Some advice please

Our pup Blue is doing great and getting plenty of exercise, he is only 13 weeks old and listens to most commands but would welcome some help with the following areas please:

1) today he chased after a cyclist even though our recall normally works, it didnt on this occasion and we put it down to the fact that its a new experience for him, on every other occasion after this we put the lead on him and the cyclist passed although Blue still wanted to chase! but we tried to distract his attention.....any new methods to use?

2) He has a tendency now to grab the clothes of my kids (mainly arms and legs) when they are playing with him, they stop and stand up and ignore him but he still tugs at them....we have now started to put him outside for a few minutes (time out) but any other ideas would be welcomed......

I appreciate that he is still a pup wanting to test new areas and thinks most of this is a game but I would like to ensure we get ahead of the game were possible. Thanks.

The chasing is mainly because of instinct. You can use the watch me command and food to distract him.

The clothes grabbing is simply play and you are doing the right thing. Just be consistant and patient and he will learn

Agree with J ... also at such a young age, I think its very important not to get too hung up on training, they arent that young for long, let them be a puppy

OK, backtrack. He's only 4 months old so the training isn't going to be perfect yet!

If his recall isn't 100% with distractions, you may want to invest in a long line (you can get them on ebay or amazon), about 30 or 50 feet long. Let it trail, but keep it within your reach at all times, & if he doesn't respond to recall the first time, reel him in with the line.

It also helps to do a few recalls as a matter of course while you're out & about with him.

The clothes thing is a very normal stafford trait! As long as everybody keeps doing what you're already doing he will catch on.

Thats good to hear we are not far off the mark appreciate the advice. Albeit he is still relatively young I want to ensure we get it right. He has plenty of puppy time.....well actually we both enjoy our childish moments together lol

First day we got Bacchus home he tore a pair of my trousers trying to get my attention but ignoring undesirable behaviour and rewarding good behaviour does work. He now knows he gets no attention if he jumps up or barks.