Staff attacking westie

Recently my 8 month old staff has started to attack our 4 year old westie for no reason at all. She pins him down to the floor and i physically have to use a stick in front of her to get her away from him. They both sleep together at night fine but she pounces on him during the day sometimes for no reason

Are you sure she's not just playing?

No defently not she pins him down properly snarling at him and bites him

Well, I've heard that Staffs can play rough so I wondered if that was it. Is your Westie scared by this, or show signs of retaliation? If they sleep together peacefully they must trust each.

BTW how exactly do you "use a stick" in front of your Staff?

I dont hit her with the stick just put it in front of her to stop her from going for him again so he can move away and they can be separated. She uses so much aggression when she goes for him im scared to use myself to separate her incase she turns on me

OK, just wondered is all !

So, is your Westie scared by Mia when she attacks?

Yes he crys but you can hear the aggression in her. They are usually really good together. They walk, sleep, eat and play together she just has her moments and turns on him lately. Just scared incase she goes too far one day and want to try and get her out of the aggression before something bad happens

Thank you for all the information.

I also wondered whether Mia is trying to demonstrate her "superiority". She will know that the westie is older than her, but she is also bigger and stronger than him and in her own little pack she just MAY be trying to establish who is boss. When they are together and getting along with each other, does she "stand tall" against him, maybe putting a paw over his shoulder?

This is something outside of my experience, so I'm afraid I can't help much here - I'm hoping that some of our more knowledgable members will be along to offer their advice.

What is happening before the episodes? Are they playing or eating or fighting for your attention? Dogs don't just attack for no reason at all.

Sounds like she is establishing a pecking order....
Is she due in season soon? Bitches can be more tetchy when this time approaches.

My girl will often pin my boy to the floor making him submit to her. He will be on his back...but she's not aggressive.

This is going to sound a bit odd, I think, but if you can get her off with just using a stick in front of her, then she isn't 'attacking' him. All dogs will establish a form of pecking order between themselves & it sounds like that's what she's doing here.

Has she drawn blood? Has she really actually bitten?

She hasnt drawn blood from him but i dont give her time to because im afraid if she starts she wont stop. She just randomly attacks him for example the westie was in another room and mia walked in and attacked him for no reason. She has just been in season so im wondering if that has something to do with it then?

It could be, but I still wonder if it's actually an attack & not just very rough play.

Any chance you can get a vid of it?

I could try next time she does it. Is it an idea to leave them to see if they are just actually playing or not?

I think if she were to attack him she would draw blood on him at least.
Sounds like rough play. Shes wanting to dominate him, bitches are often the most dominate.
Add to that coming put if season so she's been feeling out of sorts too.

When u can see it about to occur, put a stop to it. I often separate my 2 for rough play, they scratch each other n pull each other around by the neck or ears! But they don't hurt each other. It's a case of control and keeping ontop of the behaviour and being able to stop it on ur say so.

What sex is your westie?

I can never tell when its going to happen it seems to be a spare of the moment thing.
The westie is a male

From all this i do think its the peking order. Shes coming into a room and re-establishing herself. Its not very nice to watch cause staffies make so much noise but if a staff was really attacking believe me you would know it, so would your westie.

Next time i happens clap your hands and say NO! and if she leave the westie alone praise her.

Thanks was worried in case she seriously injured him. Whats the best thing to do if she dies not respond to that?

Then use the method you already know. But prevention is better than stopping her when shes doing it. Try to pin point the behaviour she shows when shes about to do it and distract her with a squeaky toy or a clap.

This should help you know what to look for: http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

She is playing with him, my girls play like this, its normal Staffy play. I think you might need to teach the Staffy 'stop' or something like that as its not fair on the Westie. I can't let the girls play with my sister's Labradoodle as he would be petrified as he doesn't play the same way.

When this thread first started my gut feeling was that is just rough Staffy play, coupled with maybe an attempt to establish who was "top dog", and I am pleased to read that more experienced Staffy owners are of the same opinion.

So, Mia's mum, at least you can be reassured that it's not an aggression thing with Mia, and it just remains for you to prevent your Westie from becoming scared of her.

You have had plenty of good advice, but do keep coming back here and let us know how you are getting on, and as Caryll has said, a vid of one of these "attacks" would give everyone a better idea of what is going on.

Pinning, biting and snarling are very typical staffy/bully play it's very common here but I still know they are playing although to those who do not know the boys assume they are actually fighting.

I'm with caryll if she was actually attacking him a stick is not going to stop her!

Hi...
Our staffy stevie may is now 10 months old and our westie is 6.... We've had 2 big fights,stevie plays and our westie takes it to the next level. Neither of them would give up and ended up putting a bucket of water over them. Ever since we got stevie she has slept with meg the westie, so gutted when they had a fight.. Stevie is very playful and meg is a grumpy ole fart :-)
They are fine on their walks but in the house I'm a bit funny about leaving them together now, which is a shame. Stevie doesn't mean anything by it it's all just play but meg just doesn't see it that way :-(