New to Staffie ownership

Hi all, so I'm new to staffie ownership, my new puppy is 9 weeks old and ive had her a week. I'm just looking for some advice/tips on how I can give her the best life she can have. I did some research on the breed before I got her as I've always been a Labrador person but after loosing my lab I decided I wanted to have something different. So I got my little pup, I started from day one, she goes just about everywhere with me, she has a travel crate that she can sleep in when she gets tired when we are at work. Shes already met some of my friends dogs (13 of them) because i would like her to be socialable with other dogs, she's better with older dogs I've noticed, the two puppies at work she can play a little rough with and it can get quite noisy, she has quite an aggressive sounding growl but it looks like play to me. The older dogs tell her if she's getting a bit rough biteing. She's had a lesson on cats and now knows to give them plenty of space as my cat batted her the other day as she got in her face.

So what I'm really looking for is any advice on how to bring her up the best I can? Anything I should watch out for? Also thinking about group puppy classes? She already knows the word 'no' 'good' and 'sit' so she's quite a clever girl
Thanks for any advice

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Well done on getting one of the most loveable & clever breeds... But I would say that

Sounds to me that you've got things pretty much under control so far. They can play rough and it often sounds like they are in a huge fight but that's just how Staffies are, they are quiet vocal when playing.

Puppy classes are a good idea in my opinion, she'll learn loads as will you. I don't think there is anything to look out for in particular so long as you get the basics right with socialisation and recall.

Welcome to the forum from Flo and me

-Ian- wrote:Well done on getting one of the most loveable & clever breeds... But I would say that

Sounds to me that you've got things pretty much under control so far. They can play rough and it often sounds like they are in a huge fight but that's just how Staffies are, they are quiet vocal when playing.

Puppy classes are a good idea in my opinion, she'll learn loads as will you. I don't think there is anything to look out for in particular so long as you get the basics right with socialisation and recall.

Welcome to the forum from Flo and me

Thank you for your reply. Yes it starts off all bouncy and quiet, then gets more noisy, then to the point it sounds like a fight but still looks like play but very rough play? Should I intervene when it starts to get too full on? It's more with the two 13 week old puppies, the bigger older dogs she doesn't get so full on. She was also the runt of the litter but also the boss, when reading up on puppies it said to go for one in the middle but she was the only girl and i fell for her right away.

She is one very brave and confident pup, she will happily go off exploring and is into everything. She has just today discovered her voice

I think it's always a good idea to have a stop command just in case things start to escalate, you should be able to do that with high value treats

Hi from me & Katy, welcome to the wonderful world of staffie love They are very vocal when playing, anyone hearing Katy playing with her dad would think she is killing him. Sounds like you are doing great socialising but classes will help even more Oh & we love pics here

Hello from me and Hank , we started puppy classes 4 weeks ago and it has been so beneficial as outside of puppy class he is excellent with other dogs and this is what I really wanted myself as I didn't want him to be scared of other dogs when we took him for walks as we live in the Lake District and they are everywhere! This is my first pup ever and I am so happy I chose a staffy as he is so lovely definitely the best breed to have even if I am biased

Hi and welcome!

Congratulations on your pup and welcome to the wonderful world of staffies!

As the others have said, don't worry about rough play, that's what staffies do best. It's actually good that she's got other dogs telling her when she's going too far, she will learn from them how to moderate her play. We have an 'enough' command, which means stop playing, that is taught by saying the word then offering a high value treat. We use it fairly often so that we can hear ourselves think!

As well as going to puppy classes - great for more controlled socialisation - I'd strongly recommend you watch and start working through Victoria Stilwell's videos. Keep to the very simple ones and only do tiny bits at a time.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

I wouldn't worry about 'no', it's something we think they understand more than they do. Very often, they in fact just understand that we're not being so nice and don't really click as to why, and that slink away is because they're worried by us rather than that they know they've done wrong. Use positive method training to teach them what they should be doing - praise and reward the good and ignore the 'bad' - and if they are doing something you don't want give them an alternative that you can reward instead. With puppies, it's often a case of us learning to anticipate their needs and actions too.

Congratulations on your new puppy. Puppy classes would be a brill idea. With my puppy I use distraction if he is doing something not so human friendly lol, then praise the new activity like crazy. It seems to be working. I'm the same with my kids, praise the positives & ignore & distract the not so great.it strengthens their bond with me