urgent help needed!!

Right this is roxy's second night with us full time and I am really really worried

She isnt a very socialble pup seems to like her crate and coming to sulk on your knee on the floor but she only wants to do a little bit of play then loses intrest, she doesnt respond well when you call on her either just looks at you asif your daft


We have 3 girls 2 of which are five and our baby ava is 8 months and in a walky. Roxy seems to be terrified of me but likes amanda lol shes not so sure of the older 2 but has snuggled into them a few times

Problem lies with the baby shes very unsure of her in her walkie and has run and hid under her a few times when i have told her off for being naughty, shes been nipping at the baby and tonight when i had the baby down on the floor on my knee she pounced and snapped at her!! i told her no loudly and she sat back a little. then i patted her head with the babys hand about 30 mins later and she was very nippy with her!

I;ve spoken to the other half and shes in agreement that if things dont improve by friday then we may have no option but to get someone else to care for her as obviously the babys safety is first and foremost

Shes doing ok with the toilet training shes only had 2 accidents in her crate and 2 on the carpet we have been takeing her into the kitchen and staying with her until shes did her business she crys and moans for a while but eventually does the deed and its straight back in the living room again

PLEASE HELP will she get better? is she jealous of the baby or something else?

Really want to keep her but if she doesnt take to the baby then no alternative

She's a puppy, there is no aggression there, just needs to be taught what is right and wrong. Doesn't happen over night thats up to you to train.

It sounds to be going well with little accidents just a pup being a pup.

Thanks

I understand why you're upset - you need to think of the safety and wellbeing of your family. Janey is right, though. Puppies will nip and play bite. It isn't out of aggression or spite! They just haven't learned yet that it isn't acceptable by human standards.

You need to be very firm with her. Keep on eye on her behaviour before she starts to nip, so that you have a better idea of when to expect it. When she tries to nip anybody, give her a very firm 'no!'

It takes time for a puppy to learn new behaviours. If she backs off after you've said 'no', give her a good reward. She'll learn eventually.

Good luck!

Firstly, don't despair! She will learn, and she will improve, but you're going to have to understand that she's a very young puppy, newly taken from everything she has known up to now, and she's scared!

She will never have seen a baby walker before, and I would imagine the sound & shape of it have freaked her out.

When you say she snapped at her, do you mean that she tried to nip her? This is absolutely normal & something you can tackle with patience & perseverance. Don't forget that the only play she has had so far is with her siblings, and the way they play is by nipping, jumping & chasing - she's just doing what she thinks is natural.

Whenever she snaps/nips or jumps up, tell her a firm "No!" (don't shout, just sound as though you mean it), stand up and turn away from her. Stop all play/fuss etc - don't even look at her. If she nips at your toddler again say "No!" and gently turn her (Roxy) away. If she carries on nipping or jumping, just pick her up & put her out of the room without a word for a few seconds. When she's calm again, let her back in.

If she seems scared of you (do you have a deep voice?) take over some of her feeds so that she can see you're good to have around.

Just persevere....she will get there. there was a point when sonic lunged for my son every time he was near and he started to get a little frightened of her and wouldn't leave the sofa etc...at the time i didnt think things would ever got better....4 months on they are inseparable and other than excited ear nips i can't remember when sonic last bit....it is tough but they do learn eventually!

Thanks for the feedback!

good points that i will definetley take on board

She does seem scared of me i;ve not got that deep a voice lol but a very hoarse throat at the moment so may seem deeper lol, I am the one thats feeding her and i seem to be the only one she doesnt seem to nip

Keep plugging at it & you'll have a wonderful friend & companion, especially for your kids!

My two (Eleanor's one of them) learned to stand by grabbing Bandit's scruff & pulling themselves up! They are great with kids, but they obviously need to be gently taught what is and isn't acceptable!

she is a little diva just like her youngest big sister lol

Shes been gradually geting her food changed over and shes learning fast that she prefers the royal canin to the bakers crap she was on before lo

Hi its Amanda .. it was my partner Derek that posted this and i think he is nervous because our last staff puppy (which we sadly had to give away) was taken from his mother to early and never learned bite inhabition which led to him biting far too hard and making our kids feet bleed every time they walked past because he was "biting" not "knawing" Roxy is NOT biting she is knawing/mouthing you dont even know her teeth are touching you when she does it , but just because she moves suddenly or quickly it makes my partner nervous because he is thinking of our last puppy .. Roxy has such a different nature to our last puppy and I am confident that she will settle in time and as for her being scared of Derek i think when he relaxes a bit more she wont be as nervous , im sure she can sense his nerves.
Amanda.

