13wk Sbt Girl With An Attitude Problem!

[poodlefan]

I keep Monte on her toes like this as well. She does it... most of the time

All these posts are great and I think I get the underlined message: PATIENCE & CONSISTENCY!

Thanks!

Don't forget RELAX and HAVE FUN WITH YOUR PUP. They grow up so fast.

[Tassie]

at Poodlefan and her crew. Actually, evening time was zoomies time for rory when he was younger - still is a bit.

lindiadosa - I would agree with the suggestions about having several short training sessions a day with your baby - they needn't all even be 5 minutes - just a couple of minutes is good.

And calmness on your part - and (very brief) time-outs for the pup if she is OTT.

Don't know if you've come across this site in your research - the After you get your puppy - free download - ahs some good ideas.

link

[Cosmolo]

Great ideas from the other posters. Just one other thing to consider- if you are starting puppy school in a week or two, why not give the trainer a call now and see if they can give you a little bit of basic advice beforehand?

[luvsdogs]

at Poodlefan and her crew. Actually, evening time was zoomies time for rory when he was younger - still is a bit.

lindiadosa - I would agree with the suggestions about having several short training sessions a day with your baby - they needn't all even be 5 minutes - just a couple of minutes is good.

And calmness on your part - and (very brief) time-outs for the pup if she is OTT.

Don't know if you've come across this site in your research - the After you get your puppy - free download - ahs some good ideas.

link

This is my favourite site for anything pup/dog. There's also Before You Get Your Puppy which takes you through to the 1st weeks at home for a new puppy.

If you get a chance to read both books, reasonably easy reading, then you can use the search engine for any other questions you have.

[huski]

Sounds like typical puppy zoomies

My dogs still get the crazy in them and they are all over three years of age!

I use the energy to play games and do some fun training, to help teach focus and control.

[Danois]

Not sure if it has been mentioned but a dog (especially at that age) does not know what having a finger pointed at it means - looks like you are holding something out to them.

You would be better with a strong, short, sharp UGH vocal sound.

[luvsdogs]

Read up on Nothing In Life Is Free. Basically the dog must 'sit' b4 everything. Sit means 'please'. Standing over a puppy/dog is a threat, so is staring into their eyes. Teach 'watch' with a happy face.

[TYLER23]

welcome to the wonderful world of owning a Stafford with a bit of get up and go and some personality.

These are the bright puppies, they are the playfull one's , full of drive and they are also the easiest to teach

When you bring your pup inside, arm yourself with a handfull of treats, as it's the ideal time to do some basic obedience or teach a new trick. Your puppy is full of energy , so put that energy to good use. You can pop a light leash on, to prevent the jumping on the furniture etc. You will find that after 5 minutes of some training, you're pup will be ready to settle down.

SBT123 is spot on! We have a 12 week old Stafford who is an absolute nutter... he goes bananas at approx 9pm every night and runs around the room non-stop smashing into everything in sight... best to stay out of his way. He too was VERY nippy, but after getting some good advice from puppy school and some very knowledgeable folk on this site, he is really starting to settle down and has developed a nice soft mouth. We are now working on stopping it all together.

I always have treats in my pocket, and randomly ask him to sit, stay, drop and roll at different times throughout the day. The most important thing we found to teach the pup is the "leave it" command. He has started to catch onto the idea, and i can now ask him to leave an object he has in his mouth (usually the kid's socks) and more often than not, he'll let it go and i swap it for a treat.

Hang in there, it does take time, for the first two weeks we saw very little progress, however this last week has seen him take big steps in the right direction.

[peibe]

At my place, I've been known to initiate the zoomies by pretending to be a scary monster and "chasing" the dogs around the house.

This game is played with much glee by my tribe. The main chasee gets chased by the other dogs and we all hide and ambush each other.

My "look like a complete idiot" capacity is clearly high.

Glad I am not the only nutter and do this aswell

I would also say, before you bring your pup in have some playtime and training outside

Work her mind and as long as it is an hour after she has had dinner, work her body aswell

Play chasy, tug (but make sure you win) fetch, do some basic training, so when you bring her in she is tired

[ellz]

Paying her attention, even chastising her when she is being vocal or over-the-top is also reinforcing the negative behaviour.

