I have 2 staffies, 1 8yrs and 1 nearly 3yrs old.

This query is all about the 3yr old. He is incredibly giddy and highly strung. On Saturday I came home to find they had not been put in there cages and he had bitten my cat on the neck once. My dogs head and chest were absolutely covered in scratches and I have no idea what must have happened. The cat had always been a bit cheeky with him, clawing him when he was a pup, digging his claws in his cheek and chasing him upstairs scratching his legs etc..but we had always been there to see it and he never reacted badly. Is this play gone bad? or him finally getting his own back after 3yrs of torment? Or a battle to dominate??

Also, He has always had slight aggression towards other dogs, but only in certain situations.
If he is in the car or the house and he see's a dog he doesnt bother, nor when he is OFF the lead.

If I take him out alone, he doesnt bother with other dogs, but if i take him out with my older dog, his reaction to other dogs coming within 10 feet of us is scary. He barks, yelps and sometimes full-on grizzly growls...he also lunges to the end of the lead.
I have tried ignoring the other dog and not tightening my lead (so he doesnt sense my tension) I also calmly say "no" and "leave" (taught in dog training a while back) on the rare occasions when he doesnt react i praise him, But dont punish him as such when he does react as i think i was told he would then associate aggression with other dogs with upset???  Is his aggression a protective instinct? If so, why does he not react off the lead or when he is alone?
I have been told that he may be trying to "test" who is the dominent person in our household...therefore we have become really strict with him to try and re-establish the ground rules.
I know he sounds like a terror but he is an absolute darling of a dog and i want to do everything in my power to iron out the "kinks" in his training. Does anyone have any advice...please?

I would find yourself a good behaviourist - http://www.apdt.co.uk/ - as it's both difficult and not sensible for anyone to properly diagnose him on here.  You need an experience dog behaviourist - with good knowledge of body language/communication (as aggression can be fear based and it's not always easy to tell) - to watch him "in action" and then advise you how to continue.  Whoever told you aggression is associated with the other dog is correct - it's a very, very bad idea to fight fire with fire in these situations.

One thing I will say is carefully consider the cat situation - you need to be absolutely certain that the dogs are being cages when you're out, or that the cat is shut in another room so the dogs can't reach it if someone forgets to cage them.  IMO you were lucky the dog stopped at the one bite, especially after what seems - on the surface at least - to be 3 years of dislike from the cat's side at least.  Personally I'd keep them separate at all times - I had to when I still had cats as they despised my dobe but wouldn't defend themselves, I lived for 3 years with the cats behind a stairgate upstairs.  It's just not worth the risk, considering what your staff could do to a cat if he really had had enough.

Good luck, once you've found someone who knows what they're doing - and who won't use any form of punishment or spout misleading theories on his being "dominant" - let us know how he gets on.

Thanks for your advice. Just one thing though...the dog did only bite once but it was enough to do enough damage and unfortunately he did pass away. This is why I am craving any advice possible as I am determined to ensure nothing happens again.
There is one problem I face at the moment regarding a behaviourist...i also have a horse that i have to go see before and after work so i dont get in til 8pm earliest really so trying to find the time is an issue. I suppose it is something i will have to work around to enable any progress. They come to work with me in the day and are at home with there dad in the evening while im at the stables so are rarely left on there own, this was a genuine "freak" accident that will never happen again.

i have seen a dog do this to a cat- they hold the cats head/neck in its mouth whilst biting. and the cat will use all its strength to scratch and jump around to get away, that is how the dog got all the scratching in that area. in that incident the dog actually bit the poor cats head off, and this also was a staff. im sorry your cat died x

goodluck with the dog

Oh no, I'm so sorry :( I feel horrible now I've whinged at you.  I would think a reputable behaviourist should be able to set up a weekend appointment if needs be, obviously that's down to the individual though.

Sorry again about your poor cat. -X-

It's ok, I didn't mention it to start with as everyone i tell seems to automatically see my dog as a blood sucking viscious killer...which i know he isn't and there is more to it than that. I have read a few articles in the last couple of days about aggression towards other dogs / animals, and it has made me feel a bit better as i really did think this was a rare thing to happen. I find a little comfort knowing now how common a thing it can be. It doesnt bring my cat back but it certainly helps me see the reasoning behind why he did it. All i can do now is learn to manage his aggression i guess...i'm  quite optimistic as he is a fairly low maintenance dog 90% of the time, so i just have the short temper to try and deal with.

Thanks for all your advice up to now x

Of course he isn't - all the staffs I've known bar one have been lovely, gentle dogs.  Any dog has the potential to do damage - whether they do or not is determined largely by how they're raised, and you clearly want to do right by him.

As I said, if you can get an experienced professional to see him in action they should be able to identify specific triggers and a program of training to work through it - if it helps, I'm going through a very similar thing with one of my dobes at the moment.  She's mildly fear aggressive to other dogs as she doesn't understand them (lack or early socialisation) - but she is making great progress.  It can be done!  The last dog I walked with the same problem also improved when I worked with her with a slightly different approach - and on lead, she would have seriously injured another dog if it got close enough.  It's a case of fitting the training to the situation, but you do need that expertise on hand to advise you what training is needed.  It may take a long time but perserverance is the key.  Expect the odd setback - the bane of my life at the moment is out of control dogs running straight up to my dobe - but stick with whatever you're advised and hopefully things will get better.  Good luck with him!

