Staffordshire Bull Terriers named the UK’s favourite dog breed

A competition has revealed that Staffordshire Bull Terriers – or Staffies, to most of us – are the nation’s favourite dog breed.

Now, this news has come as a refreshing change of tone after decades of bad press for the poor Staffordshire Bull Terrier. RSPCA welfare expert, Lisa Hens, said of the breed: “Unfortunately, Staffies have suffered a great deal from overbreeding and bad press. They’re definitely Britain’s most misunderstood breed. 

“It’s heartbreaking to see so many ending up in our care due to cruelty and irresponsible ownership. Sadly, as Crufts highlighted, they’re often taken on as ‘status dogs’ and can be found at the centre of anti-social dog behaviour due to the way in which they’ve been reared and trained, and the behaviour and attitude of their owners.

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“However, given the right home and care, Staffies can make absolutely wonderful family pets. And many of the Staffies in our care are affectionate, playful, fun-loving dogs who would thrive in family homes.”

And this stance on the breed has been proven this week in a new competition hosted by TeamDogs: the dog-lovers community teamed up with Pooch and Mutt in a bid to find the UK’s favourite dog breed and, low and behold, it was Staffie who took the top spot.

The competition started three weeks ago with forty-seven breeds and, each week, the bottom ten breeds were put in ‘the dog house’ and eliminated from the competition.

@happystaffoerescue / Instagram

TeamDogs also added breeds who voters felt deserved a place in the competition, taking the number up to fifty-two. These were Doberman, Samoyed, Great Dane, Bedlington Terrier and Akita. However, none of these ultimately came close to knocking our beloved Staffies off the top spot.

The full top ten favourite breeds are as follows: Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Black Labrador, Boxer, Greyhound, Border Collie, German Shepherd, Cockapoo, Border Terrier, Cocker Spaniel and Jack Russell. 

To view the full list (and to see if your dog made the cut, of course), visit the Teamdogs website here.