biting and barking 8 month old

Hi,

I have been looking all over the net and reading all different advice columns and I finally came across this niceboard. Now I know I will get the right answers! I need help with my 8 month old staffy, Cartman.

Cartman is home alone for up to 13 hours a day as my partner and I both work very long hours. When we get home we play with him and walk him daily. He has a large variety of toys and bones however prefers to eat everything he is not supposed to. He ate a timber seat, he ate the door mats, he has even eaten 2 beds. What can I do to stop him doing this?? I have tried kongs, all sorts of slow release food toys, removing items I don't want chewed, limiting and changing up his daily toys, but nothing is working. I feel as though he is acting out because he knows we have left him alone.

At night after a play and a walk he gets so hyper active he wont settle down. If we leave him outside and he know we are inside, he either barks constantly or staffy talks at the back door. eventually I let him in as I feel I don't want to get a complaint from the neighbours. but he will bark or talk non stop for over an hour.

If he is inside he bites. he bites in play and he bites when being disciplined. I know this is dominant behaviour, but with this biting he has sharp teeth and it hurts.

I want him to be able to come into the house at night time, settle in his bed or on the floor so we can relax on the lounge without being jumped on, bitten or barked at. At the moment it feels like we cant relax at night time as its always about cartman.

Please give me some advice on how to change his behaviour (and more than likely mine too)!!!

I'm sorry to say that but 13hrs alone -really? I think in that statment is your answer. You still have a baby in your home. His bored,that's why he's destroying everything in the house. He's nauthy when left in the garden- he was allone all day and when you finally came home you lock him outside.

Hi and welcome from Me n Steffi

How mny times a day do you walk him? And for how long? At his age he is going to need 2 walks a day for about an hour each.. By the sounds of it you are walking him at night but what about in the morning? It does sound as though he has too much pent up energy and believe me a tired Staffy is a well behaved one He is also just come into his teenage months, so he ven more trying thn usual teenagers..

I'm sure if you could schedule a morning walk before work and nice long walk with some play after you will notice a big improvement

jola139 wrote:I'm sorry to say that but 13hrs alone -really? I think in that statment is your answer. You still have a baby in your home. His bored,that's why he's destroying everything in the house. He's nauthy when left in the garden- he was allone all day and when you finally came home you lock him outside.

13hours is a long time to be alone but Steff is often left up to 11 hrs alone when I'm at work.. As long as she is getting enough exercise she is fine and has done very little damage to property.. She hardly even digs in the yard Exercise is the key. with a good walk in the morning and before I leave she has breakfast by the time I go she is asleep.. And she is only 5mnths old

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And just to add the teenage months bring them back to being like puppies again so that is where the biting and jumping up comes into it. Go back to basic puppy training and plenty of exercise and he should settle down a bit.
This may help with the biting

http://staffy-bull-terrier.co.uk/stopyourstaffypuppybiting.html

Also there are many products you can use like vicks or bitter apple spray tospray on furniture etc that you do not want chewed.

I know Kylie,you are right but I've just read the post and put myself in the do position,if you know what I mean . To Bridget - what do you do when he bites? Leaving him outside wont teach him anything. As Kylie said you've got teenager on your hands so he will try how far he can push you.

jola139, I leave for work at 5:30 am and am home anywhere from 4:30pm. My partner leaves at 4am and is home around the same time. Im not able to have children so we welcomed cartman into our lives. I have a career and I love my dog very much and spend every minute I can with him I do not lock my dog outside at night, the barking occurs during the day on days off and weekends when im doing household duties and don't need my little man sitting on my feet. We went to puppy school and he was good as gold, he is a very smart pup and picks up things very quickly. I think he thinks he is a human

Kylie, He is walked once a day for up to an hour, not including a play break in the park or play date with the staffy down the road. We mix up different routes every day. On weekends and my days off he is walked morning and night. He also has a full size soccer ball in the yard, which he runs around with all day

Cartman is outside when we are not home or when I need to get things done inside without his help. That's when the barking begins. I let him bark as long as I can because I don't want him to think if he barks he will come back inside straight away. I never but him outside to teach him a lesson as there is no lesson to learn in doing that. When he bites, I have tried yelping, ignoring him, and placing him in time out. A method may work for afew weeks but then it all starts again

is the bitter apple a spray I can use safe to furniture?

