Help with training faber

We have rescued a 6 month old staffy 2 weeks ago and he's really submissive with us. Anything we say to him he just rolls over on his back and doesn't listen to us and stays there. Really don't know what to do when he's like this. Also when we take him for a walk he's really aggressive towards other dogs and pulls and barks trying to get to them. Any ideas on how to help get him out of being so submissive and aggressive while out?

The submissiveness should subside when he fully settles into your home and gains confidence. When he pulls either turn around or make him sit and wait before going further. If you can find an older and well tempered dog to walk him with that should help with the aggression issue.

Oh bless him! Sounds very worried. He's not ignoring you when on his back, he's just gone into "shut down" mode and is too worried to do anything. Be patient and don't force him up when he does this, back away, sit down and gently coax him up with your voice. The calmer and gentler you are with him now, the sooner he will start to trust you and gain confidence.

The other dogs thing sounds like fear too, I'd start training him to sit and focus on you when he sees other dogs, couples with positive socialization with known and calm, level dogs. Ensure that ALL interactions are positive at this stage, not random dogs at the park as they may not react how their owners say. He's still young, but it does sound like he has missed out on some socialization, so may need more work that another puppy.

Took him for another walk around astbury mere late this afternoon & he tried to nip another dog we have someone coming to help us with him on Tuesday so hopefully it will be a start on changing fabers life for the better

Oh dear! Help as in a trainer? Why was he trying to nip them? Had he met the dog before?

Yeah help as in a trainer he had a bark at her yesterday but today the dog just kept circling round him which stressed him out as we carried on walking

still no luck we with finding a trainer for him, they all seem to be letting us down. He seems to be getting worse around other dogs now and we are finding it really hard to distract him, also hes started misbehaving when we take him to work. he has his bed in the spare room with 2 safety gates up and a door, but he jumps them and can actually open a fully closed door, really at the end of our patience with him, upsets us to think that we are considering taking him back if we cant sort it out....help!  

Hello! Okay, don't panic. And please don't take him back, i'm sure with some guidance you could manage the behaviour. Why are the trainers letting you down? I really feel that you should get somebody in asap for the behaviour with other dogs, other than that can you bullet point exactly the behaviours that you're struggling with and what you have done so far to correct them, and also what you are feeding him and how much/what type of exercise he gets per day. I'm a dog trainer and have experiences with staffies, so will help as much as I can online. But you really should have someone in to see his behaviour too

well when we had him he had kennel cough and was really quiet(probably due to sore throat from coughing) but since that cleared up hes like a different dog. we have him on 2 servings of james wellbeloved dry mix sometimes mixed with meat or chicken. he gets at least 2 hrs exercise a day, lots of running and playing
problems we are having=
.he doesn't listen to us half the time
.lunging and barking at other dogs( scared of him getting hurt or him hurting someone elses dog( tried treats as distraction without luck)
.when we try to correct him he rolls over on his back and doesnt move for at least 5 mins(we got told to ignore him when he does this)
.barking at passers by, especially joggers.
.lunges and barks at people if they don't look at him or stroke him
.opening doors when left alone(even if its for 2 mins)
probably doesnt sound that bad but its really stressfull especially the barking and trying to get at other dogs, the trainers we have contacted all said they can help, but then we dont hear off any of them

It's quite common for kennel cough to make dogs lethargic, would imagine it was probably that combined with a settling in period. A lot of the problems he has, I also had in my dog when I first took her in; I would recommend you read the book "feisty fido" by Patricia McConnell, it's an indepth training book regarding lunging/barking and reactive behaviour. It helped me hugely, and Biscuit's behaviour is 75% better now, though unfortunately, she was never socialized as a puppy, and I believe has had negative experiences, so we will always need to manage that 25% of behaviour.

James Wellbeloved is a good food, though I have known of dogs getting a little hyper when feeding it, think there are a few threads about this on the forum. You could always try a food like "burns" that is great for high energy dogs that don't need any extra protein! Which treats do you offer when training? Treats won't work whilst he's carrying out the behaviour, he needs to be caught before he is about to carry out the behaviour and distracted with an alternative command, and a treat to reward calm behaviour. I wonder why he's carrying out such behaviours at such a young age? Was he socialized sufficiently during his 8-14 week period?

2 hours of exercise may be overwhelming him, the general rule for puppies is 5 minutes per month of age, so at 6 months he should be having 25 minute walks twice a day. Pups can be easily over tired and over stimulated. I've never had a puppy, always taken in adult dogs, but know others have mentioned that this minute per month rule applies to on lead walking, but off lead walking also shouldn't be overdone at his age. Does you have any friends with calm, older dogs?

When you say he doesn't listen to you half of the time, are you being consistent with your commands, tones of voice and boundaries? If he's rolling over I would imagine that he's either very worried, or that he's learnt that this gets him attention. Ignoring the behaviour that is unwanted is great advice, however, if he is rolling over through fear this needs to be worked on by confidence building. I would suggest carrying out 5-10 minute mini obedience training sessions 3/4 times a day. Just fun tricks, sits, downs etc to build your bond and his confidence too.