Staffs are great with kids, but Roxy is just a puppy, they're interacting with all of you as they would with littermates. They need to be taught that biting people even when playing isn't allowed. You need to teach her that, and of course supervise her at all times with the kids. If she's getting too hyperactive, don't let her carry on playing with the baby or being around until she's calmer, if that makes you feel better. As for the walker, normal things can seem weird to puppies because they're not used to them. Don't make a fuss, just act like it's the most normal thing in the world and let her figure out in her own time that it isn't a big deal. Please don't give up on her, she's a normal little puppy doing what she thinks is acceptable. She's not going to intentionally hurt your baby, just keep an eye on her and keep up with the training and she'll be fine!

So you gave one away got another and are already saying you will give it away if it doesnt stop puppy behaviour! why did you get another dog!

I must admit I was thinking the same thing. When we had Maisey as a 7 week pup, she used to make beeline for my son's feet and, yes, did draw blood on occasions. However, we perservered with training and positive reinforcement as there was no malice, just being a puppy. She has grown into a wonderful, loving and very gentle dog.

As far as we were concerned this was normal 'puppy' behaviour and if we couldn't have dealt with it and had to pass her on, we would not have got another puppy as when getting a puppy it is a commitment that requires a lot of love and patience.

Hayley wrote:So you gave one away got another and are already saying you will give it away if it doesnt stop puppy behaviour! why did you get another dog!

Amanda was pregnant and muncher wasnt suitable to stay in a house with a baby! he's been pts now for biting a childs nose

That ok with you? dont judge without knowing facts!!

Very young bull breed pups and toddlers take a lot of work and constant attention .. the end result can be simply the best relationship a child and dog can experience .. but its very hard work and a sensetive balancing act to start with and get right ... stick with it and dont expect too much of your pup too soon ... good luck.

no it isn't okay but i'm leaving this thread cause i will say things i won't be proud of.

Hayley wrote:no it isn't okay but i'm leaving this thread cause i will say things i won't be proud of.

Whats no ok about it ? who are you to judge ?

you have to remember derek you cant train a pup over night. you already gave up a staffy you cant expect people to be fine when you already talking about giving up a dog after 2 days. come on we staffie lover on here you must see this.

I must admit, getting another pup might have been a mistake. If you think things will have got better by Friday you are sadly mistaken. Mine is 10 months and whilst he doesnt bite he trys my patience in a different way every day. I expecting it to get easier around 18 months... Puppies are very hard work.

and it will likly get worse before it gets better!!

Dont expect it to be easy atall! just worried as the baby is just at her crawling stage and i want roxy to have as much time on the floor as possible!

derekamanda wrote:

Hayley wrote:So you gave one away got another and are already saying you will give it away if it doesnt stop puppy behaviour! why did you get another dog!

Amanda was pregnant and muncher wasnt suitable to stay in a house with a baby! he's been pts now for biting a childs nose

That ok with you? dont judge without knowing facts!!

Hey, see it from our point of view - outsiders! We see you had one staff & got rid, now you have another & you're having problems & threatening to get rid. It isn't easy - we see it here all the time, people who don't research properly, or who won't spend the time to train a pup. If you're prepared to persevere, you'll find everybody here will be behind you 100%, but we've seen so many come on here who give up at the first hurdle.

derekamanda wrote:Dont expect it to be easy atall! just worried as the baby is just at her crawling stage and i want roxy to have as much time on the floor as possible!

Any dog of any breed must be watched carefully when there are babies crawling around. I think that you should have thought this through a bit more before getting another pup. Having said that, if you're prepared to work at it & give the pup a chance, you'll get a lot of help & support from this forum.

Lots of reward when the pup is with the baby and not 'playing rough' as soon as the pup does try a firm no followed by a twenty second time out, ie out of view in another room. when you let the pup back in give it something it can bite chew. You will feel like its not working but after a couple of weeks you should have it under control... good luck, try to be patient... this site is great to share experiences with, you will soon realise its not just you going through problems, Its a massive shock getting a puppy especially if its the first one you have had.

What made you want to get another pup? Surely you were aware of the fact that puppies go through teething?

Puppies are take a lot of work to end up with a well rounded individual. Training is fun just be extra patient

our first pup muncher wasnt a full staffy and when we found out his and his parents history is made things worse he just wasnt for training

We wanted a proper little staffy so we thought the time maybe right.... hmmm

will persevere with her but would appreciate the people like hayley to get off their high horse!!!!!

