(Staffords Online is owned and operated by Keelford Staffords)

Keelford Staffords was established in 1992; However, the love of owning Stafford’s began long before this.

At 16 I had the privilege of having a Stafford in my life, be it only for a short time unfortunately. Her name was Tinker and she was beautiful! Tinker was a little brindle brick, full of life and just so adoring.

After Tinka, I then had a Stafford x Bully named Molly. Molly had the best temperament and in true Stafford style she would stand her ground against any other dog, no matter how big or mean it was. Her temperament never faltered when it came to people, she was the most gentle loving dog. Sadly Molly was stolen from my yard,  I was visiting family while I was pregnant with my eldest daughter when someone stole her. At eight months pregnant, I walked the streets for 3 days calling “Molly, here Molly” on the top of my voice, I was devastated at the loss.

I have always loved this amazing breed of dog; there is no other dog that is as loving and loyal, or who would lay their life down for you in an instant without regard or a thought for themselves.

I am passionate about Stafford’s, you could equate my passion for Staffords to the likes of those one eyed sports people; As far as I am concerned, there is no other breed that can compare to the Stafford and I make no apologies for that!

We were then blessed with “Princess” Eikaren Princess (Swanky Bedazzled x Pitford King Hatter) in early 91. Princess was the most stubborn, spoilt little girl; she just ruled our house. But, we were totally bitten by the Stafford bug, if we had not been prior. At the age of 6 months old, our then very young daughters aged 5 and 6 years old had begged to take her for a walk down the road, promising to stay on the foot path. I stood on the veranda and let them walk down the our street (6 houses in length), when to my horror a big rottweiler came running out, growling and barking at my children. The next thing I knew, Princess (the 6 month old puppy) jumped up, and appeared to be jumping over the Rottweiler. Immediately after this, to my relief, the Rottweiler ran away. As I made my way towards the incident, My daughters picked up our puppy and ran towards home. I met them half way. When I reached them, they put our puppy Princess down onto the road, at which point a black & tan ear, obviously belonging to the Rottweiler, fell out of her mouth. This little puppy without a second thought for her own safety, instinctively protected her young friends. From that day forward the girls and Princess were inseparable till the day she passed on some 14 years later.

In the years that followed Princess’ incident with the Rottweiler, we bred 8 litters the first one when Princess was 2 1/2 years old, from which we were fortunate to produce some outstanding puppies. Of these puppies, we made the decision to keep one bitch whom we named “Molly”, and one dog, whom became my heart dog; “Recka”. As it would turn out, keeping 2 puppies would set a pattern; from then on we kept two puppies from each litter.

We have only just returned to the show ring after a long break, although, we had never shown extensively. Showing dogs has only ever been something we do a handful of times a year. We love specialty shows and the atmosphere of  such shows on average we show once every 6 weeks.

I love to study genetics and learn about health issues as I am always looking to extend my knowledge on the breed. There is yet to be a day (in 25+ years in this breed) that I have not learnt something that I did not already know about these amazing animals.

…This brings me to The Stafford’s Online (SOL) website
and why we created it.

Staffords Online (SOL) came about after the realisation that there was a need to create a one stop Staffordshire Bull Terrier information center, where all Stafford enthusiasts could benefit. It is with great faith and hope, that this website will be shaped and developed by the Stafford community; people such as yourself and I who share an unconditional love and bond with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

As   passionate guardians of the breed, It is imperative to our family that, when breeding, we strive to breed close to the breed standard. To be able to achieve this, one must not only know the breed standard, but must also understand the breed, and have the ability to visualise the standard when assessing the animal. Like most things in life, this ability comes from education, experience and intensive research. I am truly grateful that I have had the privilege of observing and learning from some of the most respected and experienced breeders in Australia over the last 25 years, and most recently overseas. The things I have learnt over this time, and the things I continue to learn, are invaluable to me.

I am of the belief that we should always give back for the things people have given to us. Many people within this breed, whether intentionally or otherwise, have given to me; I’ve received encouragement, and criticism, I’ve received mentoring in my early breeding regime, I’ve had great personal success, and I’ve learnt from mistakes – mistakes made within my own breeding, but also mistakes made by others in their breeding. I believe that if you have information that can be advantageous to someone else, then the right thing to do is to educate this person with your knowledge. For these reasons, I would like to share that information with the Stafford Community and hope that you will share your knowledge too.

Knowledge enables us to protect our breed; The lack of knowledge can cause irreversible damage, and see people making the same mistakes over and over again. Breeding should be for the betterment of the breed, and the betterment of the breed is to improve our breed with every litter. The only way to do this efficiently is to share our knowledge with all who share our passion. The breeds future lye’s in our hands so lets make a collaborative effort to ensure it prospers true to type into the future.

We need to remember that, at one point or another, we all knew nothing about this breed. We have all individually put a lot of hard work and commitment into learning and creating our foundations within the breed – but, none of us have done it without some form of assistance and guidance along the way. We’ve all learnt something from someone and someone can learn something from us!

We hope you enjoy your Stafford journey and the site. Hopefully you will feel the same, and your passion will see you wanting to contribute to SOL.

All contributions are appreciated, as is any constructive feedback.

If you have an idea or article or would like to be involved feel free to contact us directly – editor @ staffordsonline.com or staffordsonline @ hotmail.com (no spaces, spaces included to eliminate spam)

Yours Truly in Stafford’s
Karen Keelan
and the gang at Keelford Staffords & Stafford’s Online