​Meet our beautiful dogs looking for their forever homes. 
Frankie (female )
 foster home needed
​Arriving soon ​
Inca 
 In a foster home 
​ ​
Frank (male) 
 foster home needed 
​Arriving soon  ​


​Special Appeal for Hector 
Hector came to us in June during covid. We were contacted by a vet, Hector was taken to them to be put to sleep. His elderly owner was terminally ill and the  son wanted rid of him.

Hector was 11 years old. A friend of the vets took him in, and was hoping to keep him as she had 2 SBT's and kids but Hector  started  showing signs of not being happy around the kids,  so they then appealing for a foster based rescue to help him.

Initially we were told that he was ok on the lead but did grumble a bit when he wasn't happy in certain situations.  Hector made his way to us to go into a quite adult foster home with another elderly dog. This fosters did their best
but it was clear Hector needed more help that they were able to give him so he was then moved to another foster home. Debs was more experienced, it was an adult only home with a few other dogs, she wanted to help this old boy as much as she could. 

Upon arriving Hector was quiet and withdrawn and just wanted to stay in his crate which was fine he needed time to himself which Debs gave him. After a while Hector then got to meet the other dogs in the house, this was done gradually and at Hectors pace. They went nice walks but within a shorty time Debs realised that Hector was reactive to
his lead, this started to get worst. He was a lovely boy until the lead come out then he just wants to attack it. She  couldn't take him out for a walk and she tried everything but he just wouldn't let the lead near him. He needed to see the vets and this would make it very difficult to do this. Debs tried crating him and lifting him in the car but he was so stressed at the vets, they just took him home . 

We are not sure why he is fearful of the lead or why he sometimes gives a faint growl even when hes resting on his own in his crate.  His fear is highly specific around the lead even when its lying on the flood.  Hector needed some more professional help with this. 

So for the next few months Debs decided to only let him out in the garden and she kept the lead away from him to start with. She wanted to work on helping him with this with the help of a behaviourist, they advised conditioning and  desensitization to the lead and lots of love and  patience

Over the last few months Debs has been muzzle training Hector, He is good with the other dogs in the house and is now running about with them in a secure field. He still grumbles a bit mostly at night and is a bit better with the lead being near him but this will still take time. 

We need to accept that many fearful dogs like hector may never become go-with-the-flow types of dogs, and we need to love them for who they are rather than who we thought they should be. Hector is a special wee boy who so deserves a special home . We wish with all our hearts that he gets this one day. 

Hector will be a forever foster dog - this means the rescue will cover all his vet fees 
​
Hector  is crate trained , he is being muzzle trained but still has ongoing issues around the lead.

He could live with a quiet older dog.  

He MUST have a garden. 

Must have experience of bullbreeds or dogs  with issues. 

A kind caring understanding owner that will give Hector his own space and time to adjust.

Must be able to come and meet Hector a few time. 

​Behavioural support  

You can follow Hector in his foster home on this Fb link 
Sneckie Staffies | Facebook

APPLICATIONS 

We will only contact applications that suit our dogs needs best.  Sadly we do not have the time to contact every application that we get in. 

We are a VERY SMALL rescue,  run entirely by volunteers who have our own families and work commitments .
​
We run this rescue in our spare time. Please be mindful of this when contacting us.

We do whats best for each dog in our care. This takes time and we are not always online.

Here are just a few of the things we do each day/week to keep this rescue running. 
 
  • Read and reply to  hundreds of emails every week a lot are enquiries, but we also have urgent appeals asking for help to save a dogs life. 
  • Walk kennel dogs 
  • Transport dogs from Kennels to their foster home, Vet appointments  ect 
  • Call potential adoption / foster applications.
  • Arrange and oversee home checks for each dog. 
  • Update dogs profiles on Facebook and the website
  • Deal with each dog vet requirements and appointments 
  • Manage 3 private facebook groups - Foster/adopt/volunteer
  • Fundraise,  apply for funds and grants 
  • Network, making new contacts to help the dogs 
  • Liase with trainers and behaviourists 
  • Attend events to raise awareness, education  and fundraising 
  • Help  our adopters and fosterers with support and advice online and face to face. 
  • Maintain our book work/paper work, pay bills and balance books so we can continue to help more dogs as a charity. 

Sadly we see lots of dogs that don't get any help and this really upsets us. We wish we could help them all but sadly we cant, as its not possible.  We will reply to you as soon as we can,  we might be busy saving a dogs life , dog walking or just sitting with a dog trying to let it know that its safe and its life is going to get better from now on, or working in our own  jobs. 

​We hope this shows you a small understanding of what we to keep this rescue running. 
​
Thank you for your support, we really do appreciate it. 

​SSR Team 
Due to the covid restrictions and we are really struggling financially just now. We very rarely ask for donations online as we do lots of fundraising through  the year ourselves,  but sadly this year we have not been able to do this.
If you feel you could spare a £1 or £2 to help a dog in need,  we would be extremely grateful. Thank you x  

Please donate here 

Please note:

We only re-home our dogs in SCOTLAND.

