Feel like giving up

I have been working really hard with Buster since getting him 3 months ago. He was coming along really well. I had managed to get him to stop trying to chew shoes, his jumping up had improved - although he still wasn't perfect - he had stopped nipping, not jumping on the sofa, recal was getting good, etc. But the last few weeks have gone to pot. I put it down to his age as he is now 9 months. Now I have found that my brother (who works with OH so Buster see's him 3 days a week) has been play fighting with him which I said from the start I didn't want anyone to do as we have young children. When they play fight, Buster jumps up trying to get hold of his clothes and will also pull on his shoes! While meeting people now Buster jumps straight up them trying to nip at their hands, and then will pull/chew on their shoes and trouser!

When I got back from our walk this morning I moaned at OH while he was on the way out the door and told him to make sure my brother stops it, or I may aswell give up taking him to dog training and things as what is the point of me working so hard with him if it is going to get spoilt through the week. OH says he knows, and tries to make sure no one lets him get away with things he shouldn't be doing, but it's the problem of everyone else thinking they know best Honestly, it is my dog! If I want to bring him up to walk everywhere backwards then it is my choice - why does everyone else have to interfere?? I've tried so hard to stop all the bad habits he had, and now we are back to square one, well, probably further back than that as he is worse than when I got him now!!

Sorry, I just needed a rant

IMO this is why is better getting a puppy 8/9 week old they are easy to train maybe his other owner let him get away thing to much.... but don't worried you stick with it & be consistent and he will turn good when he getting longer walks he be to tired to chew or jump up on anybody

His last owner just left him in the back garden and he did what he liked It has been really rewarding seeing the improvements with him, but now it has all gone out the window. I just wish people would respect what I want him to do/not do and not think they know best, or that it doesn't matter.

Buster doesn't do tired! lol, he is always excited when meeting new people, no amount of walking will ever change that!

Steve is absolutely right. Once he gets more exercise he should begin to calm down a little.

Are there any games he likes to play while in the house, something where he has to think about things like finding a hidden toy or treat. This will also get him using his brain and tiring him out.

For the jumping up at people turn your back on him and ignore him. Everyone must do the same thing though, be consistent with it and persistent.

My brother is the exact same as yours.when Yale was a pup we were always falling out as he would play fight with Yale till he ended up nipping his hand and I'd blame the dog.got him to stop play fighting till he was older and I had trained him.now he love a play fight but will know when to stop.oh and my brother staffy,well take a guess.its now 3 years old and is like a bull in a china shop in the house.its on your head when you sit on th sofa.pissing the floor in excitement etc.

you be surprise what good walks do for dogs behaviour i always go by tired dog is a good dog, a untired dog is a problem dog... but because hes only 8 months old you don't want to push him to much because you could damage his joints

At the moment he gets 2 45 minute walks a day, plus he is always with someone so not very often asleep during the day.

We play tugsey, fetch, etc at home. I haven't tried hiding a treat yet, but I'll give it a go later.

He doesn't jump up me or OH - he knows he isn't allowed - but he jumps up everybody else. We tell people to ignore him, which they do, but he doesn't give up. It normally means I have to send him to his bed to calm down. The worst thing is if we are walking and he meets someone though, and he has even started jumping up the dog trainer He is always kept on his long line because of his recall with other dogs about, but if I am stood talking to someone and they bend to fuss him he jumps up and is a nightmare. It wouldn't be so bad (not that I want him jumping up, but at least you can explain that as he is young) but with the nipping and trying to pull on clothes now it is getting bad. He has got to the point where now if I walk with him and he decides he wants to play he will keep trying to grab my shoes - while they are on me!

I will stick with the training, I know one day he will improve, I just hope the OH tells my brother to stop making him worse before I do because it has really annoyed me now, I have told him before to stop, but he doesn't listen to me.

Dogs are so much easier to train than people!

Stevenebm wrote:My brother is the exact same as yours.when Yale was a pup we were always falling out as he would play fight with Yale till he ended up nipping his hand and I'd blame the dog.got him to stop play fighting till he was older and I had trained him.now he love a play fight but will know when to stop.oh and my brother staffy,well take a guess.its now 3 years old and is like a bull in a china shop in the house.its on your head when you sit on th sofa.pissing the floor in excitement etc.

Me and OH had a long talk about this when we got Buster and decided that we wouldn't play fight due to the kids being so young and we didn't want Buster getting confused about who he can and cannot play fight with. With my brother play fighting it just shows me that Buster cannot tell who he can and cannot do it to as he tries to do it to everyone. Why can family be so fustrating!?

Buster's_Mum wrote: I just wish people would respect what I want him to do/not do and not think they know best, or that it doesn't matter.

