adopted staffy 6 years old ...best way to help him settle in

Hi There , I just adopted a 6 year old male staffy from a friend who had to give him up.....he's kc reg , comes from a good family background has been brought up around kids .......he is a good natured dog very friendly and daft as a brush fully house trained . Basically I just want to know the best way to help him settle in and make him comfy and get to know him? .....i take him for 4 walks a day twice in the local woods. He is fed well and he gets treats for good behaviour etc and lots of loving . ..... I myself have never had a dog but have been around this type of dog for years with my friends having them, my wife has had a staffy in the past too

He is very obedient , and responds to the basic commands like "sit" and "heel" etc , but wont listen when he is excited or if there is food around . What's the best way to train him ?
any advice will be appreciated Thanks .

Aww sounds as if everythings going really well, you never mentioned how long you've had him?

He sounds very settled in to me. Being excitable is a normal thing, especially to staffs, just make sure you stand your ground with all the commands your using and it should do the trick. Nice one for re-homing!

Welcome to te forum too, any advise you need just ask, we have all been through it to some extent

Hi & welcome.

As Janey says, it sounds like he's settling pretty well on his own. Just be consistant, and let him know the boundaries - what is or isn't allowed.

If he loves his food, then use that to your advantage! Food rewards are a great way to train. Have you tried Clicker Training?

Hi Thanks for the replies , we have him 6 days so far, he's been great really apart from the things i mentioned above ...not showed any signs of pining for his old owner or anything . I thought it very important when we got him to show him plenty of love to help him settle in ......not familiar with clicker training i will have to look it up , thanks.

Some pictures would be great

I remember watching on the dog whisperer once, that one of the best forms of bonding between a doggie and his owner is to go on long walks together... sounds like you are doing that already !!

Awww just carry on the way you are looks like you are doing a brilliant job

It sounds like you are doing a good job and shouldn't have too many problems. When we adopted our staffie the RSPCA told us not to let her off the lead on walks for the first month until there had been a proper chance to bond. In actual fact I let her off after a couple of weeks but only on a secluded bit of beach with no exit points when there was nobody else present.

Overall I'd just suggest that you take things slowly until you know him really well and discover if there is anything that is likely to set him off or cause problems. There are no prizes for rushing anything and remember that he is also learning about you and your family as well.

You could do a lot worse than going to general dog training lessons not so much for the sit and stay commands but more to increase the bonding and trust. You said he won't listen if excited or when there is food around, so it sounds like you could do some work there to let him know what is expected. We've had Bailey now for about 16 months and in all that time we've never once shouted at her or used any kind of heavy handed discipline and this seems to have been repaid with a great deal of affection and common sense on her part.

Our staffie is naturally quite a high energy dog, who requires a lot of exercise, but one small trick I discovered is that she seemed to become calmer and more settled after we changed her daily plan so she doesn't eat her first meal until after she has been on a decent walk and I noticed the dog whisperer does the same. Exercise first then food later. We repeat the same order in the evening and find she always settles down to relax then.

some good advice thanks .....never needed to shout at him but i do use a firm voice ......i let him off the lead after the 3rd day he never goes far away and is always looking to see where i am ,sometimes he goes out of site when we go in the woods but he has his spots where he lays down and waits for me usually whilst chewing a stick lol , which is good. will upload some pics and vid when i suss out how to do it ....i use the same method where he gets his food after a good walk ...the previous owner used to feed him once a day and suggested the same routine , but i think twice a day is better if the dog is well exercised which he is . and he seems happy too.

pierrius1 wrote:some good advice thanks .....never needed to shout at him but i do use a firm voice ......i let him off the lead after the 3rd day he never goes far away and is always looking to see where i am ,sometimes he goes out of site when we go in the woods but he has his spots where he lays down and waits for me usually whilst chewing a stick lol , which is good. will upload some pics and vid when i suss out how to do it ....i use the same method where he gets his food after a good walk ...the previous owner used to feed him once a day and suggested the same routine , but i think twice a day is better if the dog is well exercised which he is . and he seems happy too.

I don't think you need to worry, sounds like a very settled dog

He is probably very good and sensible but I honestly think it's risky at this very early stage to have him off the lead and running out of sight because you can't really know how he will react to certain situations after such a short time. How will he behave if he finds a sheep running wild in the woods or perhaps an inexperienced horse rider that panics when they see your dog? We are in Cornwall so these things can and do happen down here.

A very good command I use with Bailey is "stay close", which tells her just to stay within a few yards of me and avoid anything else happening in the area. It works. Another command she seemed to understand instinctively is "be good", which just means it's fine to approach somebody or another dog but go gently and I use that when I can see other people or dogs are a bit nervous or jumpy.

Just to be clear in the long term I see no problems with letting your dog run free once you know him better and we let ours run off the lead every day in places like the woods or open fields. I am only suggesting a few weeks at most while you also take the opportunity to attend some dog training lessons. We did ours through a trainer who works as an animal behaviourist with the RSPCA and has seen it all.

The kind but firm voice is probably a good thing in establishing yourself as the pack leader, though I must confess we have progressed to a stage where I sound downright soppy with our girl calling her darling or sweetheart, even in front of other dog owners. The gentler I am the better she seems to behave. When others see a staffie behaving well and being spoken to like that it also helps to shatter the stereotype impression of the breed and the people who own them that the media so unfairly promotes.

Something I forgot to add. An exercised dog is a happy dog. Well done