4month old Aggression! Help!

Heya guys I have a wonderful 4 month old little staffy boy. He's lovely most of the time and I have taken him to puppy classes so he knows the basics but he seems to recently get really nasty and aggressive with me when I try and tell him no. I was told to grab him and take him out of the room but when I do he goes crazy and bites my arms. It usually only happens of a night time. Any ideas please he is my 1st puppy

Welcome why don't you inroduce yourself and Wiz here:

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

At his age, it's highly unlikely he's being aggressive and is instead just being a puppy. They like to play and are often stubborn, so when you tell them no, they tell you no right back, the only way they know how. Here's a link that should help:

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

It can take a while for it to sink in. Loki took a few months before there was any noticeable improvement, and I thought it'd never get better, but it did, you just have to be consistent and try to be patient

There's a real difference between his rough play and this, he growls loud showing his teeth and his ears back and bites. It lasts a little while and then he stops.

As Tara has said above, it is normal puppy behaviour and patience and consistency are the key .. and it always does help to remember that it will get better

Chiquito is about the same age and will sometimes bite at night when he is feeling over energetic and just wants to play. He will also growl quite loudly and sometimes bark at me as well - especially if I tell him 'no' .. this also sometimes happens when I go to take him from somewhere he wants to stay (the lounge or bed usually). The growling sounds quite scary, but is actually just the equivalent of a defiant toddler saying 'no, I do not want to do that!'

Keep persisting with the 'no' and use time out if needed - they soon learn that the behavior is not acceptable when we continue with these responses, and with time and patience it will begin to calm

Gwen is 5 months and does the same thing! I dont think it is aggression. Around this age they just decide they do not want to be told "no" and they do not want to listen to you! They want to do what they want to do! At night when we are going to sleep and Gwen starts chewing the pillows we say no and she growls, barks, and then snaps at us! I can see how you think it could be aggressive but it is more just that they dont have manners yet and even if they know this behavior is wrong they want to test the boundaries and see what they can get away with! Just continue to say no and if he bites you turn away and ignore him for a minute or so..eventually he will learn this is not acceptable behavior..it just takes time and around this age they are in their naughty teenager stage! It will get better!!!

If it's happening mainly at night then it could be that your pup is tired & needs to be left alone to sleep!

Try to restrict training and/or play to before 7pm.

If he starts to get a bit hyper, just ignore him - turn away & don't even make eye contact.

What do you feed him (the actual brand of food), how many meals & when?

Alfie is the same, I think it's when he gets over tired.

If we try to put him in another room he just bites us like mad so we leave the room and shut the door instead. This is working really well and he is much better.

When we come back in a couple of minutes later we put him in his crate for a nap(with hug & kiss) and he normally falls asleep quite quickly.

Thanks everyone feel a lot better with your replys.Mine is not the only one. The lady at puppy class made a big deal out of it which made me feel worse because I'm trying my best with him. I take it he will grow out of it.

Charrr wrote:Thanks everyone feel a lot better with your replys.Mine is not the only one. The lady at puppy class made a big deal out of it which made me feel worse because I'm trying my best with him. I take it he will grow out of it.

Staffs can be more over-the-top than other breeds, it's possible the woman hasn't had much experience with Staffs? Ours trainers were always mentioning how mad they are as a breed. You're doing the right thing, he'll grow out of it, but it does take time and, of course, consistency, so don't worry, just keep at it, and if you're having a bad, stressful day with it, you can always vent on here (as I did) and try to focus on the good things he's done

yes he will grow out of it , my Thomas was a tearaway only fit for Borstal at that age, now he's an . Well almost ........... ok let's just leave it that they grow out of it and improve. BUT this will only happen if you teach him , it is all behavior , good or bad , it's up to you to show him what is acceptable

Zeus was similar at that age too, he'd be a menace, but just stay firm and tell him off when he does that. Worse comes to worse, pick him up and put him in another room for a minute or two, to cool off. This worked brilliantly with Zeus.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to tell off this bad behavior, am I doing the right thing by putting him in a separate room x

Every time he nips just say "no!" and turn away from him, stop all interaction completely - don't even look at him.

If he carries on just scoop him up & put him outside, but only for a minute. Then let him in & start again!

He really will get the message!

It would be interesting to hear what you feed him and what sort of exercise he gets, though.

Charrr wrote:Does anyone have any ideas on how to tell off this bad behavior, am I doing the right thing by putting him in a separate room x

First start off by saying NO in a firm tone, it doesn't have to be loud, just very firm and strong. Then turn your back on him and ignore him. If he still carries on, then pick him up and put him in another room to cool off for a minute or two, then let him back in. You may have to do this a number of times before he gets the idea but it will work, it worked for Zeus and we still have to put him in another room now and again to cool off.

Thanks again I shalll keep trying with it. Patience is the key lol.
Wiz eats wainwrights dry puppy food and we walk him for attest an hour over the fields, he is off the lead at all times and gets to play with all the other dogs. Wiz is rarely in the home alone so he is always being played with and trained. Today he is being lovely lol.
[b][u] one more question.....
We have cats, he's gentle with them and will sleep with them but he just constantly barks and whines in their face.. I think he wants them to chase him.. Is this ok?

I think he is trying to get them to run, so then he can chase them. It's a bad habit cos if they do run he may get over excited and hurt them if he catches them.

We have two cats and two dogs, they are fine together. we have tried to teach the dogs that the cats are not for them. So distract him if he bothers them and give him something "more fun" to do, ie, a game with you.

They calm down with it when they get older though, especially if one of your cats is a ninja cat like our jess

I wouldn't worry about the cats as long as they're ok with the barking! I'm sure they'll let him know if they're not happy with it!