If she is chewing something she shouldn't be doing, take it away and replace it with something she is allowed to chew.

If she is barking at you, ignore her, even if you have to walk away from her. If you make any response, including telling her no, you are giving her the attention she is seeking and she will quickly learn that she only has to bark for you to respond. Or alternatively, if she won't be quiet no matter what, use reverse psychology and teach her how to "speak" on command. Believe it or not, that works to help shut them up when they shouldn't be talking too!

And yes, some Staffords are just talkers. My 2yo bitch is a mouthy tart. Very opinionated and lets you know promptly when she has something to say about a subject.

They can also sound like they're killing something when in fact it's just good old-fashioned play. I remember a few years back, I had a litter in the puppy pen and a friend who breeds Collies came around for a "girls' night in". It was getting close to sleep time for the puppies and they were having their last play and were going at it like a pen full of Tasmanian Devils (and that's what they sound like too!). My friend was getting very concerned at the noises and asked was I REALLY going to let them kill each other like that. She had to watch them for herself for ages to be satisfied that it was in fact very energetic play with very little actual "puff" behind the "blow" before she would relax!

[WreckitWhippet]

If you have one that does like to bark a lot and back chat, teach your pup to talk to you. We've got a couple that are quite mouthy when they want to be. I've taught them the "quiet" command and also "speak to me " or " what are you doing ? tell me ? "

[SoL]

Sounds like you've got a normal Stafford pup to me who has a bit of pep :p

Consistent training and perseverence with basic manners will turn her into one of the most loving friends you could hope for.

[lindadiosa]

If you have one that does like to bark a lot and back chat, teach your pup to talk to you. We've got a couple that are quite mouthy when they want to be. I've taught them the "quiet" command and also "speak to me " or " what are you doing ? tell me ? "

Few posts have mentioned this!

Am I giving her a treat when she speaks therefore rewarding it or am I praising? How do you guys teach the 'speak' and 'quiet' or 'shoosh' commands? :p

Another one really difficult so far is 'drop' or 'lie down' she refuses to do it all the way and show her tummy to me. ;)

BTW, last night there was no tantrum, I gave her, her kong toys while cooking dinner and she was happy to just lay there and wrestle with it

:p

[Clyde]

If you have one that does like to bark a lot and back chat, teach your pup to talk to you. We've got a couple that are quite mouthy when they want to be. I've taught them the "quiet" command and also "speak to me " or " what are you doing ? tell me ? "

That's exactly how I taught Esme to Speak. She bitches and moans a lot still, but I have noticed since she has learnt the Speak command she doesn't bark at me so much.

[corvus]

Quiet on command was one of the first things Erik learnt! I can't remember how I taught it, now. I was going to teach him to bark on command by treating when he did it, then once he's barking reliably, add a cue and stop rewarding unless he barks when you have asked for it. I think I deviated from my plan, though, as I seem to remember Erik was very quick and tended to shut up when I asked him to sit. So I asked him to sit, then dived in with "shhh" and rewarded. Or something like that. Erik likes the sound of his own voice, so we rarely ask for quiet unless we can reward it pretty big at the moment. In the meantime, we ask for a sit or just call him over. As it turns out, a lot of things distract him from barking for a few seconds, and once you ask him to do something else, you've interrupted his barking momentum.

Having said that, there are times when he's just too excited/agitated to control himself and that's not his fault. I would like to say I ignore him when he gets like this, and I would say most of the time he settles down on his own, but every now and then it goes on and on and something has to be done for the sake of our eardrums. He's just barking because he wants someone to interact with him. Now.

[luvsdogs]

I would say try to teach bark on command 1st. While he's barking at you do the hand signal to speak, fingers splayed out in his face. Once he gets the hang of that you can teach shush. While he's barking, hold a treat at his nose & when he sniffs at it say shush & hold your finger to your mouth.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/woofshush

Edited October 15, 2009 by luvsdogs

[lindadiosa]

:D for the links!

