New addition

Hello :-)

Joey is now 8 months old and is sooo much better behaved that he was just a month ago. He still has his mad moments but overall he's lovely. A few people have advised us to get him a friend. We were always planning on getting another staffy but we were going to wait till Joey was about 2. However, some people who own staffys have said Joeys at a good age to introduce another dog as hes soo friendly with other dogs and if left too long they don't welcome a new addition to the family. We have seen a 7 year old male rescue staffy and they've said he would loved to be homed with a puppy as he loves to play.
Just wondered if this is a good idea, we have had varied views so far, some saying joeys to young and the older one will go back to acting like a puppy, some have said two males fight a lot and others that because of their ages they should be fine. Just wanted some advice on this before we made a decision.

It's usually recommended that staffys of opposite gender live together.

Tbh, we brought Vinny home at 8 weeks to Roxy who was only 9 or 10 months - it's a lot of work though having two pups: lots of time needs to be spent supervising and training but if you have the time and determination it does pay off. However, it is usually recommended that you bring a pup in when yours is around 18 months old.

Having said that, as you say, you've seen an older staffy. I'm sure someone will be along soon with more input

I would normally recommend waiting for the youngster to mature a bit more, but as the other Stafford is older (a veteran, in fact!) you could ask the rescue centre if you could bring Joey along to play with him, and if that goes well, bring the rescue boy to your house for a 'trial' run?

Thanks for the advice but we decided not to adopt the staffy as i have 3 children and it had never met children except briefly. He was also very afraid of people and had been known to snap when he was scared. If my children had been older. my youngest is 3 and oldest is 9, and we had more experience with dogs, Joey is our first, then we might of considered it. But thank you anyway i think we'll wait til joeys matured a bit more  

Good decision  

Personally I would wait unti the first dog is about 2 years old, good decision made.

Agree you have been responsible and looked at all the facts but for the future if this thought stays on your mind . As long as you are prepared for some hard work and are confident of the dogs background then an older rescue ( + 2 years ) will be fine but I would tend to aim for opposite sex if possible. Best about the rescue though is the possibility to try before you buy
If you think you may change your mind and go for a puppy then really you should wait until Joey is 18months + and be sure he has no real problems that may escalate if you bring another dog or bitch into the house