Help me, my staff is friendly! TOO FRIENDLY

Hi everyone, i have a 2 year old staffy who is good in the house when im in alone, she will follow me around play calmly etc but when me and my girlfriend are in together she just will not settle, she is crate trained and we find ourselves leaving her in the kitchen when were in together or have visitors because she will maul them to death!

I wouldnt mind if she wagged and wanted a fuss but she will jump at people full pelt, if visitors call she goes completely DEAF! And will not take her focus off the person! We have tried everything and were at the end of our tether now, i dont like leaving her in another room when people call but i have to constantly fight with her just to stop her jumping on/at people, she is the softest dog in the world and i have no doubt that she wouldnt hurt anyone but at nearly 3 stone i dont want her jumping on grannies knee and on the back of the sofa trying to get in her face,

I feel im doing something wrong when i can walk past a chap with a staffy and there dog just sits there and turns a blind eye, i know shes a baby still but she seems to be getting worse, she gets soo excited at the sound of someone elses voice i have to physically hold her back her hearts going like the clappers and then she will wee all over me shes that bad haha

HELP!!

have you tried putting him on the lead when you have visitors so you can control him a bit easier. Use a small treat to get him to sit and ask the visitor to give him the treat when he is calmly sitting down.

Kathytake2 we have tried everything, iv sat on the floor with her why she has her harness and lean on and she will go mental!! Untill i have to put her in another room, i dred people visiting because i feel guily leaving her in her crate when people call because it looks like im caging her up, iv given her treats why people are here and she will sit, take the treat then laugh at me and carry on as she was haha, as i type, she is sitting right next to me on the mat sunbathing calm as anything she is a typical Jekyll and Hyde haha

What are you feeding her on ? it could be her diet , i have to say at 2 dogs are not baby's sorry if that sounds harsh but its true , a two year old dog is 21 in human age honest , maybe some obedience training would help , she sounds like she needs calming down long walks with plenty chase ball games will tire her out and calm her down , good luck .

Haha i do forget that they mature quicker than us, she is on a dry mixer food as she has a funny stomach so she cant have tinned wet food as she has the runs with it,

Regarding the walks i do walk her but i have never let her off the lead etc in a field as i al always worried because i cannot control her in the house when she hears/sees people so i wouldnt stand a chance in the open, i do have a long training lead which is about 10 metres long and have tried her to come back to me with that which worked a treat in an empty field, in a crowded place is different matters, is she too old to take to obediance classes now or would she pick it up quite quickly?

I know i am partly to blame as a dog will only know to do what it is taught to do, and i have never had a dog before so i suppose i have been neglegent of teaching her the basics but as she is always by my side i have never had any trouble with her when im alone so i suppose iv always assumed she would be ok with strangers,

Have you had her since she was a pup?

14 weeks old

What do you do when you've tried her on the lead? Put the lead on her, and tell everyone when they enter the house to COMPLETELY ignore her until she's calm. When she's sitting calmly, let her greet them, but if she goes wild again, make her sit by you again until calm. It'll probably take a while, but if you're consistent with it, it should work. If you've already tried that then I can't think of any other suggestions, sorry.

What brand of food is she on though, foods such as bakers pedigree wagg are all bad foods.

Get her on a lead when visitors come round correct her when she goes too jump up at the and tell them too turn around and ignore her as any kinda attention she gets is what she wants. reward her when she shows good behaviour

Excercise-how much does she get, i see she dosnt get offlead time, is there no empty fields near you where people dont go? maybe take a ball and try and get her interested in that, stan use too run off too other dogs and people, until i got him interested in playing fetch he will now lay down and dogs can come up too him and try play he isnt interested. or you could have her on her trainning lead and practice recall with her.

everything takes time and trainning commit too her 100% and you will see results

xXxshelly_stanliexXx wrote:What brand of food is she on though, foods such as bakers pedigree wagg are all bad foods.

Get her on a lead when visitors come round correct her when she goes too jump up at the and tell them too turn around and ignore her as any kinda attention she gets is what she wants. reward her when she shows good behaviour

Excercise-how much does she get, i see she dosnt get offlead time, is there no empty fields near you where people dont go? maybe take a ball and try and get her interested in that, stan use too run off too other dogs and people, until i got him interested in playing fetch he will now lay down and dogs can come up too him and try play he isnt interested. or you could have her on her trainning lead and practice recall with her.

everything takes time and trainning commit too her 100% and you will see results

Great post and i am 100% in agreement with you , the secret is to take the dogs mind of chasing other people and other Dogs and playing games such as chase ball is a great way of doing this, agree on the food also try jameswellbeloved with whitefish or fish4dogs i know they are more expensive but they are much better for your dog .

