help!!! or my staffy has to be rehomed :(

So my staff is in season and never ever shown any sign of aggression accept towards one of the new kittens. My 2 year old son went to climb on her like usual to give her a cuddle and she just snapped at him as she was warning him to get off!! Shes never ever done this in the whole 2 and a half years weve had her and my kids have done so much worse to her im so upset that thinking my only option is to get rid of her espicially with having another baby due in just 7 days! Any advise would be fantastic thanks

I have never had a bitch so no experience sorry. As all us females get a little narky during this time it may be best to aware yourself of this during this period. As for rehoming her I think perhaps a tad premature to be thinking of this. Understand your concerns but if everything has been ok up until now then please stick with it. xx

First off, if she's never done this before, I very much doubt it's aggression as such. I daresay the season has put her out of sorts; it's possible that your son may have accidentally hurt her. Even if he didn't, she was probably feeling sorry for herself and irritable due to the season.

Also bear in mind that, if she'd actually meant to bite him, she would have. The fact that she snapped and didn't make contact shows that she meant no harm. Dogs only have a few ways to express that they're unhappy, so it's basically the equivalent of you telling somebody to leave you alone in a raised voice.

In future, it's probably best to supervise her around the kids when she's in season, although I'd recommend supervision at all times with any dog around children, as accidents do happen.

Honestly, I don't think rehoming is necessary. I understand that you're worried about the safety of your kids, but it sounds like a one-off due to your dog's season.

Hi im ras partner missys daddy as t were, just for some background the dog has behaved very differently since we moved, she was in our friends care for a couple of months and has been displaying aggressive/ dominant behavior for the past three weeks she has been aggressive on the lead towards other dogs and tried to bite one of our kittens. Just to add she didnt snap at our son she tried to bite contact was made with the side of her mouth but not with any teeth my concern is we might not be so lucky next time we all love the dog but no dog is worth risking a childs safety for.

Kazs*

 That's not what was said in the original post though. Your partner said that she's "never ever shown any sign of aggression accept towards one of the new kittens" and "never ever done this in the whole 2 and a half years weve had her."

Ive never had problems with her being aggressive towards another dog and nor has anyone else but my partner. (Forgot to mention this)

Just took a look through your other posts. If I've understood correctly, you've said that she doesn't get walked anymore, and goes out to the toilet 5 times per day.

If this is the case, I'm really not at all surprised that she's irritable.

1) She's in season.
2) She's a wippet/staffy - extremely high energy mix and she needs exercise.
3) When dogs get bored and get no exercise, they get irritable and snappy - almost all of them.
4) You've moved house. This is stressful, even if it's been done before. This, combined with all of the other factors, will only heighten her stress.
5) You've got new kittens, which is another change she has to deal with.
6) If you're expecting a baby, she's probably sensing something's different and is getting protective.

See i was thinking all this and thinking maybe if she got atleast one long walk a day shed be okay? She also keeps panting alot which indicates that shes hot??

The panting is most likely stress.

I do think more exercise would definitely help her. A dog of her type would need at least an hour per day - preferably two - and that's a minimum.

So then how would i get the whole when will the proper bite happen etc ive never had any experience of a dog do this.

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your question properly. I'm assuming you mean how will you know if she's going to bite.

There are warning signs to look out for. First of all, she'll probably try to move away. After this, she'll possibly lick her lips, yawn or pant to show distress or discomfort. Her hackles might raise along her shoulders and back. If these are ignored, she might growl or snap.

I very much doubt that she would actually bite your children. But to be safe, you should always supervise dogs when they are around kids.

Yea thats what i meant. Missys always supervised round the kids i think maybe shes just fed up

To be honest, I think you should start off with the walks and see if there's an improvement from there - one step at a time. If that doesn't help, there are other things that can be tried.

1 walk per day is not good enough sorry, staffy well all dogs needs 2/3 walks per day for over hour each time or you going have an problem dog on your hands if you can't do this maybe you shouldn't have an dog sorry if that bit was strong but you have to think how would you be like if you only get out once an day for probably half an hour each day your not going be Socializing which dogs need to be happy...

Precisely.

Dogs are territorial animals. They need space, which is why it's so important for them to be walked regularly. By failing to walk a dog, you're depriving it of something it actually needs (and I do mean 'needs' - it's important) to be healthy.

I totally agree with you steve she does need alot more walking

missysmummy wrote:Yea thats what i meant. Missys always supervised round the kids i think maybe shes just fed up

Well I think you're not wrong there and I would be fed up if I was on the short exercise regime she seems to be . You need to find more time for her , take her out walking with the kids ( all kids need fresh air )

As Steve will back me up and I have really found this to be true over this long hot spell we've had and the kids have not been getting out for as much or as long , basic rule of dog ownership , a good dog is a tired dog

missysmummy wrote:So my staff is in season and never ever shown any sign of aggression accept towards one of the new kittens. My 2 year old son went to climb on her like usual to give her a cuddle and she just snapped at him as she was warning him to get off!! Shes never ever done this in the whole 2 and a half years weve had her and my kids have done so much worse to her im so upset that thinking my only option is to get rid of her espicially with having another baby due in just 7 days! Any advise would be fantastic thanks

Why would you let your child climb on your dog? If she is in season she is having ovarian pain just like we do, climbing on her is going to hurt. This was not the dogs fault.

I can't add to the advice above which is excellent. I'd just say please don't let your kids climb over the dog even if she's not in season. Kids should be taught to respect dogs, they're not toys.

Also what worries me is you say

my kids have done so much worse to her wrote:

. That's a dangerous road to travel with any dog... dogs only know one way to say "no" that's to bite.

Very important point debs. I would also be concerned about why she changed after being left with your friend for months. Did anything happen while she was there?