We have a 11 week old pug and we are desperate for her to meet my brothers 2 staffies, but are unsure about the male one, he can be very overpowering, but the other one is a bitch and she will not bother with her.  He has a tendancy in not liking dogs but my brother says he might be different with her seen as she is a bitch. 

She has already met my mothers two dogs which are a WHW and a Springer Spaniel and she seems to put the Springer in her place, but not the WHW as she is the BOSS!!! but our little one is in that snappy mode at the mo with her still being a little pup and we are scared that she might snap at the male staffie and he might retaliate. 

Can anyone shed any light on this question as to how we approach my brothers male staffie with our little one.

hiya salball,

i had a similar situation when my lab was a pup (she's now 18mths). I wanted her to get used to my sisters two huge boxers (both dogs). I just took my girl round and let her loose with them in the conservatory and just left them to it (not literally, me and my sister were sat watching on incase they got a bit too boisterous). She was a nervous wreck to begin with, and cowered constantly, but once she got her confidence about her, she was hanging off jowels, ears, and other dangly bits! She just ran under my legs when she'd had enough. She loved it, and there were no problems at all. She gave them a run for their money i can tell you! The only downfall is that as they were the first dogs she played with, she developed the habit of boxing, and still does it when she's off playing with dogs! Not that they seem to mind. Bless.

dogs will establish their own pack, and to be honest, i'd have thought that as your pug (very jealous you have one by the way-they're adorable!) is a baby, they'll be quite accepting. If your pug was to snap at the male staff, i'm sure the staff would have something to say about it, and might try to assert his dominance over her, but i doubt it would be anything other than simply to state "i'm the leader....and biting my dangly bits hurt!". If said boxers are anything to go by, the male staff might even be on the protective side of her! The oldest boxer used to stand over her to protect her from the young nutty one! Also, like your brothers male staff is on the funny side with other dogs.

at the end of the day, you're not going to know until you try it. Just keep a watchful eye. Its better in the longterm doing it while she is young, so that they 'grow up together', as the staffs are bound to be more accepting of a pup than a fully grown dog. Is there any neutral ground you could take them? It would lower the probability of confrontation, as the staffs wouldn't feel like there's an intruder on 'their' territory....?

nic x

Thanks so much for your advice, we are going to try her tomorrow at my brothers to see how they react to her, she is a monkey though at the mo for snapping so we will have to keep an eye on her while they are all together.  Sam the male staffie is very protective of girlies so I am hoping that he see's her as having to protect her. Fudge which is the bitch is soft as muck and wont care what she is doing as she is used to having my neice pull her about to bits.  Fingers crossed they will all get on and be happy dogs.

Thanks again for your advice, keep you informed how it will go. 

Sal