Hello Dan, welcome to the forum.

Firstly, what brand of food do you feed her & how often. What sort of exercise does she get - exactly; how long, how much on lead, how much off lead, how much play & what sort of play?

Secondly, what sort of training have you used already to stop her becoming overexcited with visitors? Please be as detailed as you can - it all helps!

Try exercising her before people come over. Keep her on lead and only give her attention when she has calmed down. The more often you have people over the quicker she will learn.

This guy is in your area and takes Dogs of all ages , hope this helps .

http://www.thedogman.co.uk/

Hi folks thanks for the reply, i know its gonna be a struggle but im determained to get it work the problem is that we dont really have many visitors haha arrrrhhhhh but itsntrue so i suppose she is only use to our company, i will try the ball technique in a feild and the long lead, as for food/excersise shes fead twice a day, once in the morning and once about 4pm on tescos own mixer dry food, and shes taken out twice a day

Stafford111 wrote:Hi folks thanks for the reply, i know its gonna be a struggle but im determained to get it work the problem is that we dont really have many visitors haha arrrrhhhhh but itsntrue so i suppose she is only use to our company, i will try the ball technique in a feild and the long lead, as for food/excersise shes fead twice a day, once in the morning and once about 4pm on tescos own mixer dry food, and shes taken out twice a day

Good luck let us know how you get on with the trainning, but i would seriously consider changing her food, wainwrights, james well beloved, fish 4 dogs, arden grange too name a few are great foods yes more exspensive but you dont have too feed as much and they are good quality foods.
Also i see alot of people feed their dogs without walking them before hand it just makes them full of energy and they wounder why they have dogs full of beans lol, if you feed her and dont walk her first try changing that and only feed her when shes been walked.

Stafford111 wrote:Hi folks thanks for the reply, i know its gonna be a struggle but im determained to get it work the problem is that we dont really have many visitors haha arrrrhhhhh but itsntrue so i suppose she is only use to our company, i will try the ball technique in a feild and the long lead, as for food/excersise shes fead twice a day, once in the morning and once about 4pm on tescos own mixer dry food, and shes taken out twice a day

I'd change her food if you can. Try a food with less 'fillers' in it such as Fish4dogs or Wainwrights (Pets at Home own brand, I believe). The supermarket own brands, together with Pedigree & particularly Bakers are all full of additives that can cause hyperactivity. Try to avoid any food that has different colours in it!

Hi Dan
I'm still working on the training, but had/have this too. I'd go with the advice of the lead indoors- worked for us. I used a behavourist who assessed Betsy for a corrector- I'd only do this under an assessment. It's not a punishment, but just letting them know that it's not good behaviour. It's worked a treat. As well as rewarding the good behaviour. We've now managed to get to not barking the place down when the door bell goes- but it's taken a while
I defo agree re diet- really important.
I'm still working on the jumping up when out and defo agree with the comment about keeping your dog focused. That's the key! Staffies can be easily distracted and everything else can be really exciting but the key is to be ahead of the game. It's a good idea to get them obsessed with a toy- your special toy which is used only when you really need it- such as recall. A squeaky tug toy perfect.
Good luck and ooodles of patience
Sam & Betsy

i had to laugh, only cause i can relate to this...as i dont really get visitors mine is exactly the same - ended up with a hook on the wall in th emain room and a seperate chain as so she doesnt see as being punished by shutting her away nor recentful to others in the house.

i agree at two not exactly a puppy, difference though i only got mine last year and she is a rescue and have other more concerns such extreme aggressive behaviour towards other dogs [before anyone asks she is always muzzled outside] humans she could eat alive with affection...

and no lead control...she does still pull a bit at times but shes getting there...some dogs she wll have a good grumble at , others a bit more aggressive....though th eother day she sat and stood quiet close non aggresive to a little old grumpy male staffie...well pleaseed and another issue we have with her weeing in the house and pooing, again the other day had she only done her third poo outside on her walks.....i dread to think as to what her first to years was like as her ear als was chewed up- which you cant even tell now...

so mis behaved in some ways still but in others its been a damn hard slow process, but were getting there...