Rescue staff 7yts old

We rescued a 7yr old staffy from a reputable kennels , there write up on him was good and the visits seemed to fit into what they had said , a lively dog playful etc . When we got him home we found that once he had a toy he would not release that toy until he was ready and no coaxing would allow him to drop it , and would growl ever so slightly / quietly but not in an aggressive way . Tonight when walking him in the park my son walked him near a tree with low down branches and he just started to rip the branches off the tree in a very aggressive way and wouldn’t stop , we had to pull him off . We have owned staffy’s before from pups but never rescued one until now and are a bit worried this has been taught to him which is quite worrying . All his other behavior is normal and quite responsive to all commands except the release / leave commands which are non existent.

Hi & Welcome to the Forum from Flo and me

From what you describe with the toy is not unusual, my girl is the same. The tree thing again isn’t unusual, my previous Staff did that but it wasn’t what I would call aggressive more a case of “I want the biggest stick and this is it”

So, clearly this isn’t what you want. I’m not sure it is aggression more excited play, however, you do want to be able to say leave and for the object to be dropped. Now having owned a Staff before what I’m about to say is going to sound obvious, he needs to be distracted by something better!

If he’s food oriented then super tasty treats may distract for the toy with a combined leave command, equally the toy could be used to distract from the tree on walks, I guess you can see the logic, what’s more fun?

Liz, one of our admin will be happy to add to what I have said, she has a lot of behaviour experience.

Do check back and see what others suggest too

Thanks Ian , it was more of a concern that he had been taught this but knowing other staffs do behave like this is reassuring . We have tried treats but to no avail but it is still very early days with him and being an older dog I presume the trust will take longer to form .

It does take time, we rescued our girl when she was 6 or 7 (never quiet sure) and being deaf it took us 2 years for that mutual trust to be there before we fully let her off lead.

She’s never on lead in the park now, having said that, she’s older and can’t be bothered to run off these days

Joking aside, it does take time for things to settle. Post some picks of him when you get a chance.

Another thought, what food are you tempting him with? Try frankfurter, most dogs go nuts for those, obviously in small amounts, or that old favourite cheese

We have just been using normal dog treats but maybe not stimulating enough for him will try something nicer and just slowly work at at it . Thank you for the advice

Great set of pics, he looks like a real character.

Do try what we would call high value treats, those treats that only get given for the right behaviour. That really is the best way to get them to learn.

Hi and welcome from me and mine!

Well done on the rescue, your lad's gorgeous!! What's his name?

I'd echo everything Ian's said and would add that training a 'leave' command away from exciting situations will get you the best results. In case you've not done it before, you simply give him something he likes like a toy, and offer to swap it for something he wants more, i.e. a treat, using the command 'leave it' (or whatever you prefer). Start with something easy when he's not excited and if necessary really stick the treat under his nose, and always, always reward at least until it's absolutely solid. Then build up to better toys, more exciting situations, always making sure you ask him to 'leave it' when he can, not waiting till he's so exciting there's no way he'll let go. With time, work towards being able to do it with a tuggy toy. You should then be able to take anything away at any time, and get him to let go of anything.

As Ian says, it's generally a question of making sure the value of the reward is higher than what you're asking him to leave at the moment of the request. Cheese is good, as are fishy treats. Just bear in mind that you might need to scale back on meals a touch if you're giving lots of treats.

As you say, it's early days and you will get there with time.

Thanks Liz he’s a Charlie by name and a Charlie by nature .

What a handsome boy!

Welcome from Misty and I. I agree with the advice above. Love those pictures he is absolutely beautiful.