Emperorstaff Staffords UK

I was at the paignton show with my friend kate when along came Alan Raymond the photographer & he mentioned to us that there was a litter if anyone new of anyone who wanted a pup! I was looking for a puppy dog at the time that i could show & that would tie in with my bitch's pedigree i asked for more details he said that they were from CH Baysend Mystical Secret x CH Brystaff Simply the Best & there were 2 dogs left at the time so i went to speak to claire rodgers & arranged to travel up to leicester from plymouth . I instantly fell in love with this cute little face there was an aura about this little dog and i just wanted him as i had already thought of a name BOSCO! i placed a deposit and returned to collect him! after he started to settle in i noticed that his mannerisms were not normal! . .  the way he would act & walk i decided to put it to one side as i thought i was probably over reacting, but at 7months when i took him to our ringcraft club as i had done before he had what semed to be a fit i took him straight to the vets which wasnt my usual vets because it was out of hrs they suggested i left him there over night. i returned in the morning to collect him and try and find out what was wrong they told me they had to dose him up with valium as he was basicaly bouncing around the cage they had to put him in, they told me they thought it was epilepsy but wanted to do more tests i took bosco home and rang claire the breeder as i was worried  she told me she would look into the generations to see if she could come up with anything, she rang me a while later after speaking to lesley mcfadden and said that in one of the generations either the sires side or the dams side there was a problem with metabolic disorder now known as L-2 hga i informed the vets etc and had arranged to have blood taken and tested! at the begining of the testing they also required a urine test aswell & trying to collect that wasnt easy lol eventualy after speaking to the animal health trust and obviously not knowing much on this at the time it became apparent that bosco's condition was quite serious and was incurrable it just seemed to be test after test & after many months of wondering etc and after we were told to try different drugs nothing seemed to work and he actualy seemed to be getting worse with the drugs he was given after much thought and having to cope with the fits  the AHT confirmed that he would never get better that he might get worse and have other complications so i decided to take him off all the drugs and take it from there,and i told the AHT that i wanted him castrated! they actualy offered to take bosco where they would do it for me and asked if i would allow them to take sperm from him and impregnate a bitch with the same condition so that they could test the pups and do tests on them so that they could help them find a cure! although it wa for a good cause i objected and although i would never of wanted anyone to go through with what i had i could not allow pups to be born knowing they would be guinea pigs and used for testing so i had him done privately and have been coping with him and his affliction ever since and as technolgy has advanced over the years and from people who have been in my situation giving blood from their carriers or affected dogs we now can test every dog so we know not to put 2carriers together and can breed more sensibly & responsibily, BOSCO is now 7years old and at times watching him have his turns and fits breaks my heart and although different situations can trigger them off i would never part with him in a million years i chose him and with me he will stay and have a good life! over the years with the fits etc he's had he has sometimes been unbearable to live with like when he has been attacking my other dogs as they go past for no reason! he has even turned on me,but what do you do? obviously the fits have done a lot of damage over the years and we have grown tolerant. . . he isnt a nasty dog he just seems to have this confusion at times and we all make allowances for him . . 80% of the time he is an angel just like a big playful, excitable puppy and although he has this terrible condition i wouldnt swap him for the world!!

Our Handsome "Billy-Bosco"