I have got a 15 week old staff called Ruby Tuesday (Ruby for short!) and she is gorgeous! However, she does love nipping my 5 year old son and chasing him.She has actually drawn blood a couple of times and occasionally it has looked more aggressive than just playful nipping. I have tried getting my son to stand very still and not look at her when she is getting excited and to stand his ground rather than jump about or run which excites her even more, but being a five year old boy he soon forgets my advice. I have tried shouting, distraction, and even a little smack on one occasion (to Ruby not my son!) but she still seems to want to challenge him at times. She behaves in a similar way towards my cat, but to no one else other than the odd playful nip.
My son loves Ruby but is getting a little afraid of her because of this challenging behaviour, please help me find some way of teaching her not to bite and chase him so that we can relax a little! I am worried in case she grows up to be aggresive towards him and really hurts him one day. This is my first time as a dog owner and I could really use your help! Thanks alot.
Clare

Clare
Staffy pups are very boisterous at this age - and all pups tend to be still at the biting/nipping/mouting stage .
You do need to be quite firm with a Staffy ( and other bull breeds) from a young age . They love rough games.
Young children can be seen as a litter mate for pup because they like to play more and are quite excitable in themselves . Sometimes if your child wants pup to stop , pup sees it as an extension of the game so to speak . A young child does not come across as firm as a adult can . It is a matter of watching them all the time and when you feel the game is getting out of hand , fimly tell pup no!!!!. You must be consistent and try not to let her off with certain behaviour just because she looks "cute" .
Staffys are great with children but never let the game get out of hand ( and that goes for any pup ).
Do you use a crate at all ? If so you can put pup in for 5 mins when she is over excited and tends not to listen to you . never leave her for a long time in a crate though .
We had our last Staffy from 8 weeks and got him when my eldest was 1 yr old - so they grew up together and deeloped a really secial bond . He was brilliant with the baby .
Good luck
:)
Lel

OK, we had this problem with our Dane puppy and my 3 year old. The trick is to arm yourself with the following:

1. Water pistol
2. Saucepan and wooden spoon
3. Can of coins

Prepare yourself and your son to teach Ruby that chasing your son ends in an unpleasant suprise. So, have them all hidden where she can't see them, then have your son run about, or provoke her into chasing him - as soon as she starts to chase give her a good soaking in the face with the water pistol. It should stop her in her tracks. When she does it again, soak her again. That should stop it, if it doesn't give the saucepan a good whack. You should find that she will sit down and watch whats going on.

In a few hours, she might forget - so keep your can of coins nearby. As soon as she chases again - rattle the coins. She will soon associate chasing = unpleasant noise/soaking. Use all 3 methods until she gets the idea. Staffies normally love children, so my guess is she is just desperate to play with him. What she has to do is learn to play nice!

HTH
Chloe

Chloe has given some sensible advice but DO NOT let your son copy you. I would also be inclined to put son in crate for "time out" if he insists on winding puppy up but then I generally have more patience with dogs than children anyway :)

Christine

Hi Christine,
You're quite right - train the child to behave at the same time as teaching the pup. Fair's fair. :)

Absolutely - a crate would be a very good idea. I didn't think to mention it as my kids have been raised with dogs so therefore never wind the dogs up. To them, they are something thats always been there as opposed to a "new toy" :)

I know what you mean, Chloe, and I'm just the same - when you've taught your own children to be calm and sensible around the pup, you always assume that everyone else has too! :)

I do try to teach my son to respect the dog, I believe that is very important! He is frequently reminded that Ruby is not a toy, and I am well aware that if my little boy winds her up then he is partly to blame if Ruby responds accordingly! She is worst when she is over excited , if we come back in after being out for a short while, she is sooooo pleased to see us that she cant contain herself!. It is then that she is most prone to bite and shes very keen to lick our faces, Luke being closest to her height tends to bare the brunt of theis excitement overload and its then that she is prone to nip and chase him. I intend to take her to puppy classes along with my son so that they can BOTH learn a few things :)

Puppies do get excited so easily, don't they? :) I always had to be careful that they didn't jump up and knock my son flying - it helped that we always came in through the back door so the dogs could greet us out in the garden where there was more room, rather than indoors.

Taking him along to the training classes with you is an excellent idea - children learn very easily how to do things with animals, and they understand so much better than we do about having to be told what to do! They have no preconceived ideas about how dogs are 'meant' to behave, so they are happy to be shown what to do. And it's good for the pup to have the child in control, too.

Good luck! :)

perhaps the dog feels she has some domination over your son. if she percieves the child as having a lower or similar ranking to her and so feels that she can do as she wishes. often because children are smaller and less in control the dog feels dominant. if the dog is well behaved at mealtimes ask your son to put down the food bowl, asking the dog to sit first. Make sure the whole family eats in front of her before ruby eats. This is supposed to show her that your son and all of the family are higher ranking than she is. I've never had this problem but a friend has and so in theory this should work. Involving your son in training also should help. Just a thought, perhaps training the dog to 'leave it' or an emergency down could help of she gets too excited. Not easy with a a pupppy i know, but worth a try.