Protection Instinct?

We adopted a seven year old Staffy from the local shelter. He is absolutely fabulous. The previous owners did a wonderful job of training and socializing him. He is bonding with my to children (12 and 14) wonderfully.

I know Staffy's are known to be nanny dogs, do I need to worry about my kids' friends playing rough with them? Will Codie interpret it as aggression and react?

Thanks for your help.

David

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Well done on the rescue! I love your avatar pic, one happy family

Don't worry, they're not 'nanny dog' like that. Staffies are super human friendly and are usually happy to play with and cuddle any human who so much as looks at them! Depending on the individual, the main problem you can have is that they can get over exciting when playing. If that's the case with Codie, you might want to discuss with the kids about having an 'off' switch. Also, staffies can sometimes be a bit mouthy when they get carried away, not biting but more grabbing clothing and stuff. If you need help with either of those, just ask.

Given it's really early days for you all, I'd probably suggest getting to know him better for a few weeks before letting other kids join in rough stuff. It's always sensible to let dogs settle anyway, avoiding overcrowding them and putting them in situations they aren't used to or find a bit too much until they know where they are.

Take it slowly and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the information. I am interested in the "off" switch you mentioned. Can you tell me more about it? Codie does play rough and it can be overwhelming at times. Although at 7 years old, it only lasts about 10 minutes, then it's back to nap time.

He does a very good job of getting out of the way when things are hectic. He has a mattress in my home office, when there's too much commotion, he goes there and everyone knows to let him be.

The 'off' switch depends on the dog and what they're doing, but most of the time it's a variation of the same principle.

First, pick your command(s) which should be clear words that all the family use consistently. We have 3 different commands for slightly different situations, which you might also find useful. There's 'leave it' for let go of whatever's in your mouth, which is great if a dog is having a tuggy moment that you want to break, and also if they have hold of something they shouldn't. We have the word 'quiet' which means what it says on the tin, so for barking matches and stuff like that. It's maybe more useful when you have 3 dogs who like to make a noise together! And then we have 'enough' which means stop playing. Again, for us it's usually when they are playing with eachother but you could use it for playing with a child, for example.

In each case, you pair the word with coming to get a treat. I start by setting the dog up to do what you want to interrupt but in a way that isn't very exciting. So for 'leave it' I give them a toy to hold, for 'quiet' maybe ring the doorbell, and 'enough' get them playing together. In each case, almost as soon as you have got them doing whatever, you shove a high value treat under the nose and ask for the command.

Sticking to 'leave it' for the moment, you give them a toy, they hold it and you then shove a smelly treat under the nose, ask for 'leave it' and you should find they drop the toy to get the treat. Repeat this a few times and they'll soon learn to drop the toy when they hear 'leave it', at which point you can stop showing them the treat first, but still give them the treat afterwards. If you find it's too hard, just go back to showing the treat for a bit then try again.

Once you know they understand the command, you start to make it harder but gradually. Maybe have a rope tuggy toy and start a tugging game, but before he gets stuck in you ask for 'leave it'. Practise that until he's good at it, then tug harder or for longer to make it more of a challenge.

Do this with various things, with training taking place over a few session and with all of the family, and you should soon have a dog who will drop anything for you.

With the 'enough' = stop play command, you do the same thing. Start with things super easy then build up until you can ask for 'enough' during any game and he will stop for his treat.

Resist the temptation to rattle through training, even if he's very good at it, as having a solid basis will stand you in good stead for any challenging situations ahead.

Even when he is good, it's worth keeping the practice going from time to time to remind him.

I always say it's better to over treat than under treat. To start off with, give him great treats all the time, then he knows with worth his while to do what you're asking. With time, you should be able to switch to lesser treats for general training and move to only treating sometimes, keeping high value stuff in reserve for more testing situations. Plan ahead and make sure you have good treats to hand when there's a chance you'll need them, for example when your kids have friends round.

Your kids are old enough to be able to join in the training. For them and for Codie, make sure it's always fun. I know we use the word 'command' but think of it more as a request. Aim more of a 'hey over here' than a 'do it now'. If it doesn't work for some reason, go back a step to make it easier to remind him before building up again but more slowly.

It's also helpful to give excited dogs something else to do instead because even if they stop the play they're still in a state of excitement, so without something else to do they can easily start again or transfer their excitement to something else. A chew on a bed is often a good replacement, or a treat ball or something. Again, it'll give him something positive to look forward to that he can associate with stopping playing/letting go.

I hope that helps, do ask if you've got any questions.