Charlie again help please !

Right having some problems with him still . Before anyone says he`s a pup i know i`ve had pup`s before but nothing like this .
He will not rest at all he has no down time at all . From the minute he gets up to the minute we go to bed he is climbing the walls !!!
He has 2 good long walks a day plus play time running on the field . I`ve changed food to Wagg puppy and for the 1st day he was great ,now we are right back to square one .
He won`t do a thing i tell him and has now started snapping at my hand when i try to get him off furniture etc just hold his collar to get him off ?
He`ll do laps along the back of the sofa diving on anyone sitting there and this is all day long not just an hour here or there !
I`ve been doing the "Down NO !" in a firm voice he don`t care just carriers on regardless .
The only time he is calm and sleeps is in his crate but i hate putting him in there unless i really have to . But he sleeps there at night .
When he`s calmer he will listen to treat training .
Could to be something in his past ?? He last owners said they had no time for him so i`m thinking he was in his crate more than out of it .
They also said they wanted to keep in touch but have not replied to my emails with pics of him (i have not mentioned him play up to them ) .
Help how can i calm him down just abit so he will at least listen ??

Vampy wrote:Right having some problems with him still . Before anyone says he`s a pup i know i`ve had pup`s before but nothing like this .

Sorry but all I can say is that he is just a pup, a lively one, but then so are all Staffs. The only thing I can suggest is keeping up with the training and being very firm, never angry and never irritated, keep things very calm and everything in routine and make sure everyone else does the same. You will get bored with your own voice after a while, but the training will pay off. Xx

You just have to be very calm and consistent with him. He is still only 4 months old, and at that age, they can be hell on legs (as you are finding out)

I recommend changing food again, Wagg really is not good quality at all. If you're on a budget, Harringtons is only slightly more expensive than Wagg and much better quality. If you have a pets at home nearby, they do Wainwrights, a little more expensive, but again, better quality food.

I would, for now at least, not allow him on the sofa at all. If he gets up, say firmly 'DOWN', if he doesn't listen, calmly pull him off by his collar, again with a 'DOWN'. If he goes to snap at you, a very firm 'NO!', pull him off, then time out - no eye contact, no talk.

As for his energy, some staffs, in fact most staffs, seem to have never ending energy. you could try things like scent games, to stumulate his mind and help tire him out. That plus exercise should do the trick.

Basically, you just have to be very very firm, be consistent, and be PATIENT. He will get it - eventually.

What food is he eating

shontelle wrote:You just have to be very calm and consistent with him. He is still only 4 months old, and at that age, they can be hell on legs (as you are finding out).

I know it`s like living with a Tasmanian devil
I love him to pieces but at the mo he know`s which buttons to press and is driving me nutts

He is very dominant by the sounds of it. Do not draw back when he snaps at you, use your hand to "bite" back.

OOOOooooooo interesting stuff ! Just found if i let out a loud yelp he stops trying to bite instantly !!!
He`s now calmed down and is just sniffing around . BBUUUUTTTTTTT the bugger is trying to mount you if you sit on the floor !!!! Nutt`s off time soon me thinks .

Stop feeding him Waggs. Its full of rubbish and e numbers. Its like feeding your children mcdonalds for every meal.
With a higher quality food he should have a better attention span. He's only young though and it will take time to train him, especially if you're starting from scratch relatively late as his last owners didn't bother.

BBUUUUTTTTTTT the bugger is trying to mount you if you sit on the floor !!!! Nutt`s off time soon me thinks .

He's far too young to have urges. This is dominating behaviour, he thinks he's the boss. You need to nip this in the bud with a firm no and stand up, arms crossed and ignore him untill he's calmed down. If you absolutely have to castrate him then at least wait untill he is a year old and his skeletal growth has stopped. But please understand that this behaviour is not sexually driven.

Yeah i have just ordered some Harringtons for him . He has got the idea of sit and paw but thats it at the moment .i really have my work cut out this should all have been started long a go , maybe thats why i`m finding him hard to deal with ? I have always had puppys from 8-10wks of age and started training from day one .
I can never understand why peep`s get dogs then do nothing with them and end up rehoming them because they are running riot .
MMMMmm me thinks that i will have to try harder to gain control of this young man . We`ll hold off until he`s at least a year old then

I`m sorry for asking all the questions but i am determined to have a lovely well behaved happy Staffy i refuse to give up i will do it . This time next year maybe i`ll be in a position to offer advice to someone too

I would recommend James Wellbeloved or Arden Grange but I don't know if you have a strict budget. Romeo was fed by his breeder on JWB. When that was gone, not knowing about dog nutrition we started feeding him pedigree. When he was about eight months we switched back to JWB. His behaviour improved drastically. He was much calmer and more attentive.
Obviously its not all about food but every little thing helps.

Monty mounts everyone, and everything ! Not all the time, but he's already doing it at 5 months. He was doing it to my duvet while I was changing the bedding earlier ... this time he had his lipstick out !

