Please please can anyone offer any advice. I have a five year old staffie who i have had since a pup who has begun weeing up my sofa, growling and howling when we are out. We have an akita aswell, same age and they've been together since pups. I have a one year old little girl and he does seem to have started since she started crawling etc, im not sure whether its a dominance thing or not. I would be grateful of any advice as my house is beginning to smell and i am worried that he may snap at my baby, although he has been fantastic with her, it just seems to be me and my partner hes off with.

Any sudden change in behaviour should always be checked out for medical causes by a vet - to eliminate any physical cause.  Could be something as simple as a UTI ;)

The first staff I owned was simialr.  She was okay with my children but as soon as my sone was able to walk/crawl she got very offish with me and my husband.  She used to get very vocal shall we say when either myself or my husband went to pick him up or play with him.  My old vet said that it was probably just protecting the child as staffies are known to be very protective of children.  My bitch used to come tearing into the house if she heared one of my children cry and as soon as she saw that they were okay she would go back to her bed.

I would take your staffie to the vets just in case there is something else wrong though.