Hi please advice if you can i have a 9mnth old staffie bitch spayed she does everything my husband tells her to doesnt jump at his face or nip him etc but me and the kids can scream till we are blue in the face and she just barks at us i am getting down about it as i am the one who feeds walks and trains her i have done all puppy class and all of them right up to advanced obedience but with a treat in hand she will drop anything she is doing or get off when asked what i need reassuring of is she isnt a horrible dog she does seem to really go for me sometimes but her teeth do not push in to the skin its more of a fright which it is indeed as i worry one day she will put pressure on my skin why doesnt she listen to me she just barks back at me as if to say sod off you dont tell me what to do he does?B

Why do 'you and the kids' scream at her till you're blue in the face? And why be surprised if she joins in?

Maybe she is shocked at changing sex & breed & you suddenly having a husband & children after being a male bull terrier living on his own with you

By happygirlie Date 03.07.05 19:59 GMT Heloo champdogs as a new member i am unsure of how to go about posting a topic slightly so please bear with me. I am i need of some help if possible with regards to my little addition to the house. As i live alone i decided to buy a puppy to keep me company but having a few minor hiccups,firstly he keeps biting me i have took some advice from the perfect puppy book wich i bought three days ago which was to put him in a seprate position in the house for a while then to let him back in with me is this correct? Secondly toilet training he will go for a number 2 outside but for a strange reason won't wee outside any thoughts on that one would be most appreciated. A part from these minor set backs he is adorable aprt from when i have visitors he tends to bite them continously which i am doing my best to nip in the bud.   Anyway many thanks to you all in advance for any hints tips ect you can give as i am new to this

By happygirlie Date 09.07.05 12:28 GMT He is a bull terrier i was told not to overfeed him as puppies will just eat and eat until you stop feeding dont know if thats true just what i was told  thanks though for the info


He/she actually had a sex change operation in mid-post back in July, MM - well spotted :D :D

(See 'Always sick in the car' post )

Daisy

As I understand it, the OP was originally registered under a different user name and got off to, shall we say, a bad start.  Rather than simply change her user name with Admin (I don't think she was aware this was possible) she re-registered as "happygirlie" and probably "tweaked" some of the details of her dog through being self concious.  Which could happen to anyone I guess and was just an unfortunate set of circumstances at the time.

I believe she is married with young child(ren) and her young bitch is a SBT which has been a cause for concern since her arrival re. biting both Cheryl and the child(ren) and the kid(s) being inclined to over excite the pup by squealing and running off which prompted chasing and more inappropriate mouthing.

HTH to clear things up as I think this poster is quite genuinely in need of advice. 

regards Teri  :)

Well I apologise to the poster if this is the case - but as we get so many WUMs on here who post in a very similar manner, it's not difficult to confuse the two :(

Daisy

Hi Daisy - I know, it's gone crazy on here :rolleyes:   I dunno, turn you're back for a minute and it all goes hay-wire!  Easy to see why this thread looked that way ;)

regards Teri

Hi

Is your husband fairly aloof with the dog ? The reason I ask is that perhaps she sees him as the person (dog) in command, whilst you are 'just' the person who feeds, walks her etc.....We're having a similar problem with our 9 month bitch.

Hi Cheryl,

As has been pointed out by JG, "screaming until blue in the face" is likely to exacerbate the problem - although this may have just been a poor turn of phrase on your part ;)

You have chosen an exuberant, affectionate and naturally excitable breed and calmness IME is the key tool when trying to train her to perform or refrain from a behaviour.  Allowing the children to be involved in training her is not IMO advisable as from memory your child(ren) are quite young and excitable themselves so are more likely to perpetuate a problem than help resolve one.  The fact your bitch is better behaved around your husband suggests to me that perhaps he has a more laid back approach to her and she picks up on that vibe and so is accordingly more calm too.

Just because she has been neutered does not mean that she is as yet either physically or mentally mature - at 9 months she is very much a puppy and still needs a lot of patience and consistency when encouraging her to learn how best to behave.

Regards Teri :)

great to see you back on Teri..

speak later

Roni

LOL - only about in between the advert breaks :D  I'm a sad woman, sad :rolleyes:

Teri :P

In fact in my and many other peoples expereince early neutering actually delays/stops mental maturity, so she will be puppyish and exciteable for longer.

Good point B - it wont have helped :(

hi cheryl,
         we have a 10 month old staffie bitch, who, when reaching adolecence became rather challenging, all the advice given to me was that this was normal , not to be mistaken with acceptable, but to be worked with. staffies are not for the fainthearted.in my limited experience  staffies are very noise sensitive and when in a very noisy situation become confused and badly behaved.the calmer you all are the better. my staff needs kind though firm treatment. i tend to give her time out of any over excitable situation wether its the children being over exuberent or her . i do take her walking if she is ott , and i dont allow people to play games where she gets worked up. hope this is of help to you

Hi Teri

Good to see you again! :)

Lindsay
x

Waves to Lindsay :)  OH back to office, (at last!) and I don't do daytime TV so may just be around today  :D

:P

Good!

Lindsay
x

Hi Happygirlie,

I think it might be better if you could get someone in to help you (see www.apdt.co.uk for a trainer near you ) but from your post, it seems as if the dog is very normal. I find pups (and grown dogs too) will bark back and resist being told off - sometimes this can be because the dog is confused, the telling off is unfair (esp. if the dog has been wound up), cross body language from the owner and many other things too.

Remember too that telling off doesn't explain to the dog what you do want them to do - and it can be interpreted as a game.

A strong leader is calm and authoritative :P so if you find yourself wanting to scream at the dog, remember this will be totally counter productive.

I have a very strong belief that any dog who misbehaves is basically undertrained.

I appreciate knowing how to cope with training can be difficult though :D

So, what you may need to do is get training - perhaps get some help initially, so you can practise on your own. Do a small bit of training each day, and set small rules like "sit before the lead goes on" "sit and wait for your dinner" etc.

You must be totally consistent - as an example, for the last one - teach Sit first, ensure the dog will do it without titbits (you can post separately on this if needs be :P ) and then over time, teach Sit for dinner - I get my girl to Sit and not to move until i say, so the bowl is down and she is waiting for it...teaches self  control too... but must be fun for the dog, not a horrible thing to have to do. This will take some time to teach.

Over time, your dog will get used to obeying you over lots of little things and life will become so much easier. But you must be calm. I'd strongly suggest getting in some help to start with, it could be the turning point :)

You can walk around a supermarket any day of the week and be guaranteed to see a parent shouting their heads off at their children. Despite this, do these children behave or do what they are told? Er, no!

Dogs are just the same and need clear but calm instructions - just saying "No" eventually becomes meaningless if shouted often enough so you need a series of commands that identify the particular behaviour you want from your dog. 

Lindsay's advice is really good and I'd just emphasise that you shouldn't expect to correct every single behaviour that's currently driving you mad overnight. One small step at a time gets results much more quickly in the long run. But start by stopping the screaming!

Just to add, do train things with food rewards to start, but wean off this, and ask for two things or three things before giving the food reward, so eventually the dog will learn to do things without seeing the food literally in front of them :)