Backchat!

Over the last week, if I tell Charlie to do something, like come back down the stairs, or leave it, he barks and then growls at me. At other times he does it for seemingly no reason, he'll trot up to me growling, and then try to get into my lap. He does the same with my husband. Is this a normal puppy thing, or perhaps an early sign of dominance that I need to keep an eye on? Do any of your pups give you backchat in this way? He's only 13 weeks old so I cant imagine that he knows that he's doing it and is doing it for a reason, just wanted to see what you guys thought?

Its totally normall, he's testing u to see how far he can go and playing as well haha! Staff pups can be right stubbon little bug**rs! Kaos is 7 months and still does it now. I say come here kaos and he sort of half comes then backs up etc tail wagging like mad and barks and huffs and puffs lol. Ty never did it though! x

Molly never went through that stage, not greatly any way. Well, up until now, she's a year old and is constantly testing me, especially when she's out in the garden, she's only just been allowed out there without a lead, it's not 100% secure and her recall wasn't that great, but she understands the 'inside' command now, but she seems to be developing selective hearing and a loud voice now.

Bless em. You gotta love these dogs. As stubborn as they are, they're truly fantastic. I honestly cant imagine life without Charlie now. We're still having issues with him messing in his crate at night, but his house training is going pretty good during the day and he's doing so well with obedience training. His patience and tolerance with my kids is exceptional too, not what I expected from a 3 and a half month old puppy!

hahaha! Funny how so many topics seem to come back to selective deafness in the bully breeds!

Yes, he's testing you to see how far he can go. Bandit did that for a short while & I just said a stern 'no' and turned my back on him, or told him to sit.

Dempsey still does it - not to me, he knows better than that, but to my oh, son & daughter, although mainly my oh & son! Neither of them are any good at telling him 'no', so it's left to me, but if I'm not in the room, he usually gets away with it!

Thanks guys, I figured it would be something like that. Sometimes I'll call him (his recall is absolutely fantastic, instantaneous if I say Charlie, come here) and he'll come trotting over, tail wagging but growling too. Very strange dog! But we're all firm with him, he knows his place. He's just the most loving, amazing, fantastic little pup. I am so completely converted to this breed. I'll never have another breed now.

Caryll wrote:hahaha! Funny how so many topics seem to come back to selective deafness in the bully breeds!

Yes, he's testing you to see how far he can go. Bandit did that for a short while & I just said a stern 'no' and turned my back on him, or told him to sit.

Dempsey still does it - not to me, he knows better than that, but to my oh, son & daughter, although mainly my oh & son! Neither of them are any good at telling him 'no', so it's left to me, but if I'm not in the room, he usually gets away with it!

Sounds like my OH, and the mother in law. I've found when Molly gets all testy and stuff, a stern 'enough' stops her, or grasping her collar, if she doesn't run away.

Logan grumbles when my OH walks in the living room or the dining room(dining room is the puppy room) and just generally when hes happy and playing!! Its funny tho cos hes started grumbling at me when i wear my dressing gown. Think he knows it must be bedtime time soon!!

YEP YEP YEP.. Holly is backchatting big time.. lil git,

Today she had her first rack of lamb breast.... when it got to small I took it off her.. OMG she snarled and carried on.. thank god my sister was there.. she was encouraging me... "keep fighting, dont let her win"... take it off her ... man lil thing scared me with that deep growl..
I won in the end lol

So Shontelle.. we are going thru the terrible 2's together lol

Mel Skora wrote:Today she had her first rack of lamb breast.... when it got to small I took it off her.. OMG she snarled and carried on.. thank god my sister was there.. she was encouraging me... "keep fighting, dont let her win"... take it off her ... man lil thing scared me with that deep growl..
I won in the end lol

You must nip that in the bud right now! Start with her ordinary food - when you put it down make her wait for a few seconds & then let her go. When she's been eating for a few seconds, gently ease her away and say 'leave it' (keep your voice quiet but firm) and pick up the bowl. Stand up, say 'good girl' and then give it straight back. Do the same with bones. It's often the bones that will start food aggression so you need to address it now.

If you are going to take the bone away completely, then make sure you have a treat to replace it with - that way she won't associate you picking up her bone with her losing out altogether.

Oh thanks for those tips... yeah she saw packed a punch this afternoon,
I have been making her wait with her food.. and she always sits without me asking her to... but yes the bone thing was a shock that such a deep growl could come from such a little thing..

ye as caryll says nip it in the bud now becouse if she given you a shock now wait for a couple of months and she will be 4 times the size and it wount ber as easy to get things off her

Mel Skora wrote:Oh thanks for those tips... yeah she saw packed a punch this afternoon,
I have been making her wait with her food.. and she always sits without me asking her to... but yes the bone thing was a shock that such a deep growl could come from such a little thing..

Gives you quite a turn the first time you hear it, doesn't it?

Caryll wrote:

Mel Skora wrote:Oh thanks for those tips... yeah she saw packed a punch this afternoon,
I have been making her wait with her food.. and she always sits without me asking her to... but yes the bone thing was a shock that such a deep growl could come from such a little thing..

Gives you quite a turn the first time you hear it, doesn't it?

