We've had our 13 week old SBT pup for a month now, and he's getting on smashingly (although I am so, so tired!). When we went down to see him, my boyfriend's mother (whom we live with) mentioned that she might want a bitch in future and for the breeder to keep us in mind. The breeder phoned us yesterday saying that he was selling our pup's mother, and did we want her? I'm absolutely against the idea, because I'm wrecked enough as it is, but my boyfriend and his mother really want to take the bitch. Personally, I think they're mad, and that we should wait for our guy to mature, and concentrate our energies on him alone. They say, however, that taking the bitch will calm him down, and be a good influence. And, of course, they completely fell in love with her.

Does anyone have any experience of keeping a bitch and her son in relative harmony? Is there I could say to dissuade them, or am I overreacting? I just feel another dog would be too much work right now, even if she is as big a couch potato as the breeder describes. She's 2 years old, seemed lovely, and the breeder is retiring her because she had to have a c-section. In the right circumstances I'd be overjoyed to take her, but now? No way.

I have a mother and son who adore one another. BUT mum lived here first (I bred her too) so it would be a slightly different scenario. You will be bringing the mum into HIS territory. Though with him being young he will still remember mum as being boss. If mum is fully trained, and by this I mean the usual 'come' 'sit' 'stay' commands and is well behaved then yes she COULD be a good influence on him and could even help you train him. Chance always came back when I called mum and is very good off lead. If, on the other hand, she isn't trained then she would add to your problems big time. You would then have not just double the trouble, but even more as they will ignore you completely when they are playing (halfway across the field/park ;) )

Thanks, LindyLou. :)

I guess I don't have much of a say, anyway, as it's not my house, but thanks so much for the positive perspective! You've calmed me down a bit, even if I don't have any fodder for argument. I just think a pup was a real big shock to my system, and I'm not sure if I can cope with much more responsibility right now. They keep saying "Oh, she won't affect you! You won't have to deal with her," but how could I not deal with her?

I'm pretty sure she's well trained, and she's apparently quite mellow. I'm sure I'll fall in love with her if we get her, but I just needed to rant and ask opinions. ;)

Hi
I've had 2 sets of mother & sons who both got on well - too well in fact - the first set produced my first (& last!!!!!) mistake litter :o
Now I have a mother & 12 week old daughter - for whom I do not exist when mum is around, it's nearly as bad as having 2 puppies together :D

I currently own a mother and son. They get on very well, but they have created somewhat of a problem. They cannot stand to be away from each other. If they are both outside and I bring one inside, the other cries and screams and just throws an absolutely fit until s/he comes inside with the other. Same way the other way around: if they are both inside and one wants out, the other must go out, too. This is probably partly my fault because I always allowed them to be with each other. Other than that, they get on very, very well!

Thanks sibeluver. :)

I think I'm resigned to the fact that we're getting this bitch now - they've contacted the breeder to say they want her. Hopefully the pair of them will get on fine (and hopefully she'll get on with our cats!). I'm a little worried about bringing her into a household AFTER her pup has already been there for a month, but they will remember eachother, right?

Ho-hum. More work for me!

Thanks Anwen. I think we'll be getting mummy spayed ASAP if we get her! ;)

We had absolutely no intention of having two dogs,but when to our surprise and consternation, the bitch we bought turned out to be pregnant, we kept a boy - I had intended to have a boy in the first place! lol. We've taken them out separately from the start, so they are quite happy to be together or apart, I think they just enjoy the advantages of both situations. It's wonderful to see them playing together, that makes all the hard work worthwhile. And, yes, the bitch was spayed at the earliest possible time!! :) :) :). I trust you enjoy your new addition!
Cathy.