Hi & welcome.

I'm sorry, but you won't find an answer to your problems here. Your problems stem from the fact that your pup is left alone far too long & so isn't getting the interraction, training & exercise she needs. One walk of an hour each day is nowhere near enough & you obviously don't have the time to train her properly when you are there.

This is going to sound harsh, but unless you can get somebody to walk her & train her at least once during the day then you should think about rehoming her.

As a breed they crave human attention. Being left alone for that long is very stressfull espically at that age. They are also a very high energy breed and need a minimum of two walks for day for 5 minutes per month of age. This doesn't include off lead play and again is a minimum needed every day.

If they aren't exercised properly they will find other and often time negative ways to release their energy. I would suggest that you find a friend or neighbor willing to walk him during the day. If you can't than a dog walker is a must. This way he will get the exercise he needs and be better behavied.

Bridget,didn't mean to make you angry,if that was to harsh I'm sorry. The leaving him outside part it's how I understood your first post. But I do agree with Jstaff and Caryll. Maybe the answer to you problem would be finding someone who could walk her while you at work.

Just to add I used to have a job that required 16 hour days routinely. I always made sure to have a friend or neighbor that my dog knew and they would help me out on the days I couldn't make it home at lunch for a walk.

I've also had to hire dog walkers before. Just make sure they have good references. The biting is an attempt to get attention and not dominance. Turn around and ignore the behaviour. When he is calm give him attention. He will learn that biting elicits the opposite response that he wants and will stop.

Bridget, do you have a friend or family member that would be able to help you out? I know it is hard with work and life etc.. But he really needs more regular walks than he is getting. I also leave for work at 5:30 and am a single mum to a 9 year old But i get up that extra 45mins early to walk before work.. Is this possible for you or OH to do? It can be done although it is a lot of hard work but you will reap the benefits of a much better behaved pup and therefore a much better relationship with Cartman..

If you have no one to help you out then you may need to start looking for puppy sitters or walkers (although I couldn't find a dog walker over 15yrs old in my area )Mybe you will have better luck in your area..

you need to walk him before you work and after work maybe take turn one does in the morning and one does it after work staffy need 2/3 walks per day for 45mins/hour each time

dogs need a fix routes or they wont know what going off you will have confused dog and then a problem dog

I know my post came over as very harsh, but you really need to understand that your dog is still a pup, and needs that interraction with you (or another human) that will teach him what is acceptable behaviour & what isn't. He also needs more than one walk a day to keep him content & not bored.

Is there no way you can get somebody to pop in & be with your dog for an hour during the day?

He needs another walk. If either of you have any friends or family members that can give him a walk during the time you're in work, and perhaps do some training with him and give him some affection, that'd work wonders. He's bored and craving attention. Loki is clingy even for a Staff, he likes playing but he'll sit next to you for hours to be stroked and scratched if you let him. He never 'wants' any alone time, he'll just accept it if he's tired enough. So if I left him alone for 13 hours, regardless of how many toys and treats he had, he'd be VERY bored and hyperactive. That plus your dog is a teenager, he's going through that stage of knowing what to do but refusing to do it. You'll need to spend as much time as possible re-training him, going back to basics. I'm with Loki 24/7 because I don't work, and he's still a little devil, jumping up and biting because he wants to play. So it'll take a lot of work from both of you, and I think you're definitely going to have to get someone else to help you out while you're both in work.

This is very sad, and I agree wholeheartedly with Carryl, I dont think her words were harsh, just honest, if you cannot find someone to walk her at midday it will be best to find her another home.