Please Help! Why does my dog seem so dangerous

In need for some advice on the way my dog behaves hes 4 year old, had him from a puppy he was always very boisterous but ive grew up with staffys and know they are that way anyway but as hes grown up its almost as if he is that way because of nerves, to the point where hes very threatening to someone new in the house, ive never been able to have friends over, if i do then i cannot shut him out else he destroys my house so i have to buy a new bone every time someone comes over and the whole time they are there he is very nervously chewing this bone,he wees and poos in the house and cant be told off, if i approach to tell him off i feel like he is going to bite, as if he gets that uptight he needs to defend himself, its very strange because then he can be a very loving dog and i have a son who my dog never bothers with, its been very hard 4 years trying to cope and understand my dog, he is fed 2 times a day and is absolutely possessed by food, it is the only way he listens when someone new comes to the house, he is a very threatening type of dog which makes me have a feeling of anxiety in the back of my mind, dog training classes are a no go he does not like other dogs at all.

This may not be ideal but if you have a friend that comes over frequently or would come over frequently you could try this. Have the friend go with you on a walk and then go into the house. Once inside have your friend feed your dog straight away and then not interact with the dog any longer. This should make him more calm because of the food and exercise and he should be used to being around the new person

just a question,how much exercise does he get a day

That's a good question above. A well exercised dog is a more content dog. Your nervousness is also playing a huge part in Georges behaviour, you need to take control. No more nervous owner, be confident and expect a certain respect.

You only earn that respect by positive reward.

Back to basic training. You need to take back control and even though he's 4 you can still achieve it. Start with sit and a high value reward, once you have this working progress with stay etc. Don't give him what he wants because it's the easy route.

It'll take time but it sounds like he can be a really loving boy so hold on to that thought.

Sensible advice above. I'd also say to keep him in the same room as your visitors but with harness and lead on, so that he can learn to be with people but not present a danger in doing so.

As George is generall a nervous dog, I'd also be looking at diet. What's he on? Diet can have a huge impact on a dog's stress levels and so on behaviour.

I've noticed in your post that you have said that you can't approach him to tell him off, because he may bite you - does this mean that in previous poibra in life you have approached him and told him off? If so, is this with shouting/tone of voice/a slap?

There are likely to be a multitude of reasons for his behaviour - it sounds like there are lots of behavioural problems present - the questions above regarding exercise/diet are important. I'd also like to know about the potential genetic side to his behaviour - did you meet his parents? If so, what was there behaviour like? How old was he when you took him home?

Training classes may be a no go, but inviting a behaviourist to your home to assess him may be a viable option - we can only offer so much advice on the forum without seeing his behaviour.

Hi id go back to basics with the dog as well. Id also.contact a behaviourist too.

Perhaps your dog is fearful of new people? If so you could counter condition his response to them. Does he have a 'safe place' he could go when people come round? Like a crate or something?

Ask a close friend to assist with his training, ask them to come around and as he sees them give him treats, rapid fire the treats to him until the person can no longer be seen (they go in another room or back outside etc) do this quite a lot until your dog is okay with their presence, then get your friends to throw him treats at a distance and slowly work up to getting closer, tell your friends not to show him any attention or fuss, and make sure they don't attempt to stroke him etc. If at any time you don't feel like doing the training and want people to come around this is where a crate would be great, give him a lovely kong and put him in his crate so he can relax and you can also!

This is just advice, I am in no way a trainer/behaviourists, your best bet would be to get a behaviourist to come to your house and asses the behaviour, make sure you contact a force free behaviourists. Also as people have said above, how many walks does he go on? A tired dog is a happy dog!

Hi everyone thank you for your replies, he does do as he is told by myself well majority of the time, he never ever jumps up me but then when something comes along like food or another animal its like he cant hear me, and then the only way to get his attention again is food, he is fed twice a day, morning and evening, and also walked once a day, what would you say is an ideal amount of time for him to be walked? also I panic when I walk him because of bumping into someone with a dog, I cant take him local parks anymore. I think a Behaviourist would be my best bet because its just so hard to get across the way he is. I have had George from 7 weeks, I met his parents who were well trained dogs

Get him a muzzle and train him to like it, that way he'll feel comfortable in it and you'll feel more comfortable walking his as he can't hurt any other dogs. Look up the 'muzzle up project' as it's really helpful in teaching you how to get your dog to have a positive association with the muzzle.

It would be best to get a behaviourist as they can advise you what to do and help you, make sure you do get a positive reinforcement behaviourists as outdated adverse methods could make him even worse.

The most likely cause of him not listening when food/other animals are around is because you haven't proofed his training, dogs really aren't good at generalising behaviour, for example if I asked you fix my laptop while in the kitchen and then asked for the same thing in the living room you could do it easily. Dogs aren't like this, if you teach them something in the living room they don't know that means they have to do it everywhere, and if you do it around the house they don't know that they have to also do this behaviour outside. You need to build on the behaviour, for example if you want him to sit you teach him that in your house, when he can do it easily inside try the back garden, when he can easily do this have people come round and ask him to do it in there presence, then go to a quiet empty field, then a slightly busy street, then a busy town etc.

It could also be his nerves that are making him unable to concentrate on you while around other stimulus. Contact a behaviourist and see what they say, it'll help so much

Thank you for your reply, I think a muzzle is a must and will look up the muzzle project, when we are on a walk he is very good most the time, he stays by my side and sits when we get to roads and concentrates on when I am going to cross so he can stand up, but like I say it all goes out the window when something takes his attention, although on a walk when I see another dog coming I try and take his attention off that and it seems to help, but then like you say he will not associate the rules when walking as the same as in the house.