7 month old male

Guys need your help!

I have a 7 month old neutered male. He is a boisterous, talkative, hyper bundle of joy! He is a fairly predictable dog but there are a few things my wife and I want him to stop doing which we find annoying and we are losing our patience with him. This is not our first staffy.

1) He eats his own poo sometimes
2) He likes to mouth and bite on your hands and bites my wifes hair.
3) He barks at me for no reason
4) he gets over excited when people visit so much so I spend the entire time trying to calm him down
5) he likes to chew on your shoes when you have them on.

He is good with walking, basic commands and being with other dogs, he gets plenty of exercise. He spends most of his time indoors and is a good dog but just need your help with the above things

Thanks in advance.

Ah yes, puppy antics !!

Not sure what you can do about the poo thing other than clear it away before he gets a chance to get to it. There are lots of theories about why they eat it from lack of nutrients in the diet to just wanting to be clean.

I would imagine it's something he's learnt from mum and now sees it as normal but breaking the habit by cleaning up will probably work in the long term.

With the mouthing he needs to learn that you are NOT a toy and have your body part replaced with a toy, again it's learnt behaviour and he will get it eventually.

Not sure why he barks at you randomly. In his mind there must be a reason but figuring that out might take some time if it isn't simply for attention.

Over excited Staffy puppies are the norm I think, try to train him to sit before any interaction between him and visitors and the visitor to ignore him until he is calm and all 4 paws are on the floor. It's easier said than done but it does work as long as everyone ignores him until he's calm.

The answer to the last query is the same as the answer to #2, remove said item from temptation, awkward If you're wearing them at the time though I guess.

can only echo the above advice xxxx

Max used to attack your shoes when we had them on not the best if your walking down stairs reenforcement of the no command worked and say it like you mean it other wise it may turn into a game for puppy

My mum's puppy barks at her when he wants her attention or if he's being stubborn and doesn't want to do something he vocally disagrees with what's being asked of him. Puppies are a whole other ball game to adult dogs i think.

One thing which is a wonder cure for unwanted behaviour which we've used for Rio, is a stern No! fold your arms and turn away and ignore them, if they try and face you, turn your back and continue to ignore until the behaviour stops. We did this with Rio for jumping up at us and it worked a treat. Staffies by their nature hate being ignored and they're smart enough to know when it happens with certain behaviours

What you are saying brings memories of Daisy at this age. I used to have to ask my daughters friends to take their scrunchies out of their hair as she used to leap up and grab them and pull them out of their hair.

I know what you mean it drives you nuts. If I was you I would go and find a good training class, that's what I did and they helped so much. Invest in baby gates and don't let the dog greet any visitors until calm. Reward for calm behaviour, and ignore pushy behaviour. It will improve with patience and training.

For some reason Misty will go for my parents shoe at their house. If they cross their legs then she will go mad trying to bite their shoes- she only stops when they put their feet flat on the floor.

Misty was a terrible mouther- what worked for us was a firm No and also putting one of her chew toys in her mouth instead of our hands or arms.

Misty can sometimes give us a bark if she is not getting attention or doing what she wants. Normally if we have finished playing a game or something she will look and bark as she wants the game to continue.

I am having similar issues with my 10 month old female, although we are making some progress with her. I use baby gates so when needed I can zone off different parts of the house & use these as a time out tool for us & her if she is being very boisterous, I will entice her into an area with a toy or treat then shut the gate & ignore of for 10 minutes or so, she has learnt to lay down & be calm & then she can rejoin the pack. We will also turn our backs on her if she starts to nip or play rough. I am finding I need to distract her first from the object she should not have saying Leave it very firmly & replace it by giving her something she can have then making that more exciting. It is slow progress.