Bit too bolshy

Hya, jake has been recently getting a bit too mouthy and snapping at my son who is 13, snapping at me and basically getting a bit of an attitude even when sitting on the couch, if my son sits beside me he cries, if hes in kitchen he starts snapping and barking, iv never knows this behavriour from him before and he's nearly 5. Hes never actually bitten but he's been close to me to do it. As soon as he's reprimanded hes sorry then starts again, i dont know if its because the alpha male so to speak has left this house and he's trying to take over or what..

Hes on burns food twice a day and a dentistix 1 a day and occassionaly organic snacks when we r out. Its just the snapping i dont like as its starting to make me nervous and i know if he sees it then he might act on it.

All opinions welcome because he's been with us so long i'll be gutted to have to let him go.

It may be the dominant one has left especially if the other one walked,fed corrected so you should step up, If he snaps at your son when he tries getting close to you remove him off the settee place him on his bed. Pretty soon he will learn if he wants your attention and wants to be close to you he will have to be accepting of your son.

Have u taken him to the vet to rule out any pain? Staffords will keep going and going untill they colapse or die! I responded to your other post and since all these things are very out of character i would defo get him checked.
My friends staff (3/4 months ago) tore the family cat to bits which obviously completley devestated the whole family and was completley out of character as they slept together every night and were inseparable. She took him to the vet and he had a huge temperture and was very very ill which explained the (to a certain extent) the out of character behaviour!
x

Have you changed his food recently?
Also as suggested by Blaze take him to the vet to get him checked up.
If it's not any of the above then like you said he may be trying to boss the pack.

If your letting your dog sit on the couch. The best thing maybe to stop him getting on the couch from now on. This has worked for me in the past. It shows the dog that you and your son are higher members of the pack.
You must show that this behaviour is not acceptable now before it gets worse. It is normally corrected pretty quickly when they are only at the early stages, which is what it sounds like to me with Jake.

thx for comments, rogue if i remove him he gets really aggressive and starts all the mad runnin around and wrecking the place, and even tho i have wooden floors god that dog can make some amount of mess, blaze, iv just made app wiv vet, cos he's constantly lickin his left front paw, he's already had an altrication with a door and lost a nail on his back paw but iv checked him and don't see anything. Its just so out of character for him. Thanks again guys xxx

sooz225 wrote:thx for comments, rogue if i remove him he gets really aggressive and starts all the mad runnin around and wrecking the place, and even tho i have wooden floors god that dog can make some amount of mess, blaze, iv just made app wiv vet, cos he's constantly lickin his left front paw, he's already had an altrication with a door and lost a nail on his back paw but iv checked him and don't see anything. Its just so out of character for him. Thanks again guys xxx

If he gets aggressive grab his lead/slip lead put it on him and pull him down off the settee take him to his bed and get him to lay down and stay, just be calm while your doing it, if he darts off grab ahold of the lead and take him back his bed and start all over again

oooo result, vet cant find anything wrong, but i told son last nite to start to take charge etc, get him off the couch, in his bed, no more crying, worked a treat, not had any snapping (touch wood) today so we'll see what happens. Many thanks again you lot, i love this site, you always get soooo much help in situations like this or in fact any situation. xxxx

So glad it seems to be working. It's always a problem when one member of a dog's 'family' is no longer there. They can get quite anxious & act out of character. the best thing is to do what you've started doing and the rest of the time act as though nothing's changed.

Glad things are getting better. Maybe get your son to put his food down for him as well and help with his training....just simple things like sit & treat or leave it & treat or fetch etc to really push your son forward as higher in the pack than him!
x

Caryll wrote:So glad it seems to be working. It's always a problem when one member of a dog's 'family' is no longer there. They can get quite anxious & act out of character. the best thing is to do what you've started doing and the rest of the time act as though nothing's changed.

I agree with this, its a big shake-up for a dog when a member of their pack leaves. They can't understand it and get upset and confused about where their place is now in the hierarchy. However you are doing the best you can by taking charge and showing him you know what your doing and theres nothing to worry about! staffords especially can be quite sensitive and it may be his way of showing seperation anxiety from your ex.