We have co-ordinators covering the Edinburgh/Perthshire/Dundee/Angus and Borders areas and some other areas within SCOTLAND.

  • We are sorry but we are NOT able to re-home any of our dogs to homes that have children under the age 
          of 12 years old.
  • We DO NOT re-home our dogs to homes that have un-neutered pets unless there is a genuine medical reason for this.
  • We are sorry but we are NOT accepting any more applications with cats as there is a current waiting list of
          over a year. 
​
Please can you provide as much details as possible about your life, kids, other pets work commitments and level of ownership on the application. 

Once we receive your application one of our volunteers will then contact you for a chat,  if we are taking your application forward. 

Please note that we CANNOT reserve a dog or mark your interest in a dog until a homecheck has been done and passed.

We will keep your details on our records for up to a year. 

Adoption Fees:
Young dogs up to 12 months £220.00
1 - 8 years £180.00
8 years and above £120.00.

Why pound dogs?

A dog pound is a facility where the local Council hold stray dogs found in their area, these dogs have been picked up by either Local Authorities or by the Police or been given up by their owners.

The name poundies
Poundies are dogs that are abused, dumped, abandoned; unwanted souls that find themselves with 7 days to live, in generally appalling conditions. Named ‘poundies’ as these conditions are council pounds across the UK that are ‘home’ to these dogs awaiting their death.
​
The dog will be kept there for 7 days. After 7 days, the dog will become the responsibility of the kennel. Due to the sheer volume of SBT’s arriving in Local Authority ‘pounds’, compared to other breeds of dog the SBT’s are frequently the ones that never get rescued and are left ​in the pounds when the dreaded ‘put to sleep date’ arrives. 

About us

How we started
Our rescue Staffie Smiles Rescue or SSR was founded in October 2012 by a few staffie daft folk that met while volunteering for other rescues. Our love for these dogs ​is what gave us ​the drive and determination to make a ​difference to the future of these poor abandoned souls. 

We are a group of staffie lovers from all over Scotland that have now come together to help save the lives of SBT and SBT crosses that end up in pounds across the UK through no fault of their own.

​After being made aware of what happens to these dogs and the fate that awaits them we decided as a group we wanted to do what we could to help them. Starting a rescue was a ​huge step for us and as we found out it is a long, hard, emotional and sometimes very frustrating process. But we do this for the dogs and we always keep that in our thoughts when things get tough. 
​​
After running the rescue successfully for 2 years, we applied for charity status. In October 2015, we became a Scottish Registered Charity SC045602. Our rescue is growing fast and we are thankful for all the help and support we receive from our foresters, adopters, volunteers and the public without this we would not be able to ​help these dogs the way we do. 

WE're Not for profit
We are a non-profit organisation that relies completely on donations from adoptions and fundraising events so that we can ensure that any dog we help to save has all it need for a healthy and happy life this includes,  vaccinations, neutered, spayed, micro chipped, training, food, bed, lead, collar, rescue ID tag, and that they are treated for any illnesses before they are re-homed. These funds also allow us to save other dogs that are sitting in the pound waiting for help. 

We have a board of trustees who oversee the management of the rescue, making sure the rescue runs within the charity's guidelines and manages the finances in the best interests of the charity. 

Our committee are responsible for the day to day running of the rescue. They oversee the movement and care of the dogs, promoting responsible dog ownership, arrange fundraising events and much more. 

As a team we support each other, this helps us to get through the ups and downs of rescue life. Saving a dog doesn’t just end when we have pulled that dog from a "put to sleep list"  This is just the start of long a process but our drive and determination to help these dogs keeps us going. We work together so the rescue can then do what it was set up for, to save ​the lives of our beloved staffies.  
We're all volunteers here
SSR is staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers who like you have jobs and family commitments. They give their free time to help save these abandoned dogs and give them a future.  

No one receives salaries or expenses. All fund raised go to helping the dogs.  

We now have coordinators covering the Edinburgh/Perthshire/Fife/Dundee/Angus/Aberdeen/Borders areaand a few other areas within Scotland.  

​Our volunteers help the rescue with dog walking, transporting, fundraising, social networking, supporting fosters and new adopters as well as supporting each other.  

We are always looking for new volunteers to join us.  If like us you can spare a few hrs a month to help the dogs then please contact us. 

Meet the team

George  
Social Media
Verity
Committee
​member 
Edinburgh & Lothians 
Shirley 
TRustee
Fife & Kinross
​
Ann
Social Media 
Joanne 
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Inverness & Highlands
Nicola 
committee member
Treasurer 
Edinburgh & Lothians
Ian
Social Media
Heather 
COMMITTEE MEMBER
Dunfermline
& Fife​
Sharon 
Trustee
Dundee
​
Karen 
TRUSTEE
Edinburgh & Lothians

Get in touch

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. 

Latest events

Have a look at our latest upcoming events.
SCOTTISH REGISTERED CHARITY -  SC045602