RUNNING OFF TO OTHER DOGS !!

Hi all I have a new member of the family a 3yr old staffy boy called Khan, he is a lovely natured dog and fantastic with my 20mth old son, the only problem I have is when I let him off his lead and he sees sight of another dog he is off like a shot 100 mile an hour !! when he approaches the dog I have not seen him show any aggresion although his tail is always up and wagging, Khan is a very big built staffy with a big bully head so when people see he coming they must think "YIKES whats he going to do", I have avoided letting him off the lead if other dogs are around but even if he sees a dog in the distance far away he will be off ! I am guessing its been poor training , I was quite shocked when i drove in to the street where i got him from to find the living conditions were not the greatest , you could say I kind of rescued him. I have arrangred to get him neutured on thursday, do you think this will help ?? he is also getting chipped too. I was in a situation today where he did this and the owner of the dog had a 7yr old child with her , the child started to scream as Khan approached him, he got such a fright , Khan was just sniffing this dog but I felt terrible for Khan scaring this child so much, all I could do was apologise, she was ok, BUT it could be that if Khan runs off to a dog thats not friendly he could be in trouble, so unless I am toatally sure no dogs are around he will have be kept leashed ! Suzanne

when did you get khan?

my sam run straight to other dog they could be the other side of the field lmao i got him an 10m long lead so he get some freedom away from me lol i think getting him neutured will help abit

Its very early days only had him since last sunday , he is very obiedient listens to commands etc I just need to crack this problem , he pulls a bit on the lead too but seems to be getting a little better the more he is getting used to my voice . fingers x'd , cheers

i think he will get better the more you take him out 2/3 walk an day will do him an world of good there an saying an tired dog is an good boy

oooooooo goodie !! he is getting 3 walks a day i notice the more tired he gets the less he pulls , when he does pull i tell him heel ! he does look at me as if he is listening (hope he is ) OK then time will tell i will be patient and work with him , thanks guys .. Suzy

Hi, I've got an 11 month old staffy boy who looks just like your Khan. He does the same thing with other dogs and completely ignores me and runs off to them wanting to play. This is all well and good for him to have fun, but he does get a bit rough and tumble with some dogs and I don't want other dog owners getting rather hacked off with me and my Dizzy coz of this.

As you say, some people freak when they see a staffy coming towards them especially the big built ones, although the worst my Dizzy would do is lick them to death!

He was better behaved when I first got him (2 months ago) and since he has found his feet he will get very naughty if he is off the lead and sees other dogs. I have gone back to keeping him on a flexi lead until I can get him to come to me when around other dogs. We are starting training classes next week in the hope that this helps with other dogs around.

My staffy was neutered at 7 months old but I think it still will take time for him to calm down.

Would be good to hear how you are getting on.

Lis

Neutering may or may not help. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, try working on the recall and the command 'stay'. Try making him stay on the lead first - let him stand comfortably, then say 'stay' and put your hand in front of his face (a couple of feet away), palm towards him, and repeat the command several times. If he moves, don't tell him off, just circle him round so he's back in the same position & try again. When he gets it, quiet praise & a treat. Once he's doing it right every time, you can tell him to stay & walk to the end of the lead. Turn & face him, if he moves, go back & try again. If he stays, walk calmly back & give him quiet praise & a treat. Always return to him to give him praise & treat as you don't want him anticipating the treat! Eventually you should be able to let him off the lead to do this & then gradually build up the distance you go from him. Once he will stay put off the lead, try calling 'stay' when he's walking along off lead. He should (hopefully ) stop where he is & wait for you. After that, you can try shouting 'stay' when he's quite a bit away from you. Hopefully, he'll stop. If at any time he doesn't do what you've asked, go back to the stage before that & begin again. Always end with something he can do.

As already said neturing may or may not help, not wanting to disapoint or anything but it actuallt made my Ty worse if anything!!! lol
Get a long training lead and lots of smelly cheese.....try to go somewhere quiet with no dogs first and practice practice practise! Everytime u call him and he comes back lots of praise and a bit of cheese. Even if its taken him 10mins to listen and come back still lots of praise and treat never get mad (or let him see it anyway lol) u always want him to associate coming back 2 u with something good! As he gets good at this try it with another dog maybe at the other end of the field etc......when u call him if he's not listening turn and run in the opposite direction shout his name wave ur arms just look as mad as possible and trust me he will wonder what the hell ur doing and WILL follow u...then praise and treat. Gradually build this up with more dogs and closer dogs. It may be that 2 be fair he will always have to be either taken out on a training lead or only be let off when no other dogs are around but this method will work if any will at all! Like u said although u no that he wont bite etc its very intimadating having a staff run full pelt at u....and u never no another dog he runs up 2 may be on lead or whatever as it is aggressive and u will be the one in the wrong if ur little one will be the one in the wrong if he provoks anything etc. I no what ur going through as my Ty is a rescue and even after going through all his training i still can only let him off if no other dogs are around :-( lol Unless ur dog has spot on recall keeping them under ur control is really the safest thing for ur dog is my opionion xx

