How do I do this?

Hello everyone, my father recently bought a 4-5 week old Stafford shire this week and has tasked me with the whole responsibility of training it to be a good/perfect dog. Problem is, I have never trained dogs before and I have never had to deal with this sort of dogs before, we only have 2 Pomeranians and those are pretty small, gentle dogs. Question is, how do I go about training this dog? He does have some biting issues and tears up my pants and socks which is pretty frustrating and seems to be extremely aggressive and destructive. I would love for him to be a nice dog that can be in my room but all he does it bite,chew,and ignore toys so that cannot happen, please help me out here, I have no clue what I am doing

Welcome why don't you introduce yourself to us here?

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

Firstly, four or five weeks is VERY, VERY young. They should be with their mum and siblings until at least eight weeks old. All puppies chew, bite and act annoying, it's what they do. He's not being aggressive, he's being a puppy. You'll have a very hard time with his training because he's been taken away far too early. They stay with their mum and siblings until eight weeks old because they learn bite inhibition, learn not to bite so hard and etc. Because he doesn't have this, he's going to need you to teach him. At his age, he's not old enough to really learn much yet, that'll come in a little while, but here's a link to stop the biting and chewing, so you can get a start on it right away:

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/stop_your_staffy_puppy_biting

Also, I'd invest in a Kong and a StagBar. You can buy them online, StagBars are antlers that dogs can chew on, they last a long while. I'd say not to expect much from him though, he's very, very young. In a week or two he'll be more easily trainable though.

Good advice above

That is very young to take a puppy away from mum and siblings That said I made the same mistake and I must say although it was difficult I think my girl at 9 months is coming along very nicely and I am very proud of her As tara said invest in a lot of chew toys and a stagbar/ deer antler as the biggest problem I faced was teaching her bite inhibition, it was a nightmare This is something they learn from mum and siblings from about 5 weeks on and it teaches them how gently to bite/nip (as all pups do) you will need to be vigilant with the training and make sure above all that you are consistent, I found the best method for me was the "yelping" method and stop play when the pup bites/nips, all pups want to play and they will soon learn what actions will make play stop.. Most of all have the patience of a saint and whatever training methods you use you must persist

Good luck and we would love to see some pics of the little one

Just to reiterate what Tara said too, please don't expect too much too soon.. Try and master the simple things like toilet training etc first before you worry about sit/stay commands etc All that can come later when he is a little more grown

Perseverance and patience are key here. Great advice above and you can really win by redirecting their bites to kongs etc. Good luck ><

Fab advice given above, he is very young to leave his mum & siblings,so you will have to be patient with him the puppy biting takes a while but it does get better with patience & consistency. Good luck

Top advice above, might be worth thinking about puppy classes also, and socialisation with friendly dogs at every opportunity

Welcome to the forum, you have come to the perfect place for advise and support.

All the above advise is great! Puppy classes will help alot when you can take him. Puppies love biting (my puppy is 15 weeks old..) he is still biting as he is getting his teeth, Get some toys for him and if he bites something/you just say no and give him a toy to chew, this will teach him what is ok to chew. This combined with the Yelping when they bite you has helped SO much with Dukes biting!!

You have to be patient, he is so young and I promise with you persistance and training he will be a great dog. Ask lots of questions here and have a look at previous posts, they help me SOO MUCH!

Oh and if you could put up some pictures that would be great I Love puppy pictures

I would definitely take them to puppy classes when he is old enough. Helped me alot! Good luck

Hi & welcome.

Why on earth did your dad get a pup so young?

Wow that is awfully young. Have a read through the important topics and for new owners on the top of the forum and look through the FAQ thread.

Bite inhibition and toilet training will be the biggest things to work on at first. Just have patience and give lots of praise when he does right

Thanks for the info and replies everyone, I really appreciate it! I am not sure why he got it so young, I think he said something about it being easier to train being that young, I will get a picture up here soon, just need to find one

Very much the opposite, it's harder to train them when they've been taken away from the mum and siblings before they have a chance to learn anything. Still, it isn't the worst thing in the world, just going to requite effort.

Can't wait for pictures

This our dog Azul

And another

Aaaww, he's adorable he has a massive head

I noticed haha, he is a really nice dog to have around when he isn't chewing or biting the snot out of you. He can go from being relaxed and sleeping on your lap straight to biting and chewing, I found out that the newer toys stop him from biting better than older ones once he does this

Yeah, when Loki was really young, he'd be attacking your shoes and then suddenly he'd be on the floor snoring, that's just how they are. Glad you're seeing some improvement already, just keep with it and if you have any problems, feel free to ask. Keep us updated too of course, we love to hear about any progress

Awww he is a little sweetie If you need any advice as time goes on just ask, ok

He's a gorgeous little dog and will be well worth persevering with.
Bacchus is my first Staffy and the advice on this forum has been invaluable. Take note of the advice given to you by the guys on this forum and read as many previous posts as you can. I can vouch for the ' yelp' technique for teaching bite inhibition. He is not being aggressive, all puppies mouth or chew/bite, whatever you want to call it. The problem is that Staffies, even at a very young age have disproportionately strong jaws for their size. They are also very sensitive, people friendly dogs and will not intentionally hurt you.