Agressive or Puppy Behaviour?

Ralph is coming up to 14 weeks. We have been struggling with the mouthing but that seems to be coming under control now!

One thing is worrying me slightly. He has done this a few times now, and only to me, not my OH. He starts off by barking at me. If I try to stoke him he bites me. If I keep eye contact with him, he lunges forward and bites, If I don't give him attention he bites. I turn my back and he bites. Today, he'd barked at me so I moved forward into his space to show dominance, and he bit me quite badly on the arm. I yelled no, and immediately put him on his back and held him there.

Am I doing the right thing! Is this normal puppy behaviour for a Staffy as I have never had a Staffy pup before.

I think today was quite a bad one... it really hurt actually and he's going to become a strong dog! I want to nip this before he nips me again!

He is barking to get your attention and iniate play. The best method is for controlling the mouthing is for everyone to turn your back and ignore him each and every time. He will eventually learn that isn't the correct way to get attention. It is normal puppy behaviour though and not aggression. Here is a link on body language that you may find usefull

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/dogbodylanguage.html

It isn't aggression, not at 14 weeks. It's more likely very rough play or a juvenile show of dominance!

I wouldn't roll him on to his back; it will just frighten him & make him feel insecure. You could be storing up resentment if he's a dominant type of dog.

I think the best thing would be for you to say "No!", turn away from him & ignore him whenever he either bites you or barks at you. Stop all interraction & totally ignore him, don't even look at him! If he carries on, don't say another word (you've already told him "no"), just picj him up & put him out of the room for a couple of minutes.

Make sure that you feed him (it'll reinforce that he has to be nice to you, the food provider!), but before he gets his food, make him sit & wait for a count of, say, 20 seconds. Then give him a release word like "OK" or similar. If he tries to move before you tell him, then pick the food up & start again.

The key is consistency. Do the same thing every time & never allow a bite/mouthing to go uncorrected. He's pushing his limits & he seems to think that you are the easy one to push!

Personally I think it's better to remove them from the room rather than turning your back.
I wouldn't pin him either...I don't think it solves anything
Great advice in you feeding him though
Keep up the good work, I know it can feel like your getting no where sometimes but he will just click one day if your carry on being consistant

Bode used to do this when she was very young, would jump back and forth towards me, with a really deep growl, sometimes followed by a bite, id just stop playing with her when she did it.

doesn't happen any more

Thank you guys. I was a bit worried there. I will do what you suggest and see what happens...

I think what we all tend to forget is that young pups only know how they played with their siblings & they try to play with us the same way. If they bullied their siblings, they'll try & bully us! What we have to do is teach them that it isn't acceptable to play that way with humans.

It can take a while, but sooner or later he'll catch on & he'll be a pleasure to have around!

If you stare at him he may see this as a challenge and a sign of dominance, if staring at him makes him nervous then please stop doing it.

Go along with the other advice given, a no to putting him on his back, this will not achieve anything.

kathytake2 wrote:If you stare at him he may see this as a challenge and a sign of dominance, if staring at him makes him nervous then please stop doing it.

Go along with the other advice given, a no to putting him on his back, this will not achieve anything.

Just to confirm, I don't stare him out or anything... it was just one of the tactics I tried amongst others as he's done this a few times now.

I will go along with ideas on here and try ignoring him or popping him out the room for a minute. I really appreciate all the feedback as it's my first Staffy.

My 12 wk pup can be a proper little gremlin !

Starting right will reward in the long run.

My pup has been sitting and waiting for meals since 9 wks old, sits for treats as well.
When he nips he gets a sharp vocal correction and either I walk away or I remove him from the room. It does work, he now does the apology licking right after nipping or mouthing ! But like any pup, he will still try it on.

If he barks at me i tell him stop and walk away...

U will get there, I also don't think putting him on his bk is a good idea , ur forcing him to be submissive, but u will be forcing him into nervous submissive state of mind instead of submission happening on it's own when he's in a calm state of mind.

Xxx good luck

Zeus is coming up to 17 weeks and still does the same. We all do the same thing, as stated in the earlier posts. Tell him off with ''no'' and ignore him, this works most of the time. On the times it don't, we simply pick him up and put him in another room and leave him there for a few minutes. He hates it when that happens. When he comes back in, hes much more well behaved.. until five minutes after and then it happens again Stay consistent and he'll get the message eventually!

Regarding the staring.. I actually do this with Zeus sometimes and it tends to work. I've taught him to respond to hand actions instead of words and hes doing very well. When hes being naughty, I point my finger at him and stare, and he stops doing it and sits. Any other time I stare at him, he tries staring back at me, then eventually figures out he wont win and again, sits and stays calm. I dont really see it as being a problem as he responds to it and enforces my authority on him.

Staring at a dog can be a dangerous thing!

If your dog's a dominant one, then you risk him getting the hump & maybe growling at you which would be counter productive. If he's submissive, then all you do is make him feel uncomfortable & unwilling to look at you!

A dominance example; my Dempsey is very dominant. If anyone in the family (other than me) stares him straight in the eye, he stares straight back & will not look away. If they keep staring he will eventually growl & air-snap towards whoever is doing it - not good! If I stare at him (which I rarely do!) he will stare back for a few seconds & then look away.

You need to remember that dogs (wild or domesticated) use staring to intimidate other dogs, so if you do it to a dog, you are challenging them & they will feel the need for a reaction.

Zeus does tend to growl and air-snap sometimes when I do it, he does that when I tell him off too, so I think I'll cut it out! Thanks for the eye opener, Caryll.

Ralph has also air-snapped when I've told him no. I'm just really glad that it's not him and that it seems to be normal puppy behaviours, as I say, first staffy and I knew they are strong willed!

As Jackieb says with her 12 week old, Ralph has been really good with all the other bits we are showing him, sit, down, paw, roll over and now beg. He's the top of his class at training and the youngest I might add so I am very proud of him and what we've done with him so far. Just was a bit worried as the behaviour seemed to be directed at me and not the OH, who said I needed to be tougher with him, but I'm only doing what I've done before!

I don't want to be tougher with him! I want snuggles!

Believe me, it will get better. You have no idea the problems we went through with Dempsey! He would challenge every step of the way, to a point where, at just over a year old I seriously considered chopping his nuts off!

But he's a lot calmer now (ok, I know he's 3 years old). Most staffs will respond much quicker than a thick-headed EBT! Just get to learn your pup's body language & work around it!

Caryll wrote:Believe me, it will get better. You have no idea the problems we went through with Dempsey! He would challenge every step of the way, to a point where, at just over a year old I seriously considered chopping his nuts off!

LOL! Won't mess with you!

That'll be the next thing I have to decide...

Please tell me your husband was good and did as he was told

Jellytot wrote:

Caryll wrote:Believe me, it will get better. You have no idea the problems we went through with Dempsey! He would challenge every step of the way, to a point where, at just over a year old I seriously considered chopping his nuts off!

LOL! Won't mess with you!

That'll be the next thing I have to decide...

I wouldn't have done it! It doesn't make any difference to dominant behaviour, anyway. Only training will do that.

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Please tell me your husband was good and did as he was told

.......so far......... >

I have a book by Jan Fennel, called "The Dog Listener" It's very helpful in explaining how and why dogs behave the way they do and which way as an owner/leader you should respond. I found it a good read if nothing else anyway

Just wanted to say thanks guys for all the advice. We have noticed a massive difference in Ralph nipping already. THANK YOU!