hi all i got a 11 month old irish staffy called kahn, he is total pain all he does is chew start fights very anti-social dog, rips the place to shreds will NEVER listen, i am at my witts end with him i cant stand the thought of telling him off but i do i dont want to smack him but i do..
i feel i neglect my animals if i give him a slap for being naughty, all he seems to be at the moment is on his punishment in the hallway.
he has cost us so much money with having to replce things...
can anybody help me please.
here is my e-mail if you can bex_white@hotmail.co.uk

THNKS

Was he taken to socialisation classes when he was younger?  He sounds like a dog whose rather bored and needs more mental stimulation.  You could try a Kong stuffed with some of his normal meal.  There really is no point in smacking him, as he won't understand why, and you could be breaking down what is left of any respect or bond he has with you.

he has never really bonded with kme we tried kongs he has never been interested, we tried bones toys food eerything. we never took him to puppy classes as he was doing well with out them but i am really wishing i did.
i know there is no use in hitting him believe me i dont want to i love him alot but i just wish i could have a house as clean as i left it wen i get home from work...
my other staffy molly has never done any thing like that, i sometimes wish i never brought him, my mum is watching him for a couple of weeks next week to give me a break.

Try reading a few dog books on behaviour and training so you understand a bit more why dogs do things :)
It can help to understand this and it makes it all seem so much less personal.

I'd recommend John Fisher's "Why does my dog...?" for starters, bearing in mind it was written nearly a decade ago, but it's great for getting into the canine mind.

Maybe also consider a good reward based training class, he might enjoy something like clicker training.

Lindsay
x

thanks lindsey for the advice, but i think the damage is beyonde repair now so i think he is destend to be a little git all his life
i got a book rom the shop the other day and it doesnt seem to be working at all he just walks away. he is driving me around the bend and i got to leave him tomorrow to go to work so i know i will come back to no house...

you shouldnt have a young dog if you are not at home all day with him! have you crate trained him? if not you need baby gates to confine him to one place so he cant wreck the house

If he could talk he'd probably say something similar about you as you do about him. "She's never bonded with me, she's forever aggressive/angry with me and she doesn't take the blindest bit of notice of me when I try to tell her how I'm feeling by eating the house because I'm bored/lonely/anxious." I really feel sorry you both as this isn't how a dog/owner relationship should be.

Just remember it's taken him a while to get like he is and you're not going to fix it overnight. Do you work full time? I know you have another dog but it's asking an awful lot of a boistersous 'teenage' dog not to get into mischief if he's left for a long time. I'm not one for being anthropomorphic as dogs don't think like people do, but you really need to be able to understand why he's behaving like he is.

I don't think I've ever said this to anybody before, but I think a good behaviourist might be the answer. They'll be able to see where things are going wrong and put you on the right track a lot faster than any of us can here with just words.

Try to dog proof one room and leave him there, don't give him the run of the house while you are out. Then at least it'll only be one room at the worst destroyed. Keep trying with the toys and chews to try and keep him occupied, and do some training with him while you are at home to keep his brain working. I agree with the advice to read dog behaviour books and consult a behaviourist. And don't despair and say he will be bad all his life - at only 11 months there is LOTS of time to turn him around! :-)

from wut u've said it just seems like a lack of training , socialization and respect for you. First off get him to training class before you try to bond with him..

My daughter had a lovely pup the same breed as yours. So loving and cute. She destroyed the house, chewing through doors, floors and anything atall. She confined her to one room (the kitchen) when at work, the kitchen was just destroyed, kitchen cabinets and everything. She was a nurse and worked shift paterns and so did her husband so was never left for more than 3-4 hours at a time. She like you came to the end of her tether and reluctantly re-homed her with a stay at home friend. What a difference, she became calmer and all destroying stopped. I do believe that this breed can't be left alone as a pup, they find it too distressing to be parted from Mum.  

My friend has a staffy and the only way they can leave him for any length of time [they cant even leave him alone while they go to other rooms in the house without him getting into mischief] is to use a crate.  Im not a great crate fan but I do think they have their uses and it sounds like this little chap might benefit from one.

At 11 months yours is still just a baby. He is just looking for something to play with and amuse himself as even minutes to a young dog can seem like hours. 

Good luck

Neeva

Training IS when you bond with your dog. :)

Rome wasnt built in a day................People are trying to give you advice and you just say its too late for anything to work. What do you want to do then? Either take the advice and go to training classes or rehome him. Doing nothing is the worst option.

You sound really down about this.  You have been given lots of advice, but remember dogs don't read books (it's probably just as well really, considering how well they train us sometimes ;))  It's taken a long time for him to learn this sort of behaviour, so it's not going to be sorted in a day or two, and it will take some effort from you to solve his need to do this and not just stop him doing one thing, only to turn to another.....  Very often, simply ignoring a behaviour is the best way to go, but it may well temporarily appear to make things worse before they get better, which is when a lot of people say 'this isn't working, it's made him worse' and give up! :(