started growling and went for my hubby

We took an 11 month old bitch in april, she had been ill treated, we have my mum and her partner staying with us temporary. Her partner has hit my dog which I am against as we use a rolled up paper. He also hit her with his slipper I dont know if this has any bearing on why she would all of a sudden start growling and go for my hubby all he did was lay down beside her like he always does. We want to keep her as she normally is such a loving dog please any advice

Sorry,but imo,one should "Never" hit a dog with anything. !!

We show the dogs the rolled up paper and they stop we dont use it

My apologies deby.

Thats ok I didnt explain very well

deby wrote: I dont know if this has any bearing on why she would all of a sudden start growling and go for my hubby all he did was lay down beside her like he always does.

More than likely yes this is why you should never hit or threaten a dog. They learn by association and now she has learnt that males may hit her. She will be very wary and her senses heightened, a simple act of lying down next to her could be seen as a threat as she may see it as being stalked.
She has already had a bad start in life this isnt going to help her trust humans again.
You have to work on being firm but fair and understand dog language; it’s no use trying to treat them like humans they will never understand. You can also do a lot to control a dog by your own body language.
There is absolutely no reason to hit a dog, it’s a lazy way of controlling a dog and one which will have a long term negative impact possibly leading to aggression towards humans. I know you didnt do it it but you are the owner and you have a responcibility to the dog and as such you need to make it clear to everyone in the household about how to treat the dog.

Hitting a dog will get you nowhere. Doesn't matter if it's a rolled up newspaper, a hand or a slipper - don't do it! A dog that is trained with violence will often react with violence.

You must tell your mum's partner, in no uncertain terms, to leave your dog alone in future. He has no right whatsoever to hit her.

You say she growled at your oh? Was it a loud snarl or just a grumpy 'leave me alone' sort of grumble? A dog only has two ways of telling you it's unhappy/uncomfortable with something; growl or walk away. If she was lying down & was tired/sleepy she may have needed to be left alone & you should all respect that. Don't forget that she has come from a violent background & she may feel that it's continuing now, with the hits etc.

Give her some space to settle into your family, and stop all physical punishment. If there are things she does that you don't want her to do, by all means come on here and ask for ways of training her not to do it, but don't threaten her with physical punishment - it will just make matters worse.

Completely agree with the advice given above, It's great that you have rescued her, but threatening her with an object, or hitting her, soft or hard will have no good outcome what so ever. You will find that she may just respond much better to firm, yet calm reinforcement using commands like no, leave, enough etc. Please feel free to ask any questions we are all here to help!

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Ok thanks I do use voice tone more on them as they respond better but it was a man who used to kick her so it would seem she has a trust issue with men due to my mums partner. She is the 1st full staff we have had, our other dog is predominantly staff both are neutered

Aggression breeds aggression.. That's all I will say on the matter. Great advice from everybody else.

If your husband hit me i would bite him too. And frankly your husband is abusing her just as bad as her previous owner, he should be ashamed.

Hayley wrote:If your husband hit me i would bite him too. And frankly your husband is abusing her just as bad as her previous owner, he should be ashamed.

it wasnt her husband mate it was a visiting family member

deby wrote:Ok thanks I do use voice tone more on them   as  they respond better but it was a man who used to kick her so it would seem she has a trust issue  with men due to my mums partner.  She is the 1st full staff we have had, our other dog is predominantly staff both are neutered

Voice tone is a great way along with hand gestures. treating, fuss and praise when good, firm calm voice commands for the undesirable stuff.