RED FEMALE STAFFY

hey guys, just a quick question..
i got a red bitch for christmas.. got her at 6 weeks old and she was the cutest little angel
she is now 10 months old and she is an absoloute nutcase!! i took her to a dog trainer/vet and she actually diagnosed her with A.D.D. and put her on tablets that she takes once a night (and which are very expensive).. i have heard along the grape vine that it is a red female staffy trait to be a nut case.. is that true or have i just seriously got a crazy puppy

I don't think that the coloring has anything to do with the tempermant of the dog. As pups they can all be a bit difficult to deal with since they have lots of energy. Proper exercise, training and patience should be all that's needed.

I don't know if color has anything to do with it, but it could be from leaving her mother and siblings too early: https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t8453-in-the-dailymail-today

Speaking as someone who has had a red staffie bitch I can honestly assure you that they are no different to any other staff. They are all hyper at that age and need a lot of excercise, attention and consistent training including mental stimulation. (My boy used to answer to the name of hooligan )

If it were me I would be a little suspicious of the trainer/behavourist experience of our beloved breed and giving expensive tablets every night. All drugs have side effects especially used long term. She will grow up and calm down I promise

I have a red female, and she is about 18 months now. We got her at 10 months from a rescue, she is playful but not crazy hyper. I don't think it is anything to do with the colour! As said earlier, it may be to do with the fact that she was taken from the mum too soon. 6 weeks is really too early.

Deffinantly not anything too do with the colour of the dog!!!!

If your dog has the right amount of exercise and disipline you will see an improvement in your dogs behaviour.
Also the food you feed your dog can have an impact on your dog.

ADD in dogs!!!! :S ummm i think thats just a way too get money out of yh tbh.

Michelle x

wonder if you could try some rescue remedy drops in her food and water ( the human ones) might calm her down abit..
failing that..lots of long walks so she will be too tired to play up!!

CatStina wrote:I don't know if color has anything to do with it, but it could be from leaving her mother and siblings too early: https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t8453-in-the-dailymail-today

I would agree with Christina

Definitely nothing to do with the colour, and I doubt it's ADD either!

I know I'm not a vet, but very few dogs actually suffer from this, and it seems to be a growing excuse to avoid proper training (I don't mean you, I mean so-called trainers!) and to make lots of money with prescribing drugs!

I think you've probably got a few issues here............

1. The pup was too young to come away from its mother & has missed out on valuable 'social' training that her siblings & dam could have given her in the two weeks she should have been with them,
2. She may not be getting enough exercise - I don't know how often you walk her, or what exercise she gets, so I could well be wrong on that one!
3. She may be on the wrong food - some foods contain additives that can make a dog hyper,
4. She may just have lots of high spirits that need to be channelled properly - ie she might need mental exercise as well as physical exercise.

All good points, Caryll!

My red boy was an absolute nightmare untill he was about a year. Its has nothing to do with colour,its just typical puppyhood. I would be VERY suspicious of a vet perscriping tablets for a puppy. Sounds to me like hes cashing in. All pups are hyper to an extent. I would try her without the tablets. Six weeks is early to leave her mum and she may have missed out on vital socialisation with her litter mates. She should calm down as she gets older, you should see a vast improvement mentally over the next year, but she could stay immature for another two! Bull breeds tend to mature slowly mentally.
Make sure she has at least an hours walk. Two is best, with at least 20 mins high impact excercise such as playing fetch or spring pole. This should tire her out so shes quiet in the house. Make sure she has lots of toys and chews to distract her attention in the house.
Make sure she also eats a decent quality dog food, not something like Bakers. Brands like Bakers have lots of additives in and this can lead to her acting hyper. James wellbeloved and Arden grange are two good brands i can think of off the top of my head. If your on a budget chappie is quite good as its very plain. It might work out cheaper for you to feed raw.

I would be very wary of this 'behaviourist' if they want to give your dog drugs and not do any actual behaviour modification! as others have said there can be many other reasons why she is so hyper. The first things I would look at are her diet, exercise and routine...

Thanks for the advice guys, lexi get walked every night for an hour to the park.. Plays ball at the park then walks the hour home.. On weekends she goes either down the river for the day and runs round and swims like a whacko or goes out to the farm and runs round like a whacko with 5 other dogs for the day, when she comes home she continues to pull washing off the line, dig holes, chase the cats, tip over my bird cages etc.. And when she goes to bed she gets up at 5am and carries on and wakes everyone up (which is a pain because i have to go to work).. Her diet is better than ours too haha we spend a fortune on good quality food for our 2 girls.. So im maybe thinking it has to do with being seperated to soon from her litter because i did ger her at 6 weeks i have stopped giving her the tablets as i didnt like what they were doing to her so i have weined her off of them.

You could try a lower protein food - tripe is a good one. I know it's stinky, and horrible to look at, but dogs love it, and they do tend to be less hyper on it! It has a good mineral content as well.

One word of advice, though - if you do decide to try it (you can get minced tripe from the larger pet stores, or online) don't cook it! The smell will drive everyone out of the house!!

Does she get walked in the mornings? I know that if my dog misses her early morning hour walk (6am), she is not settled properly for the rest of the day, even if she gets the exercise later.

nah i dont walk her in the mornings.. i honestly dont get time im at work, i come home at lunch times for my lunch break and play ball and give them their treats but all the main exercise happens after work... she has plenty of toys for through out the day and she also has our other staffy pepsi and cat felix so she isnt by herself.. i have lost count on how many toys my girls have.. everytime i go shopping i bring them something home maybe thats the problem, i spoil her to much haha she a spoiled brat :p

You would see an improvement if you walked her in the morning before work.

Do you feed her before you go to work?

Michelle x

I definately think you would see a big improvement if you walked her in the mornings. Burn off all the energy she has after a good nights sleep! Even if its just half an hour, she will be more settled for the rest of the day.