Introducing a puppy to a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

[Godotsarrived]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has any experience of introducing a new puppy to a Stafford? We picked the pup up on Friday evening and have kept him separated from our 8 year old Staffordshire bitch by the use of training crates / separate rooms. The Stafford was initially very excited, lots of spinning and marking ( thank the lord for hard floors) but she has calmed down and walks past the pup ( in his crate) without much notice.

We used this method several years ago when we introduced the Stafford when she was a pup into the house with our two Rottweilers.

Now I want to move it forward to actually allowing them to meet face to face without using the crates... but I am so nervous. This stems from the vet helpfully telling me that all Staffords are dog aggressive and whilst Sapphire shows no sign of aggression either to the puppy or any other dogs, it is preying on my mind.

So really looking for any success stories, specifically with Staffords. The pup is a male Labrador, he is 8 weeks old. Thanks all.

[NewYoiker]

You know your dog better than a vet. I'd put them either in the garden or the kitchen and observe but let them figure it out between them

[loveskaka]

You could give the staffie a blanket from the pup let her get used to the smell for a few days then in introduce them with leads on x

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

the vet helpfully telling me that all Staffords are dog aggressive

A graduate from the University of Sweeping Generalisations I see

You know your dog better than the vet. While there are certainly a significant proportion of Staffords with issues around other dogs, plenty are fine - my little terrier has several Stafford friends in the park.

Is there any neutral territory where you can introduce them directly eg a friend's back garden?

[Costacoffeeplease]

We used a stair gate to keep pup and older dog apart but within sniffing distance and gave treats and praise for positive interactions

[MarcoPoloCX]

Significant proportion of Staffies having issues with other dogs?????
What!!!
In my park it's usually the little terriers that cause most of the troubles.

[Godotsarrived]

Happy to report that the first meeting went well. The pup and the staffy met up on leads, had a bit of a sniff through a fence and then had a brief meeting nose to nose. The pup did jump up a little but my little staffy could not have been less interested and more chilled. Very relaxed. Kept it short and sweet. Will do some more tomorrow.
Very pleased that so far it was uneventful.