do you think a staffy pup will get on ok with my girlfriends 18 month old chihuahua as we live together ?

It may be difficult until the staff is old enough to know it's own strength (could be a year or two). 

Staffs play very hard and the Chi could get accidentally hurt. 

They would need supervising unless being directly and carefully supervised.  Also the Staff should not be the same sex, so as to avoid same sex dominance issues.

Why's this post on here??? :-)
All depends what both dogs are like with other dogs i guess. How do they get on now? Maybe you could break them in gently by increasing the amounht of time they spend together and keeping them supervised at all times and then re assesing the situation at a later date.

Fred's mum,  It's a very relevant and responsible question.    Weight of Chi @ 4-6lbs   Weight of Staffy @ 35lbs  the pup would probably weigh more at 8 weeks than the Chi ;)

Totally agree with Brainless :-)
The Staffs I have known tended to be very boisterous and exuberant as youngsters and there's a vast difference between the weights of a Chi and a Staff, the Chi could get accidentally hurt just by being in the same house Staffs also play rough as pups - being terriers they tend to want to play fight a lot.

Having had next door's Staff WALK through our garden fence (dog shaped hole) I have no illusions about the strength and weight of these dogs. 

Personally I wouldn't risk it

i dunno, size isn't everything...my sisters whippet plays with the bullies and is fine. we keep an eye on them obviously because she sould very easily get hurt (tios fav thing is to put her whole neck in his mouth), but she gives as good as she gets, and if needs be legs it, they have no chance of catching her

Sorry Dill, didn't come across as i meant. I wondered why it was on the "general" board when it's quite a specific question. Sorry :-(

No need to apologise Fred's mum :-) 

Astarte,

The Whippet would still be a lot more robust than an adult Chi with a weight of around 4 to 6 lbs. 

lol, i was thinking comparitively...staffy=smaller than bully, chi=smaller than whippet. besides size isn't everything. i would say that as long as play is well supervised why not. are there not folk on the site with some very strange size combos?

I agree with what everyone else had said, there is alot of difference between a Staff and a Chi, and sometimes Staffs don't tend to know their own weight. Just as an example, a Rottie stepped on my Westie's paw and that made him yelp, so a Staff could do some serious damage, without even meaning to!

> i was thinking comparitively...staffy=smaller than bully, chi=smaller than whippet

comparatively, you need to be thinking Whippet/ young adult Dogue de Bordeaux as far as weight and temperament go - actually the whippet would still be heavier in comparison ;)  (DDB - @100lbs Whippet @25lbs, Staffy @35lbs Chi @ 6lbs)  How happy would you be if your Whippet were playing with an almost full grown and very boisterous DDB?

> are there not folk on the site with some very strange size combos?

There may well be :) but often it means keeping the different breeds apart ;)

Is it worth the risk? It's too late once the pup is in the home and it's found that the Chi is getting hurt - could be a very expensive experience :(

Re the Whippet and Bully playing, as you say, the Whippet can run away if needed.  A Chi isn't as fast or as agile as a Whippet - a Staffy could be tho ;)

 

As an owner of SBTs, I wouldn't.  As other posters have said, they play very roughly and I would be worried about such a little dog getting injured (though not deliberately).

As an owner of chihuahuas, i wouldnt risk it.

Just to add to the others comments, I am sure i remember an old member of this board who had a larger breed dog with a chi, and i remember that the chi got killed when the bigger dog accidentally bumped it and broke its neck. :-(

Yes i remember that too!

I was just thinking about the Chi that was killed by accident

My 5 months old Leonberger puppy finds a young Staffy too boisterous and rough when he tries to play with her!
My dog weights nearly 30kg,you can see her asking for help when the staffy gets going! Staffy is about 1/5 of her size if that!
If you got a puppy like the one we know, I can see the chi being seriously hurt!

I agree Noora, my sons' staffy gives my three leos' a run for their money! She tires them out one, by one, by one and I end up having to 'rescue' mine as she is a bit OTT  to say the least!!  And she hangs off their ears

Yep have to agree with the majority...I own a Staffie who lives with 2 GSD's, 2 Rott's and an Akita....the Staffie is the roughest of them all and they all get fed up with her playing rough but are luckily big enough to put a foot on her to calm her down!

Reply to Astarte
Yes, you are right - I'm sure there are others on here with odd combinations.  But my toy breeds are brought up with the a Border Collie and two Bearded Collies
http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj60/keronella/?action=view&current=snooze.jpg

What about a miniature bull terrier? Bit smaller but similar, fun loving temperament? To be honest, I'm not even sure I'd risk that.

How about an oldie staffie from rescue?

A good few years ago I sadly had a yorkie bitch accidentaly killed by my rottweiler bitch when she was having a mad 5 mins round the garden. There was no malice involved...she just crashed into her and broke her neck :-(

I agree with the 'Dont do it!' plees of the others.
I have a staffie cross who is the eldest of my dogs and although he plays with them (and sounds horrendous, typical noisey staffie trait!) hes old enough to know when to stop. The others being pugs are obviously smaller but no where near chi sized. I just wouldnt risk it personally.
If you are still set on a staff or bull terrier of sorts then it may be better to ask around reputable breeders(those who show SBT's may be able to help) to see if they have any older retired bitches for sale. These may well be more gentle around tiny dogs.
But you may find even if the new dog (whatever he/she may be) is the perfect pet, the resident chi may object to having a rival for its humans affections!
Think about both sides of the situation.

I wouldn't risk it either - a friend of my o/h had a Chi with a GSD and the GSD killed it - they had been together for a number of years too.:-(