I've got a mother and her 2 sons (Staffs) and the mother certainly keeps her sons in line!  But they do get on very well and entertain each other.  Mum never minds being taken out by herself and the boys don't object to her going out without them.  The mum definitely rules the roost and it's all pretty harmonious, albeit a bit of a manic household with 3 dogs and 2 cats!  :-)

I have two staffy's and very nearly ended up keepng their son but mum started getting very aggitated by him and would not want to be anywhere near him.  We had to keep them seperated.  When we were watching them as soon as he was awake she wanted to be in a seperate room she would starting pawing at the back door or the dog control gate and if we didn't open it straight away she would sit there and cry and point blank refused to go anywhere near him.  His sister on the other hand could do anything.

I am not saying that you will have the same problem but this was my experience and I hope that yours get on very well :)

we are about to breed from our SBT bitch and are going to keep a puppy, not sure which to keep though, dog or bitch, not sure which would be better to stay with its mum!

any extra advice to add to the above posts would be appreciated

Emma

Hi Juliet

can i ask u something?

we are about to breed from our Staffie and are going to keep a pup for showing (and cuddles :D) and can't decide whether to keep a dog or a bitch, we DO NOT want to have our current bitch spade we know that we can seperate when needed but we would just like to know which u think she would get on better living with ?
I have heard that 2 bitches are not a good idea, but then the same has been said about two dogs!!, my husband is more inclined towards a bitch and i am more inclined towards a dog it would be good to hear from some more Staffie people with regards to their experience with this :)

Emma

I can only tell you my experiences with Staffs, my own and those around me...it's a tough choice to make, but my heart is always with the males.  The males that have been brought up together that I know, including my own, get on famously.  Having said that, mine are not yet mature and you never know what is around the corner.  Of course, the same maybe said for bitches.  I've never had Staff bitches together, but I do know of a pair that live very successfully together; they are not related but a very similar age.  I have had previous bitch breeds together and they all lived very harmoniously, but I also know of other people's bitches who have fallen out massively and could never be left together again.

If I were to do it all over again, I would certainly keep another boy and not a girl, but that is only my preference.  I have always found the boys to be that bit more cuddly and affectionate, the girls are a bit more independent.  I love having opposite sexes and if you can persuade your family and you know that you will successfully be able to keep the male separate from his mum during her season, then go for it!

I've literally just had my bitch neutered (yesterday), so no more worries for me! 

BTW, I'm sure I'm probably preaching to the converted, but please read, read, read and read again about having puppies, it has to be one of the hardest things I had to go through when my girl had hers last year - I was exhausted, and apparently I had it real easy! :-)  But if you've gone through all the relevant tests etc etc, then I wish you all the very best of luck.

Hi Juliet

thanx for the advice, i have been and am still reading everything i can get my hands on !! inc, book of the bitch, & dog breeding books as well as staffie books that go into the subject of breeding, yes she has had all her health checks :) . I have even discussed the 'culling' of any puppies with bad hairlips/clef pallets as we know that as horible as it is that it must be done if we had to. I don't work and only go to college for one half day a week and all the kids are at school so time is not a problem, I think i am prepared as i can be at this stage, but thanx again for the advice, i know it will be hard work, but i also know it will be worth it.

We have just been granted our affix from the KC yesterday so thats another bit sorted!! :D

Emma

Sounds like you've got everything prepared Emma, so all the very best of luck.  I hope that your litter turns out well.  I was very lucky in that all the pups were sound and healthy and we never had to consider culling any of them, but we too were prepared for this grim task (and I dreaded the prospect), but it is a sad part of breeding.  I think the thing we were most worried about was the thought of damaging or losing our bitch but that is a risk you run if you wish to continue her line.  Sorry, hopefully I didn't come across as too harsh when I said this, I was only being practical, but it is a grim reality, however, hopefully this is something you too won't have to witness.  Just be prepared to be exhausted, but it is lots and lots of fun! :-)

Keep us updated...

Okay, we've had mum for a week now, and she's a darling (except she wants to eat our cats!). However...

