Bringing another staffie into the family

Hi there
Our "Winnie" is now 8 months old and we have been advised by the breeder that if we were to get another staffie we should wait until she is about 1 year old. We would dearly love to get another one because we have fallen in love with the breed but I have heard/read something thats making me wonder.
Is it true that whenever you leave them alone, ie at bedtime or if you go out, that they must be kept separate in case a fight was to break out? It kind of defeats the object really because we wanted Winnie to have company when left alone. What do you guys do? Also, how did you introduce your "new addition" to your existing dog because Winnie seems to be sooo dominant when she comes across younger dogs. Hopefully this is partly because she is still young and will hopefully become more tolerant of puppies when she gets a bit older. You experienced advice would be most welcome.

To be honest yeah its a good idea not to leave them together alone, they may well be fine, but you may also come home one day to a nasty supprise. Problem is when dogs start fighting sometimes they just dont stop unless someone is there to break it up.

I would wait until she is a bit older. Usually opposite sexes are preferable. When chosing a new dog take the older one with you to see how they interact. When bringing the new dog home pay more attention to her so she doesn't see the new dog as a threat. Feed them seperately and it is best if someone is around them supervising for a month or so. Start with short periods being left alone and increase over time. I think this covers the basics but there are tons of folks on here with multiple dogs that will have excellent advice.

Not much to add but i would wait until she's older and then get a male as that will decrease the chance that they will fight.

from all the books i have read about when to bring a new staffy in they all say that about 2 years of age is a good age to bring a new pup home dont no if this helps but hope it dose

thanks, maybe I'll wait till then though I'd love to get another one tomorrow!!!!

Yea its best 2 wait till pup is about 2 and get one of the opposite sex. I have 2 males so ALWAYS have 2 separate even when going to the loo, u may not have to be quite as extreme but personally if it was me i would always separate regardless of gender. Staffords will fight 2 the death literally and if they do squabble when u are not around then it could be serious x

its such a shame though because i thought the whole point of having 2 is so that they keep each other company.

Staffords are notoriously people dogs NOT dog dogs. Most staffords will tolerate other dogs, some will hate other dogs and if your very lucky your dog will get on with them. To be honest staffords ideal family IMO would be as a only dog where the family do as much as possible with the dog ie) days out, even able to take it 2 work etc. Dont feel your staff will be missing out if u dont get another dog, as long as he is well socialised, well exercised and very involved with family life he really wont care lol. But if u do get another u really must separate when u cant directly supervise, for thier own saftey! x

i presume then that you find it much harder work having 2 as opposed to just the one?

Honestly YES! Dont get me wrong i love my boys to bits and wouldnt change them 4 the world but Kaos was literally chucked at us at 11 weeks (so called breeder was gonna "deal with him" as he was last of the litter and he couldnt "get rid"). We were gonna rehome him our selves or give him to a local SBT rescue but once he had him a few weeks we couldnt bare to let him go. Im making it sound all bad i no.......its not, they do love each other and cuddle and sleep/play together but it IS alot more full on ALL the time with two big lumps chasing eachother around the house. All im saying is if your only getting another one company for existing one then im pretty sure existing one wont be that bothered. Just do ur research...... x

thanks for your honesty. Getting another one wouldn't just be for company for the other. We really have fallen in love with the breed but i understand how much harder life must be with 2 so will certainly take on board your comments. thanks again.