aggression

I am at my wits end and in need of help. Miley is our 19 month old staffie she was spayed approx 4 weeks ago. Prior to her being spayed we had 2/3 incidents where she started to show aggression towards smaller dogs or puppies. snarling growling and then pining them. It made us feel very uneasy as she has never shown aggression before this, we went to puppy classes and she has been off the lead and socialised since an early age. She has 2 30 minute (minimum) walks each day and meets dogs regularly. we have 3 children and she has once growled at our eldest but nothing since. I am now so on edge when it comes to walk times incase we see a small dog. I don't want to have to muzzle her as she loves playing with a ball, but feel that this may be our only option. I have contacted 3 behaviour specialists and awaiting callbacks. any other advice would be much appreciated.

Awwww bless ya. I don't think a muzzle is necessary. It's just the way some of them are unfortunately with other dogs.

Our last big boy Buster was a nightmare with other dogs from the start. Boris is really good with other dogs but there's always the potential there for a problem. Tilly has the makings of a nightmare but we're working hard on it.

I think training classes will help rather than one to one stuff, you'll be wasting your money IMO. Social environment will help a lot, if you get a behaviourist on a one to one basis you're not putting other dogs into the mix which is precisely the situation you need help with.

My advice would be to find a good training class + go there, maybe do the KCGC classes, worked wonders for me

Good luck whatever you decide x

zetstaff wrote:Awwww bless ya. I don't think a muzzle is necessary. It's just the way some of them are unfortunately with other dogs.

Our last big boy Buster was a nightmare with other dogs from the start. Boris is really good with other dogs but there's always the potential there for a problem. Tilly has the makings of a nightmare but we're working hard on it.

I agree. Some staffs are just not dog friendly. You can lessen it to an extent, but with some it's always there. You just need to become aware of your dog's body language & make sure that you have good, strong recalls & 'leave' commands.

zetstaff wrote:I think training classes will help rather than one to one stuff, you'll be wasting your money IMO. Social environment will help a lot, if you get a behaviourist on a one to one basis you're not putting other dogs into the mix which is precisely the situation you need help with.

My advice would be to find a good training class + go there, maybe do the KCGC classes, worked wonders for me

Good luck whatever you decide x

One to one training may help with the general stuff, but won't help with dog on dog stuff! A training class will help with socialisation and will train her as well! I think it also helps to be among other people who may also have problems - you realise you're not alone! The Kennel Club Good Citizens awards are great to do if there's someone in your area who does them. You work your way up through stages & you get a certificate after each one. They train people to be better dog owners, and dogs to be better.........dogs!

thankyou for the advise I have spoken to a kennel club good citizenship trainer from my local area and they have suggested one-one and will accompany us on a walk. as her training is pretty good they felt that it is a behaviour issue that could be stemmed from home so want to see everything that occurs and her behaviour. thankyou for all your advice, its worse than parenting this business!!!

lisajcantlon wrote: its worse than parenting this business!!!

Tons worse!

Good luck & let us know how you get on! By the way, I'm told that the Good Citizen classes are really good fun as well, although I can't do them as there's nobody close enough to me that I can get to!

Good luck with it all

If all else fails just make sure she is on lead unless u can be sure no other dogs are around. Loads of peole have to do this, its not a problem! Good luck x