HELP Needed!

Hi all.

Im desperately after some advice as im at my wits end with my staffy hugo. Today im going to take my son for a walk in his push chair. As I open the back gate in the garden hugo manages to jump over the gap between the gate and the pushchair and runs out and attacks another dog in the street. Ive never been so embarrassed in my life.
I had to run out and get a grip of him and carry him back to the house while the other dog was yelping terrified.

He has done this before with the spaniel next door but they wind each other up all the time. He is fine in the house with our other dog bella and fine with the kids. Lately he has totally changed though. He growls at my girlfriend when she tells him to get outside or bedtime. He is literally weeing up anything in the garden and started weeing up certain things in the house. Hes turned into a complete different dog since turning 1 a few month back and im frigthened he may turn on the kids next if they upset him in anyway.

Any advice I would greatly appreciate.

Thanks
Dave

If Hugo is all boy a trip to the vet for a neuter might help mellow out those surging male hormones esp as he lives with a bitch. Dogs go through a teenage phase with some being more 'Kevin the teenager' than most especially with a girl in his life that he is trying to protect and impress.

Bella, if she is not spayed, may be close to going into season amping the possible stakes for Hugo.

Might be worth tracking down one to one Kennel Club Bronze Citizenship training. Part of the certificate involves a dog gradually learning with its owner how to wait at a gate/door whilst its owner opens said gate/door until called through.
Contact the kennel club for details opf your nearest scheme. I pay £3 for an hours training for Pink, took her a bit of getting used to but she has progressed from a barreling excited pre-bronze to a more attentive dog who beleives in the dried garlic sausage fairy in my pocket.   

Might be a good idea to focus on taking just Hugo for short intense training walks backed with treats to excercise his brain and hammer in some basic commands as you do not wnat him knocking your son over whilst in his pushchair.

Sounds as though he is going through that stage, and certainly trying to push boundries. Stay firm and the time out somewhere. It will pass you could think of getting him neutered but it doesnt always solve the problem. But maybe with having your bitch there aswell something to think about as you wont be wanting any unwanted pregnancies   

thanks for the replies and advice.

Bella is only 12 weeks and we plan to get her spayed at 6 month before she has her first season. He is busy having a time out at the minute alone in his cage. Its horrible the way he goes on towards other dogs now. We would let him off the lead and he would play with other dogs a few month back. Now he has just totally changed and I wouldnt trust him with any other dog and I was even wary when some one came to stroke him the other day as the hair on his back went up.
I went in the kitchen there and he gave me the growl what he gives to my girlfriend when she tells him to do something. Why is he doing this?

It can be darn hard but try catching and rewarding him with treats, toys and attention for glimmers of desired behaviour and pretend to be deaf and he is invisable if he is doing unwanted behaviours.

For any bull terrier especially a staffy any attention is better than none. If your accidently giving him attention when he is doing things you would rather he did not do and just heave a sigh of releif for a bit of peace and quiet when he is doing what you would like he will keep doing the annoying things just to get some attention.

If he is growling pretend to ignore him, when he stops give him positive attention, a desired high reward treat and tell him 'good quiet'.

Do not push him into situations he is wary of, aim for very short fun interactions like you continuing to walk him whilst you say hallo to someone without stopping. With someone who knows you both well you can gradually build up so he is by you whilst someone chats to you for say a minute and once he can cope with that add in them just saying hallo.

If your becomming very concerned get help from a trainer who understands Staffies fears, worries, attitudes and plain old attempts to resist your efforts to teach them so they become the great adults they almost all have the potential to be.

Good advice above and it sound slike the teenage phase they all go through. Back to basic training and positive reinforcement. This is something we all go through so you are not alone just be patient and consistant. You should also involve the children in the training if they are old enough and ensure they are following the same rules you are