So, do you really want to own a Stafford?
You could ask this question about owning any breed of dog – are you prepared to give the time necessary to feed, exercise and generally look after your dog, day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out?
Owning a dog is very similar to having a child – it’s always there, it always demands your attention, you can’t leave it for more than a few hours, the dog that is, not the child.
Superimpose on that the occasional mess; potential for destructive traits; exclusion from shops, cafes, even pubs; what to do with the dog when you holiday abroad; the boundaries around the house have to be secure, and so on. Then you have to exercise the dog; no and that’s not a twice daily constitutional walk around the block, it’s taking the dog for a serious walk everyday, at least a couple miles.
Then you have vet bills, if you’re lucky then these might be just the annual booster jabs. On the other hand you could be facing serious demands on your cash – a consultation costs £30 plus!
Not been put off so far? Then read on.
Staffordshire Bull Terriers are not for everyone – they are even more demanding, they crave human attention – they are very robust and they might look tough but essentially they are people dogs. They are certainly not kennel dogs, they don’t want leaving alone all day long. They have a stubborn streak with a mind of their own, so obedience is not a noted quality with Staffords, that said they can be trained.
On top of that they can be quite aggressive with other animals, including other dogs – I say “can be” as we’ve had the full spectrum of Staffords, from one that wouldn’t say “boo” to a goose, to one that fought on sight.
Despite this aggression shown to other dogs, including their parents and siblings, the classic Stafford temperament shows a fundamental love of humans – you might get licked to death!
So owning a special sort of dog like a Stafford requires a special kind of owner. If you fit the bill then Staffords are for you and you will never want any other breed. They are all dog, a big hearted dog in a small frame, very robust, very loyal; for us they are the Top Dog.
The Tikkurilan Kennel – a brief introduction
We have to thank Tec’s pal from his school days for our introduction to Staffords. He is Brian Bailey (AKA Badger Bailey) and he happened to get married, long ago in the very early seventies, to Sandra, the daughter of non other than Harry and Flo Latham, owners of the Topcroft affix and one of the foremost Staffordshire Bull Terrier kennels in the North West from the 1950’s right through to the late 80’s. Over time the Latham’s and the Bailey’s let us have a couple of bitches – in 1973 Nell and in 1977 Topcroft Majorette (Sally) – and this formed the basis for our love of the breed, effectively easing us gently into it.
Eventually (in 1983) we thought we would like to get involved in showing and this resulted in the purchase of a puppy bitch from the Bailey’s and since then we have never looked back, still going in 2024.
The Tikkurilan affix, named after the Company that Tec worked for at the time, originated in 1986 with our first litter. We are a small Kennel; at the very most we have had up to eight dogs at any one time, but more usually around the four or five mark. They have always lived a life of total luxury in the house; they are part of the family. In the last forty plus years we have only ever bred nine litters, six of which have either produced a Champion or a CC winner.
Normally, our dogs live their lifetime with us, but occasionally for one reason or another we will let a dog go, to friends and family only and conversely we have taken dogs back for one reason or another.
The Tikkurilans are basically two families – starting in 1983, the first crop of three generations started with Ch Topcroft Trailblazer (Popsy) the aforementioned puppy obtained from the Bailey’s. She set the tone for succeeding Tikkurilans for having the typical Stafford temperament and in her case and most of the others, being complete and utter nutters.
Popsy was out of a bitch owned by Badger & Sandra – Solitaire Of Topcroft mated to the top winning dog and top stud dog in the 70 and 80’s – Ch Black Tusker
Popsy was shown by our eldest son Mark, at the age of 13 – mainly because we were too chicken to handle her ourselves.
(Mark got so proficient at handling he was asked to show other people”s dogs).
At the age of two she won her first CC at the SBT Club’s Golden Jubilee show in 1985, under Nap Cairns (below) – going BIS, the entry that day, in excess of 400 dogs.
Her crown soon followed and then we retired her from showing to have a look at breeding; although that wasn’t the end of her showing career, making a return at the age of seven in the veteran classes, winning a CC and a RCC.
We had two litters from her – the first to Ch Belnite Blitzkrieg (in late 1985) which we have to admit to being a bit of a disaster. After a caesarean we ended up with two dogs – one grew to about 18 inches, no stop and full drop ears!
