HELP us with our puppy!!!

Hi, last year I and my family bought a Staffordshire bull terrier puppy on the 8th December. Her name is Kimi and she is 12 weeks old. The people we bought her from weren’t very well off and they were living in fairly poor conditions. They shouldn’t have really bred any puppies as they weren’t very knowledgeable on the subject themselves. Due to it being Christmas time they were very eager to get rid of the puppies so that they could get money for presents for their three children. They were unaware that their best intentions were probably their worst. When we bought Kimi she was 6 weeks old (I am aware that her age was far too young to have been away from her mother). We saw her mother but not her father. The mother was supposed to have been a pedigree and was also supposed to have papers. We did not see the papers which makes me unsure as to whether she was a full staffy. Her mom was quite tall but not massively but she also had a lovely temperament. We did not see Kimi’s father. When we took her to the vet, he said that her father could have perhaps been a staffy mixed with something like a Labrador. As you have probably already figured Kimi is not a pedigree and has no papers what so ever.
I will now begin to tell you about some of the problems we have been experiencing.
The first problem is biting. When we play with Kimi she can become very over excited after a while and fun and games soon turns into very painful and intentional biting. When she bites us we put her I her cage and tell her no and to calm down but that doesn’t seem to be working. She doesn’t bite a stranger which is good but she does bite her own family. I do know about bite inhibition where the mother and her other siblings teach each other about biting and how to behave and I know she would have learnt about it if she had of stayed with them for longer but that wouldn’t of happened as the breeders were very eager to get rid of all the pups. So does anyone have any tips for this?
The second problem is that she growls when we stroke her whilst she is a eating a treat or a chew. This has only started recently. For instance today we gave her a treat and she started growling at me and my daughter as we were stroking her. We took the treat of her every time she did but she was quite persistent in doing it. She also growls when we pick her up. Any tips for this one?
The third and final problem is that Kimi seems to think that she can boss the dogs about that live at my Nan’s house. There are two dogs that live up there (a jack russel and a king Charles cavalier) that are quite vicious and they wouldn’t hesitate to rip her apart in seconds. We keep Kimi wel, away from them as she tends to jump and snap. But my Nan does look after three other dogs. The first one is a Labrador. He is 8 years old. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He is a lovely dog and has an amazing temperament with people and other dogs. The problem at hand is that Kimi feels that can bite and jump and snap at him which is quite naughty as he is very calm around her and very nice to her also.The second do my Nan looks after is a cocker spaniel. He tends to growl at Kimi as warning when she irritates him too much but she doesn’t really appear to listen and instead goes to nip his ears and tail.The third dog is a golden retriever. He is a lovely dog but he is also very stubborn. Does anyone have any tips on how to stop this?
I am very appreciative to anyone who can give me any help on this. I know it is a very long post to read and I understand that it is fairly time consuming so am very thankful if you give up your time to read this.
We only want what is best for Kimi and we are willing to do anything (except hurt her, which is obvious) that we make her a better dog.

i've had dogs before, dobermann, springer and labrador.
first time wth a staffy, so not really qualified to comment except to say the biting/nipping is only play it as taken me 5 months to stop my dog from biting, regarding the food my dog wags his tail when i stroke him when he his eating or as a treat (can't comment)
your 3rd problem is all about socializing the dog, mine craves other dogs/peoples attention
he too was 7 weeks old when we had him his siblings died at birth so he was an only one, and never learnt bite inibition, i'm sure more experienced people will help you.

Well you have bought a dog froma back yard breeder. They knew exactly what they were doing - making puppies and taking people for mugs at xmas time because the kids asked for a puppy.

As for the biting, its a puppy thing. All puppies do this. You need to say NO and stand up and walk away and ignore them. You should never use the crate as punishment. This will just frustrate her more.

As for the growling when eating/chewing....firstly why are you bothering her? She was taken away fom her family at 6 weeks old...her siblings didn't get a chance to fight her back for growling...pups learn SO much from 6-8 weeks people don't even realise. You have a dog that has not learned the correct social structure, so you have a lot of work.

It is all about consistency and socialization. I would advise some puppy classes immediately.


Please psot some pictures so that we may see what she may be crossed with? (also to fawn over puppy photos.....)

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In my experience, the best thing you can do is be consistent always. It will take a long time to teach your puppy how to behave the way you would prefer.

As I was a single woman when I got my first staffie, I wanted to make completely sure that he would not display behavior that I couldn't handle on my own. As they do not understand just how strong they are, "playing" can get pretty rough if you're not careful.

