behaviour advice

hi

i am looking for advice regarding millie, that was my principle reason for joining as i understand that many of you out there are very experienced in staffy care.
long story but millie is very nervouse for a staffy , which i blame myself for but i am working on, any way away a few weeks back i belive she was startled by a child and she jumped at him, we had been around lots of people taht day and not a problem.
she caught the child not sure if with teeth or claw but after the initial reaction the kid was saying no dad its fine, it didnt even break the skin but the center placed a bandage on it and a sling!
the police now want to see millie, i know she has a problem and im working on it vets given me a DAP collar and spray plus she said she will give millie a sedative for when we see police i have a muzzel and i am seeing the dog behaviourilist on monday ( earliest he could come out) is there anything esle i can do?
she isnt a nasty or agressive dog she lives with a rough collie who is top dog so to speak and will put millie in her place like mum dogs do when she feels millie is misbehaving and millie lives with a cat who is now 20 and knows her place with the cat as well.


sorry for rambling on milliemoosmum

Oh dear.

How old is Millie? Do you have papers for her? I think all you can really do us tell the police that the vet its helping you out, that you are seeing a behaviourist and whatever else that you are doing. You will also need to assure them that you will muzzle her whenever she is out in public.

Unfortunately, their attitude will be, she didn't break skin this time but what about next time, if there is a next time. You will have to work hard to assure them that you're doing all you can and it won't happen again. Good luck, I hope it all goes well for you and Millie.

thankyou. she is 2 years old well three in october id do anything to make sure she is ok . she has papers but police havent asked to see them , they didnt even know what type of dog she was

i have no reall advise i can give as i have never been in that situation but i do have a question of my own. what difference do papers make. surely it doesnt matter to them if the dog is KC registered or hold any other papers.

I have know experience of this at all, sounds to me you are doing all the steps you can do. I really hope nothing comes of it, and if you appear a dilligent owner I hope that it won't. Do keep us updated, when do you have to go? xX

sunday , i am sure it was an acciendent, just finding it very hard to deal with one minute im ok next in floods of tears.

It must be very stressfull, I'm sure it was an accident too but I guess its standard procedure. As no formal complaint was made (or was it?) I would have hoped the worst would be muzzled in public and kept on lead, but I really don't know. Keep your chin up there is nothing you can do till Sunday. I know thats easy for me to say. Hugs hun xX

the police were contacted but the family left before they got to the center we were at.
a local police man came around on tuesday saying the other police wanted us to contact them and he even said wait for them to contact us, which they did later that day. but the odd thing was that they knew no real details!

I don't think there's much more you can do at this time. If I were you I'd tell the police that it was high spirits, she had been hyped up by lots of people that day & that she caught the child with a claw whilst jumping up for a fuss. Then you can go on to tell them what steps you are taking to ensure that the high spirits are controlled properly in future.

Have her papers ready just in case they ask to see them (doubt that they will, though).

I take it this is the first time anything like this has happened & that she's normally fine with people of all ages? If that's the case, so that to the police, and stress that it was a one-off incident that you are working on to make sure it never happens again.

Depending on how the police feel in your area, you may be looking at her being muzzled in public, or just a warning that if it happens again she'll have to be muzzled.

Just stay polite & look really sorry for what's happened & try to stay on their good side! Good luck, let us know how you get on.

I think they will send a behaviourist out and as you are taking precautions then I think you should be okay as long as your dog doesnt shows aggresion when they arrive (barking and hesitation fine).
There was a incident a few years back near me
A woman was walking with a 3 months old child bags on her pram ,a off lead bullmastiff jumped up at the shopping bags and knocked the pram over dragging it the baby still in to cut a long story short the baby did receive scratches and was very distressed but the dog was after the contents of the bag the police came waste of time I walked up put a rope round its neck and it was happy to leave the area.
I heard later the dog was visited in its home and was no risk to the public all okay. So I suppose its how your dog reacts when visited and what you are prepared to put in place like insurance ,muzzling, neutering ect.
Dont beat yourself up about it until you know whats what

_julie_ wrote:i have no reall advise i can give as i have never been in that situation but i do have a question of my own. what difference do papers make. surely it doesnt matter to them if the dog is KC registered or hold any other papers.

