To get another dog

[ElleDriver]

We already have a dog. He is an American staffy who is 2. Lovely dog, a bit wild and loves to run around but very friendly and never been aggressive.

My friends Yorkshire terrier has just had a litter of pups and I adore this breed! I'm very tempted to have one but I'm worried about having two dogs - will they get on? Will they fight? Are there any special considerations to put in place? I think the size difference bothers me although everyone says smaller dogs usually rule the roost anyway!

It would be another male dog so would that make them more likely to fight?

On one hand I would love our current boy to have a friend but would hate for the current dynamic to be ruined if introducing another dog would upset him or it. If you've got more than one dog did you have any issues with them?

We have only ever had boy/girl mixtures of dogs and the girl is always in charge 😀 I wouldn't willingly have two boys together.

My parents have always had dogs and not bitches.

At one point we had 2 dogs under one roof and they were fine. All has the balls off so that may have been a contributing factor.

Some dogs are just arseholes. My sisters sausage dog will not leave my Jack Russell alone. He’s fine with the other dogs he has regular contact with.. maybe because they’re dogs as well and my Jack is a bitch. Who knows. It’s up to you

Sorry that should read 3 dogs.. 1 Rotty, 1 Lab and a very feisty springer

Our staff isn't neutered yet.

I've read up on it and it's all about pack mentality and which is alpha dog etc. So I'm thinking if the new pup was very tiny when introduced he should naturally understand his place in the pecking order. Not sure if it works like that though...?

The last thing I want is fighting or upset.

I wouldn't have two un neutered dogs.

We had a labrador of 11 when a basset hound came to stay temporarily.-for the rest of her life- she kept the labrador going to nearly 15, we had 3 more dogs from puppies and had two dogs at a time.

I would be surprised if the other dog doesn't accept a puppy.

I don't have a dog now I'm older but saw a puppy basset yesterday and heard her 'singing" that funny barking/howling sound unique to them and I would love another one.

I wouldn't choose a Yorkie as a second dog if you have an American Staffy. Yorkies are kind of fragile and if your Staffy accidentally runs over the Yorkie whilst they are chasing a ball, the Yorkie's leg can easily break (I'm talking from experience).

My logic was they are both terriers - albeit at very different ends of the spectrum lol.

1. Test your current dog with puppies. Not just briefly in the park; see if you can puppy-sit for someone for a weekend. At age 2 it should be fine but I have seen 100s of family pets (mainly bull breeds) dumped on shelters because they didn’t accept a new puppy.

1. You would need to neuter the yorkie boy around 8mths old.

We had a female and introduced a rescue male puppy last year. I don't know a great deal about the dynamics re female/male, but the puppy has been the absolute making of her; it's as though he gave her a new lease of life (she's 9 so not old but a little ploddy and definitely slower than she was).

She's absolutely in charge and has been from day dot. She bollocks him from time to time when he needs it, and whilst she's never aggressive with him, she's nipped him when she's needed to put him in his place.

I think most happy, secure dogs will accept a new dog coming in. Take your time and introduce them slowly and give your dog room and space to have time to himself if he needs it; ours has found the puppy a little overbearing every now and then and will sneak up to our bed to hide from him.

I've read up on it and it's all about pack mentality and which is alpha dog etc

Pack/alpha theory is old fashioned and debunked now.

Useful advice from Victoria Stilwell: positively.com/dog-behavior/new-dogs/introducing-a-new-dog/introducing-new-dog-to-existing-dogs/

Don’t buy into outdated information from Cesar Milan etc. Modern behavioural science will guide you- dogs are social animals but they don’t form ‘packs’ or have an ‘alpha’ - these are outdated theories that have been debunked. Another great link from Karen Pryor www.clickertraining.com/what-to-expect-introducing-a-puppy-to-your-adult-dogs

I’d say that while your dogs not been neutered he will be only be a natural alpha until your pup grows into maturity. They might end up fighting over whose in charge when the terrier comes of age and gets some big ball confidence
Happened to my aunt and she had to get the older one neutered to calm the situation, which worked.

I'd be worried about the size difference as noted above. Yorkies seem quite fragile to me. They're under 5kg, is that right? I've got a westie (10kg) and probably wouldn't have worried at grown size if he was with my staffy (21kg) but as a pup the westie was teeny. Only 2.5 kg when he came home. My staffy was beautiful, loved all dogs, would no doubt have been great with a westie pup, but the size difference is just asking for an accident IMO. The westie was actually the successor for my staffy, so they were never together, and I got a three year old cocker to be his buddy. She's 13kg and they're similar in stature, she's about an inch taller. To me that's a much better size match.

Staffies can play hard and yours might hurt a much smaller dog by accident.

Yes the size difference is a bit of a worry. We have been to see my friend today and her Yorkie is actually quite robust. Still not sure whether or not to take the plunge.

Pack theory is very outdated so I wouldn't think along those lines.

Someone must have a puppy they can "lend" you to see how the staff reacts?