I never allowed Bandit to play tug as I didn't want him to feel competitive with people. He grew up understanding that people were "alpha." My nieces could always settle him down with a simple "stop" command and a hand held up in a stop motion. In exchange I hung a ball from a rope in our tree that he could tug and hang off anytime he wanted. We also didn't wrestle but got lots of rubs and hugs. I also got in the habit of tugging on his tail and ears so that if a child ever did he would not react in a negative way.

As for her food/treats I would keep it away until she settles down completely. Remove it immediately if she growls or food guards and then wait her out. You don't want to give it back to her until she realizes that you have control. When she lays down and looks away is a good sign. If you nip food aggression in the bud now, you will never have to worry about kids accidentally getting hurt by playing with her food or toys. Even tho Bandit is nine now, I still wander up and take his food bowl away while he is eating just to remind him to never "food guard." My husband brought 2 cats to the house when we got married and I never have to worry about Bandit "protecting" his food. Although he did have to learn that the cats didn't want his rawhide treats

Please realize that this is only my experience and advice. Every dog and family are different and you will have to learn as you go along what will work best for you and yours. I wish you much luck. Staffies are wonderful, amazing family members.

Biting is normal puppy behaviour. Just keep up with what you're doing, and eventually it'll pass. Though I'll say rather than put her in her cage, just turn your back on her and completely ignore her. If she still carries on, put her out of the room for just a moment. It'll take a while for her to learn, but she will learn.

The growling when she's eating could be a sign of possessiveness. I don't want to give any advice on that one, I'll leave that for someone with more experience. Growling when she's picked up is just her complaining, since dogs can't speak.

As for the dogs, just keep an eye on them when they're interacting. If she's starting to annoy the dogs, move her away from them for a while to calm down. Loki used to get really excitable with dogs to the point where he didn't care he was annoying them, so he needed some help from me with that. He has some manners now.

Pictures?

Here's a link that should help with the biting

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

The biting/mouthing issue is very normal, you will have to be firm and consistent with her. Logan is now 13 months and he still does it from time to time with certain people. A stern NO without showing her any sort of anger/aggression should be enough.

As for the growling when eating, teach her to sit and make sure she sits calmly before she would be given food. Don't bother her too much when she's eating. Logan used to bark just before I'd give him his food as he was excited, even though it isn't the worst thing, I didn't like it, so I would wait until he stopped then give it to him. I would also hold the bowl in my hand and let him eat whilst I held it.

At 12 weeks she should be quite quick to pick up things so just be consistent and you should have no major problems.

Thanks for all the help so far How do I upload photos

Kimi2612 wrote:Thanks for all the help so far How do I upload photos

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t12018-how-to-post-a-photos-onto-the-forum

She's adorable

She's a sweet heart
Well bless her, it's all been very confusing for her. With all training, problem or not, keep it simple and be continuous. The biting, it's puppy play she just doesn't know how to control it, like the others say, a good firm "No" or "Yelp" and turning away from her will sort that, it's what her litter mates would have done, Rolo learnt quicker with a yelp, he hates the thought that he's hurt you.
Personaly when I give a dog a treat or a chew.. I leave them alone with it. I gave it to you... you are free to enjoy it, strokes and cuddles are just that, quiet time, after play and when they are sleepy, it's a pleasant feeling. With the food bowl, he has to sit and wait, and i give it to him and leave him with it. It is only now that he is older he has been taught a leave command. This way if I want to take something away he is told to "leave" and rewarded for leaving what i have asked him too. There is a clear definition for us both.
Finally when she is around other dogs, pop a short training lead on, so you can remove her if you need to. When Rolo gets to much he is clearly told "Enough" and we walk away. It calms the situation down, he is never introduced or allowed to play with a dog when he is full of energy, and I don't stand around letting them play, I always keep walking with other owners.
Will finish by agreeing, crates are positive places, for safety and rest, never a punishment. Positive training is great, Happy rewarding voice for any little thing Kimi gets right, just a firm No if she hasn't. It takes time and patience with little ones. Good luck, may also be worth seeing if your local vet runs a puppy course. They are great for getting her to socialize and learn what she's missed out on Hugs from Rolo x

With every dog I have had ( although Bacchus is my first staffie ) I make them sit and wait until given permission to eat, but literally seconds. I also make a point of lifting the food bowl briefly and returning it and also stroking and petting while the dog is eating. I have had GSDs and Dobes, and perhaps have been lucky, but have never had a food possessive dog. Bacchus is 6 months and we can take food, bones, anything from him but not to the point of teasing him.
As for the biting, Bacchus is the first dog I've had this problem with and I followed the advice on this forum and it stopped within a couple of weeks. Having said that Bacchus was 9 weeks when we got him so probably learned a lot from his siblings.
As for the annoying other dogs, I can't help there as I am currently working on this myself at classes and when we meet his doggy friends outside.
Stick with it, the staffie cuddles alone make it worthwhile