As soon as the pup is anywhere near her, he starts biting at her cheeks and ears, and pouncing all over her. She'll pin him and reprimand him, but he's so tenacious that he just bounces back at her, and he's actually drawn blood. The ONLY time he'll leave her alone is when he's really sleepy, they're on a walk together, or she has a bone (he knows full well not to mess with her then!). We're at the point of having to seperate them, or have him on a leash so that she can move away when she's fed up with him (but then he gets completely irritable and starts biting at his leash.) Yesterday she gave him a good telling off, which had him quite cowed and nervy, but today? Back to the old biting routine!

Is this normal? Will he grow out of it, or will we always have to keep them seperate? SHOULD we be keeping them seperate, or should we let them work it out? I can't help thinking that she's his mum and she knows best, but she's really more interested in us than him, and I'm sure she sees him as an annoying fly buzzing at her all the time. My hopes of 2 staffies curled up together in front of the fire are gradually being dashed...

Any similar experiences or advice would be much appreciated. I'm at my wits end - he's SO good with us and with the cats, but just a pain in the butt with his mum. I'm scared of her flipping out and doing some serious damage to him, and I'm worried that this is teaching him to play roughly with other dogs.

hi Katie

i think it is a mother and son thing. 
i have kept a mother and son and Leo (the son) was like this but after Cassie (the mother) told him off a few times he was ok. i think it might be that its new to him. i know its his mum but that was at the breeder's house and this is HIS house so he is trying to be boss but he will soon lesson the she is boss :D.

your pup is still very young and he will settle down soon

what i would do is when ever the pup does mums head in then put 1 of them out (or in a create ((very good idea)) never let them alone together when you go out or to bed just in case she does not like it as she can not get away and she could hurt him.  but as he gets old he will get better with her and it wont be long before you have two sleeping Stafford's in front of the fire

Katie, try not to worry too much, I've got mum and her 2 sons (Staffs) and one of the boys, Beetle, can be a real little terror for harassing his mum and has drawn blood numerous times but does settle down after a while.  Some days are better than others and mum will put him in his place and then he'll settle.  I would surprised if your bitch will do any "serious" damage to a pup, it would be very un-natural for an adult to attack a pup and hurt it, however, when they tell off pups, it can and does sound awful sometimes.  Added to that, Staffs play very very rough as you probably know now (:-)) so a lot of it is probably just noise. 

Give them time, and if you think mum needs a bit of a break, then put your little boy in his crate for a bit of "time out". 

I'm pretty sure your pup will get over the novelty factor of having a permanent playmate, as he sees it, and will begin to harass her less and less.  

Phew, Juliet, glad to hear that my two aren't abormal! Thanks for the advice - it helps so much to hear from people with similar experiences. :)

I do tend to worry a bit too much about them. I've never had a puppy and an older dog at the same time before, so this is all a little new for me. I keep forgetting that a) he's only a babe, and b) having her in the house is still incredibly new to him. She's his first canine companion since he left her and the litter well over a month ago, so he's bound to be excited. I am seeing more moments of calm between them though, and last night he even snoozed on my boyfriend's lap whilst mum sprawled on the sofa - lovely to see!

Hi Natalie! Fancy seeing you here - this is Kali from the SBT list. :)

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm hoping he'll settle down soon. We're already starting to see more moments of calm between them, and I'm hoping the novelty of having her around will soon wear off. He's allowed out for walks now, and he's always scrambling to follow her and copy her - it's rather cute. He's even copying her panting and facial expressions, which makes him look less like a little black labrador puppy. ;)

We're not leaving them alone together at all, and when they get out of hand we've been either popping mum on the couch in the living room to snooze (her favourite pass-time), or popping him in his crate for a wee time out. I'm glad to hear of people having similar experiences.

hi Kail :D

nice to see you here aswell
now that your young lad can go out he will be a lot less intense on his mam, remember not to over walk him about 15 mins should be ok. 
good idea about never leaving them together when you are not there, as he gets older it might be ok for short times.

have not seen you on the group much, you will have to show us some pic of your new girl as them black and white 1 were great :D.