Hi.  We have a 5 year old staffie who is typical of the breed, mischevious and strong willed. We hired a dog trainer to come to our home and accompany us on walks when she was around a year old, he used clicker training techniques which was good and we continued to use it but at times she still develops selective hearing.  She is not particularly unruly, we do have control over her 99% of the time but there are times when she becomes distracted and will not listen.  We have never been able to let her off the lead because she will be fine for very long periods and do as she's told but then out of the blue she decides to go and make friends with other people (not funny seeing a fully grown staff running at 30 mph towards you with it's mouth open!!)  I would love nothing more than to be able to let her run freely and have tried all the usual recall advice but when something has attracted her attention nothing will stop her.  Do you think it would be beneficial to take her to obediance classes (or similar) or is a case of 'can't teach a old dog new tricks', any advice appreciated.

A dog is never too old to learn something new - my last two passed over the bridge aged 15 & 17, and were still learning up until the end.........

However, you should remember that if this behaviour has been ongoing for 5 years, it's not just a matter of learning something new, she has to unlearn what she has already learnt - that she doesn't have to do what you say 100% of the time ;)

Thanks Digger, at least there's hope!  I am sure it won't be plain sailing undoing 5 years of stubborness but hopefully I'll get there :)