The other dog, which we kept was Derek (Tikkurilan Dark Survivor) – marginally better, achieving a few Stud book entries, pictured below.
Before all this – in 1984 – we procured a dog from Bill McKnight, the breeder of Blitzkrieg and a dog that we both admired (and later used) when Bill came over to the NW Ch show in 1984, winning Junior.
This dog turned out to be The Irish Tomboy, pictured below – Tom was a total pleasure to own, the down side being his feisty temperament – he had a short fuse and the red mist descended at the drop of a hat – even as a very young puppy he had an altercation with Popsy over a crumb and ended up biting his own tongue leaving him with a forked tongue for the rest of his life.
Tom was shown extensively, particularly in Junior, winning a good number of classes. At the age of four he was awarded his singleton CC.
The second of Popsy’s two mating’s in 1986 was actually to The Irish Tomboy resulting in a bitch, the only bitch in the litter (along with four dogs) – Tikkurilan Popsy’s Joy – Emma, pictured below.
Emma was shown quite extensively as a puppy/junior but we decided to mate her when she was relatively young and so she was mated to Ch Constones Yer Man in 1988 when she was about 18 months old. A week later she won a CC!
This was our third litter and the first free whelping one – this litter resulted in Ch Tikkurilan Giddy Kipper – Top Puppy in 1989 and made up in 1991 with four CC’s and eight RCC’s.
A second mating in 1990 for Emma, this time with Ch Rendorn Drummer Boy at Kazemick resulted in a litter which included two bitches, both of which we kept – Tikkurilan Maggie May (1 CC, 2 RCC’s) and Tikkurilan Skiptr M’Lou (Stud book).
Here, below, we have the first set of Tikkurilans descended from our bitch Ch Topcroft Trailblazer (Popsy)
Left to Right – Jamarvins Dream Baby, Tikkurilan Maggie May & Barda The Lone Ranger with Elaine: Tikkurilan Dark Survivor, Popsy herself & Tikkurilan Skiptr M’Lou with Badger and Tikkurilan Popsy’s Joy & Ch Tikkurilan Giddy Kipper with Tec.
Photo taken by Maria Turley in July 1994 at Newark Showground at the Notts & Derby Ch show.
Unfortunately this family came to an end for one reason or another – pyometra’s, fading puppies etc – and we had to start again. In 1994 we bought in two Staffords – Barda The Lone Ranger from Len & Silvia Kell and Jamarvins Dream Baby from Dot Jameson. We did show these two briefly as puppies but we quickly realised they weren’t good enough.
In 1995, it was only by chance – whilst chatting to Dean Cund in the bar at the East Anglian show and he suggested that we look at a litter by his dog Ch Boldbull Black Jack that had been mated to Ch Stormstaff Sky’s The Limit, a bitch that Elaine had awarded a CC to. So we were able to acquire yet another outstanding bitch – Ch Spirestaff Avenging Angel of Tikkurilan (Angie) the winner of 4 CC’s and she was the basis of the second set of Tikkurilans.
The pattern of only having two matings was maintained, not really by design, just coincidence, basically.
The first mating in 1999 was to Fromestaff The Jester, a dog to which Elaine had previously awarded a Reserve CC. From this litter we had Ch Tikkurilan Poison Ivy (Ivy) – we called her the Scottish Champion as her three CC’s were all awarded at three consecutive May SKC shows.
Ivy was mated to Ch Knockon Dance With The Divil (much admired by both of us) – she even stayed with the dog’s owners the Liggins’. Later, we found out that Ivy suffered a pyometra whilst out in the woods near Hebden Bridge , when she dramatically collapsed. Tec had to carry her for quite a distance back to the car and then on to the vets. So that was that as far as Ivy and breeding was concerned.
The second Angie mating, to Ch Wyrefare Prince Naseem, resulted in Tikkurilan Wicked Witch (Storm) and Tikkurilan Evil Witch (Toto), arriving just before Christmas in 1999. The former went to Roy and Debbie Needham and formed the basis of their Stormpike kennel – most well known for Ch Stormpike Dark Lord – and the latter witch, Toto stayed with us. I say stayed, she was actually sold as a 7 week old puppy but when the couple that bought her split up, she returned as a 6 month old puppy – another lucky moment for the Tikkurilans.