Firstly Lis great to hear from you and your similar situation , Khan was nuetered 2 wks ago so very early days , and like the above have said it doesnt always work , i have met other dog owners who have said the same but if i didnt do it i wud never know , as of the training he is LUCKILY good on the commands I have been doing some field work he does sit and stay until i say come , if he is a distance away he does come back soon as i call him and sits and waits for his treat , just so happens if he was to see a dog in corner of his eye thats it off like a shot !! BUT if i keep shouting he will EVENTUALLY come back after the sniff and carry on with the other dog . I might consider dog classes too , it will be very hard work as he is a VERY strong large staffy , if i stop to talk to dog owners when i am out Khan sometimes barks constantly at the other dog whats all that about ? I am currently reading the book the dog whisperer to get any hints and tips !! thanks everyone for your replies x

Oh forgot to mention folks when i got Khan 3 weeks ago the owners told me he was 20 month old , when i took him to get nuetered i was going to get him chipped until they told me he wasalready done, he is infact 3yr old not 20month , arent some people crazy why lie about his age , poor Khan has now had 3 homes since a pup , !!

that the world today most people ie for some dodgy reason

Yeh its crazy they lied about his age they lied saying they had him since a pup and they lied that he was perfect with other dogs , he was chipped in someone elses name luckily not reported lost or stolen they were just not interested in folking out 15 pounds to change ownership !! he also has a slight broken tail they told me mum did it to him as a pup ? more like he had a kicking up the bum !! they aint owned him since a pup ... however he has me for the rest of his life now so back to school we go !!

well its good to know he now has a forever home and what is the point of lying about his age some people

ps it nice to get members from my neck of the woods

aWW your pup is Gorgeous !

thank you, yours is not ugly himself hes a belter

Hi again, I've figured out how to add a photo now. I don't understand why some people lie either. Maybe coz they want to get rid of the poor dog quickly they lie about certain things, but I really don't understand why they lied about his age? The family I got Dizzy from told me he was fine in the car and he is far from it, he gets very car sick even on short journeys. Also I asked if he chews when left alone and they said he was fine. I have since found out out that is not the case at all and he will happily munch his way thru anything that looks fun to chew... like my stair carpet and the kitchen wall lol!! That said he is still very young and regardless of the hundreds of chews/toys/bones he has in his toy box...staffies do love to chew

Blue hasn't done the chewing thing thank god.....but he goes into my youngest daughters room and get her 30 teddies and puts them on the landing.
Sometimes I come home from work it looks like he has organised a line up

Ha ha ha...that is funny! Wish Dizzy would stop at that. For him soft toys mean let's rip them up into a million pieces and leave stuffing all round the house

Think thats Blue's idea but he gets all 30 out first, then thinks better not there's 30 of them ....i'll wait when they're on their own

not been on here few days but the posts made me laugh !! Luckily Khan has not chewed any furniture but I did spend a tenner at pets at home came home gave him his toys and chewed to bits within half an hour !! so stick to chews now. He also goes in my boys room and pinches all his teddys . , its flippin hard work as a single mum its like havin 2 kids !!

Ha ha ha!! Dogs are like children. I haven't got any kids but class my Dizzy as my child. He has his toy box, is very naughty at times, loves playing (and chewing) his toys and constantly wants your attention. So yes, they are furry kids I have no doubt!

Dizz is terrible for soft toys. He rips them to shreds. When my friend comes to visit with her 10 year old daughter I have to constantly remind her that her precious Millie the mouse must never be left lying around as Dizz will think it is his and it will become confetti in about 5 mins flat....hmmmm!

My nephew is just about to turn 1 and I will have to make sure when he visits or I go to theirs that all his toys are going to have to be confiscated when Dizz is at large otherwise they will all be redesigned!!

suzyt123 wrote:I did spend a tenner at pets at home came home gave him his toys and chewed to bits within half an hour !! so stick to chews now.

I have spent a small fortune on toys and chews so far and I agree, they are in bits within minutes, apart from hard bones or strong chews which take a while to get thru. Jaws and teeth of steel has the staffy!!

suzyt123 wrote: if i stop to talk to dog owners when i am out Khan sometimes barks constantly at the other dog whats all that about ?

That's just attention seeking. He wants to play, you won't let him, he tells you in no uncerain terms that you're wrong! Either ignore it (not easy) or teach him 'quiet'. But to teach him 'quiet' on command you first have to teach him to bark on command!

MMMMM interesing .. thanks for that because i am sick of people telling me when out on walks its because he is protecting me and telling others to back off !! in otherwords they are saying i have an agressive dog and they are so wrong !! he does sound agressive when he barks but he sure aint !