Needing some advice on our new 12 mnth old Tillie

Hey, I've had Tillie(she seems to like that name) for 8 days now, I got her from a rescue centre, she's roughly 12 months old, white with a black patch on her eye and back end & what a character she is! for the very short time I've had her, she's most definitely become part of my family. I have another dog, he's 6yrs Yorkshire terrier x Shil Tzu, plus 16 month old twin Tom cats...yup Noah ark in the makings ha!

Tillie is very obedient, but she is also very territorial as well I think, she's never shown any aggression towards my cats, more curiosity, although any sudden moves on their part and she chases so I now make her sit and stay while the boys come in and eat, they sleep upstairs out the way, I don't let Tillie go upstairs. If her food is on the floor, she's shows her teeth if my other dog enters the kitchen, even if he is no where near it, she'll show her teeth and quietly warns him, even when I feed them at the same time, she shows her teeth at him, forces him out of the way and tries to eat his food before she eats her own, so I've now started feeding him first, while making her wait just outside the kitchen, then when he's finished, I call her in and feed him...if this right or wrong?
If her bed is in the kitchen she again is very territorial if he enters, if I move her bed into the living, she's ok as long as he doesn't show any interest in her at all while she's in her bed. I make them totally equal, but Tillie pushes him out the way every chance she can, while showing her teeth and either making no noise or quietly warning him, I thought as time went on she'd slowly stop doing it, but she's actually getting worse, so much so that PJ prefers to stay upstairs out of her way, which is exactly what I don't want.
When I take them out for a walk, its a totally different story, they get on brilliant, no trouble, no showing her teeth, they are great on their leads, its only when we're in the house, I've no idea what life was like for Tillie before she became apart of my family, I think she was treated well, she's not nervous at all now, she's been well trained, quiet in the house, lovely temperament and none aggressive apart from the showing of her teeth and the quiet warnings to PJ, she's never once threatened him in a way were she'd hurt him though. PJ is feeling totally pushed out but he's so laid back he's just giving in all the time, which is letting Tillie strut her stuff all the more. 8 days is very early concerning Tillie settling in, but she has totally, it's this very territorial streak in her that's concerning, me, her food & the water and the taking of all PJ's things is what I need help in trying to sort out, any input would be greatly appreciated.

The only other advice I need is, when we're out walking, Tillie is so full of energy, so I bought her a Frisbee and ball, but she totally ignores those, all she'll play with are big stones...her idea of a great time, is me throwing her stones down this very steep bank and her fetching them, I'm not happy about the stones, I'm really worried she'll get hurt and I'm also thinking about her teeth as well...any suggestions on how to get her off the stones onto something else would be great.

Thanks   

Hi and welcome, do come and say hello here   

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

Well done on adopting Millie, I'm afraid this territorial thing is not something I've experience as I've only had the one but lots of our members have 2 or more so I'm sure they'll have some advice   

In regard to the play I would just stop with the stones and concentrate on trying to get her interested in the new toys, it may mean you running around like a mad person!! Or you could try treats!

LesleyJ wrote:Hey, I've had Tillie(she seems to like that name) for 8 days now, I got her from a rescue centre, she's roughly 12 months old, white with a black patch on her eye and back end & what a character she is! for the very short time I've had her, she's most definitely become part of my family. I have another dog, he's 6yrs Yorkshire terrier x Shil Tzu, plus 16 month old twin Tom cats...yup Noah ark in the makings ha!

Tillie is very obedient, but she is also very territorial as well I think, she's never shown any aggression towards my cats, more curiosity, although any sudden moves on their part and she chases so I now make her sit and stay while the boys come in and eat, they sleep upstairs out the way, I don't let Tillie go upstairs. If her food is on the floor, she's shows her teeth if my other dog enters the kitchen, even if he is no where near it, she'll show her teeth and quietly warns him, even when I feed them at the same time, she shows her teeth at him, forces him out of the way and tries to eat his food before she eats her own, so I've now started feeding him first, while making her wait just outside the kitchen, then when he's finished, I call her in and feed him...if this right or wrong?
If her bed is in the kitchen she again is very territorial if he enters, if I move her bed into the living, she's ok as long as he doesn't show any interest in her at all while she's in her bed. I make them totally equal, but Tillie pushes him out the way every chance she can, while showing her teeth and either making no noise or quietly warning him, I thought as time went on she'd slowly stop doing it, but she's actually getting worse, so much so that PJ prefers to stay upstairs out of her way, which is exactly what I don't want.
When I take them out for a walk, its a totally different story, they get on brilliant, no trouble, no showing her teeth, they are great on their leads, its only when we're in the house, I've no idea what life was like for Tillie before she became apart of my family, I think she was treated well, she's not nervous at all now, she's been well trained, quiet in the house, lovely temperament and none aggressive apart from the showing of her teeth and the quiet warnings to PJ, she's never once threatened him in a way were she'd hurt him though. PJ is feeling totally pushed out but he's so laid back he's just giving in all the time, which is letting Tillie strut her stuff all the more. 8 days is very early concerning Tillie settling in, but she has totally, it's this very territorial streak in her that's concerning, me, her food & the water and the taking of all PJ's things is what I need help in trying to sort out, any input would be greatly appreciated.

