is grannys staffy safe?

I have 7yr old staffy, shes loyal obedient gentle waggy and of course smiley. I put a lot of obedience training in using toys and games right form the start and have had no probs with her ever. I got a female staffy pup for my mum a 18 months ago and gave her my advice, lots of exercise, clear consistent house rules, lots of obedience training and no no no to sleeping in her bed. I think my mum just expected her dog to grow up like mine without having to follow this advice tho. She is a lovely wee dog, very affectionate, but VERY pushy, and now very big. She runs off, jumps up on everyone, wont get off the furniture, wont let her toys go, wont listen, etc etc. Shes not aggrressive to my dog, but wont let her move, constantly blocks her movements, and has even taken food right out of my dogs mouth. Im not worried about that tho, my dog knows what to do to stay out of trouble, Im worried about her behaviour toward my 6 yr old son. Recently when my son went to pick up one of her toys she growled fiercely at him. About a week later she bolted in from outside growling at my son because he had tooted a horn that she doesnt like. I have no idea how far she intended to take this reprimand as I reacted quickly with a boot in the rear and pulled her outside. Granny was watching this, but insists the dog would never have hurt him, I think she is blinded by her love for the dog and am pretty convinced that this spells trouble, and have refused to take my son back. Obviously both granny and my son are really distressed about my decision. Ive told my mum she needs to get the dog trained before she gets any older as she will be turning into an adult soon, but my mum thinks im over reacting. Can anybody please give me some advice, now im not sure if i am over reacting?? I know staffs are usually very tolerant of children, mine is, she sits untethered at the school gates every day and loves the attenetion she gets from the all the kids. Please help, would you trust grannys staffy?

Welcome to the forum. We's love to see some pics of Alabama!

I can't speak specifically about your mum's dog without actually seeing her in action so to speak. Generally I'd trust most staffs not to touch a child.

However, if a dog is out of control & has not been taught boundaries you could get problems, even with a stafford.

It sounds as though your mum's dog has never been taught that all her things belong to her owner (your mum) & she only gets them when her owner gives them to her.

Is there any way you could get a little more involved in the dog's training? Or maybe persuade your mum to visit a dog training club nearby?

Unfortunately I think that unless your mum is prepared to put a bit of effort into controlling her dog, you may have to keep your son away. I know I would, and that's knowing that staffs are unlikely to hurt a child! I wouldn't want to take a chance.

Try to explain to your mum that a bored dog that has no boundaries is not only possibly dangerous but unhappy. Dogs like to know that their lives are ordered. They like knowing what they can and can't do, it's in their nature. At the moment it sounds like she pretty much does as she pleases, which isn't good.

What would happen if she decided she didn't want strangers coming in to the home, a repair man or a friend she hasn't seen before? Your mum could get into serious trouble if she were to bite someone, plus the dog could be ordered to be pts. I doubt anyone wants that to happen.

As I said, I think all you can do is try to persuade your mum to see what she is doing to her dog is making her unhappy & could have devastating consequences.

Good luck.

I agree with the above dogs love order/bounderies, mental and physical exercise in their lives. You sound like you done a fab job on your dog simply tell your mum you put alot of hard work into it and she has to as well. If you could have a larger part in the training that would be a plus but really your mum needs to do it learn first hand its not easy so training classes would be a great plus as her dogs sounds quite dominant and that can affect many areas of a dogs life and owners life.

As per usual caryll has got some really good advice! I wouldn't "trust" a dog like that around children,not that it would be impossible to have them together but I would feel on edge all the time watching what both dog and child were doing!! If it were my dog that behaved in that way I would make sure I did something about the behaviour!! Would hate not to be able trust mine around kids!!

Your granny should listen to your concerns and really do something about it, I think its one thing to think a dog would never touch a child you should never take it for granted your little girl is too precious to be put in that situation and she comes before grannys dog.

I hope we've helped & not been too negative?

yes, all your advice has been really helpful, most importantly because other people, experienced dog owners, would have the same concerns. Because we live far away we only visit my mum 3 or 4 times a year and theres not much i can do to help with any hands on training, im just nagging (thats how it seems to her) on the end of the phone. Had a long conversation with her last night and have asked her to watch this site to see how others would react, she says she will and will heed any advice (probably as long as it doesnt come from me) lol. She says that she has been taking steps to try to get the dog under control so am hoping she will maybe join up and get the benefit of others experiences.
Ive learned a lot myself from browsing..am not generally a big internet user.
I was reallly shocked to discover that im not doing my dog any favours by feeding her a lot of tinned food, shes not a big fan of dry food, and generally only gets it when ive run out of tins and the dry food gets pulled out from the back of the cupboard. Am off to pets at home to get one of the recommended brands in the nutrition section and start to introduce it. Will get some pics of alabama on soon as i can find my lead for the camera, and looking forward to many more conversations on this site. Thanks for all your comments, any more thoughts are still welcome as my mum will now be watching too x

Hiya, in regards to your original question there has already been some really good advice and I don't have anything to add there. I think its a great idea for your mother to join the site even if she just has a browse, you do learn so much!

There are some good moist dog foods on the market, though these are expensive and as with any wet food you have to feed quite a lot (this is because between 70 and 80% of them is water). One I would recommend which mixes quite easily with biscuits is Natures Diet. Hope this helps further!

Lc Xx

alabama wrote:I was reallly shocked to discover that im not doing my dog any favours by feeding her a lot of tinned food, shes not a big fan of dry food, and generally only gets it when ive run out of tins and the dry food gets pulled out from the back of the cupboard. Am off to pets at home to get one of the recommended brands in the nutrition section and start to introduce it. Will get some pics of alabama on soon as i can find my lead for the camera, and looking forward to many more conversations on this site. Thanks for all your comments, any more thoughts are still welcome as my mum will now be watching too x

Just a thought, but have you tried feeding raw? I don't mean the full BARF diet necessarily, but a good mixture of raw meat & offal (Ox heart & tripe are firm favourites with many dogs).

well that does sound like doggy heaven, do you just buy it at the butchers and feed it as it is? I think i remember something about freezing when i was reading last nite x

You can get frozen tripe and ox heart chunks at the larger pet stores (Pets at Home do them) or you can buy from the supermarket, but it should preferably be frozen for a day or two first & then thoroughly defrosted.

You can also ask your local Morrison's supermarket if the butcher has any bones, that's where I get most of mine!

If you're not feeding bones, though, you might also want to add a little vitamin/mineral supplement.