Hi

So sorry this happened to your poor cat - and you - you must be terribly upset. I have a feeling you will never know what happened between your cat and Staffie. It might well have been a 2 way thing with all  the scratches and everything. It could well have been playing that went wrong. Staffies are powerful dogs and it wouldnt take much.

I agree with others that you should consult a professional. If you dont have much time why not try the breeder or see if you can get some telephone advice from a behaviouralist? :) He is young enough to be able to sort it out so it is important that you try and see if you can speak with someone :)

With the agression on the lead, from what I hear this is quite common. Lots of dogs feel threatened when another dog approaches as they cant get away so they do the only thing then can which is to snarl and bark. How well socialised was/is he with other dogs, does he have doggie friends? How is he with your other dog?

Good Luck with it all and keep us updated with his progress.

Thanks everyone!
When he was a puppy, we did dog training classes purely to socialise him. He has always been well trained in the "sit, stay, leave, play dead" sense as i spend a lot of time playing and interacting with both dogs!! Unfortunately, the class seemed a bit of a farse as there was no real structure or personal attention, and nearly every week ended up in chaos with boxers and bulldogs running riot...this did always trigger a slight reaction from my pup as it overwhelmed him, i can't help but think this was a contributing factor. We gave it up and figured we would socialise him ourselves.
I struggle to understand his motive as some dogs, he doesnt bother with at all. One example:

The place we send him to when we go on holiday, it is a couple that have a windmill and a huge garden and 2 other dogs. When i went for his "interview" there was, in total 1 Rhodesian ridgeback, 1 lab, and 3 smallish dogs he was looking after that week...Ardie had an ABSOLUTE blast running round the garden with them all (took particular shine to the ridgeback) they were all barking at him, chasing him...something i got on the edge of my seat about but he never so much as yapped????

We looked after a friends collie cross for a week...in OUR house (ardies territory) no bother at all.

My mum brings her dog in to work and he stays downstairs in my office with my 2 all day...they play, but never a nip or fight.

He absolutely adores my other dog and isn't happy sleeping if he is not at least 90% led on him!! But in certain circumstances, they do get in scuffles...not many though. It tends to be when they run on the beach with no ball? He will just floor my older dog and they roll around til i split them up (touch wood they've never done damage to each other - which i'm sure they would if they meant it!) If Ardie has a ball...no problem!!

He is a complicated one, but still makes it easy for you to love him :rolleyes:

Have you ever noticed a trend with the dogs he has problems with?  Some dogs can have breed-specific issues, and a lot of dogs have problems with all-black dogs (not so easy to read) or dogs such as boxers and akitas (very 'forward' stance due to body type).  Previous experiences as well as physical type can lead to this - my male dobe dislikes boxers due to a scuffle with an uncontrolled young male a year ago, and the female (the one I'm working with on her fear aggression) has taken a particular dislike to weimeraners and yorkies - on the second walk I took her for, she kicked off at a weim and it kicked off right back, the same thing happened with a yorkie and she's not forgotten it.

I suspect from what you describe that the classes may have been a factor in his current problems - badly run classes can cause more problems than they aim to solve.

To be honest I haven't noticed a specific trend. We went to the lakes this weekend and he objected to a couple of big long haired dogs (looked like a bigger hairier version of a german pointer) but they were aggressive towards him, bearing there teeth and barking, a little wire haired terrier that was off the lead and yapping around him - about 30cm away so he did well not to try and bite, i had to put my foot in front of the terrier cause it wouldnt back off...and the worst of all was a jack russell which started yapping at him...that COMPLETELY wound him up and he ended up nipping my leg by accident when i pulled him back and set of walking. He completely ignored 1 lab 2 mix breeds and 2 collies...although none of these showed an interest in him. I suppose he reacts badly to the ones he feels threatened by...which in a way is a relief that it is not just all dogs in general. Me and my mum did do a little experiment...when we saw the 2 collies coming she took my older dog and dropped back a fair way, and ardie didnt react the them...my mum brought my other dog closer but still behind slightly and this is when he was trying to go for the jack russell that was yapping.
Are there any BASIC things i should be practising when out? i.e saying "no" and "leave" when he see's a dog then praise him for no reaction? or is there a more effective way like maybe turn the opposite way when he reacts, then turn back round? Sure i've seen that somewhere...or is that what you do when they pull on the lead?

Interesting the reaction you just described.  I was going to mention it because I have seen it with my own dogs.  My Juvenile bitch has started to push her luck with the other bitches and her mother has stopped putting her in her place but the smaller dogs stand their ground.  Mother was always top bitch.  That aside as I posted before her behaviour when out walking changed suddenly from very good to totally manic somewhere around 9 to 10 months and walking with her and the other dogs on lead became very difficult.  She would climb over them to get to passing dogs and bark also trying to swing around to get to the passing dog as we walked on.  As a temporary measure, while I am working hard on one to one lead training, I put her on a brace lead with her dad, who is a lot heavier than her and relatively steady, this stopped her lunging but is only a mechanical barrier the desire to get to the other dog is still there.

Out walking on her own she is a different dog.  She very rarely gives passing dogs a second look but keeps close to my side head respectfully down and does not round on them as we walk by, except for JR's who they have all had problems with as puppies.

I noted what another breeder said to me about her dogs that it was always the more nervous of her dogs that ran at the gate when strangers approached and likewise barked and tried to get to other dogs when walking.  She felt that the lower the status in the group the more likely it was that the dog would go out and put its neck on the line and if not successful at repelling unwanted advances the others would try to join in.

Other than walking separately I don't know the answer and a Behaviourist if definitely the best way to go.