Help & Advice needed please!

Hi,
I have a 5 year old male staffy (neutered) & a 6 month old bitch. Basically i'm after some advice on behaviour. Zak, my male, is great .. doesn't take food from the kids, doesn't rake out the bin, doesn't chew - Willow on the other hand, being a pup, is a little monster! We bought a dog cage (not a big fan of them but was at my wits end with her wrecking the house when left alone!) which has helped a lot - she goes in it during the night & during the day if we go out, doesn't even pee in it which is fab. Ok so main problem seems to be i THINK i need tips on how to let her know I'M THE BOSS! She seems to obey my hubby - but he works away so i need her to obey me too - if i tell her no she usually barks at me & jumps at me. A couple of times she's caught my hand with her teeth (no broken skin). I feel she's possibly going to be a "man's dog" which doesn't help me when hubby is rarely around. I worry that if i don't get it sorted now it'll spoil her when she's fully grown. I have 2 small grandchildren, she's great with kids (apart from trying to take food off them) but i'm worried when she's having a mad moment she may unintentionally hurt one of them.
I looked into training classes but none in my local area (i have no car with hubby working away so needs to be very local) as i know that would likely be my best option. I also have to walk them separately as Willow REALLY pulls, even with a choke chain on - i've bought a harness to try & also a muzzle (Zak USED to pull but not when wearing a muzzle!) so i'm hoping one of them works so i can walk them together!
I hope all this ramble makes sense
I do not want my puppy thinking she's the boss so any advice/tips would be very much appreciated.

TIA

I would advise against a choke chain since this can actually harm your dog. If she pulls turn around and go in the opposite direction. It will take patience but she will get the idea. For the other issue are you the one that feeds her. If so have her wait for her food for a little while, maybe 30 seconds or so and than have her eat. If she jumps up turn around and ignore her.

At her age she could very well be going through a teenage phase so back to basic training with patience and consistancy

Oh, i didn't know that, thanks.
Yes it's usually me who feeds her & she jumps around like an idiot as soon as she knows the food's out. Have tried making her sit & wait, but for most of the time she just ignores me. I have to feed them separately as she wolfs hers down then goes straight for Zak's & he just lets her take it!

You can practice the sit and wait commands during daily training sessions and use food as a reward. This will help with disclipline and well as provide mental stimulation which will help with her energy

So the sit & wait commands would help teach her i'm in charge? Sorry if i sound ignorant, i've never had to train a pup before ... we rehomed Zak from a shelter when he was 18 months & he was perfect from the start

By itself no it won't but it will help. There has to be consistant training. She is likely trying to test her limits and if you allow a negative behaviour to go uncorrected she will start to think it is okay. If she learns to sit and wait for food she learns patience and to look to you for guidance. Donce consistantly over a period of time the positive behaviour becomes a habit.

As jstaff says, you need to get her to do obedience commands throughout the day. When you feed her, tell her to sit or wait. Then if she gets up, tell her again! Don't give her the dinner until she's sitting. It might take a while, and you'll probably not get too far with it for a few days, but eventually she'll get the hint! This will teach her patience & teh fact that you control her food supply - if she doesn't do what you tell her to do she doesn't get fed!

If she jumps up, tell her "no" or "off" and turn away from her. Totally ignore her, don't even make eye contact. If she carries on, then don't say another word, just take her out of the room & leave her in the other room for a couple of minutes.

With the walking, please don't use a check chain. Use an ordinary collar & if she goes to pull, just turn 180 degrees and walk the other way. As the lead tightens give it a little tug and say "heal" or "close" (doesn't matter, as long as you use the same word every time) and carry on walking until she is by your side - then turn around again (same method) so that you continue the way you started. It'll take you ages to get anywhere, but fairly soon she'll start to get fed up with it & will watch to see which way you're going & she'll start to stay with you.

Just a little word of advice, though. Everybody who has anything to do with her must follow the same rules or she'll get confused!

Ok thanks, i'll give it a shot ... wish me luck lol

Here's an example :-
I just came to front room from kitchen, she tried jumping at me, i told her (firmly) no, down ..... she barked & kept jumping up .... i told her to sit, which she did, for a couple seconds then she jumped up again trying to bite on the belt of my dressing gown ... again i told her sit, she did, i said stay & turned away ..... she jumped up at me again - classic signs of "testing the water"?

If she jumps up, don't tell her to sit, just tell her "no" or "down" and then turn away from her. Keep doing that until she stops jumping up. Otherwise she'll end up jumping up & then sitting! Once she stops jumping up you can praise her calmly & quietly.

Staffs hate being ignored. She'll soon get to realise that if she jumps up she gets ignored & if she stays on the floor she gets a fuss.

Okie doke ... lol i was half way there! This is gonna be a long process me thinks haha

...........it gets easier!

God i hope so, some days i feel like pulling my hair out lol

Just think yourself lucky you have a staff & not an EBT. I have an EBT, and he's thick as two short planks!

I said to my hubby, if i ever say i want a puppy again, say NO haha, we only went for a puppy cos we thought it'd be better for Zak rather than introducing another adult dog - still, we got a pup so now it's up to us to train her correctly

I think we all go through a bit of a frustration stage. Just find comfort in knowing that patience and consistancy will pay off in the end.

Qucik update - started immediately with making Willow sit & wait for her food, worked more or less straight away ... if she jumps up i tell her down & make her sit for a minute before i put her food down ... after the first couple times she started giving her paw when i told her to sit
Onwards & upwards ... i will crack this lol

dawngriff wrote:... after the first couple times she started giving her paw when i told her to sit
Onwards & upwards ... i will crack this lol

She's a bright one! She's trying to make her own terms. She'll get it & then you'll wonder how it was ever a problem!