Toto enjoyed a reasonably successful show career winning 2 CC’s and 4 RCC’s and did well as a brood bitch – see below.
In the meantime, Dark Lord’s litter sister came the other way, to us in 2002 – Stormpike Cleopatra at Tikkurilan, a RCC winner, pictured below when she won the Veteran Bitch class at Crufts, beating 5 champions.
Next event, Toto was mated – yes, twice only – the first to Northpoint’s Dutch Courage at Waystaff in 2003, out of which we kept a bitch and a good choice that was too – she turned out to be Ch Tikkurilan Ticka Teboo (Babs), her third CC coming at Crufts in 2009 at the age of 5. Babs lived until she was 17 and spent her last year in the company of Stormzy.
The second mating of Toto was to Waystaff Hot Shot and this gave us Tikkurilan Hi Candy. She was owned by Marke Dewar and was the basis of Marke’s second set of Mintmars.
Marke was a remarkably successful breeder of a number of top winners out of only a few litters – this included Ch Mintmar Just The Man, Mintmar One for One (2 CC’s) and Mintmar Look Again for Tikkurilan out of Tikkurilan Hi Candy at Mintmarkes.
Which takes us nicely on to our next step procuring a bitch, the aforementioned Mintmar Look Again for Tikkurilan, she was out of Tikkurilan Hi Candy at Mintmarkes by Ch Nethertonion Just One Look.
She was doing quite well in the show ring – Top Junior bitch in 2009 – but again disaster struck, we managed to lose her in Scotland see the rather dramatic story – Elly goes missing. After many visits to Scotland assisted by a good number of Stafford people from up there, we eventually gave up the search for Elly.
We mated Babs to Ch Stormpike Dark Lord to no avail and that was it for her and also for us and once again we came unstuck after these three generations – the dreaded pyometra seems to strike with monotonous regularity. Having bred three Champion bitches, not one of the produced anything at all.
Below, we have the basis of the second set of Tikkurilans – our bitch Ch Spirestaff Avenging Angel of Tikkurilan “Angie” and three of her daughters
Left to Right – Tikkurilan Wicked Witch (Storm) with Roy Needham; Tikkurilan Evil Witch (Toto) with Debbie Needham; Angie with Tec and Ch Tikkurilan Poison Ivy (Ivy) with Chris Needham
Photo taken in 2001
Just before Christmas that year (2010) we went to look at a litter bred by Paul Sutcliffe (a fatal thing to do if you are not looking for buying a puppy) – at the time he lived quite near to us. Five puppies greeted us and that was that – Fizz was a beautiful pup (aren’t they always at 5 weeks old) so in due course she arrived at ours – Pendlestaff Brindle Babe at Tikkurilan. She was a fantastic looking girl but just a bit oversized, nevertheless she won a few stud book entries.
When she came along in late 2010 we had a compliment of five Staffords at home including Fizz. But over the subsequent twelve months or so, we lost two of the older ones – Ch Tikkurilan Poison Ivy (Ivy) and Tikkurilan Evil Witch (Toto) – pictured below.
So then we were down to three dogs – Cleo (Stormpike Cleopatra at Tikkurilan), Babs (Ch Tikkurilan Ticka Teboo) and Fizz.
Over the ensuing year we mated Fizz a couple of times with no success – very disappointing really as she looked the epitome of a brood bitch. Further disaster followed on – as a last resort after matings with Ch Carnig Positive Profile and Ch Mintmar Just The Man neither of which produced, we took the surgical AI route with semen from Northpoints Dutch Courage at Waystaff. Pyometra was discovered when carrying out the procedure, so that was Fizz out of the breeding programme.
However, as they say, every cloud ….. this situation prompted us to look around once more for another puppy and we were more than happy to have Penny in 2013 (Eclypstaff C’est La Vie avec Tikkurilan) from Mark & Marie Davies – this bitch was a half sister to Ch Eclypstaff Cuz I Can. Penny is pictured below.
