Snapped at our faces and drew blood. Not playing either.

My adopted staffie (and my first) whom I've now owned for three months has snapped and bitten both myself and my husband. Both times unprovoked and both times she has drawn blood. Neither times she was aggressive, and neither times had she been scared or touched by us. We are at a loss to know why. She is an extremely submissive dog, who lacks self confidence and has shown absolutely no aggression previously. Is this unusual? neither events were attacks, she simply snapped.

Was there something that triggered her? Its not unusual for a dog to mouth when they are young and as they grow there teeth are sharp and strong, so not unusual for it to draw blood, I think it is unusal for them to bite as you said but mouthing and nipping is different. How old is she?? It may just need simple training to stop this. Welcome to the forum, I hope you find the advice you need.

Yes, how old is she? If she's really submissive, it could have been a defence mechanism - maybe you did something inadvertantly that scared her? Can you remember exactly how it happened?

As she's a rescue, it might take a little while for her to settle properly in her new home.

You could probably benefit from joining a training club, and maybe just sitting it out with her for a couple of weeks for her to get used to the other dogs & the activity, and then joining in a little bit at a time so that her confidence builds slowly.

madelinethree wrote:My adopted staffie (and my first) whom I've now owned for three months has snapped and bitten both myself and my husband. Both times unprovoked and both times she has drawn blood. Neither times she was aggressive, and neither times had she been scared or touched by us. We are at a loss to know why. She is an extremely submissive dog, who lacks self confidence and has shown absolutely no aggression previously. Is this unusual? neither events were attacks, she simply snapped.

I think you have answered your own question there, sounds like she is nervous and a nervous dog is the most likely to lash out because they feel they have to protect themselves. As Caryll said Im sure you must have unintentionally frightened her in some way (it could be somethng as small as leaning over her), perhaps it is just a reaction from her she may previously have been mistreated. Its hard to know without seeing the dog exactly what is going on. Sounds like you are committed to her though, I think it might be worth seeing a behaviourist and also a vet to rule out anything else which could be making her snappy. The rescue should have done this already really, was she an RSPCA dog?

She was tested by a behaviourist and passed with flying colours. I have been told that Staffies are very mouthy, and have been told that they can snap out when playing. I am going to take her to a Staffie club so she can get her confidence up a bit and be trained with other Staffies. It was definitely not a bite, but I want to ensure she doesn't do it again. She may do it to someone who thinks they have been bitten, and that would lead to a highly unpleasant outcome. She was rescued from Stafford Rescue in Kyneton Victoria Australia. http://www.sbtcv.org.au/rescue/

Mouthing and nipping is normal at a young age, How old is your dog?? I too have a rescue, and age is a huge thing when it comes to behaviour x

You just have to be consistent with your training. You don't say how old she is, but I'd guess that she's either very young, or has never been taught manners by her previous owners. When she bites, tell her "Nooooo!" in a deep, stern voice and turn away from her - stop all interaction with her completely, don't even look at her. Once she is calm again you can give her quiet praise.

The training will help enormously, although sometime sit can take a while before you start to see results.

She is three years old and basically very well trained, however she is a little immature and lacks manners at times.

It really sounds as though she has never been taught boundaries of behaviour. However, staffs are very intelligent & will learn very quickly as long as you are consistent.

Try to keep calm and quiet and don't shout or lose your temper with her if you can avoid it, she's probably still a little confused and unsure of what she is supposed to do.

To me the key thing you have said is how she is submissive and nervous, I think this will affect how she reacts in certain situations. I think the best thing you can do is take her to a few classes so that the trainer can further asses her and find out what is triggering this snapping.