dog growling

hello please can anyone help me i have a 7 year old staff called tick ive had her since she was a puppy and bottle fed her due to her mum not feeding her.i had 2 children at the time and tick was brilliant with the kids then 5 years ago i had my 3rd daughter who was born with medical problems because of the problems my daughter had i could not look after the dog properly due to hospital stays and my daughter having operations.my mum had a friend that was looking for a staff so i let the dog go to my mums friend they came and saw tick and she was brilliant with them she was with them for 3 days before they rang and said that everytime they went near the dog she started growling at them i told them that she had NEVER EVER GROWLED AT ANYONE BEFORE and that she was proberly frightend and just needed time to settle in after a week they said they could no longer keep her due to constanly growling at them since then everytime anyone goes near her she growls she does go over to me and my eldest children and anyone that comes to the house but if you touch her she will start growling at them ive tried everything to try and get her to stop with a firm NO ive even had 2 dog trainers out to her and even had her spayed (vets advice) to try and sort the problem out they have all said that shes not growling because shes being nasty shes doing it out of fear i can only think that when she went to my mums friend that something happend while she was there because she NEVER EVER GROWLED when she was here.at the moment im having to keep her muzzled while my kids are about the house (advice from both dog trainers just in case) im constanly on edge when kids are about telling them not to go near the dog.she gets walked for an hour twice a day sometimes longer.
please can anyone help i DONT want to keep my dog muzzled all day and to keep telling my kids NOT TO GO NEAR HER its getting me down that nothing seems to be working all my friends and family have said to get the dog put to sleep but wanted to see if anyone had one last idea of what i can do to sort her out..please for a very very much loved dog

Is there anything medically wrong with her? When you took her to the vets did they give her a good going over? How long has the growling been going on for now? I just wonder whether it could be the upheaval of you having a baby, and then being swapped from home to home and that now, as you don't have the time training has lapsed and she feels extremly confused.

Hiya and welcome btw, I hope you can get it sorted Xx

most good dog trainner will say walking is the key, a tired dog is a good dog and untired is a problem dog.

are you sure u going for a hour each walk?

a dogs dont just turn nasty over night she must been like this all of her life or she is ill, If she been like this all of her life then walking is the key.

hello had the dog for 7 years and shes been doing this for 5 years ever since i let her go to my mums friend,vet has done a through check and done bloods and nothing was wrong.
i walk the dog for 1 hour twice a day sometimes longer was out with her for over 3 hours yesterday but even though she was tired she was still growling

Edit: i see the new information. Hmm, 5 years is a long to to have this happening. What exactly do you do when she does it?

take her out for longer and maybe 3 times a day also learn her http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

i think it down to poor training sorry if the vet said there nothing wrong. but at her age she should be muturing and calming down abit now

I'm really not sure as its been happeneing for 5 years. Apart from the trainers suggesting muzzles what else have you been doing to try and stop this growling? Its been going on for a long time.

Steve wrote: but at her age she should be muturing and calming down abit now

Tell lexi that for me please

But i agree with steve, you may have been just handling this wrong. In future when she growls i would take her by the back of the collar and remove her from the room. Do not coax her out or say in a happy voice "come on out!" and call her...just a firm OUT! and put out. Keep her out for 5 mins (unless she is whining, in which case leave her until shes stopped) next time she growls repeat the process. Eventually she will know the command OUT means you're doing something wrong get out of the room and saying it will make her leave the situation.

Has she ever actually done anything other than growl?

It sounds as though her life was turned upside down with arrival of your youngest & then your illness. She was turned over to someone else & she was scared. Maybe they didn't understand her & punished her for growling which made it worse? If that's the case then it could well be a learned action - a habit she's got into.

I would try what Hayley sugests & see if it helps. Also, let evrybody have some small treats in their pockets. If she comes over & doesn't growl she gets a treat - if she growls she gets taken out of the room.

As to the vet sugesting that spaying would stop her growling - what planet is he on? Dogs growl for a reason, and it's not because they're un-neutered!

This is a toughy, she obviously dosent see u as the Alpha/boss

U need to go right back to basics, 5 yrs is a long time to put up with it without fixing the issue, the dog knows no different.....

If my dog growls for any reason when any of us are interacting with her the it is dealt with immediately, she is told no, sent to bed and not allowed bk out until invited.(kinda like a timeout)

Also if u are scared/ anxious of ur dog, age will pickup on that too.

Back to basics, treat training, lots of walks/runs a good diet and love.

I don't believe in the 'alpha/pack leader' bit, but the above advice is sound.

Is it possible that your friend miss treated or hurt her. She may of seen this as punisment and lost her trust with people. Your friend must of done something or somebody at your friends. Im not trying to cause problems but something isnt quite right here. Will she let you stroke her? Maybe you could sit alone with her in a quiet room, calmly sit yourself down and gently call her over with treats, if she comes be slow and gentle, show her she can trust you. I know i sound like a weird, crazy hippy, but i belive she's lost her trust, warning you off. Sorry if im wrong,

thanks for the replys tick will come over to me or the kids or visitors with tail wagging and gets excited but if you touch her even with a gentle stroke she starts growling ive tried a number of things with tick.
ignoring her when she growls,saying a firm no and giving a gentle tug of her collar,when she growls saying out and sending her out the room shes got used to me saying that i only have to point to the door and she goes on her bed and i leave her there for a few minutes,ive tried feeding her treats when she lets me stroke her,ive tried just sitting on the floor quietly and letting her come over to me she will lie next to me or the eldest kids and put her head in our laps and will stay there for about half an hour and even fall asleep but as soon as you stroke her she starts growling again,ive even sat with her for 2 hours and just stroked her with her growling until she herself stopped growling and gave her a treat just for her to growl 2 minutes later,shes never bitten anyone.something happend to her when she went to my mums friend she was a lovely dog before she went there she would sit on your knee for hours she does let you put the muzzle on her and lead on without growling

most of what i put in my last post is what im still doing saying a firm no, sending her out of the room,giving her treats when she does very rarely let us stroke her,now i just let her come to me for a stroke(me thinking now but proberbly a daft idea)thinking its her choice to come over to me so she doesnt feel pressured when we stroke her and its her wanting to come over to us and not us making her

Can you video this please? I'm really struggling o see why she should growl her body language says something totally different. I don't mean to sound rude but are you sure she's actually growling? Staffs do a little grumble type thing when they are happy and it sounds like a growl and some people who don't know any other staffs assume they are growling when they're really not. If you can video it someone will be able to help more. This could just be a big misunderstanding!

yes ive heard the grumble,whine and noise that sounds like she talking wish i had got it wrong but she is growling could i put a video on this forum and if so how do i do it

If you can take vids with your phone, then just upload it from there to photobucket the same way you would do an ordinary pic.