Adopting a Staffie - any tips?

Oh man she looks like a lover!!!
Staffies have a lot of the same characteristics as a pit bull. She will give you undying devotion once she feels secure with you. One thing to keep in mind is to establish your dominance through a patient path, let her know who's boss while balancing it with the love you give her. I'm not implying you will but keep in mind that force will not work on her, its a matter of respect and patience. I dont know if she has any particular issues but keep us posted and we'll try to help out as much as possible.
I'd say spend some real quality time with her on obediance, even if she knows all her commands she needs to have faith and trust in you. Be wary around other dogs, she may feel insecure at first.
I also want to say congrats and thank you on behalf of owners of bully breeds! They are comical, loyal, smart as heck, and gorgeous....obviously ha ha!

She's doing good so far, she's still getting used to living here, and got quite nervous with fireworks shot off near our house.
 
One question:
  She hasn't eaten this morning, and on a walk, she ate alot of grass.... i think it's nothing too much to worry about, but i just want to make sure she's healthy....
 
-Tim

What a gorgeous girl.   I hope the food situation worked out for her.  My little girl, not a Am Staff, is really sensative and allergic to many foods.  I would suggest a premium quality food and stick with it.  NO TABLE SCRAPS.  I learned THAT the hard way.  Mine ended up with pancreatitis!! You don't want to go there, I assure you.  Keep us informed and I love pics.  Do you have any other animals in your household?  Have you done research on this type of dog?  Research I have found it invaluable.  Good luck with her.

ORIGINAL: funnymu

She's doing good so far, she's still getting used to living here, and got quite nervous with fireworks shot off near our house.

One question:
She hasn't eaten this morning, and on a walk, she ate alot of grass.... i think it's nothing too much to worry about, but i just want to make sure she's healthy....

-Tim

First of all congratulations and welcome to the club. I just recently acquired a 1yr old American Bulldog/Pitbull cross myself. Your new girl is gorgeous, but she looks a little worried - which might account for not eating. Just be calm and regular and certain and she'll come around.

Paula

I have owned bull breeds since 1982 and can tell you that they are wonderful dogs! My current girl (an Am Staff) came home with me at eight weeks.

Am Staffs are very, very smart and will rule the household if you allow them free rein.  DO NOT let them be the boss or you will have T-R-O-U-B-L-E.  All dogs are pack animals and you need to be the Alpha or pack leader in your home. These dogs do best wthl firm, consistant, loving discipline. My voice is enough to get Gypsy back in line if she's doing something wrong. I use my "mom" voice (the same one I use with DSs!)  and she toes the line completely.

Remember that Am Staffs are on the banned breeds list of some cities, so be careful where you travel with your girl.  If you plan to move, double check the local ordinances to make sure she will be welcomed.  Denver, Colorado and Miami-Dade county (the Miami area) of Florida are two such places in the US and the entire province of Ontario has banned bull breeds!  Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) has been declared inconstitutional in many cities, so hopefully, this will be a thing of the past in the near future.

Be prepared to grow a thick skin since many people will yank their children away from your "killer" dog or ask you (in a snotty tone), "Why would you want a dog like THAT?" until they see just how sweet your girl is. Make double darned sure to take her to an obedience class so her manners sparkle. Read up on the breed so you can let the great unwashed (John Q. Public) know just how wonderful these dogs can be!

Congrats on your new girl.  She is gorgeous, BTW.

More updates...
 
She's getting used to being home with us... she is adjusting her sleeping... at first she was an alarm clock, up at 7am, licking any foot or hand in site... woke us up quickly...
 
I'm gonna get her a easywalk harness so she can learn to stop pulling...
 
She likes to put her paw on you when you stop paying attention to her, not sure if it is a dominance thing, but so far we make sure we say something if that paw gets close to our faces when she is on our laps...
 
To our surprise, she is very well house trained, and listens to many commands... it took us a while to figure out what she knew... aparently O-U-T is her favorite word....
 

We came home and she had some crusty stuff around her eye... took her to the vet, and apparnetly she has a slight eye infection... she's fine, it's not a virus or anything bad, but they gave us some drops for it... But at the vet, she was a star, didn't get too nervous, and she still likes us afterwards...

My AB/Pit  mix came with a greyhound 1 inch martingale collar and it works great with her. She had no leaseh training but is whip smart and caught on to me letting her get to the end of the lead and changing direction.  Within two days her leash manners have improved tremendously ...of course in two days she still forgets I'm at the other end of the leash and tries to cross in front of me to check the occaisonal thing out but we're working on that too.

One thing though she is DEDICATED. This dog has only been in my house a week but seems to have adopted me. I get the soulfull looks, the exuberant greetings, the follow me everywhere, etc. Is that a bully thing? I remember my former rescue regional coordinator at one point had three ridgeback females and one pitbull male and had observed that the ridiges couldn't care less where her little girl Kendra was, but that Spenser the pit followed her everywhere and that he was HER dog.  He died earlier this year of kidney failure.

Paula

paula--I'm so excited that you ended up adopting the bully girl! 
 
I think it is a bully thing, Sally is like that.  When we went to a bench dog show the Amstaffs were one of the most outwardly people loving breeds in the whole place.  All you had to do is look at them and they could barely contain themselves.