In 2015 Phil Knowles offered us the pick of the litter when he mated his bitch Bullhawk Jibby Beane at Edgworth to Ch Rotherstaff Black Tie, a dog that Elaine had awarded a CC to and we took him up on this and so now we also have Frankie (Edgeworth Flash Frankie at Tikkurilan), pictured below with Floss her dam, left and on the right winning Best Puppy at a North West show.
Five Staffords at home in total at January 2016 and a litter in the box – thanks to a the mating of Penny (Eclypstaff C’est La Vie avec Tikkurilan) with Waystaff Strikes Out.
Out of this litter we kept a beautifully coloured mahogany brindle called Spot, Tikkurilan Spot On, pictured below at 12 weeks.
Later in 2016, due to unforeseen circumstances we took one of Spot’s sisters back – one of the other two mahogany brindles (Honey) that was in the litter, so at November 2016 we were up to seven Staffords – phew!!
Going into 2019 and still we had seven dogs – Cleo is now 16 and Babs 15. But that didn’t last for long as Cleo, who had been on a slippery slope for some time, passed away with Babs continuing on with a variety of ailments requiring (expensive) medications. She survived her 17th birthday and soldiered on for a couple more months until it was her turn (January 2021) – what a fantastic Stafford she was. Before that, almost a year in fact, Stormzy – Taraiel Stormzy at Tikkurilan – made his appearance and Babs and him were best pals.
Welcome Stormzy to Tikkurilan – how did we manage that?
In 2019, having decided to have all our fertile bitches spayed (all three) and throw in the towel given that we are now in our 70’s, this decision was reversed later in 2019 and we wouldn’t pack it in after all!
Elaine had been showing interest in obtaining a puppy dog from here and there over the last year, resisted on two occasions by Tec, but the latter finally crumbled and Elaine got her wish – a dog, emphasis here on a male Stafford (so we couldn’t have another litter, copying the Berry’s with their last dog with Dorothy insisting on a male).
Enter Stormzy, in early 2020 – the Covid experience about to happen.
But where did this dog come from – the illustrious Taraiel kennel – Top, Top breeders Julie Bibby and Stacey Hirst – Taraiel Stormzy, sire Ch Elitebulls Challenger (Elaine’ s CC winner at the SCCA show in 2019 and later Tec’s CC winner in 2021) and the dam Taraiel Lorde (the mother of Lorde was Ch Taraiel Rihanna ( a CC winner under both Elaine and Tec).
It’s worth here saying that over the ensuing 2 years, Stormzy’s two litter mates (both bitches) were also made up – Ch Taraiel Dua Lipa (owned by the breeders) and Ch Taraiel Ray Of Light at Wellsstaffs owned by Kevin & Lisa Wells. That’s three Champions out of one litter, only managed on two occasions before (going back to the 60’s for the last one and the previous one in the 50’s). The Taraiel kennel has now bred 7 Champions, two behind the record holders Norman & Dorothy Berry (Rendorn).
So how did we get on showing Stormzy? It goes without saying given the captions giving the game away. But back in spring 2020 you’d have to say that Stormzy’s show career was never going to get off the ground. As we all know the worldwide Corona Virus pandemic closed the show scene down from March 2020 when Stormzy was only 3 months old and shows only resumed in June 2021. Stormzy was originally entered at his first show – the SCCA – in June 2020 as a young puppy and we eventually attended the same show a year later, this time entered in Yearling!
Stormzy was shown at virtually all the Championship shows in 2021 and fared extremely well winning four CC’s; so now he is Champion Taraiel Stormzy of Tikkurilan, pictured below winning his 1st CC under judge Jack Coats.
Bringing us up to date – August 2024 – Penny moved to the North East back in 2022 to live with our son, Brian and they get on like the proverbial house on fire.
So that leaves us with just the four Staffords – Spot & Honey, Frankie and of course Stormzy.
We believe we are lucky to have this magnificent breed as part, a large part, of our lives. We are lucky to have a school chum who married into Staffords, we are lucky in our selection of stud dogs, we are lucky to have bought in some top notch Staffords.
Some say that you make your own luck.
Maybe.
The owners of the Tikkurilan Kennel are
Elaine and Tec Norton
The dogs that we have either bred or owned over the years follow this link:-
Tikkurilan Staffords 