Loving all the information

Going home to put in practice!! ;)

[J.H.M]

sounds abit like my little girl jessie when she was around the same age. I used to try the turn you back on her trick when she was mucking up and nipping,jumping etc. All she used to do was jump up and nip me on the ass :D. She calmed down though.... eventually. And the payoff is that when they get out of the little bugger stage they are awesome dogs

Jess is vocal where she wants to let you know that she is ready for a walk,play and all my other staffords have been the same its fun to have a chat to them and they talk back.

One thing with making jessie drop ,i found worked was to have her on the lead and guide her down with the treat under her nose from a sit and when she is laying step on the lead so she cant get up, only took a few times and she worked it out. They are pretty smart cookies when they want to be.

[percyk]

my friend had issues with a pup she bought

a greyhound cross

it was fine but around 12 weeks started dominating her

not taking no for an answer

she rang a behaviourist and was given a plan

it has worked and i have witnessed the training she does and the change inthe dog

first

she took the dog off her bed and started crating it at night in the bedroom

no more privileges

any growling on the couch would be met with a firm hauling off the lounge and restricted to the outside

lots and lots of walks on lead with food reinforcement helped with establishing a good relationship

for a dog who rarely has eye contact this is really good

the thing that really made a difference was the feeding time

my friend trained the dog at 7months to lie down and wait for the food keeping eye contact all the time and ignoring the food til a signal was given

the dog now goes to lie down without any signal and waits patiently

i do this with my dogs too

she continually touched the food and would pick it up and pretend to feed from it

then reward the dog with chicken

recall was worked on continually

again with chicken

this is a typical grey in this respect and she has done wonders cos for the most he will come running even when on a beach

now as for the inside

he wouldnt settle either

so shed feed him then tether him to a heavy couch which became his couch but she would sit close and groom him or do his nails or stroke him for a bit and then reward him if he didnt growl

the change is amazing

the behaviourist said she had to get going on this training because the dominance could lead to aggression in his case if allowed to go on

the dog is now 16mths and it hasnt been easy but the rewards are great

she is now working on getting him to totally ignore other dogs when on a lead

hes not aggressive but cos of his size she wants him to walk past dogs without getting out of heeling

again food works a treat

she gets him to watch her by putting the food next to her face and only rewarding him when hes watching her

hes becoming far more focussed

i saw them during the week and the way hes changed particularly in his bond with her is wonderful

even if your dog is different id still be doing the tethering the walking the feeding routine

and ignoring any invitation to play until you decide its ok

be the boss

kind and firm but all on your own terms and the dog will give you the respect

good luck

[sas]

Hi Guys!

Well maybe I'm being over dramatising the whole thing like my OH says but I think Monte is developing an attitude I dont like!

It usually happens in the evening after she has been fed and we all want some quite time.

We bring her in and immediately she starts running around the house all frantic and out of control, which we ignore. (try!! ;) )

She then escalates this and runs to me or my husband, mainly me, and starts the nipping and mouthing at my feet, I ignore this until it gets too much and I point my finger at her looking into her eyes wtih no sound. This she clearly hates cos the barking begins and the running gets faster and then the growling starts!!

Once I'm pointing my finger at her and she does all this, it looks as if she wants to bite my finger off cos she tries to jump up to nip it!. Im not showing fear though cos Im still standing over her doing this but twice I've just had enough and start chasing her around the house to grab her and carry her out of the house and I've left her there for awhile.

I find my voice starts to get loud and loud so I've chosen to just give her the look with no sound. Is this ok?

Once she comes in after these 'episodes' she is calmer and goes straight to her bed. But why did she do it in the first place?

I find something also that triggers all this is when we are watching TV and she wants to be patted. Our hands are either covered with a blanket or cushion and she can't see them. The tantrums begin.

Puppy school begins next week but any insight will be appreciated!!

Why ignore the nutty behaviour? Let pup know what behaviour you find acceptable in the house. Use a crate for quite time but not for punishment.

After the 'episodes' she has expelled her mental energy - so you like to do mini 2-5 minute training sessions after dinner to drain the mental energy.

Pup is pushing boundaries, it's normal - get together as a family and discuss what the rules will be and stick to them