I think i must have mutant staffys, even when they were tiny pups they were very well behaved , had mad half hours but they calmed down if they had a chewy toy . I think maybe it was because they were always well walked and loved chasing tennis balls and so were always ready for a snooze ?. I switched to Harringtons and they seemed a bit more full of stamina instead of just full of energy? does that make sense?.

Maria. wrote:Monty mounts everyone, and everything ! Not all the time, but he's already doing it at 5 months. He was doing it to my duvet while I was changing the bedding earlier ... this time he had his lipstick out !

Could you put him on the lead in the house and walk him round with you so he's in contact with you but cant be out of control, if you want quiet time again put him on his lead and sit him on the cushion after a week or so you should be able to leave go of the lead and he should stay there. when he does something correct praise him and give him a treat immediately so he associates the good behaviour with the reward

Mounting to me = dominance and is dealt with fairly but harshly. Even with other peoples dogs. I've been known to use the "bite" with other dogs. How dare they mount me! >D

Mounting at that age is dominance.

Just push him away & tell him "No!" If he keeps doing it, treat him the way you would with biting, turn away & ignore, no interraction at all. If he carries on, then time out in another room or his crate.

I agree with the others on food - Wagg is only slightly better than Bakers, I'm afraid. If you're on a tight budget, then try Wainrights (Pets at Home's own brand), it's less expensive than most but still good quality.

Ok? We took him off the Wagg last night and gave him a tin of meat we had left over . Same this morning another tin of meat and he`s quistly resting in his crate of his own choice ,door is open but he`s happy to be just laying in there ! Food it is again then

It's a matter of trying to find the one that suits him. I'd stay away from tinned food if you can - not good for their teeth, but they're also about 70% water so you have to feed more.

Is there a large pet store near you? Or are you able to order food online?

be sure to have a frank and thorough discussion with the vet before making a decision on the neutering.

Doctor John Silver is a good feed as well. Under £10 for a 15KG bag. I swear by that food, to be honest. Doesn't hyper them up but gives them boundless energy when needed. Don't feed Gold unless you have a competition adult dog =3
But yeah, mounting is a big nono.
The biting is dominance. "Bite" back.
And I wish you the best of luck <3

He been golden all day but now he`s trying it on jumping on the sofa nipping . I sound like a stuck record "Down!" "No!" lol

id advise changing the food also as if you look at the ingredients wagg is full of al sorts of extras that are not good for your puppy i use pero dog food with really good results

Vampy wrote:I`m sorry for asking all the questions but i am determined to have a lovely well behaved happy Staffy i refuse to give up i will do it . This time next year maybe i`ll be in a position to offer advice to someone too

Dont be sorry, by asking questions we all learn and dont give up. Some excellent advice from Shontelle. All I can add is that you must be calm no matter what as your frustration would just make matters worse. I have been where you are and now that Ty is heading towards his second birthday, I can say that it is worth the patience and consistency.

We use a house line with Heston when he is being particularly crazy/snappy. Its really light weight and he doesn't notice it on his collar, but really comes in handy when using the "down" command. If i've asked 3x and he won't get off the sofa I pick up the line, turn around to ignore him, then use a slow but firm pull to get him to move off. He doesn't get snappy about it this way and teaches him that I did not approve of that behavior without using a command in irritation. Also I find that using lavender/camomile oil, vapourised or lightly massaged on, helps to move Heston on to a more relaxed state of mind- Aromatherapy used at the right time really does help!

A light massage with lavendar oil works very well with caming them down. Tyson loves it!

Marty wrote:Could you put him on the lead in the house and walk him round with you so he's in contact with you but cant be out of control, if you want quiet time again put him on his lead and sit him on the cushion after a week or so you should be able to leave go of the lead and he should stay there. when he does something correct praise him and give him a treat immediately so he associates the good behaviour with the reward

This is what i was going to suggest. keep him on a lead when your there and when he jumps on the sofa give him a firm yank off with the word no, and have patience as you will have to do this many times but he will get it eventually. Always reward good behaviour even if its just when he has sat on his own or is quiet for a few seconds. The penny will drop eventually.

Hi,
I'm definitely not an expert but I'd say it must be the food.
Stella is most often on Wainwrights or Nature's Harvest wet food (just some 70% meat and rice) and still I can see that if I give her raw meat (chicken wings, chicken fillets, lamb shanks, lamb ribs, diced turkey...) she is much calmer.
So I think it could be the carboydrates and additives and stuff they put in dog food. And it seems to me that even quality dog food can make Stella a wee bit hyper-ish.
So I'd try raw meat and bones diet - Caryll is a real expert here - thanks! - so I always search for posts here and do what Caryll suggests
So good food, good walks, and when Stella gets hyper I actually do not tell her off because it always makes her jump more - I just turn away from her and say nothing and she realises in 5 seconds that it's not what she wanted so stops by herself
But maybe I'm just lucky with her, she just wants to cuddle....
Good Luck, Charlie will be fine sooner or later it will all work out well
Xx