I hope you'll let us know how it goes. If you need any advice with training, don't hesitate to ask! Good luck!

derekamanda wrote:I;ve spoken to the other half and shes in agreement that if things dont improve by friday then we may have no option but to get someone else to care for her

You're not gunna make many freinds on here I'm afraid with a statment like this ^^ after only the second night !!!

We are all staffy lovers on here so things like this really dont sit well with the majority .... I really cant understand if I'm honest how you can be so quick to throw in the towel after a week or so ... from what Amanda said, she really dosent sound like anything to worry about to me, and certainly nothing to concider gettin rid .. again !!

derekamanda wrote:our first pup muncher wasnt a full staffy and when we found out his and his parents history is made things worse he just wasnt for training

We wanted a proper little staffy so we thought the time maybe right.... hmmm

will persevere with her but would appreciate the people like hayley to get off their high horse!!!!!

It's not like that. Lots of people get a puppy, expecting it to be easy, and as soon as they have a problem or find it hard, they rehome the puppy...then get another one. If that's not the case with you, then brilliant, and look how many of us have given you advice and support anyway. But we're all dog owners and dog lovers here, so of course people are going to get emotionally-charged by it because you were mentioning getting rid of the puppy if the behaviour doesn't improve. It's completely normal puppy behaviour, all breeds do it, and all dogs can be trained. Loki took ages to get the hang of things, but it's all about being consistent. Just keep the puppy away from the baby whenever you can't watch them both, and keep up with the training, and it will get better. No need to mention getting rid of the puppy so soon when you need to persevere, that's bound to get people's emotions worked up.

derekamanda wrote:our first pup muncher wasnt a full staffy and when we found out his and his parents history is made things worse he just wasnt for training

We wanted a proper little staffy so we thought the time maybe right.... hmmm

will persevere with her but would appreciate the people like hayley to get off their high horse!!!!!

The trouble is you're having problems with Roxy, but in another post you're asking for details of a blue pup to be a friend to Roxy! If you can't cope with one pup, how on earth are you going to cope with two?

bunch of cheeky upyourself buggers

Well, that's going to get you a lot of help.

Seriously? We're trying to help you and the pup. >=P

.

derekamanda wrote:bunch of cheeky upyourself buggers

Seriously. Read the advice you've been given and digest it before going all keyboard warrior.

Seriously, you all jump on the bandwagon without asking about the full situation which as yet I've not had a chance to mention Thanks!

derekamanda wrote:bunch of cheeky upyourself buggers

Several members have given you good advice & been friendly & honest with you - it's up to you whether you take that advice or not, but please don't be rude. Where's the cheek in what has been said? Why are we 'upyourself'? You asked advice, we gave it. If you don't like the advice given, then all you need to do is ignore it.

Well some peoples comments about our previous dog are out of order

Honestly, what do you expect?

Some of us have been on this forum for a couple of years and have seen similar posts to yours several times. Very often they end in heartbreak.

None of us want to see this happen to you or your pup & so the comments about not only your previous dog, but also the fact that you are talking about getting a'companion' for Roxy, are totally understandable.

derekamanda wrote:Seriously, you all jump on the bandwagon without asking about the full situation which as yet I've not had a chance to mention Thanks!

What?! We went with the information that you gave us in the first post. We gave you advice on how to teach the pup to stop play biting and informed you that it might take more than a week for it to sink in. How is that jumping on the bandwagon? Also, if you had information left to give, why didn't you give it in the first place? We aren't mind readers.

Just because you don't like an answer, doesn't mean you should insult somebody. If we didn't want to help, we wouldn't have answered your post. In your opening post, you said you needed help urgently. So we tried to help. What more do you want? For example, I said earlier that if you need any advice with the training, you should feel free to ask - in what way was that cheeky?

Ah Derek/Amanda - we're not what you said, truly. A lot of people have given you very good advice on how to deal with Roxy, and appreciate your concern for your baby (the human one )

You have both got your hands full with a baby and one puppy so would hate to see you add to your load by taking on another puppy.

Were you perhaps thinking that another puppy would be a playmate for Roxy and distract her from the baby?

derekamanda wrote:Well some peoples comments about our previous dog are out of order

Those people have seen too many people saying that they want to get rid of a pup because it nips. They're looking out for the dog's welfare and, though it may seem harsh to you, they are still trying to help.

Maybe things got off to a rough start, but people here genuinely do want to help. We all care about staffys and we want you to be able to look back in a couple of years and be glad that you didn't get rid of your dog! They can be such good companions. As has already been mentioned, it is difficult to cope with a young nip-happy pup. But with training, it can be fixed.

