help with my staffi-i'm new in this

Hi .I've got my staffi for 2 weeks now.Hi's very clever ,can sit and lay down. But he bits a lot, no doesn't work on him. Every time I say no and turn away he bits even more like it's a game for him. The only thing that works is putting him in his cage. I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing. Also he starts eating he's poo. He is on Eukanuba,he,s been wormed. Do you think I should be worried? I don't he eats it when he's in the cage. Plase help .

Hi & welcome.

The biting is a natural way for a puppy to play with its siblings, but obviously you don't want him to keep doing it to you! It might well take a while for him to understand, but if you continue to do what you're doing he will get there. Just tell him "No!" & turn away, stop all interraction with him, don't even look at him & keep turning away if he keeps jumping up & biting. If it really gets too much then by all means put him in his crate, but try not to do it too often as he might start to look on it as a punishment & won't like the crate any more.

When exactly does he eat his poo? Is it in the garden or indoors?

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don't put him in the cage to punish him otherwise he'll never want to go in there. like caryll said, just say no in a firm tone and ignore him completely. worse comes to worse, pick him up and put him in a different room, this always works with zeus.

regarding the poo eating, i have this same problem! the nutritional consultant at pets at home suggested i give zeus charcoal biscuits which should stop this, but it hasn't worked. the vet said to keep telling him off whenever he goes for his poo, it seems to kinda work. zeus will never go near his poo or eat it when im around, but if im not there, he'll eat it! i did see something in pets at home called 'stool repel', which you put in your pups food and it should stop this.. maybe i'll have to give it a try

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. I agree with the advice Caryll provided.

Thank you all. My vet told me to put him in the cage , I really want him to be good dog and don't want to do any harm. We don't have a garden ,so he runs to the kitchen ,poo on the pads,sniffs it and starts to eat it when I shout he stops. Can't take him put yet. He's really cuddly and learns very quickly. My husband worries that he's going to be aggressive.

jola139 wrote:Thank you all. My vet told me to put him in the cage , I really want him to be good dog and don't want to do any harm. We don't have a garden ,so he runs to the kitchen ,poo on the pads,sniffs it and starts to eat it when I shout he stops. Can't take him put yet. He's really cuddly and learns very quickly. My husband worries that he's going to be aggressive.

Tell your husband that the nipping isn't at all aggressive - it's play! He just hasn't learned what is acceptable yet. If you watch puppies (and even adult dogs) playing they grab each other with their teeth, sometimes quite hard, and if the other dog deosn't like it they yelp or growl a little & that's usually enough to stop it. All your pup is doing is playing with you the way he played with his siblings - with plenty of training & patience he'll soon catch on that he mustn't bite.

With the poo eating you need to teach him the "leave" command & as soon as he sniffs at the poo just tell him Leave! & then pull him away. Clear the poo up straight away so he can't then go back to it. You could try giving him one or two cubes of pineapple a day - that's supposed to make the poo less 'appetising' although I've never found it works very well!

I agree with all of the above, Heston was poo eating when he first came home (which he probably learnt at the rescue centre). Be vigilant and practice the 'leave it' command and clean up the poo straight away. If its not around its not a temptation and soon it will stop.

With the biting, be persistant as he will test the limits for a little while. If biting is his favourite game right now do what everyone else says (Yelping, No's and Ignoring) but also try redirecting him with a toy designed for biting. Make that toy really exciting and encourage him play rough with that rather than you ankle!!!

I agree with all of the above. As for taking advice off a vet, well their job is to know whats going on inside your dogs body not its head. Vets know very little about actual behaviour but they can tell you what part of the brain it came from. I would be very hesitant to take behavioural or training advice from a vet.

Just keep doing what you are doing, apart from using the crate as punishment. If the puppy wants to play let him, but with a tug toy. Try to get him playing with it, then if he accidently nips your hand give a high pitched squeel and ignore him, as this is what another puppy would do if it was bitten.

Hi and welcome to the forum from Rocky and me.

Keep doing as you are by ignoring the bad behaviour. Please dont use the crate as a punishment it should be his safe place to be quiet and chill out. Reward good behaviour if possible with a small treat or a game with a toy.

Hi and welcome from me, Millie and Bella.
Agree with all the advice given

It seems to work , we tried today ,everytime he bites,we yelp,then no and ignore,he tries a bit more and starts to play with his toy. He responds very well to training.

Did I mention that he's clever,well to clever .I use treats for training,when he's bored of the training he will pull anything: rug,sofa cover,my gown. Is it possible that he knows that when he pulls something I say no and offer him treat? Is he being naughty to get the treat? And how do I deal with pulling? Don't want pull back because he will think it's a game. Do I just stand there? HELP.

I don't use treats or toys to stop biting/grabbing. I just use the ignore method. If he grabbs your clothes/blankets etc just use the same method "No" or "leave" and then stop all play - certainly don't give him a treat for it!

Keep your training sessions down to short periods - 5 minutes or so, several times a day. At the end of the session always get him to do something you know he can do so that you always end the session on a good note.

Ok,will try to ignore.

Im sorry i hope i didnt confuse you into using the toy to distract from biting. i meant by it that you encourage him to play with toys on your terms and if he accidently bites or gets too into it use the method you are and ignore the toy also.

Ok, I don't know why but he only bits my socks,jeans etc,he doesn't do that to my husband,even if he does my husband says "aaa" and he stops,why?

Dogs will often do that. My dog won't bite me or my clothes, and hasn't since he was a couple of months old, but he will still sometimes grab my son's or my oh's feet/ankles/trousers & give them a good shake!

Just keep on with the training & you'll find that it will improve.

hello and welcome form me and scarlett , scarlett eat the cats poo once and never did it again

He stoped being a poo-eater, . I'm just worried that he won't listen to me, because he reacts on my husband's no when bites him but not mine . But I alway sworried to much

Are you involved in training him?

It's mainly me who's trainig him,

Oh,he respond great to it,he know' s his name,sit,lay down,leave it,stay. It's not perfect but keep teaching that and he's only 9 weeks

good work , you've just got to keep hard at it

Hi there and welcome.
My little one was eating her poo and then we found the reason...she had roundworm, as the first application of Advocate didnt apply correctly. Since giving her her last one she has got rid of the worm and she has not gone near her poo and gives it a wide birth. And in 4 weeks has put on 3.5kg.
Definitely the "NO" is the best method and never leave it on the floor, pick it up straight away. They get the message eventually.
Good luck.