Staffys & Kittens...

I'm just wondering about the best way to introduce my 6month old female Staffy to my partners 8week old female kitten, my staffys not aggressive in any way, shes very submissive with other dogs, including younger puppies. However she is very clumsy, she does gallop about quite a bit and since shes already 14kg i want to try to make sure the kitten is safe since shes only very tiny.

I would just let her have a sniff at it while you hold it at the moment, at that age kittens are not very savvy so it won't run away. When it's a bit bigger you can let them meet so you can see your dogs reaction to it.

Ive held Jess (the puppy) still and the kitten does seem to be ok with her, ive also allowed them both to move in the room together as Jess is fairly obedient and will come back if i call her, the kitten does tend to scratch at her slightly if she gets too much, so i guess she can take care of herself to some extent!

On another note do you think its normal for Jess to be so submissive with other dogs? She's been attacked twice, once by a King Charles Spaniel (male) and once by the male staff next door as she escaped from the garden under the fence into their garden (ive since changed the fence so this can not happen again) but she was quite timid before that.

Then they have already been introduced....

As for the submissiveness, some dogs are just more timid than others. Honestly it is a lot easier to deal with that them being dominant, but you will just have to make sure to look out for other dogs body language before you let them approach her. Also make sure she is submissive as some people can mistake a prowl for a submit.

Have a look here: http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

Yes, just this evening i was basically wondering if i was doing the correct thing. I would ideally like them to get along well.

I think she is submissive rather than anything else, she hooks her tail underneath, rolls over, just lets another dog stand on/bite her and does nothing. She doesn't even attempt to run away or come back to where we can reach her.

I dont let her off the lead when other dogs that i dont know are about just in case. It's very rare we meet another dog who's not agressive to her in some way but maybe thats the people around here.

Tbh if its nearly every dog then it's got to be her. Every dog can't just be aggressive. Have you looked into puppy classes? They might be able to teach her how to act around other dogs. She needs to be very well socialised cause it will only be a matter of time until she gets seriously hurt, or reaches breaking point and snaps herself.

Yes ive found some with dogs trust that have very good reviews, strange thing is she is fine with my brothers dogs and they are quite large Labs. Very daft and gentle but large non the less.

I think it is her, we do come across a few friendly dogs, but usually they are puppies themselves or around the same age as her, she can be quite hyper so i could understand other dogs being annoyed with her and not wanting to play.

Hopefully with classes she will calm down a little.

i think it really depends on the dog as well as how young they are when introduced. i'd keep on eye on them for a long while. My grandmothers staffs where like chalk and cheese with cats. The bitch hated them, she would snap at them if they got close and had killed the next doors cat, but her son, was like a lamb with them, he would try and steal the kittens from heir mother when we took him to a friends. the mother cat would get up to leave and he would jump in the basket and snuggle them and lick them. he was very maternal for a uncut male, he was like that with all cats.... but you never know.