we have recently adopted a 15 month bitch staffordshire bull terrier from another owner because the previous owner was moving to a home with less room. (long story short)

the staff puppy has settled down great and gets on with every1 in out family. Shes obedient and extremely friendly with people, as ive seen with the majority of staffies in the past.

the problem is she suddenly snaps at my dad for no visible reason. 1 minute she'll be lied down dozing and the next on her feet barking at my dad and jumping and trying to attack him. Her tail was wagging but it didnt seem like she was playing but trying to cause some damage.

my dad shouts at her and shows a threat to hit her, but it does not seem to work and she carries on with the growling an barking.

the only way to get her away is to either drag her away and lock her in another room or to get a treat and command her to leave him.

after this persuation, or dragging, she'll leave my dad alone and go back to being the normal, friendly dog she is.

after this short moment of rampage she is as friendly with my dad as anyone and will sit next to him while he strokes her, or she sits on her knee etc.

this strange pattern of behaviour has baffled me and my family, who have all had dogs all their lives. she is extremely friendly with every1 she meets, even guests and virtually never barks; except in these moments...might she not like the smell of my dads aftershave or something???

thanks in advance

dan

Sounds to me like she's learnt she gets everybody's attention when she does it!! i don't think she's doing it because she's vicious - far from it! Looks like she may have become over exuberant with your dad the one time, and then figured out that all eyes are on her when she does it so she does it again and so on and so forth.
Also bear in mind that she's only 15 months old - still a teenager!! Remember, Staffys LOVE people, and they also crave human attention [well the ones i've met do anyway].
What i'd do in this situation is ignore her - completely - until she stops it. This means not pushing her away or even saying "no", because that too is putting the attention on her. If your dad has to get up and turn away from her to get her to stop it then that's the way to go.
As soon as she stops it praise her and give her a treat - she'll soon learn which behaviour gets her the attention she wants!
Good luck with her - she sounds like a very clever little dog!

Hi Dan,
If she's truly asleep or resting right before she goes into this 'rampage', she might have 'rage syndrome'. The dog has as much control over this type of behavior as she would a seizure. :( It's not a behavioral issue, it's an internal 'wiring' problem.

It seems that the dogs who suffer from it are sweet and obedient, but have these odd violent fits.
Check out the site mentioned on the "Red Cocker Rage" thread. It might help you to understand issue more. I don't know if a vet can even diagnose this. It's been mentioned a bit in the last few weeks on the board and I don't want to press the subject out of proportion, but it can be a possibility if this is not a training issue.
regards,
toodles

Dan

I don't think this is anything to do with a "rage" syndrome as it only happens with your Dad. Rage happens at any time to anybody. I have to say - your Dad's response - ie shouting and threatening to hit is not helping. I think whenever the dog barks at your dad he should turn away from the dog and totally ignore her. You could try also putting her out of the room each time she does this. Does your dad feed her at all? This might also help. Does your dad take her for walks and the such like? If she can start to look to your Dad for food and exercise, play etc - she'll start to see him in a different light.

It could be that she has a bad experience in her early life with a man that she recognises as your dad - further threatenening behaviour from your dad will simply exacerbate the situation. She needs to learn to trust him. It will take time but you can do it.

hth

Pam n the boys

If the tail wags all the time this is going on she probably wants to play. Perhaps your dad is like someone who used to play with the dog. I do the threat with the fist as fun to my dogs and several friends dogs, they snarl growl and bark at me as if they are challenging me, but the tails keep wagging. If you want to stop this behaviour you must teach the dog that no means stop everything at once or end up in bed or kennel or whatever. Putting the dog out the room instantly is probably the best course of action. Perhaps the previous owners taught the dog this and thought it was funny. I think its funny when mine do it, however I taught mine to stop as well as start. This is what most people with Bull terriers do wrong. They know how to start them up but not how to stop them.

All the best Mick

thanks y'all ill try this...ignoring her or kicking her out of the room seems to be the best option

Danny - I'm sure you don't mean it literally - but "kicking" her out of the room is not the solution. Put her out of the room.

lol @ pammy!!!

i no what ur thinking but i wasnt being literal! when i sed kicking i meant put her in another room.

my uncle has been down today who knows quite a bit on dogs; he sed that she is playing a game and that she wants attention. the simple way of dealing with her is to show her who is boss, grab her by her collar and make her sit down. this soon calms her down but to teach her properly she needs a lot of effort and patience to stop her from doing this.

he told me basically the same ot what of ya'll sed!

talk to yas soon

danny

oh and btw she now does this barking at every1!

the strangest thing is that she is barking and jumping but her tail is going at the same time, but another thing i have now noticed is her ears are back, a sign of nerves? was she badly treated at her own home? she is very well trained but today she did something in the house, because my mum dragged her in straight away from rain when she thought she had finished...but was wrong! roxy (her name) knew she had done wrong and was extremely timid after doing her buisiness in the house.

just out of interest do you all think hitting dogs is ok? and if so how hard can you hit them in your opinion? i tink that hitting a dog is ok to a certain extent to know they have done wrong...but when the dog is scared of its owner its a different story and should not be done....do you agree?

IMHO the best way to get her to stop initiating this game is to ignore her. Even if you just grab her collar to make her sit down and stop the behaviour she is still getting attention from you!!
And no, i don't personally think it's ok to hit a dog - i've seen many handshy doggies that are only this way because of people physically reprimanding them, often for behaviour that could have been dealt with in a hands off manner.

Your dad has taught her a great game!! She barks and lunges, and he does the same! What fun for her! Make HIM stop. Make him ignore her, then the game will lose all its value for her. Simple really.

Hi Danny

A dog with its tail wagging is usually enjoying what it is doing or anticipating enjoyment! This is very true - however, DO NOT be deceived into thinking that every dog with a wagging tail is a friendly one because this is not so. Some dogs will attack and bite and their tails will wag because they will damn well enjoy doing it.
If you ever get the chance to go and look at a police dog display watch the dogs before they run off and bite someone or are fronted up by an aggressor - their tails will be going ten to the dozen!

Lara

Lara,
Just because the dog's tail is wagging does not mean the dog is having fun....
Many times it's a sign of stress and shows confusion, warning, or an involuntary adrenaline release. The intent/emotion of the dog also depends how it's wagging (position, how tense the motion, the direction etc...)

It's a whole combination of factors and a dog uses the entire body to communicate. I find watching ear position, eyes, and how stiff the body movement is tells more about a dog's mood than tail area. (doggy body language is still only a guess on our part --we're sooooo limited because we don't do the same methods ;) :D )
jmho,
toodles

That's true Sara - it can signal a lot of things like you mentioned - that's why I used the word 'usually', as there are other possibilities :)