I would be interested to hear if it would be advisable for a labrador puppy to go to a home with a 6 year old Staffie bitch.
Pup also bitch. After reading the previous behavioural posts, I'm hesitant to allow one of my pups to go to an environment which may not be suitable or inadvisable. Any help would be most welcome. I do not have breed knowledge on Staffies

I think it depends on the individual dogs personality. My two love other dogs..

Im sure someone more experience will be along to help !

hi kenmilltri i have a female staff and i have two other dogs jrt and a collie x all my dogs get on brill i have had no probs at all although i did get the staff last. although if i wanted another pup i wouldnt hesitate as saffy is very well socialised i think she would just mother another dog. iam sure the owners of the staff have thought long and hard and are confident that there staff will be ok with a pup.

If the bitch isn't dog aggressive then it shouldn't be a problem...don't let the fact that the adult is a staff put you off....staffs can be wonderful around other dogs in the right hands
The owner has left a good age gap and looks as though they keep their dogs 'long term' rather than getting rid once they're no longer cute etc so I don't see a problem
Archer

Thanks for your messages so far, sounds OK, the owners really seem to genuinely love animals, in fact the staffie was a rescue at 4 months when it was being mistreated by a neighbour.
You will all understand that naturally I want to be a responsible breeder and only let the pups go to responsible and suitable mixing of dogs.
Please keep advice coming/

I think that there is always some risk in homing a pup with a family with an older dog (of whatever breed)that they wont get on. However, the counter is that an existing older dog suggests that they are serious long-term owners and understand the pitfalls of puppy-owning.

The factor for me would be just how competent and sensible the owners seem, just being nice isnt always enough. Very 'nice' people often seem to have the most unruly dogs.

The useful thing with lab bitches is that they are USUALLY sensible enough to back-down if out-gunned by an older bitch (certainly more than terriers will) which helps to maintain the status-quo.

Ive heard if there is a decent age gap between the bitches there is generally no problem
Staffys do get on with other dogs - good luck :)

Good luck - have you thought of asking the new owners of the pup to bring the older dog around to meet her?

Thats what my mum does with her pups.(Yorkies)

Also stress to the new owners that if it does not work out that they bring the pup back to you (Rather than sell on)

The sound like sensible owners though & should be fine - not all staffies are dog aggressive.

Jo
xxxxx

I don't own either breed you're referring to but can certainly vouch for the fact that Staffs of both sexes have played wonderfully with my own dogs when we meet up on walks (I have both sexes of BSDs, so fair sized dogs ;) ) - always friendly and playful - no nastiness even when the games get a bit rough and tumble :P

To be honest I've seen / encountered more problems with pet Labs over the years

I can fully understand your concerns because it's your much loved home bred puppy that you have to think about - perhaps you could ask to meet their dog if everything else about them satisfies your personal criteria?

Good luck, whatever you decide, Teri  :)

Hi I have Staffs always have always will and I understand your "fears" why not ask to meet the older bitch before you decide - not with your own dogs but arrange to meet at a nearby park and see how the bitch behaves I know its not a "perfect" senario but at least you will have an idea.
On the plus side the people have left a good age gap between their dogs and they do as "Archer" has said seem to keep their dogs.

Karen   

Thanks to all who have responded.

You must be reading my mind... I was wondering the same. My partner has an 11 year old staff who just lost his friend (my dog), and is a little lost and I was wondering what he would be like with a Rottweiler puppy coming into the house. The staff came into the house last, but has more fun chasing my 3 cats around.
Any advice on older staffs and rottie puppies.

Personally, I wouldnt do it unless you think the commitment is there to monitor the two animals together in a responsible way and also to provide enough space to give them separate areas if needed sometimes.
Our Staff girl is a year old and every day meets different dogs and wants to play with them all, in fact she does and has not on any occasion ever shown an ounce of aggression.
But my sister has two dogs one is a spaniel cross who was born before Giorgia and the other is a border collie who came after Giorgia.When Giorgia was little, her and the spaniel played very happily together as if mother and daughter as we spent alot of time over my sisters.
Then the collie arrive and Giorgia took a dislike to her within about 2 months. There is only 5 weeks between them but my sister had the collie late. We cannot let them stay in the same room together or the house because they will fight immediately but they are fine outside so long as there is plenty of space and then they run and play together. The collie runs around the field biting Giorgia leg but she doesnt retaliate !  Its probably territorial and jealousy because Giorgia considers my sister and family and home as hers but we cant cure it and if we had lived together it would have been impossible

The difference is the dogs you are talking about were much of an age...the older dog in the household in question is an 8 year old bitch....it makes a lot of difference....your situation is COMPLETELY different.
Archer

I would be interested to know what sex this puppy is.
Is it better to have 2 dogs of the same sex or one of each?
The only problem I had when the staff came into the house was at feeding time, but they got to learn the rules that one eats while the other waits until the other had  finished. It soon became routine and I didn't have any problems.
My dog was 10 when the staff came in the he was 9 so still not a big gap, but had no problems.
The problem with labs is that they are really energetic and bounce around, older staffs may not like that too much. Some refered them to me once as dogs on acid.... until they are about 5 years old.
I think you have to trust your gut instinct in this case Archer.

Archer

feel free to express an opinion just as I did using an experience to illustrate why I feel like that. Also stating that it might work with commitment and responsibilty. I tried to make sure my post was a balanced one unlike yours which was dismissive of my post. I did not ask for your opinion on my opinion.
Also you dont have a Staff so express an opinion yes but dont tell me in such a patronising tone. They are a COMPLETELY different breed to any other and all us owners want to do is prevent situations that may tarnish their already fragile reputation.

I was taking all the expertise out there into account - and I was prepared to question more specifically when viewing took place - guess what the propective owner didn't show... no dilemma now.
But I will take on board what everyone has kindly put forward
Thanks
Kenmilltri.

Just a quick word of warning - Staffs can play quite roughly and you do need to take care while your Lab is still young. My daughter has a Staffy ( a rescue) and also had a male puppy from our last litter ( BSD) they both get on fantastically but unfortunately the staff has broken the BSD's ear during some unsupervised rough and tumble. He now has one ear permanently floppy and she is fairly gutted as she really wanted to show him ( he's otherwise a lovely boy :( )

Now that the BSD is over a year old he gives as good as he gets and they are more than a match for each other when they play but of course the damage has been done .

Yvonne

This is an older staff, so they don't play so rough, so should not have a problem. Young staffs are very energetic (noticed that from the park, but mine wants to sleep and have a lot of affection) he never played rough with my dog or any other dog in the park.