Help choosing a second dog- who will get on with our staffie?

We have a female neutered rescue staffie called Lizzie. We've had her just over 2yrs and she's about 5yrs old.

Lizzie is perfect in every way except she is aggressive towards dogs when she's in an enclosed space with them, eg if we go to someone's house and they have a dog we have to take her outside. She is also reactive on a lead. I must say she has never sctually harmed another dog.

Off-lead, no problems and she plays with other dogs. Her play style is a bit over-dominant though so she loves playing with puppies- they just give in to her.

My parents look after Lizzie once or twice a week when me and partner are working. They love her so much they've decided to get a rescue dog of their own. I know this will be tough at first as Lizzie will have to get used to not being the only family dog and being in a house with the new dog twice a week.

A friend suggested a young, neutered male staffie would work best. My dad thought perhaps a calm older staffie. Perhaps a different breed? I'm taking Lizzie to training classes to work on her dog-reactivity, hopefully this will help but does anyone have experience bringing in a second dog when the first one isn't the most dog-friendly?

Hello! I do indeed, I also have a middle aged rescue female staffie who can be reactive/aggressive to dogs that she doesn't know. Bug has never attempted to bite, but will growl/lunge. I have successfully fostered multiple dogs here with her, all male and younger than her but not so young that they irritate her. Though the introductions generally take a long time, a few weeks of on lead parallel walking then leading up to brief interactions and finally some off lead time together. I would strongly recommend picking a decent rescue with a behaviourist on site that can help with the meets and also help to choose the right dog for you.

I've considered taking in a different breed, due to Bug being so hectic and wanting to introduce a more calming influence - but I've never found another breed that she has gotten on as well with as other Staffies! Though, your girl may be different. Have you figured out any rhyme or reason to her aggression (e.g big dogs, small dogs, male/female, dark in colour etc?)

Hi there my dog doesnt like big dogs or dogs same size but she loves a sniff of small dogs and cats sounds like lizzies a bit like mia in the eay shes unsure how to react round other dogs . For this reason id recommend a smaller breed male but not too lively. Remember slow introductions to your parents new dog perhaps through a fence and definitely on lead.

Hi ya, welcome to the forum

Rachel has it pretty much covered above and has the valuable experiences too. All I can add is good luck with the rescue

Thanks so much for the replies and advice.

We can't work out which dogs she's more reactive to- small, black etc- there doesn't seem to be a pattern Pretty sure nervous dogs make her more nervous though!

I think I'll ask my parents to try Dogs Trust as they should have expertise, being a large rescue.