Advice needed on excitable dogs!

I have two staffys, Pedro, 5 years old, and Sascha, 1 year, and both are misbehaved at the park. Sascha is aggressive towards small, fluffy dogs, or puppies, and will attack them anytime they come near her, or she goes near them. Pedro gets too excited and runs up to people and jumps all over them, he has quite sharp nails so often scratches people and he also recently had a go at a puppy. Both dogs don't come back when they are called. We have already tried bribing them with treats, but they don't come as soon as there are no treats.

How can I stop them from attacking little dogs and start making them come back as soon as they are called? I love taking them to the park and don't want to have to keep them on the lead as they are usually well behaved and love being able to run around.

Thanks,
Nina

It sounds like you've got quite a bit of work to do with both of them and I'm afraid until then I think they should be on lead and/or muzzled. You don't have to have them on a short lead, a long one (5m or so) will give them freedom to run around a bit, while minimising the damage they can do. What you are describing is a bit of an accident waiting to happen, and the worst case scenario isn't one I'd like to think about.

I'm the first one to love dogs running off lead - 2 of mine are pretty well always off lead and the other is sometimes - but our first duty as dog owners is to the safety of others

It sounds like both dogs need to go back to basic with things like recall, and both dogs but especially Sascha needs to learn that other dogs are ok can can be left alone. It is nigh on impossible to train two dogs together, so somehow you're going to have to find time to teach them separately.

There are various schools of training and different ones suit different people. At the moment I'm working with one of mine using BAT:

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t64420-bat-training-for-dog-on-dog-aggression-and-other-things

and I would think this would work for your dogs but it does take a bit of getting your head round. You can also work with treats, setting up situations whereby your dog can remain quiet near other dogs and then rewarding with treats, and using treats as rewards for recall.

For recall, I'd advise you to start at home, working separately so there is no muddling, distraction or competition, and begin by simply pairing the word 'come' with a treat, just standing there. Then you move to taking a step back then calling come, so that your dog has to just move one step towards you, then you build up. You should soon be able to call them within the house and the garden, and they always get a treat for coming.

Then, it's the big outdoors. On your training line, just walk your dog (one at a time) and when you see that she's not distracted by anything, you call her. Never call if you think it won't work as that just teaches her to ignore you. When she comes, praise and treat. If it's not working, then move away from her, run a little even, to encourage her to follow, then call 'come' again and she should come.

Keep practising, calling at random times. Start when she's not too far away then work towards greater distances until you can do it from the full 5m, with her head whipping round at the sound of your call. Then work off lead, but only when there are no distractions.

And when both are perfect, then you can try together!

Even with great recall, though, please do still err on the side of caution until the dog reactivity and jumping at strangers has been sorted.

To be honest, I'd say you would really be better off working with a professional trainer who specialises in behaviour problems as each situation, each dog, each person is different and they will be able to tailor training to your needs.

Great advice above, not a lot I can add

I believe Liz has pretty much covered it, especially with the bat training that I've just started me & Katy on Let us know how you're getting on.