Correcting puppy.

Hi all. I have a 16 week old blue Staffy. (Bella) I find I am correcting her a lot, now she is starting to get good. I just wanted to ask is it possible to over correct her also.
Cheers.

how do you correct her?

Hi ya, welcome to the forum from Flo and me
When you say you're correcting Bella, in what way ?

If you're talking general training then the answer is no as long as she she's it as positive reward. You can however over do the no's in which case they cease to learn and just rebel more.

It's hard to think like a Staffy but if you see things from their point of view you get a better understanding of what works and what doesn't.

Yes it's just with a no. I I have to admit I've got frustrated in tha past and it has been a no with a very strong voice. Usually after the no I praise her for listening or if I have treats on me at the time it's with one of those. We have a 20 month old son and she's excel lab with him.

Ok stop the praise after, this could be confusing especially with treats. I know you want to reward the great reaction but it might still be confusing.

By all means praise after a little while and she's calmed down but ditch the treats, the treats just reinforce the cycle of play up, get told off, treat... Yay

Edit... Just reread that she's only 16 weeks. By all means treat and praise at this stage but don't over do it. Every now and then don't give a treat. This will give the expectation of a treat but will lead to "will I or won't I but I'm gonna do what's asked just in case I do"

And what about a little bit of blackmail when she's playing up. Usually if I try to put her out she runs to her bed or sits infront of the fire quietly. So from time to time I've threatened to put her out just to get her to calm down is this ok.
Cheers.

Have a quick read through this (or a slow one even!) https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t63379-how-learning-works

You have to view everything, but everything, in terms of what she gets for what she does. I'm going to disagree with Ian (sorry, Ian!), but I would treat every time she does something you ask her to do at the moment. Withholding from time to time is for down the line. She needs to know that she will get her reward for doing the right thing at this age.

What you don't want to do is use treats as bribes and start giving them to her before she does something to encourage her. That, I agree, can make the behaviour worse. If you give treats only for having done something and never for just looking sweet, she should soon work out that she has to do something for them. And especially be careful about never rewarding not doing something. You hear a lot of people trying to coax animals - good girl, that right, oh yes you are so clever' - while the animal just stands there doing diddly squat. That sort of praise is rewarding the wrong behaviour. Reward only what you want and when you have asked for it and you shouldn't have a problem.

I wouldn't worry about correcting. Even a stern 'no' can be worrying and you don't want to give her any reason to be concerned about doing things, even if they aren't what you want. It's much better to set her up to do thing as you want and then reward (praise, treat, play) when she does it.

For example, if she's weeing on the carpet, if you give her a stern 'no' you can end up with her being worried about weeing in front of you, which can then lead to problems with her weeing when outside with you. That's just an example, it can apply to all sorts of other situations as well. As lot of dogs who appear to look guilty for having done something are instead worried because they know what's coming.

I wonder if her hiding when you want her to go out might be related to something that's worried her like this. A normal puppy shouldn't be hiding when you want them to go out (although when it's cold some can be reluctant!). Make going out positive and fun. Play with her, even do some play bowing to show her it's going to be fun, and reward her when she does go outside.

Threatening something she doesn't like isn't a good idea, in my view. Again, it's much better to find a positive way of achieving what you need. For example, if you have a hyper puppy pinging all over the place and you need them to settle, it would be better to make sure that your energy is low, talk calmly, avoid anything that could be interpreted by her as play, and instead give her something lovely to chew on. I'm not a fan of crates but a chill out penned off area might be an idea if this sort of thing is a problem.

What you can do, if it's appropriate, is withhold something to make a behaviour not worth while. If you have a dog who begs, if you never, never, never give even a sniff of a reward, the begging will stop. If you have a dog who demands attention, then walking away and leaving them can help.

Puppies can be very testing at times, but keep patient and keep positive and you'll be fine.

And to end, a link to my favourite puppy training videos. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

Thank you all very much for the information yer very helpful I've taken a new approach with bella and it's working wonders already plus I'm also a lot more relaxed with her at the end of the day she's s puppy and needs to be a puppy.

Yeah the puppy bit is very cute but can be hard work. Glad to read that you've made progress though

Just had our new blue staff boy two days and overall very loving and learning fast but has surprised us by snapping unexpectedly a few times without obvious cause. We are experienced dog owners but never had this breed before! Not sure how best to nip this behaviour in the bud. Any advice please?

Hi and congrats on your new arrival. Yes we had the same problem and with a child under two we had to get it controlled as soon as possible. For me it was with a no all the way and a wave of the finger with the no. And even a loud ouch soon as puppy did it. Our bella is ver good now will still grab my hand every now and then but puts no pressure on it but I still correct her for it. It may take a few weeks but it will come.

Jangoblue wrote:Just had our new blue staff boy two days and overall very loving and learning fast but has surprised us by snapping unexpectedly a few times without obvious cause. We are experienced dog owners but never had this breed before! Not sure how best to nip this behaviour in the bud. Any advice please?

I'd be surprise if it's snapping, it's more likely to be mouthing. Staffies can be very mouthy as puppies. It's nothing nasty, it's just their way of interacting with the world. It can also become a way of demanding attention for some pups, so you need to be careful about how you deal with it.

I wouldn't advise the finger waggle as that can be a bit like waving a toy in front of them. Giving a high pitched yelp and turning away can be very effective, as can hiding your hands. Then give your pup a toy. The message is 'that hurt, I don't want to play with you if you do that, play with this instead'.

It's essential to be consistent, each and every time he uses teeth on either skin or clothing, and no playing bitey games at all. It might take time but you will get there. In the meantime, don't worry that you've got an aggessive pup, it is all very normal.