staffie but as we both working full time jobs in London it's always seemed far reached/irresponsible. However since the start of the new world order we've been looking at ways of making it work and my partner has just confirmed a minimum of 2 days a week WFH. I now need to have the same chat with my work but I'll be pushing for a guaranteed 2 days WFH as well. This could mean we would now cover 80% of the time we didn't previously have at home.
I've just turned 40 and with kids not being on the near horizon we both feel like we could really do with something to focus us and get us out the house more. We own a house with a smallish garden and we have a really nice park at the end of the road. I'm also not too far from Crystal Palace and Beckenham place park for the weekends. The last few years we've really reduced our air travel and we also really like the idea of holidaying in the UK with a dog. We have friends with a holiday home in Cornwall which is very dog friendly.
So far I have this list of questions to answer;
How many days are we guaranteed to be at home during the week?
Can we afford the insurance, food, care, dog training bills? (currently yes, trying to figure out what would happen if one of us lost our jobs)
Is a Staffie the right dog for us?
Where would the best place for me to adopt a Staffie or other dog from (Battersea?)
Are there dog train classes in the Sydenham area?
I know what it is to get up early in the middle of the winter in the pissing rain to walk a dog and that's not something I'm worried about. What else do I need to be thinking about? The big one in the back of my head is what's going to happen when we get neck deep into the recession and how secure are our jobs. But I'd really like to make a go of this without too much over thinking, I just want to be sure we can give a dog a good home.
Any advice muchos appreciated.