Hi sorry its long.. Hopefully you helpful dog owners can give me some good tips here.
To TRY and cut a long story short, we are moving into my MILs house, as she is on her own in a huge house, and is not in the best of health.
The problem is, we have an 8 year old staffie. She has a 10 yr old cocker spaniel.
Staffie is very well behaved, 99% of the time, well trained, but still quite boisterous. (we got him as a rescue at 8 months old) He is nervous of other dogs, after being badly attacked by a black retriever a few years ago, but is still keen to play and really wants to play. We have taken him to training school, where he happily socialised with other dogs, in a controlled environment, but in all honesty a lot of it now stems from our own nerves, and we pass that on to him when we take him out. He never goes off the lead, and we dont take him to the park. He gets lots of long walks and MIL has a 500ft garden, so he is off lead there regularly too to run around. He does not like other dogs coming near me though, and if another dog approaches me, he will push them out of the way. He is the same with my husband. And likely to be the same with MIL, as he adores all of us. He is fine to be left on his own for a few hours, settles down and sleeps, and never barks, howls, or chews. He is a happy content pooch. Never bolts his food, and just grazes bits out of his bowl when he is hungry. He never empties a bowl in one go... he saves some for later... has a box of toys, and even puts them away again.. he is great with people, rarely barks, and never jumps up unless asked to.
When we got him, PIL had an older dog, and both dogs would get on fine in our houses together. Older dog (collie cross) was the boss and one growl would have the staffie sat down and behaving. Sadly he was PTS due to illness and old age.
Now to the Cocker, he was a rescue too, but at 6yrs old, and has really bad attachment problems. The first time we tried to introduce the dogs, the Cocker went ballistic growling and barking and we just didnt bother trying again after that. Five years down the line, FIL passed away 3 years ago, and MIL's health isnt great.
The ideal solution is for me and DH and staffie to move in, with her, and the cocker.
So far, we have walked them a few times, both on leads, allowing them side by side as they walk, but totally under control. They were great, no growling, no nervousness from staffie, no agression from the cocker.
Got back to MIL's and staffie was off lead in the garden, cocker watching through closed patio doors. Again, both tails wagging at each other, no aggression.
Yesterday we took them a walk, so they were not as boisterous, then into MIL's house both on leads and kept on leads. Sat in the living room for an hour, both dogs wanting to get near each other, but again, no agression, just curiousity.
I just know that if off the lead there would still be possession problems, and know that we cant rush this.
What I would like to know though, is what should be the next step, and is this all going to be possible to do. I absolutely love my staffie and he is my priority in life. I am thinking of taking them to the training school that I have used before, as they are brilliant, but its not cheap, and it still wont help the inside of the house worries.
I would be grateful for any advice, and appreciate anyone who has taken the time to read all this! :)