Hi

I hope someone can offer me some advice about my dog. She is an 8 month old Staff and we have had her since she was 7 weeks old. She has always been nervous around other dogs and will snap and bark at them if they come too close to her. This all stems from an incident at training classes when another dog frightened her as a pup. Since then we have to be very careful with her around other dogs as we never know how she is going to react. As a rule she is fine so long as they dont bother her, but occassionally a dog will want to play or sniff her and we have to pull her back as she goes mad when this happens.

I have tried various types of leads, head harness, body harness and an ordinary collar but she is terrible on all of them, as she pulls like crazy, all the head harness does is distress her even more and she rolls all over the ground trying to get it off, even after I had persevered with it for 3 weeks she got no better. She is alot calmer off the lead and less nervous about other dogs, off the lead she will walk near us whereas on the lead she pulls and strains. Ive tried stopping every time but it makes no difference. However, there are times when a dog has to be on the lead and Im getting quite flustered about how to deal with this and her nervousness around other dogs. If I am honest her walks tend to be more of a challenge than a pleasure, if there are other dogs about.

We took her on holiday and she was worse than ever! We had rented a cottage by the sea, but everytime anyone walked past the cottage she growled like mad and barked alot. She had never displayed aggression to people prior to this. On the beach she took a particular dislike to semi naked men with large beer guts! It sounds quite funny now but at the time it was dreadful and totally unexpected. I had tried awfully hard to socialise her as a pup, but taking her to the training class only made her worse.

She has never been aggressive to people until the holiday, which I put down to her being away from her own environment, but today I gave her a raw bone, shes had them before lots of times, and she growled really badly and bared her teeth at the kids and me if we even went near her! Totally out of character for Ruby. I sent the kids inside at first and took the bone off her by giving her some ham, then gave it back to her. I repeated this a few times in the hope that she would get the idea that I am not a threat to her bone, then I got my daughter to do the same, but she was still growling a bit.

I feel a bit depressed about it all as I cant think where we have gone wrong. Its our first dog and we love her to bits, she loves her home and her family and until the bone incident today she has been so good with the children. The aggression to other dogs has been a problem but I always told myself that at least she was ok with people, now I am afraid that she might change in that respect. Am I over reacting?

Please help if you can, I so want to do the right thing but I dont know what the right thing is, Ive got books but they all seem to offer conflicting advice. Could it be her possibly being due to come in season that has made her behave so differently? What sort of changes can I expect from a bitch when she does come in heat? Or am I just getting everything wrong?

Helen

the first half of you text about her being dog aggressive and pulling on the lead i thought she is just a staffy but then as you said her being aggressive to you and other especially with food something wrong there.not trying to sound bad but sounds like she needs to be taken to a behaviour specialist.there is only so much advice you can give over the net.

Hi Helen... You say you have to be very careful around other dogs. Most dogs are a lot braver when on the lead, they are a lot less likely to get into trouble and sort things out themselves off the lead (always supervised!!) She is only young and it would be a lot easier reintroducing her off the lead to trusted dogs now then when she is older and more able to cause serious harm!

Also I wonder how anxious you are when meeting other dogs with her, she will pick up on this!

You say it is your first dog, maybe its just inexperience and she is challenging for top spot, only you will now if you need to be more assertive with her. But you need to sort this one out quickly, there are people on here who will have loads of advice as to the best way to go about this.

Staffords are not usually barkers and growlers especially with strangers, but if she is a nervous bitch, I am guessing you are right it could be just a reaction to change of environment, she is unsure of herself and surroundings.

Could be her season, mine just got friskier then chased each other around, doubt she would become any more unpredictable when in season.

I would forget the head harness on a Staff, best with the nylon body harness easy to pick up and out of trouble with your hands near any dogs mouth.

Good luck, Ged.

Thanks Ged,
I have to admitt to my lack of experience possibly being a problem, as I am quite anxious when another dog approaches, I do try not to be, but the way she is behaving has lead me to be this way. If I see a dog in the distance I ignore it and so does Ruby. However, if I see one running toward us I do tend to stiffen up and must give off signals to Ruby I guess. I dont grab her straight away, I try to access the situation first and just stand close by, but usually as soon as the other dog gets close to her Ruby jumps at it bares her teeth and growls or barks.
Everything I read tells me to try to ensure that the bad experiences are outweighed by good ones, but how?? She reacts before the other dog can even sniff her! Id love for her to have positive experiences with 'trusted' dogs, but how do I get her to make a start? We were asked to leave the training classes because her behaviour upset the other dogs and owners so much. How do I get Ruby to stop seeing other dogs as a threat and give them a chance?
The behaviourist we had round advised us to go top the classes which we did, after all the problems started she said she would call us and didnt, she even suggested getting Ruby put to sleep as an option!
I am thinking of seeing another behaviourist, David Appleby, who has been recommended to me, but it costs £75 plus vat for an hour appointment, and we have already spent so much money on classes and the other woman that Im fearful of spending more as we are not exactly rolling in money. Do you think I should give it a try?

