bitch staffy random attacks :(

She has been with us for around 4 months and her behaviour has calmed alot since then. when we first got her we adopted her from a relative whom unfortunately due to him being in and out of prison couldn't look after her properly, she didn't have a proper home and was pushed from pillar to post, notching up at least 4 owners and I have really no idea what shes been through or even how old she is, a guess is 2-3 years? I intend on taking her to the vet to get her checked out and hopefully he will shed some light on this for me. She suffers alot from abondonment issues and when left outside a shop cries and yelps uncontrollable! to the point where apon our return she has an audience of people convinced she has been left for days.

She has an extremely placid personality and is very loving and affectionate towards people, we have fell in love as a family and we all want her to stay with us forever

But.................she is so unpredictable with other animals and dogs, since we have her we have encountered 3 incidents, 1 where she ended up worse off with a male staffy bigger then her. The last week she just ran after this poor little shitsu after slipping the lead and savagely attacked it! the poor little thing was in a bad way and the owner was very angry understandably then just 2 days ago she went for my mums parrot and broke his wing it was my brothers fault as he let charlie out of his cage, but withh bella being so unpredictable I am at a loose end.....I really want her to be well adjusted and comfortable, but when we first got her she walked around with her tail tucked under and her ears back and was extremely timid, a slight raised voice would make her quiver.

Most of the time she is fine, but sometimes she just attacks out of the blue and the worst thing about it is she doesn't make a sound, shes silent and comes across as quite calm when she does it. my partner wants to muzzle her, but I fear that this will only heighten her stress levels and worsen her agression????

please help, I always said we would get a puppy but we love this dog now and because she has had such a rubbish existence so far, we want her to be as happy as can be

Hi & welcome to the forum.

A dog rarely attacks anything without prior warning, even if it's just that 'certain look'. If she can slip her lead I would sugest that you get a harness for her - you can get some reasonably priced ones online. For a while you might want to consider getting a long line so that you still have control when she's running free & you won't get any nasty surprises!

As she's been through so many homes & goodness knows what sort of treatment, it may take her quite a few months to fully settle down with you. It sounds like she's experiencing seperation anxiety (understandably) and you may need to start with leaving her for just a minute & then gradually building up the time you can leave her.

Hiya and welcome from me and Moo, some things take time for both parties to adjust Xx

thank you, yes we have looked at harnesses, I don't want to really muzzle her because she can be so good, then she ust snaps all of a sudden, but what a beautiful girl she is and after so much love and affection, we feed her regulary and bath her and hug her and play with her and her personality is alot more confident now, shes even playful with us and she wasn't before, we are happy however to put the hours in and train her, what ever it takes

She needs some time to adjust and learn to trust. If you know someone with a well socialized dog going for walks with them would be very helpfull

mybella wrote: we are happy however to put the hours in and train her, what ever it takes

jstaff wrote:She needs some time to adjust and learn to trust. If you know someone with a well socialized dog going for walks with them would be very helpfull

That's a good sugestion. You could start by walking both dogs on lead & on the outside of both people. Then, if they are both happy with that, walk one dog on the outside & one between you, then progrees to the dogs walking side by side. Once they are bothe comfortable with that you can try letting them off lead to play. If you are still at all uncertain, keep Bella on a long line until you (and she) are more confident.

My guess is her prey drive instinct kicked in with the small dog and the parrot.

If she's secure on lead, no need for a muzzle. If other dogs approach make it clear to the owners that's she's in training and u don't want another dog bounding upti her.

Let her socialise with good natured dogs but in a controlled way.

Do u have a friend with a nice dog u can walk with ?

I wouldn't muzzel either, just keep her on a lead unless you know there's nothing around and train her recall. My girl can be funny with other dogs so I just tell people as they get near. We were her 4th owner in 11 months, With mine I think its a bit of nerves and a bit of protective behaviour towards me and my other dog. It could be nerves with your dog, like you say you don't know what she been through. You could try a behaviourists or training classes.

My old lad used to attack with very little warning, he'd just stand there and if a dog got near he'd just grab, no barking, growling, pulling. He used to be great with other dogs until he got attacked. He was always DA after that, except for his one friend a springer spaniel, and he wasn't bothered about smaller dogs.

I would defo spend lots of time training her so you have a good bond and good control. Good luck and enjoy her!xx