Lynda wrote:Ah Derek/Amanda - we're not what you said, truly. A lot of people have given you very good advice on how to deal with Roxy, and appreciate your concern for your baby (the human one )

You have both got your hands full with a baby and one puppy so would hate to see you add to your load by taking on another puppy.

Were you perhaps thinking that another puppy would be a playmate for Roxy and distract her from the baby?

someone finally gets me... that was my thinking

derekamanda wrote:

Lynda wrote:Ah Derek/Amanda - we're not what you said, truly. A lot of people have given you very good advice on how to deal with Roxy, and appreciate your concern for your baby (the human one )

You have both got your hands full with a baby and one puppy so would hate to see you add to your load by taking on another puppy.

Were you perhaps thinking that another puppy would be a playmate for Roxy and distract her from the baby?

someone finally gets me... that was my thinking

That would never, never work. All you'd get would be double trouble...two pups nipping at your toddler instead of one.

derekamanda wrote:

Lynda wrote:Ah Derek/Amanda - we're not what you said, truly. A lot of people have given you very good advice on how to deal with Roxy, and appreciate your concern for your baby (the human one )

You have both got your hands full with a baby and one puppy so would hate to see you add to your load by taking on another puppy.

Were you perhaps thinking that another puppy would be a playmate for Roxy and distract her from the baby?

someone finally gets me... that was my thinking

Disagreeing with you doesn't mean we don't get you. I just don't think that getting another would help you to achieve this goal. Even if two pups are raised together, they would still need to be trained to stop nipping - that's double the training for you! A lot of work.

Eleanor wrote:

derekamanda wrote:Well some peoples comments about our previous dog are out of order

Those people have seen too many people saying that they want to get rid of a pup because it nips. They're looking out for the dog's welfare and, though it may seem harsh to you, they are still trying to help.

Maybe things got off to a rough start, but people here genuinely do want to help. We all care about staffys and we want you to be able to look back in a couple of years and be glad that you didn't get rid of your dog! They can be such good companions. As has already been mentioned, it is difficult to cope with a young nip-happy pup. But with training, it can be fixed.

I care about the dogs welfare aswell! do not mistake me on that front!
I love staffys and as i've said was brought up as a youngster with apbt nipping etc but it gets diffrent when you have a baby on the floor with a nip happy puppy! and yes i've got the patience of a saint but one harsh nip could lead to having to explain to my daughter why her face is disfigured do you see my point here? if not i give up!

derekamanda wrote:I care about the dogs welfare aswell! do not mistake me on that front!
I love staffys and as i've said was brought up as a youngster with apbt nipping etc but it gets diffrent when you have a baby on the floor with a nip happy puppy! and yes i've got the patience of a saint but one harsh nip could lead to having to explain to my daughter why her face is disfigured do you see my point here? if not i give up!

Whoa! We're talking about a puppy nipping, not a rabid dog ripping a toddler's face off!

Puppies nip. Yours isn't any different to thousands of others. You have been given good, sound advice - as I said before, take ot leave it, but whatever you choose to do, don't blame the puppy.

derekamanda wrote:

Lynda wrote:Ah Derek/Amanda - we're not what you said, truly. A lot of people have given you very good advice on how to deal with Roxy, and appreciate your concern for your baby (the human one )

You have both got your hands full with a baby and one puppy so would hate to see you add to your load by taking on another puppy.

Were you perhaps thinking that another puppy would be a playmate for Roxy and distract her from the baby?

someone finally gets me... that was my thinking

seriously forget getting another dog, it will make things twice as bad NOT easier.

pups take along time to be properly trained it's not going to happen by friday.

take the advice given by the other posters and stop being so sarky

derekamanda wrote:

I care about the dogs welfare aswell! do not mistake me on that front!
I love staffys and as i've said was brought up as a youngster with apbt nipping etc but it gets diffrent when you have a baby on the floor with a nip happy puppy! and yes i've got the patience of a saint but one harsh nip could lead to having to explain to my daughter why her face is disfigured do you see my point here? if not i give up!

Firstly, I never said you didn't care about the dog's welfare. It wasn't even implied.

And as I said before, I know why you're upset about having a puppy biting when you have a toddler around. Obviously, it's going to be worrying. But what I'm trying to get across is that all puppies will play-bite. It's how they play at that age. You can either train the pup not to do it, or get rid of it - personally, I'd go for the first option.

So yes, I see your point. We all see your point. You don't want your daughter to get hurt. But what do you want from us? We've given what advice we can, and none of it is apparently good enough for you! We can't give you an immediate solution! No matter what you do, it's going to take time.