Definately see David Appleby, I've heard very good reports on him! It may seem like a lot of money, but I'm sure it would be worth it. The last behaviourist sounds terrible!! To suggest putting your poor dog to sleep, when this problem can be sorted out with the right training, and plenty of commitment from you.
I wish I was a bit closer to you, to help you out!! I would suggest a very well socialised, calm dog, who can read Ruby's body language (It's amazing the ammount of dogs that "can't speak dog") to go for walks with. You'll find that normal training classes will be too much for Ruby, and it probably terrified her!! Don't push her into meeting other dogs, especially on lead, as dogs have no escape route, and will be more aggressive (fight or flight). Have you tried her in a combi-collar, I find they work very well, without being brutal like a choke chain. If she pulls you, stop, and take a few steps backwards, repeat this until she realises she's not going anywhere until she stops pulling. Tug of wars are not good for your dog or your shoulders (especially with a Staffie).
Good Luck,
Sarah.
P.S. Don't ever take food off your dog. A lot of dogs are very possesive about food. Would you like someone removing your dinner from you?

HI there

Sorry to hear you are still having problems with Ruby :(

I do think it would help if you had someone to help out with her training and the way she interracts with other dogs. There are different ways to go about helping dog aggressive dogs, but at the end of the day, it is an emotional reaction from Ruby and because of this,
you need to get to the root of the problem and this will require conditioning a competing emotional response in the presence of other dogs. I would certainly consider behavioural help at this point. I understand the person you mention is a very well respected behaviourist although I don't know anyone personally who has been to him.

Lots of luck

Lindsay

Edited to say: if you are insured, the cost of behavioural help may well be covered.

David Appleby certainly has a very good reputation, so a consultation with him would be very helpful. It might also be sensible to invest in a muzzle for her if you are going to have her near other dogs at the moment - just to be on the safe side. If it is suggested you use a "stooge" dog with her, she will most likely need to wear one anyway.
Hope you can get this sorted. Good luck.

Hi
When first reading your post I thought the dog aggression was just her being a staffy. I have got shot down for saying this before but I will say it again staffies ARE a breed that are known not to always be "dog friendly" Some of course are but personally I would alway advise staffy owners to take care around other dogs.
I do not agree with the idea of letting her run free with other dogs supervised or not. If she is showing signs of agression when you have control on the lead how the hell would you deal with her possibly attacking another dog whilst running free? :-(
Now for the hard hitting bit. You have mentioned people/ children aggression. This is NOT acceptable and is NOT how a staffie should be. You have children and if you were not close to hand and she did decide to bite a child your child could end up very seriously hurt and scarred for life. Staffies should love people regardless of their environment so I really do not think the holiday can be used as an excuse. Maybe if she felt you or your family were being threatened by a stranger it could justify a reaction but totally unprovocked aggression is NOT acceptable.
Firstly I think you should take her to the vets to make sure there is no underlying medical cause for her aggressivness. If not you could try a behaviourist, but personally if I was in your position and I was sure she was person or child aggressive then I would be considering other solutions :-(
It only takes one bad bite to scar a child for life and could you live with that guilt?
Sorry to sound so negative and I am sure some will agree and some disagree with what I have said but if there has been no provoked aggression then in my mind she is not a good representation of the breed.
Staffies get enough bad publicity please don't let her add to this. It is not normal for staffs to be like this with people and people witnessing this behaviour will only start to agree with Newspaper headlines they get such as "Devil Dogs" I am not talking abour experienced dog owners I am talking about Joe Public.
Sadly as with any breed there are dogs that seem to not follow the true characteristics of the breed :-(
Edit to add: If you had said the only sign of person aggression was over her bone then I would have agreed with the previous poster that no dog likes its food taken, even though they should not be aggressive and show there teeth. but if there are other signs then that should not be.

I do not agree with the idea of letting her run free with other dogs supervised or not. If she is showing signs of agression when you have control on the lead how the hell would you deal with her possibly attacking another dog whilst running free?

It sounds like she has become mistrusful of others dog after being frightened by one in training classes. My own experiences of this is it can make them either dog shy or dog agressive.
the point is no one knows if she is being aggressive/brave because of the security of the owner/lead, would she carry out the threat?

My bitch is a pain on the lead with other dogs when close, off the lead with the same dog she will go through the sniffs, posturing, warn off routine that dogs do to avoid conflict.
No one is talking about her "running free", I would expect the dogs to be introduced in a yard, garden not a park! If it does not go well, then pick her up quickly.
Like most dogs they are capable of everyday squabbles with out resorting to all out war?

Another point Helen, is she well bred, from a particular line/breeder or from unknown line/parents?

Hi Helen,

I have a 9 month old Staff.
I wonder has your bitch been this nervous from the beginning, or just since the accident at "puppy class"?

I'd take her to the vet and explain the situation throughly.

Also as previously asked is she from a particular line/breeder if so have you spoken to them? What was her dam like a nervous bitch? Has the breeder any other pups displaying the same signs?

Karen

That is a good point what lines is she from? Was it an experienced breeder you bought her from that would have known the soundness in both body and mind of their lines?
Sadly, as with any breed, people put any 2 dogs together to make puppies without any consideration of what the results will be :-(.

In all fairness you have staffies and you know how quick they can be. OK so you could probably pick them up quick in an enclosed space but one bite could rip an ear or take a chunk out of a face and that is without it being "all out war".
Surely it is better to be safe than sorry for the sake of an experiment :-(
Also bear in mind if the other dog retaliated in the process of picking them up someone could be hurt.