Reggie- Need some tips please

Hello (again) Feel like I'm always on here but who better to ask than experienced Staffy owners?!

So Reggie is settling in well & his character is defo coming out- a cheeky little thing!

We have our 20 month old son- Mason. He's not too keen on Reggie just yet. But as previously said, he's not been very well. I think it's also because Reggie runs at him & jumps up, because his claws are so sharp it does hurt when he scratches so think that's not nice for my son- with Mason being so young there's not much we can tell him to do. We do say 'push him away' but then Reggie starts to snap (bite) at his hands. Mason gets quite panicked when Reggie runs up to him & then jumps.
This morning Mason was just sat on the floor & I watched Reggie & he actually stalked him- like a cat, down like commando, slowly edging closer & then suddenly ran up & jumped on Mason & actually snapped before he could push him away. Thankfully he didn't catch him.
I know he's a pup & they will mouth, snap, bite ect. He's doing it to us too- what's the best way to correct him?

Alot of sites contradict eachother- some say to grab the scruff of his neck & pin him down(like his mum would do) tried this and he growls & tries to reach round & bite more??
Others say to just say a firm 'No' this doesn't work.
Some say to push him away & say no...HELP!

I obviously don't want my son to be scared of him but I don't want Reggie to think he can do this to Mason or us.

Thanks in advance xx

I definately wouldn't pin him down. Since your son is on the ground with him he looks at him as a playmate. Have you introduced a collar and lead yet. If so try letting them interact while he is on lead. If the pup gets overexcited remove him from the situation until he is calm.

The pup will learn what behaviour is acceptable over time but be sure to supervise their interactions at all times

I would put Reggie out the room when he starts to snap or mouth your son. Let him back in when he is calm. When the girls were pups and mouthed or snapped I would put my hand gently round their mouth to shut it and say 'no biting'!

A firm no then out the room every time this can not happen. Buster used to do this with our son. Like a snapping turtle . every time he goes out for this definitely . He does not do it now

Definitely don't pin him down. All that does is create fear & resentment.

The usual way with nipping & jumping is a firm "no!" and turn away - no I retraction at all, especially no eye contact. I know you think your son is too young to do this, but you can do it together. You give the"no" & then hold your son's shoulders & turn him away. If he does it again, don't say a word, just pick him up (dog, not son!) and put him out of the room for a few seconds.

If you do that every time, your son & your pup will learn together!

So would you suggest putting him in his room? - Whete he goes at night, like his crate sort of thing?
He whines like crazy, scratching at the door to begin with as we do this when we take our son up for bath & bed, incase Reggie chews everything in sight which he's started doing alot!

We're trying to encourage Mason to be more relaxed, comfortable around Reggie but he seems very weary, he will keep a good distance when passing him or run to get up on us when Reggie runs at him.

My husband likes to get on the floor & play with Reggie but even then he starts snapping at his face, clothes, hands etc.
We're trying to get him used to going to his bed in the living room instead of sleeping at our feet- otherwise he'd get trampled by Mason lol, so when I pick him up for lying down asleep he will sometimes try & snap at my face too :/

Thank you Carryl, that does sound a good way of helping my son to learn what to do- hopefully hubby will learn that too!

Oh & what about if he's doing something he shouldn't? Like he's beginning to go for wires, furniture etc. We tell him a firm no & try putting a chew toy, his own toys infront of him or in his mouth but he seems so determined to get back to whatever he was not supposed to be doing x

We used bitter apple or vicks on things that Ralph wasn't allowed to chew. As you are doing, a firm 'no' and put something in front of him that he is allowed to have.

Caryll's advice re jumping up, eg. turn your back and stop all interaction worked for Bacchus. Luckily he learned from this and we never had to exclude him, but no kids in our house.

I would confirm this with Caryll, but I wouldn't advise putting him in his crate when he misbehaves. The crate should always be a pleasant place to go, like his own little haven.

reuben wrote:I would confirm this with Caryll, but I wouldn't advise putting him in his crate when he misbehaves. The crate should always be a pleasant place to go, like his own little haven.

Totally agree with this - our 'time out' was to place Ralph the other side of the baby gate. Crate should be a nice place to go...

Ahh I understand.
His room is where he goes at night times & when we go out, or if we think he would prefer some quiet time away from our noisy son playing. He does like the peace & he plays in there on his own often.

Well I'll be giving the cold shoulder treatment a go & let you know how it goes...fingers crossed xx

mrscams wrote:Ahh I understand.
His room is where he goes at night times & when we go out, or if we think he would prefer some quiet time away from our noisy son playing. He does like the peace & he plays in there on his own often.