When you correct him, do you ever shout? Or is it firm, low tones followed by an ignore? Do you have a crate? A kong? Which toys do you have for him?

we try to be calm and firm with him but it gets really frustrating, we have both owned staffys before and never had these kind of issues with them, because we had him from the dogs home we know nothing about his background but it seems to us that he never got socialized or walked. they said he isnt good with cats and squeaky toys but we found he actually loves squeaky toys(just not cats)

we take him for 2 hrs throughout the day, we dont have a garden at the minute so have to take him to the local park down the road. the treats we give him are puppy training treats from the local pet shop.

my sister and dad have calm staffys, just really scared to take faber to meet them as i dont want him to hurt them as they are older now, his barking gets really bad to the point he screeches and almost chokes himself trying to get at dogs.

we have a crate for him but only use it at night for him to sleep in and when we go out and cant take him with us

Pups are really hard work, if you feel yourself getting frustrated occupy him with a kong or toy and give yourself a time out. I've never met a staffie the same as another personally, they all have their little quirks, especially dogs that haven't had the best start in life like your boy!

Ah okay, as long as you're not over doing the lead walking, that's the main thing. If he's over tired then he will play up more too, kinda like human toddlers when they haven't had their nap lol!

Are you entirely sure that the behaviour is aggression, and not frustration from not being able to approach the other dogs? In order to work with this behaviour you need to be sure where it lies, but as a general, asked him to be calm around other dogs is a must. The usual puppy training treats aren't going to be anywhere near exciting enough for this task, for calmness training around something as exciting as dogs I recommended cheese, liver.. Anything smelly and tasty that he wouldn't usually get. Cheese is always a winner when reactivity training with Biscuit, but we've started making our own mackerel loaf that she will move heaven and earth for, resulting in her sitting and focusing perfectly when other dogs are passing, even a metre away! This had taken lots of work and practise, but I promise you that book will be invaluable to you to learn to do this! Biscuit had to be muzzled as she would grab joggers and cyclists as they were passing, we now walk her on a cycle path with no problems!

I do feel that he needs to be having some interactions with dogs, my dog is entirely reactive, but really enjoys the company of dogs when introduced properly. I'd recommend walking him with one of their dogs, on lead only with no interaction, just to get used to him being in the same proximity as another dogs, and constantly praise him for his calm behaviour. But don't let them interact, initially at least, see how this goes.

I'd recommend some activity balls and kongs to keep his mind active, you could give these to him whenever he's going to be left alone to bring about a positive association with being left.

took him on a walk today and its just getting worse, i've tried praising him for being good but as soon as he sees another dog he goes nuts, even jumped and lunged at a woman passing by which was really embarrassing

Don't know if it will be frustration because a small dog that wasn't on a lead came up to him for a sniff and he snapped at him and went bezerk

hopefully we will hear back of a trainer tomorrow or we are going to have to either taking him back the dogs home or adopt him out to someone who has more patience to train him
he has a kong and other toys but hes not interested in them, alls he wants to do is sit next to us or sleep

Hiya, this is where the problem is, you need to catch him before he can start carrying out the negative behaviour. You also shouldn't be allowing dogs to come up and sniff him, tell the owners that he's in training and not to approach your dog. However, this is a complex behavioural problems that needs the help of a behaviourist. I'll be honest, it may never get completely better and may be behaviour that you will need to manage for his whole life. Have a think about it, but if you really don't feel like this is something that you can cope with, I agree that you should take him back sooner rathr than later to ensure that he can get the best help that they can offer early on. Can I ask the name of the dogs home? Just to have a look and see if it'll be a good idea to take back there. If they're a decent home, you should have signed a contract to say that you won't adopt him out yourself, and that you have to bring him back to the home if you can no longer keep him.

We got him from bucknall dogs home stoke on Trent

Have had a look around the website, seems to be a stray home that also rescues/rehomes. Do they assess the dogs behaviourally before rehoming? And if so, do they have an on site behaviourist? If so, one option could be to contact the dogs home directly and explain the difficulties that you're having and they should send them out or talk to you on the phone to help. They may not have this facility however.

When you took Faber in, did you know anything about his problems? What were you hoping for when you took in a rescue pup? Some people take in dogs because they enjoy rehab/helping the dog to develop and some people would prefer a dog without too much baggage. If you're not the former and don't actually want to work with Faber, I do believe that it would be better to give him back to the home. But, if you would like to commit to him and work through his behavioural problems I'm sure you could get the help you need.

We are keeping him, we have been in touch with a dog trainer today and had gave us some brilliant advice & got him a muzzle but the advice she gave has worked tonight on his walk slightly better only 2 barks and a not really lunging and we saw a fair few dogs out, so small steps in the right direction.

Hiya, that's great news Can I ask what advice she gave to you that worked? A muzzle on a 6 month old pup concerns me a little?

its more of a halti than a muzzle, just gives us more control of him. she told us try distracting him with his favorite squeaky toy instead of food and also walk in the opposite direction to the other dogs then walk back the other way when they are closer, he did brilliant when a dog off his lead came running up to him, we squeaked his toy and he ignored the dog

Ah halti's are great! Sounds like very old advice, it's exactly what the fiesty fido book says definitely recommend it!

Awesome I'm glad you got some good help & he's staying, it'll be worth it in the long run