I messed up.

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and I'm hoping for some advice with my Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Levi. I bought him with my ex partner when my daughter was just born (yes, we're extremely intelligent ). Due to me working a lot and her looking after the baby he got nowhere near as much attention as he should have had. He learnt the basics, don't wee and poo inside, sit, don't bite us everytime we try to touch you etc. But my ex used to leave him in his crate for 8+ hours a day whilst I was in work and he seems to be getting worse and worse by the day.
We split up a few months ago and since then I've not been able to see my daughter as much as I'd like too, so he has basically had my undivided attention and has become what I would call 'Attention Mad'. He loves to be stroked to the point he will dive on you and bark if you don't give him attention, I can't leave him in the house alone or he rips the place to shreds and if we're out walking he will run to anybody and anything he sees move for attention and some strokes, regardless of how tasty the treats I have with me are.
Now, I could deal with all of that until today, we went for a walk over the local wooded area and I didn't see a man and boy approaching behind on bikes, Levi did. He ran up to them, straight to the boy (who must have been about 6-7), jumped up to him, knocking him off his bike, and proceeded to lick his face manically until I pulled him off, the man was in shock, the boy was in hysterics and Levi thought it was the best thing in the world. Now I know he means no harm, he would not hurt a fly, but his over affection is too much and frankly, it's dangerous. If that boy was any younger, having a 20+ kilo 6 month old staffordshire bull terrier jumping on you could have done some serious damage. I know he meant it in a nice way but it just is not acceptable, it has probably scarred that boy mentally for life, and if somebodies dog would have done that to my child I wouldn't be able to be held responsible for my actions. Please help me, I feel terrible, I never wanted or would expect anything like this to happen and it is extremely embarrassing. I am starting to find myself scared to walk him out because I don't know who he is going to jump up at next, or whose dog he is going to harass with kisses, which sounds funny but he's a big dog, and when he's jumping all over 6 kilo shitzus and pugs to try and lick their faces, it really is not acceptable. Any advice would be absolutely fantastic, I see no solution to this other than keeping him on his lead constantly. Thank you.

Have you thought of training classes? Something like that should help him understand how to approach people and other dogs better and also hopefully help the excitement to abate a little!

In the meantime, I'd look at getting a long training line, not a flexi one but just a very long lead like line, so that he can have his freedom around people but with some control from you. With that, you can also try and teach him to wait quietly for attention. If he tries to fly in like Concorde he gets nothing, if he sits quietly then he gets a fuss. I'd give him something to do like sit, so that he can see what he's getting rewarded for and also give him something else to do.

Bless his heart, he sounds like a real gem.

I agree that a structured training class, or even a one to one with a trainer at home (if the issues are at home too) would be beneficial. It sounds like there are lots of different issues that need to be tackled, and an educated eye would be helpful to suss your relationship.

I agree with above amd cant add to already excellent advice.

Aaaagh I just posted a really long reply to this then accidentally clicked to a different page - phooey! Will try remember what I said haha

Firstly at 6 months Levi is very much an adolescence...the things you have described sound very much like a normal happy, friendly young Staffy who just needs guidance As an adolescent he's very much the over-excitable exuberant puppy in an adult's body, and he's also more willing to blow of recall and other 'commands'. Yay, adolescence!

Because he gets so excited to see people and he doesn't yet know recall, he's not ready to be let off lead. Any interaction with people (jumping at them, knocking the kid off the bike etc) is reinforcing to him, meaning he'll try harder to do it again.

Instead walk him on a longline...if you walk him in an open space you can get 10ft - 50ft longlines (you can probably get even longer ones but 50ft is pretty long! ); if you walk him where there are trees or people can appear suddenly, have a look at adjustable longlines - NOT flexi leads. They're usually called Police Style / Training leads in the UK, and usually come in 3 adjustable lengths ranging from 1m - 2m. These are really handy as if you're walking by a road you can use the short one, the long one can be used to give Levi more room and you can switch to the middle room if there's people nearby.

What are you using for treats? When Levi's already focused / excited by something it's unlikely he will come when called, but for teaching him recall in a low / no distraction environment (eg. living room or garden) make sure you are using high value treats, such as hotdog pieces, ham or cooked chicken. If he's not that big into treats, does he enjoy toys / tug?

I also think attending a good, positive reinforcement class (or one-on-one sessions) could be really beneficial for you both. A good trainer will be able to help with recall, calm interactions, attention seeking and showing him how you want him to behave when he's alone.

Finally teaching a really solid positive interrupter / focus / watch me cue might help, as long as you build up the distractions slowly.

Yes, 'watch me' a good exercise (for all dogs!). It's easy to teach. You get your high value treat and stick it under his nose, then bring it towards your face so he follows it. When you looks you square in the face, he gets it. Half looking isn't enough, it has to be a full on look. You then start to give the command 'watch me' as you're doing it and should soon be able to not do the stuffing it under his nose first bit, although that might be needed in more testing situations.

And Red_trainer is spot on in saying you teach all these things at home first, then move into quiet outdoor situations to make sure it's solid before you need it for real.

Going to try the watch me with mia as this one sounds more effective and useful than what i taught her myself .

I used to have a similar problem with Otis when coming across other dogs when we were out and he was off leash (parks/country walks etc) he'd just run ahead and lost all motivation to come back (the other dog was way more exciting than me) I had to go back to basics and started to  call him back much more often using treats etc. Bought a long leash (police training leash) off ebay for about £7. Don't wait until you need to call him back, do it every few mins or so (sometimes give a treat, sometimes a pat on the head but always praise). Now i always call him when someone/something is coming and he gets to say hi when possible but in a more controlled way.

Best thing i EVER done was get a ball launcher and some tennis balls, he's now totally focussed on me and chasing the ball when we're out and i no longer have any probs with him and other dogs/people. I need to take 3 balls with us as he's not quite mastered the art of giving me the ball to throw but now knows i wont throw the ball in the launcher until he drops the one in his mouth. We mostly lose one or he chews one that's why i have 3 with me lol Recently discovered Kong sqeakair tennis balls and they're designed to be squeezed so they last much longer than the cheap 3 for a quid balls i used to buy, we usually lose them before he has a chance to destroy them but if you keep them for fetch only it cuts the costs of buying the balls.

Lots of patience and trial and error finding what works for you both is the key, the ball launcher actually changed our walks so much, hopefully you'll find something similar. Good luck

Bee uses a very similar tactic as myself. I know that my Flo loves her Stix more than anything and the mere sight of it has her dancing around me waiting for it to be thrown. It really is the greatest distraction in the world and has been used many a time to get her to focus on me and not something else.

My husband uses the Chuckit distraction with Chaos as he tends to have more problems (he's still working on his timing!) and finds it really helps.

You should try these with Otis, Bee, they're brilliant and last ages, even after much chewing:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hardware-Chuckit-Whistler-Throwers-Chuckers/dp/B00280MUXU

Firstly, i would never let him off the lead when he has no recall. Thats asking for trouble. Secondly, he needs to be in training classes as said. Third, at home i would re-crate train him. You have been through an upheaval yourself, and probably without realising you have been leaning on the dog and comforting yourself by comforting him which has made him reliant on you. Now is the time to break that habit and get him be become a confident dog. Put him in the crate for 10mins in the morning while you do something in the same room, then and only when he is NOT making noise, let him out and ignore him dont praise and get him worked up. Build that time up and same thing, don't make coming out of the crate a big fuss. Less fuss it is the less he will think he needs out of the crate.