Blooming jumped back ... my sister thought it was quiet funny...

mel you big softy its not like they got sharp teeth that can nip you lol that hurt

BULL S%^&T.... They are sharp as razors... i have marks to prove it.
lol

But you are right.. I would rather take it off her now than in 9 months lol

i woulnt they dont know how hard there bitting when there that young give it a couple of month and with good training they wont bite with any presure and there teeth arnt so sharp.
but i would make a point of her gettin used to you opening her mouth so you can do it when nesesery to remove objects that they refuse to drop.
and some people im sure may disagree get the kids to do it as well so its not only one person they will alow to do it

Yes that is a fair point too.. the kids will need to get in there... Calahni the youngest is forever listing her gums up to have a look at her little teeth.. she seems to enjoy it.

well thats a good start you can also get her to check hollys feet when she still young becouse thats another thing staffys can get an adversion to when older infact get her used to be checked all over so it never becomes a problem

Yes, Staffs really don't like their feet touched.

At least, Mel, when she loses her baby teeth her new ones won't be quite such needles. On the other hand, her jaws will be more powerful..........

bigwazza wrote:well thats a good start you can also get her to check hollys feet when she still young becouse thats another thing staffys can get an adversion to when older infact get her used to be checked all over so it never becomes a problem

Does filing and polishing her nails come into that area? pmsl..

My sis told me to do that... i spread her pads out and touch in there, her ears, lift her mouth open and check her teeth... massage her face and lift her tail... ( she gets her V wiped if Calahni takes her for a wee) pmsl

I think it's really great the way your kids are getting so involved. Such a good idea!

mel have you tryed filling her nails yet????

No not yet... but i have painted her nails twice lol

Grr, not getting reply notifications for some reason so only just seen this. I know its been said, but Mel, you def need to sort out Holly's acting up where food is concerned, that could get serious if allowed to carry on (which I know you wont) Glad to hear you're going through the same things with Holly, at least I know its a normal phase and not just Charlie! Good on you for getting your kids so involved, thats the best thing you can do. She'll respect them as much as you when she's older.

I remember the first time I heard Molly properly growl, I jumped a mile.
From day one I'd take her bowl of food away from her, or a bone, or a treat, she's never grumbled, she's learning to drop her toys now as well, but it is taking a slight grab of her collar to make her understand I mean business.
I've just started teaching her to hold her back paws up and have them checked over, and to hold her front paws in my hand whilst I check them over.

I do wish I'd started this earlier, but she's picking things up very quickly thankfully.

Shontelle wrote:Grr, not getting reply notifications for some reason so only just seen this. I know its been said, but Mel, you def need to sort out Holly's acting up where food is concerned, that could get serious if allowed to carry on (which I know you wont) Glad to hear you're going through the same things with Holly, at least I know its a normal phase and not just Charlie! Good on you for getting your kids so involved, thats the best thing you can do. She'll respect them as much as you when she's older.

I took her breakie off her twice this morning..and she didnt make a sound. she just looked as if to say " why did you do that... she sat and waitied... then i put it back down... did it again"..
so that is a start

My nails make it hard for me to take the bones off her... they are too long.. so i may have to shorten then so i can manage her better

my sisters shih tzu does this

My OH's old dog used to be like this, and we occasionally have young kids around, I didn't want Molly to be chewing on a bone, and they go to take it and her snap, she's hand my hand once of twice, and brought me to tears, didn't want that happening to a young child, even if they are family who know Molly.

When I was about 19, my boyfriend had a big yellow labrador, and I mean big - he was about the height of a GSD and weighed a ton! He was a great big softie & kids loved pulling him about. I used to think "wow, you could trust that dog with anything & anyone". Then one day I walked through the kitchen where he was eating a bone. I didn't touch him or even look at him, but he flew at me, snarling & lunging. Terrified the life out of me & only just missed my leg. I got out & slammed the door.

My boyfriend's attitude was " All dogs are like that with bones - it's their nature". I thought then, any dog I ever have will never do that!

I researched & used a bit of commonsense. I had my first Border Collie at the time, and I'm ashamed to say that I practised on her. I learnt how to take her food or her bones without a fuss, and I realised that as long as she got them back, she really didn't care. It was like a revelation!

Since then every dog I've had I've taught to be non food aggressive. It's such an easy thing to do, and yet absolutely vital. I often think back & go cold at the thought of one of the kids walking through that kitchen instead of me that time......................

I can imagine how that made you want to make sure none of your dogs did that.
My dad was brought up with dogs and puppies, and it was the first thing he told me.

I'll be honest, when I first tried it, I was petrified she'd bite me, but she never even bothered, I can take it off her and not give it her back, usually when it's beyond use and she doesn't really care.

Yes, you get to the stage where they trust you so much they don't care if it comes back or not. But to start with, they must know that they'll get it back & they won't become worried or angry.

Yeah, Molly genuinely impressed me. The one thing she is a little impatient with is rawhide rolls, I can take it off her, but she'll try and snap it back. She's the same with some toys, she had my finger in her mouth today, along with her rope ball!

Well Caryll that was a hard lesson to learn...
My dad drilled into us as kids..... DONT TOUCH OR GO NEAAR THE DOG when they are eating.. we thought it was just the done thing...

Mel Skora wrote:Well Caryll that was a hard lesson to learn...
My dad drilled into us as kids..... DONT TOUCH OR GO NEAAR THE DOG when they are eating.. we thought it was just the done thing...

My dad always said be careful whilst they are eating, I started by just stroking her as she was eating (I did the same with out cat to get it to like me )

I read something from The Dogs Trust a while ago that said that you must never touch a dog while it's eating or take food away as you'll make it food aggressive.

I ignored that advice! I think the results have spoken for themselves.

i would always and always have done the same thing with the dogs iv had over the years from the time i get them iv always make sure you can handle them and take there food bones and toys away from them without any kind of reaction

Same here. I'll always do it. When charlie's eating, sometimes I take the bowl for a minute then give it back, other times I gently push him away from the bowl and put my hand in for a minute and handle his food. I've got my eldest to do it too. He doesnt bat an eyelid.