Naughty pup

Hi can anyone help.
I have a blue girl by the name of Darcy. She is a lovely dog and brings us so much joy but so much embarrassment also.... I'm sure she is the talk of our local park. Darcy loves people, kids and other dogs. If she is off her lead, she will literally bolt towards another person or a dog to play, luckily all the dogs she plays with are friendly and she hasn't met a nasty one yet. She does have plenty of walking and play time with other dogs and she loves this and will play till she is sooo tired! But not all people want a big staff bolting towards them with muddy paws diving all over them...like what happened today, the man was not impressed and I too would not have been..even recalling does not bring Darcy back to me as she almost goes in a fixated, excited state, a lady in the park told me today to carry some treats and call her this way, I am willing to try but because of her excitement and the state she gets herself in I dont think she would even hear me...but I'll give that a go. :-) another incident the other day was Darcy ran off with another dogs ball...the owner was horrified and it took us 20 minutes of chasing Darcy to get this back (it was like something out of a comedy sketch!), Darcy thought we was all playing. The lady also told Darcy "you can play when you learn to behave!". I don't really know what to do apart from keep her on the lead. She is not nasty at all, just too friendly, she will shake her tail and try to get to a stranger on the opposite side of the road...which to me is not good. I have to learn her to stay with me and not jump or bolt towards others?? Any ideas??
Also, I think my training may not have been the best and we didn't do puppy training, which I'm now regretting a little. Darcy has a tendancy to pull us on the lead and walks infront of me swaying all over the place, almost pushing me in the road. Can anyone help. Aside from these issues she is a great dog! Thanks in advance! X

Hello!

Aww she sounds adorable lol. It's never too late for training, get her along to some training classes asap as it will help to train both of you! I think the main thing is until she has good recall pop her on a training lead, that way she has her freedom but you can reel her in when needed.

I'm pleased she hasn't met any nasty dogs yet, she sounds like such a lovely girl the last thing you want is for her to bound up to a nasty dog it could give her issues that she currently does not have. Keep her lovely by protecting her from negative interactions by keeping her on a long lead for now and taking her to classes for training

Hello...

Sounds like you need to go back to basics. How old is your staff? Your recall should be pretty spot on if you have the intention of letting her off the lead. Get yourself a training lead and practice at home as well. Stick to one word such as 'here' and use high value treat as a reward; something she doesn't normally get like mini sausages or cheese. I personally used a high fat meaty dog food called Frolic and he got one piece every time he came back to me with lots of praise. You need to be consistent with the training, even when playing, reward when he comes to you when called. If treats don't interest her, what about a toy that she will only use on her walks? So reward with the toy when she comes back...not used to lure her back might I add!

In reference to the ball theft...dogs will be dogs and saw the ball as a play thing, the fact that you were probably chasing her made it all more fun! My boys done this on numerous occasions. I take extra tennis balls with me to replace theirs!

Sheara's still in training 2 years later with bolting at people and jumping up to say hello! I distract him with sticks when people walk by (that's his fave game)! I would recommend a 'Canny collar' to walk darcy with (you can find them relatively cheap on Amazon) and it works wonders....you have absolute full control of your dog whilst walking them by your side...check out this video.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLY6-vmKKxc

Its never to late to train your dog so don't worry too much about not training her as a pup, theyre really intelligent dogs (to an extent ) and will pick up training pretty quickly! let us know if you need further advice and ideas! And please keep us posted!

Good luck!

Not much to add to the above, but it will get better with a bit of training and patience. She sounds like a handful but honestly I have trouble believing any dog in the world is worse that Bo when he was a pup (<12 months). Every single person, every dog, every animal would have him launching himself at them like a meaty little missile. He'd get so excited he'd fall on his back and thrash around not knowing which way was up. He once almost knocked himself out by running into a wall. I didn't go into town for months because there was no other way of walking down the pavement other than to carry him, he was that mad.

I'm not sure my training had any effect but at about 12 months he calmed down hugely. Thinking back, part of it I'm sure was because he learned that some dogs don't appreciate having their heads jumped on repeatedly and he got a few nips and snarls. He really learned from those and now, if a strange dog approaches, he'll sit down and wait for them to approach, then mostly just sniff or move on. I never taught him this, I think it's purely him being more careful because he'd been warned off before in no uncertain manner.

I still have the problem of him jumping at strangers and it's really frustrating. I'm not frustrated with him, it's them. They'll bend down and reach out towards him and then when he approaches they'll stand up and lift up their hand and call to him. Of course he's going to jump at you, FFS, you're practically telling him to! It really annoys me, especially since I tell everybody if they want to stroke him just rub his shoulders. Do that and he won't jump but they rarely take any notice. My neighbours know to rub his shoulders and he never jumps at them. Still, it's their pants that get dirty, not mine.

Heres a link to long line for your dog http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003TJVPJE/ref=mp_s_a_1_42?qid=1424886743&sr=8-42&pi=SL75&keywords=long+training+leads+for+dogs

Ah thank you very much everyone...I was beginning to think I had some dog with issues!! Thank you debs..tbh we did have two sessions of puppy training and she cried and squealed throughout the whole session..to the point the trainer told me "shut that dog up", looking back I should have carried on..but don't think the trainer was much use anyway! I think the long lead sounds like a good idea...:-)
Thank you for the link.
When she's alone, she comes back by calling her name, but is so easily distracted and excited by others...anyone would think the poor dog has never left the house. I'm going to start some training again and distracting techniques..I never even thought about taking her favourite toy.
And dogface...yes that man bent down to her and was calling her..so what did he expect she is only a puppy...but he was mortified lol. Darcy is sooo boisterous...she has crashed into walls and solid doors and she shakes it off and carries on...I suppose that's the nature of staffies..well lets hope after 12 months she may calm a little. I will try all you have suggested. Thanks again :-)

Back to basics defo, try the gentle leader for pulling like a figure of 8 lead along with heal training will make a lot of difference

Agree with the advice above. A long lead and some treats in your pocket are a good start

good luck. Try to find a good trainer. Ask around and do some research. Find one that you are completely happy with. It's important that you trust him/her otherwise you won't learn anything. Best thing to do is go and sit in on a few without your dog and see if you like what you see

Your previous trainer sounds like an idiot don't go back there!