advice please

Hey all.
Been offline for a while so much to catch up with.

Well things have been a bit of a struggle as of late. The princess has been acting very bizzare with her mad spells in house where her ears go bk her eyes wide and she flies around the room like a psycho. Also shes been off lead with other dogs and loving it but today she decided to go for my feet and bite them and she nipped my leg too i feel its getting to the unpredictable point.
Such a difficult situation as shes so in ur face and wants to play and she keeps goin for feet and is using her mouth tooo much.

I really dnt know what to do cos trainers in my area are rediculously expensive and the obedience class is not dealing with problems

How old is she? My dog did a lot of nipping when I first got him from the rescue (when he was aged about 18 months) and it hurt as well as making me wonder what on earth I was taking on. He doesnt do it now. The things that seemed to help him get over it was stimulation (not letting him get bored, plenty of exercise, not being left for long periods) and consistency. Being ignored when he got up to badness was the greatest deterrent for him. He got the message, but I would say it took a full six months for him to calm down. Now I trust him 100% and he is the most gentle and affectionate animal - but NOT with other dogs.

Shes 18months now....had her since 8weeks shes been a real chalenge. Shes very strange at times with her behaviour and was the only pup in litter. Uses her mouth alot more thn i would like. Shes always been bad for swinging off the lead growling when she gets hyped. So difficult she was going for my nieces foot and pulled her off her feet as she just gets so hyper so fast.

Single pups are well known for having behaviour difficulties as they have had no early interactions with littermates to learn their place in the world. Yeahbut's advice is sound.

yeahbut wrote:How old is she? My dog did a lot of nipping when I first got him from the rescue (when he was aged about 18 months) and it hurt as well as making me wonder what on earth I was taking on. He doesnt do it now. The things that seemed to help him get over it was stimulation (not letting him get bored, plenty of exercise, not being left for long periods) and consistency. Being ignored when he got up to badness was the greatest deterrent for him. He got the message, but I would say it took a full six months for him to calm down. Now I trust him 100% and he is the most gentle and affectionate animal - but NOT with other dogs.

I agree ignoring is best. Sounds easy but takes alot of practice

Rico I really feel your pain and frostration but getting advice through the internet won't help you as I agree with you and I think the problems root is her being A single pup so she's lacking elementary behavioural/inhibition skills. It's obvious you love her and not giving up and I think over time you have achieved improvement but to solve the biting problem you must get professional help as It's not normal behaviour for her 18 months old dog.
Meanwhile if it was me I would isolate her for a while every time she bites and be very firm she must learn its totally unacceptable but I really Think you need help ASAP and from somebody with experience with single pups.

Thanks all
Its so tough and in many ways shes so good like with other dogs shes obsessed and loves them all to bits and is so submissive with them but with me and other people its like she wants to play but uses her mouth all too often. Im really tryin with her and it kills me how unpredictable she can be with her mouth and i know its not aggression but others dont see that :'( i thought about going to the vet and seeing what they say bout it all

Talking to vet is very good idea. I don't think it's agression she is lacking 
Fundamental tools in her behaviour . How do you/ family react when she's biting??

Ignore is a good idea and have to tell everyone in the same household to do the same things with her maybe distract her is another good one just takes patience

Weve tried ignoring but she jumps at me nipping my arm.
I phoned vet earlier shes goin to see thm on monday to see if they think she needs Reffered to the specialists and to see how we can go through insurance to help us out a bit. I wont give up on her i love her tooooo much

Just hada thought- does your dog have ANY english bull terrier in her?
If she has that might be adding to the whole single pup issue

Pink is Staffy/English Bull crossed. She has what we call 'mad moments' where her ears will pin back and she has to race. She bombs round the garden at dizzying speeds in the same kind of way cats will have mad moments. My grandads old English Bull Terriers used to do the same thing including in the house. In honesty when she lets rip we all stand still so she does not slam into us. Once she has let off some energy she setlles back down.

Pink can also be stubborn and tries to convince me that she is not trainable but she responds well to calm consistant bounderies backed by positive behaviour re-inforcement and caves in and will do anything for dog garlic sausage treats. Staffys love to chew- english bulls are even worse and can chew through police stab vests. Pink managed to nom her way through the nyloprene straps holding a mace spray and was working on the cannister itself when my friend spotted she was not just sitting quietly. If she forgets herself we squeal as if in pain say 'No' and divert her onto one of her chew toys.

If your struggling it might be worth finding a good trainer IRL who can look at what she is doing and help you work out ways to bring out the best.

Bo is like that, he's from a litter of only two. Sometimes he'll look at me sideways then his eyes will swivel and he'll rush round the room in figures of eight. If there's a toy on his route he'll touch it with his nose as he runs past, as if he's in a baton relay.

He also uses his mouth a lot although he never nips, he sometimes holds. The trouble is people he meets encourage him and deliberately allow him to hold on to their hands so I have to try and politely dissuade them. Still, I'd rather have an over-friendly loony dog than some of the aggressive, growling horrors that I see daily on our walks.

Keep at the ignoring and distraction before it happens. What walks does she have on a daily basis?

Hi, I agree with the ignoring technique, there is another method you could try. You said your dog was a single pup, so missed out on some basic lessons from her lack of litter mates in the early stages.  What I've seen work before is that anytime she makes contact with you using her mouth... Screech or Yelp like a hurt pup, short and sharp.  This should startle her slightly, her natural reaction should be to back off.  If you turn away from her and freeze, she gets nothing from you, no eye contact no sound, if she jumps at you, turn away , again slowly, you do not want to add to excitement.  Then when she quietens slowly move away and do something else. After a few minutes (give her time to digest what happened) Quietly go over and give her gentle contact.  Its just another tip to try, you have to be consistent and stay calm, but it should help a bit,  Good luck

Thanks all. Shes full staffy. Wow lol bull terriers sound more like her tho.

Vet went ok on monday we went through her routines etc. They wanted to try some things like calmex, adaptil etc but i said id rather get her seen by a specialist as she nipped me again with her madness looney tunes style freak out. So checked with insurance tht they would help and they will so its all with vets jus now wtiting up a referal