Don't you just hate it.
It is so frustrating to put all that energy into retraining only to have your progress stalled by others interference. I'm rapidly adopting a "my way or the highway" approach.
When I feel like having a strop and saying, right, I'll not bother then and lets see how your way works, I just take a deep breath and remind myself that I'm doing it for Benson, he deserves and needs me to be the best owner I can be. If he playfights with a curious toddler it won't be the OH (or in your case your brother ) who is off to the vet.
In your position I'd definitely have times I'd feel like giving up - but I've started making it clear I'd give up trying to train the human, not the dog.
Hang on in there!

Don't worry, all your hard work isn't wasted! I suspect he's in the teenage phase and as frustrating as it is, he WILL come out of it and all the work you put in will show.

It will also be all the more satisfying when he's a well behaved grown up!

OH poor you thats SO frustrating for you especially when you have set your training rules, I always believe one or maxium two people should be responisible for the main training with a dog as you can set the rules that you want and suit your household, if you are against play fight for your own reasons your brother should respect that!!
The jumping up may not be connected though My Skye does it shes 6yr i posted on here a view days back as i had a nightmare with her and i have nearly 30yrs experience working and training staffords...!!
When she was young i used an animal behaviourist, cos her jumping up extended into her biting my clothes and sometimes catching me by accident, hers was a nervous trait BUT all boiled down too them attention seeking, Just go back too basics how you would treat jumping up turning your back and ignoring him You will get there i promise you have done so well so far deep breath and hang on in there xxx calm consistent training will always payout.

My skye is sometimes a nightmare with the jumping up but is getting better but the nipping has stopped with everyone ignoring her (she hates it) she is now 2
so keep in there i know how you feel with the play fighting i dont but my oh does skye knows the difference now but in the beginning she used to nip everyone but teaching her a word that ment stop was a good sollution (everytime she was rough we said enough and stopped play once she sat she got a treat)
Staffs are so clever she soon got the idea

We play fight with the boys but used it as a training tool to begin with to teach them enough is enough.

We got chance at 18 months, who we've found out had been used in fighting but he has still learnt that when we say enough, play is done. But this means i can really play fight with him, i pin him down etc but he loves it and it really wears them down.

It can work if you continue putting them effort in like you are doing.

Awww don't worry, he is just pushing his boundries!

They all do it at some stage.

You have to get people to do what you say, I know when I was at the club the boys used to try and play rough with Moo especcially tugsys, I personally didn't want them too, it would annoy the hell out me, my hard work and effort getting her to drop things nicely, shattered because they found it fun to wind her up (even more annoying because she loved it!)

Just be consistant with your training, your doing great and have a serious word with your brother, what might seem petty and nothing to them, well if it is to you, then put your foot down! Xx

Clearly this issue is not about him getting enough excercise. To my mind your brother (as with all the humans around) needs to get on the same page as you with regards to the rules and boundaries. I would certainly have a word with him ...and soon.

i know what you mean. i have issues with people who, when romeo jumps on them and i tell him down, they say "Oh its ok, i dont mind" um... i wasnt doing it for you... its for him!
I dont give a flying toss if you dont mind i do.
Romeo play fights, but luckily he is very calm minded dog and easy to disengage from it.
right now his thing is eating my mail D:

Have faith it will all pay off. I think we have all had times like that.

Romeo wrote:i know what you mean. i have issues with people who, when romeo jumps on them and i tell him down, they say "Oh its ok, i dont mind" um... i wasnt doing it for you... its for him!
I dont give a flying toss if you dont mind i do.
Romeo play fights, but luckily he is very calm minded dog and easy to disengage from it.
right now his thing is eating my mail D:

I'm the sort of person who couldn't give a t*ss if a dog jumps up at me as long as it's friendly. BUT. If the owner then says the dog's not allowed, I stop making a fuss straight away & let them deal with it their own way.

My son in law is the one in our family - he was brought up with Jacks that were absolute loonies and he has come to believe that is what dogs do, he thinks its normal and that I make unecessary fuss when he and Lily do this mad play - she is like a different dog. In the end I was quite severe with him and asked him how Lily would know the difference between doing it with him and doing it with the grandchildren - which she did start doing. I said Lily was not like other breeds of dogs and if she unintentionally did something (God forbid) then people would come along, take her off me and kill her He is really good about it now and tries to treat resist the urge for rough play

horrible when your trying so hard to train your dog and people interfere. we strugeled with this because we live in a pub and we wanted buster to be in the pub area with us. with perserverance we got there in the end, we found it was harder to train the people around us and the dog than it was to train buster.

it normally is