Does anyone on here have any 'hands on' experience with Staffies?

Mum in Law has one and yes they are lovely. Not many in the Rescue Centres though.

 

I remember seeing the picture you posted on here.
and yes, I can remember all the comments too.
The Staffies from the Rescue Centres are all speyed or neutered so that would solve the 'humping' problem.

 

I'm not sure about Staffie's Tina but I can recommend a Jack Russell - our Ruby is 4 now and I can safely say she meets all your requirements. We took her camping and now she comes with us in our caravan and loves it. We had her from 8 weeks old and while she is a great guard dog she never barks unless there's a good reason (no yappy JR here) and is great with our 3 children. She is ultra-friendly with other dogs too and as you can see in the image (if it comes out), good with cats too
She loves walks - after 6 or 7 miles she will look at you and say 'come on fat boy, take me for a proper walk', but is equally at home curled up on he sofa. Like the West Highland terriers she is small, easy to look after and effectively being a cross-breed (no pedigree JR's really) she has not cost us anything other than the yearly boosters etc.

 

Not always does it solve the humping! Ours keeps trying to hump my legs and it is a BI TCH
I have only ever had close contact with 3 Staffies and all three were/are fantastic dogs.
Luna thinks she is a Yorkie because she lived with other small dogs and they climbed up on your knee,l she did the same, but she is as big as any dog I have seen and she is bloody heavy, lol. She is superb with kids and even lets them ride on her back.

 

Lots of people say they are fantastic dogs, but I would not let my dogs near a staffie because you just don't know. Dragon Tyke is spot on - its not the dogs, its the owners, and the reason that the pounds are full of staffies is that their previous owners are likely to have been chavs who did not treat or train them properly as family dogs. So you are taking a big gamble on the unknown if you get a rescue centre version - a bit of a lucky dip. Get a good un and you will have a great dog, but you could just as easily pick up a bad un that you then could not trust with any person or other dog you come into contact with. And in my experience you can't trust rescue centres to tell the truth about a dogs history. None of them are going to say "yeah, take this one, he's unmanagebale and is likely to have your kids head off" If you really want a staffie then get a pup.

 

according to something I read recently, 'Humping' is nothing to do with the obvious..

...and it applies to all breeds.... it is a dog trying to assert its dominance and establish itself in the 'pecking order'. This is why they often 'hump the leg of visitors and 'smaller' family members. So suppressing the sex drive is unlikely to reduce the incidence of 'shagging your leg'.

 

Re: according to something I read recently, 'Humping' is nothing to do with the obvio

Well, you learn summat new every day!