The only other advice I need is, when we're out walking, Tillie is so full of energy, so I bought her a Frisbee and ball, but she totally ignores those, all she'll play with are big stones...her idea of a great time, is me throwing her stones down this very steep bank and her fetching them, I'm not happy about the stones, I'm really worried she'll get hurt and I'm also thinking about her teeth as well...any suggestions on how to get her off the stones onto something else would be great.

Thanks   

             

I don't think she is settle at all to be honest, i think she is very insecure about her place and needs to learn where she stands, she is giving warning yes and is pushing and testing the boundaries, outside walking is still neutral territory to her so yes she will behave well with your other dog because not everything smells like him.
I would give her a correction when she shows this bad behaviour, a click of your fingers and a no are good distraction from a current stare at your other dog and the no (hoping she knows the no/naughty gesture)
I would feed him both the same time but separated (you stand in the middle or something to make sure she doesn't go for his food) if he is not going near her, she has no right to warn him just for coming into the room, so again correct her, if however he is pestering her, she has the right to warn him.
As the rock problem, i can't see a problem with it, unless she is chewing or swallowing them, but a good leave it command should do the trick. try a rope toy/balls in the house get her excited about them and then try them outside.

Was Tillie from a rescue centre? If so, was she in kennels for long? What is the personality/temperament of your other dog? 8 days is still very early

I wouldn't let Biscuit play with stones, seen so many screwed up teeth from stone chewing! I'd just tell her to leave and then ignore her when she's trying to instigate play with the stones and only offer toys instead, giving lots of praise and attention when playing with them. Perhaps squeaky or raggy toys to stimulate her visually and aurally.

Hey and thank you for the replies, I've no idea what her circumstances were before we got her, about 17 days ago, I was out walking my dog when she come bounding over on her own with no collar in the fields, she followed me on the walk and then home, wouldn't stop barking outside my door until I let her in, she was lovely but I reported her to my local authority because I assumed her owner would be worried and looking for her, I phoned the kennels every day for 6 days but no one had claimed her, so on the 7th day I went up and reserved her, then picked her up the next day. I honestly don't feel there is any real threat behind the way Tillie acts with PJ, as you say, its probably the boundaries she's trying to suss out, PJ keeps his distance, but he's dying to get close to her bless him, she's stopped doing her business in the kitchen during the night, and doesn't hide in her bed because she thinks she's done something wrong anymore, she probably thinks I've lost the plot because I talk to her all the time! I reward her when she sits, stays etc, I'm really enjoying the training part with her, even PJ joins in(for the treat ha!)I've read loads on this site and put a lot of it into practice as I've never had a Staffy before. Apart from the testing the boundaries she's totally no bother at all, I did notice that she's not use to playing with people...so its quite amusing watching her reaction when I try to get her playing, she lies in her bed with her head resting on the edge of it just watching me for ages, she's also getting use to all the fuss and cuddles we give her now, at first she didn't have a clue.

What are you feeding her ?

Some cheaper brands of dog food like Bakers, Wagg etc. can cause dogs to be a bit hyper, we feed Rocky Barking Heads which is a mid range food, anything from the list below would be OK:

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

We are feeding her Applaws complete dog food(the dry food) it's what PJ eats and he loves it, its for small to medium dogs, Tillie was weighed at the kennels and she was 15kg, she was really thin when I found her, she then lost more weight while in the kennels for the 8 days, she seems happy with it and you can see she's gaining weight nicely. I asked at the kennels if Applaws would be ok for her and they assured me it was?

Yeah applaws is a good food