Someone please help-am all over the place

Hi Everyone,

We are on day 11 of having sticks who is 11 months old. We are new to being staffie owners. Today I took him for his usual morning walk with my 5 year old son and my 3 year old daughter, I left him off the lead as normal and headed for the fields.

Sticks ( dog ) reached the field before us and there were 2 boys playing with a leather football in the field , before I got there sticks had grabbed the ball, ran off with it and was shredding it to pieces.

I tried several times to get him to drop the ball, to come to me etc..... nothing worked he just kept running off and chewing the ball.

Anyway to cut a long story short I managed to get the ball of him by grabbing his collar and knocking it out of his mouth, he swung his neck round on his collar and went for my arm..........

I let go of him and then the whole saga started again.....

I eventually got him back on the lead and led him away, after giving the boys £5 for a new ball

I was in a bit of a state, there had been a lot of screaming , flapping of arms etc....... I think I handled the situation badly and I don't think sticks meant to go for me.

what do you guys think ??

I'm thinking he may need a muzzle when we go out ??

many of my family members thinks I should get rid and that he cant be trusted with my kids etc.....
my sis in law said I cant look after my niece all the while we have the dog its too risky ???

Please help ??

Kat x

Honestly that sounds like normal behavior and all in play. I would work on a leave it command every day until Sticks has it down.  Also you might want to think about a long lead so you can regain control quickly if you need to.  

As a rule they are great with kids and often know as a nanny dog.  I would recommend teaching your kids how to interact properly with a dog and involve them with feeding and training.

My pups 5 months and he can sometimes me a nightmare to get back on a lead when there's people around so I got a long lead, still have the freedom but u have complete control. I never let him off now unless I'm some where quiet. And as said above practice the drop and leave it command and reward when he does it he will get there don't give up

Hello!

Uh oh.. So, firstly, breathe.

Secondly - I think that this a training/handling issue rather than an aggression issue. I don't believe that it warrants a muzzle.

Sticks needs to be under closer control, he shouldn't be loose running ahead to the point that he's out of your control in any situation. He could get into something like he did today, he could run into the road, he could run up to an aggressive dog being walked on lead. If he doesn't currently have a strong recall, he needs to be kept on a lead of some form, either a flexi (not my personal preference) or a long line (what I use). This is a means of control whilst you train. I would also suggest teaching him the leave command, or attempt to trade an item for something of higher value rather than grabbing it out of his mouth. He was highly aroused today, and probably very excited - it sounds to me that the bite was in the heat of the moment, and could absolutely be avoided with proper training and handling.

He is also as the prime of his "teenage" phase and will possibly be gaining more confidence, pushing more boundaries and have a lot of excess energy to burn. Keep consistent, burn energy in a channeled way through training, mental stimulation, interactive feeding, walking and play. Also ensure that you teach him to settle in and out of house so that he's not running riot!

I agree with JStaff. I think it sounds like he was playing. You have only had Sticks eleven days and so it's all very new for all of you. Imagine the fun it must have been for him to grab and ball and destroy it, what a lovely game! Personally I wouldn't yet muzzle, as you say you were flapping your arms etc he may have thought it was all a wonderful game and you were playing with him. Please please don't give up on him, he sounds like he just needs training. My girl is eighteen months and she had no training and was never walked until we had her six months ago. She (and us) has along way to go with regards to training and she is either on a normal lead or long line in a park as I know she won't come back when called yet. Please don't despair, it had been a slight hiccup and you can all move forward from this. Have you thought of some training classes? I can highly recommend as even though my girl is older we are going through the basics now and I find it fantastic. I really hope you can work this out. They are not called the Nanny dog for nothing

Edit, just seen Rachel's response aswell and completely agree with everything she has said

thanks guys for your replys, I thought it may be a training issue. How do I convince my family members though lol.

Is it ok then as we walk through the woods to leave the long line trailing ?? I was going to order a 50 ft one ?

Am thinking of taking him to training classes too.

he also needs to get the snip hes booked in for 11 th sep .

As Rachel says, stop, take a breath. It's not as bad as it seems to you right now. I've been caught by my girl in the heat of play and it is all down to the excitement of the moment. Flapping and yelling is only going to heighten the situation, think of it from Sticks point of view, fun, fun, fun... Opps told off

This is where recall training is paramount. If you get this off pat then these situations simply won't happen, combine this with a drop command and almost everything else will fall in to place.

A long trailing lead is fine, you can catch that, just be ready. Training classes are fab, not only will he learn loads, you will too. It really is an eye opener.

You know how Sticks is with the family so don't be perturbed by third hand comments and he is still young as said above, pushing boundaries like teens do. Don't give up, you'll get there, honest

I normally keep ahold of the long line unless Suki is playing then I just let it drag, 50 feet is a good length as well. We use a harness rather than a collar to avoid chocking hazards but we keep a collar on as well in case we need to use it.

I would sit the family down and talk to them about what training needs to be done and why. Everyone needs to use the same commands and enforce the same rules everytime or the dog will get confused.

I had abit of negative comments from family members when I told them I was getting a staff pup as no one has ever owned one. But I spent months researching the breed and was adamant that I was getting one, a lot of family were worried because I have a 2 year old daughter. But I've stuck to training from day one with Marley and he's so pleasant with everyone he meets, I still don't trust him off lead which is why the long lead is a godsend. There's been times when marleys been close to going for me and that's all been around the time of play and he's over excited sticks just needs some training all my family adore Marley now and are glad I got him, he's also excellent with my daughter it's her I have to watch lol he will get there tho it's still early days yet

Hi cant really add much to what has already been said above, all brilliant advice  my staff is at the same age and would have done the same if he saw a ball so a training line would be very useful. Sticks is still very much a baby and will be pushing boundaries all the time.
We do a 10 min session each night training the leave command and various other commands and I have found his jumping up on people has become less if I tell him to leave. We have also worked up to him doing it with distractions. So maybe you could practice some training like this with sticks. Promise it will get better also training classes have helped us no end. Hope that helps

Sticks was most likely thinking you chasing him was a game id use a long line until his training is upto scratch. This has been a learning curve everybody makes mistakes.

How are things going now?

Definitely use a training line until you get the recall up to scratch. As for your families comments, when I got Katy my sister got a german shepherd ( 1 day older than Katy) mum wasn't sure about my choice of breed (She's not a doggie person) but text me to say she was visiting with my niece who was 4 at the time & would it be ok. The pair of them was rolling all over the floor with Katy licking her all over
My sisters dog however is a nightmare, snarling, barking & muzzled whenever anyone visits, so who picked the wrong breed

No I'm sorry, these extending leads no good for training, I've tried and failed with all of them, your dog needs to be close to you while training, you do not want him running off at first opportunity. Training is the only way to prove to family he is safe, include them, make rules for them too, no touch,talk or eye contact until you are happy he settled. My neighbours abide by my rules as well, he is your responsibility, in your care, you choose what is best. You will find many dogs off lead, to keep yours safe, keep him on lead. Mine are in halti's, secure and safe.