J Inust case the police decided she was pitbull type or something like that. If they thought that, they'd take her. Alot of people can't tell the difference between pitbull and staffy.

gem

i consider myself to be a responsible owner she is chipped , neutered, insursred, regular deflea worming ect.
she attended puppy classes , hardley ever left alone i hope this all goes in my favour.
i know the socilisation could have been better but due to personal illness and family problems it wasnt as good as it should have been and i am l working hard at to rectify.

took her on a train recentally so that was big achivement for both of us.

if they do send some one round i doubt very much she would show agression, she would be wary to start with tho but she does taht when i come home from work she tends to creep down stairs shyly untill she knows its me.

,

im sure all will be fine,try not to worry to much(easier said than done)

It sounds like you are very prepared and the police will certainly take that into account.

Hope everything goes ok xx

let you know tomorow wont be till late as its a 230 mile round trip to see the police tomorrow.
feel like life on hold at mo yesterday i was very busy at work but today back to thinking which i know i shouldnt do.

Wow, didn't realise you had to go to them, I thought they were sending someone round! What a trip!

Good luck, though, I'm sure it'll be ok!

Having to go to them with the dog i think she will extremely stressed. After all this done i think you most definatly need to work with her to bring her confidence up....for starters not allowing the other dogs in the house to correct her.
With shy dogs it important to raise their head well actually to get them to raise their head naturally by doing simple things like always petting from underneath her head like her neck and chin when you pet her and this will naturally raise her head and in turn cause a click in her mind, when petting her if her tail is between her legs raise her tail, or atleast untuck it again this will cause a click in her mind. Though I'm sure the behaviourist you have will know that

think it both our confidence taht needs building up , i havent been well work related stress impacted on home and millie . i let her down but i will work hard to resolve that.

Good Luck for tomorrow, I really hope it all goes well for you.

milliemoosmum wrote:think it both our confidence taht needs building up , i havent been well work related stress impacted on home and millie . i let her down but i will work hard to resolve that.

Stressful situation can cause these type of issues, Issues i am all too well used too, but the important thing is that she is still there and she sounds like a really nice girl, the best thing you can do for both you is put the past behind you,
Dogs pick up on our energy their very sensitive to it so they can quickly become unsure and they act out, because their owner is in an unstable frame of mind, but they think differently to us they don't dwell in the past they live in the moment, so with the handler in the right frame of mind this problem is easily fixed. Try to work through your own issues but if you can not because it is easier said than done I'd suggest getting a little help, which would benifit you both in the long run.

hi
well after a very stressful day it has worked out for the best !
basically when i got there the family who were accusing us where there wasnt expecting that! but took millie up and they said that not the dog so they then said it a brown dog so went and got molly who i know wasnt anywhere near them.
kid said yes taht it dad said no it not , police said there was a witness took pics of dogs witness said it was a white dog family then said it was a tan dog with white neck and old and a mixed breed!
the mum had seen molly with my mum about 20 mins before and i personally think they just tried it on maybe for comp? who knows !

police were lovely and said it been blown up out of proportion.


saw dog man today my god he was great a few home truths but that was needed and he even had millie walking without her harness!

Glad it worked out!! Sounds like they were just trying to blame anyone. I wonder what the real truth was, perhaps it was their own dog that did the biting and they didn't want him to get in trouble?

I bet you breathed a sigh of relief. Why oh why would someone do that?!?! It beggers belief. Oh well done and dusted now, really pleased for you.

And well done at the training, way to go Millie, keep up the good work

Fantastic news! Really pleased for you.

What a worry to put you through, though - they should be charged with wasting police time!

so pleased it went well and all that worry ><

yeah i feel as if i can get on with life now been a bit in mess since it happened!

Now that things are back to normal, maybe you could post a couple of pics of Millie?

Please?

Caryll wrote:Now that things are back to normal, maybe you could post a couple of pics of Millie?

Please?

yeah ill sort some out!