Well I'll be giving the cold shoulder treatment a go & let you know how it goes...fingers crossed xx

It will work, just bear in mind that we got Bacchus at 9 weeks and it only took a couple of days for him to catch on. It may take a little more time with a puppy as young as yours but it will work.

Caryll wrote:Definitely don't pin him down. All that does is create fear & resentment.

The usual way with nipping & jumping is a firm "no!" and turn away - no I retraction at all, especially no eye contact. I know you think your son is too young to do this, but you can do it together. You give the"no" & then hold your son's shoulders & turn him away. If he does it again, don't say a word, just pick him up (dog, not son!) and put him out of the room for a few seconds.

If you do that every time, your son & your pup will learn together!

This

Loki was horrible with the biting, I thought it'd never get better cos I didn't see any progress for a while, but then I did. Just have to be consistent and patient. Hard to be patient when your puppy is a maniac but it definitely pays off in the end.

Well Reggie has been abit crazy this afternoon, he's been chewing everything, getting behind things, running round manic & worst of all snapping at both me & hubby. He really growled at hubby :/

He just kept jumping on a chair & snatching my sons blanket, I told him 'down' and pushed him down 4 times & moved the blanket. I took him out of the room when he ran back in he tried again then I moved the chair & he barked at me!

He just snapped at my face twice too

Yes my girl was exactly like this, although my son is a lot older at 9, she still stalks him like he is prey although there is only rumbling not biting when she ctches him now we stuck to the firm "NO" and ignoring her and if she didn't stop put her out of the room.. she soon learnt but it took a while I thought it would never end.. It is going to be quite hard work for you as your son is so young but take the advice and be persistent, this means getting the OH to stick to the same rules too, if he isn't doing the same it will just confuse him..

That's the hardest part! Lol

The only thing I'm worried about is that when he snaps I tell him no but then he's not that bothered about anything, so ignoring him won't make much of a difference.

I either put him in his bed or he runs off to play with a toy.
I can see how it would work if we were playing or when he runs up at my son but in terms of just generally snapping while I'm putting him to his bed or he climbs up for a cuddle etc. No idea how this would work x

mrscams wrote:That's the hardest part! Lol

The only thing I'm worried about is that when he snaps I tell him no but then he's not that bothered about anything, so ignoring him won't make much of a difference.

I either put him in his bed or he runs off to play with a toy.
I can see how it would work if we were playing or when he runs up at my son but in terms of just generally snapping while I'm putting him to his bed or he climbs up for a cuddle etc. No idea how this would work x

It'll work, dogs hate being ignored, especially puppies. Anyway, the snapping and growling at that age is either play or defiance.I remember Loki used to dive onto the couch (he's not allowed on the furniture) and start growling at me to play, and I'd tell him no and he'd start whining because he REALLY wanted to play . Don't mistake it for aggression or anything, they're just being bossy at that age, but just be firm and consistent with him. Because he's so young, it might take a bit longer for him to understand what he's doing is wrong, too, so just keep up with it.

Agree with Tara Whether you realise it or not it is "play" to him.. And the technique will work, If you can stick to it, definatley

Hi again, Bacchus is my first staff so I am on a steep learning curve.
I found the snarling during play quite alarming at first but, thanks to this forum and getting to know my dog, I now realise that staffy snarling is not necessarily aggressive but part of their vocalising during play.

Just to add he is just doing exactly what he should doing with his littermates at this age.. This is how they play with each other, your family are now his littermates i'm afraid. You just need to teach him and it is hard work, I got Steff at 5weeks old ( if only I knew then what I know now ) she had zero bite inhibitionld really bite, but she was just playing but she had never learnt how hard was too hard They learn their bite inhibition from around 6 weeks from their siblings biting them and by how hard they can bite mum before she snaps at them.. It was hard but it didn't take long for it to improve after just a few days , maybe a few weeks til it stopped totally, and she never bites now

You'll be thinking that you're doing all this, and it's not working, but then, one day you'll think 'oh, he hasn't done that in a while'. So keep at it. We have all been there. Worth it in the end, we now have a very loving and well behaved boy. Well, most of the time!!

Chiara wrote:I would put Reggie out the room when he starts to snap or mouth your son. Let him back in when he is calm. When the girls were pups and mouthed or snapped I would put my hand gently round their mouth to shut it and say 'no biting'!

My dad used to do this when i was kid to our first staff. is this recommended?