OUT OF CHARACTER AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS OWNER!!!! HELP

Our dog Marley has recently in the last 4mths snapped at our 13yr daughter and last night snapped at my partner.He lives with my partner and 3 girls and I'm here most days.My partner spoils him to death and to be honest Marley has been the best staffy EVER.He's never chewed anything in the house in his life,not as a pup or adult.

We feed him beta and mince meat and he had treats choc ect.Jus lately theres been a lot of tension in the home with the 2 older girls 13.5 and 12.5 challenging their mother and being disgracefully disrepectful.Marley has seen these blow ups an has never taken a side or intervened.Quite the oppersite really.these rows have frightened him more than anything.

Last night my partner put a quilt on our new sofa helped Marley up,he lay down and my partner rubbed his chest fussing him and went to give him a kiss and he was looking at me across the other side of the room when he growled and went for her!!!!! This has devastated her beyound belief.This is her baby turning on her and she's almost sure if she had not pulled back so quickly he may have bit her on her neck.
The incident a few months ago was very simular!!! Toni the 13.5 yr old was stroking him on the sofa and he again went for her and actually left marks on her neck.We're in a state of shock here and despite telling him off at the time last nite.We have not fussed him as we normally do as I'm thinking if we pretty much dont act as if nothing major has happened Marley wont realise jus how serious he behaviour was/is.

There is no clear reason why Marley has reacted this way!!! It was'nt as if he was being smoothered and was annoyed and wanted to be left alone ect.He's still got his man bits as we intended to breed him 2-3 times then get him nuetered.Our heads are in a daze folks and we could do with any input as to the possibility's as 2 why Mr.Marley has struck out at the very people he lives with and who dote on him in a demi-god fashsion.specially my partner.It's got my partner thinking Marley does'nt respect her and see's myself as the leader depite her being the one who feeds him ect.He follows her around 24/7.If she goes the toilet he's not far behind kinda thing.We really need help understanding this behaviour and more importantly what we can do to stop Marley reacting this way.My partner is feeling like we can't trust him and even mentioned the unbarable fact this might be an irredeamable trait and she's scared one day he'll hurt someone,god forbid a child.......Any advice would be gratefully recieved

how old is he?

if it just doing for no reason and hes been a good before this i would take him to the vets. he could a number of problems.

when you say problems??? could you elaborate please.Marleys been the best staffy ever.SHOCKED is an understament.we love this lil fella like life it's self.He's never done anything like this.He's got nor had any injuries whereby he could of been inadvertently hurt on a previous wound ect.STRAIGHT OUT THE BLUE. your comment has got us really concerned,as Marley is our first staffy and the reason I joind this site when we got him 2.5yrs ago was so we could learn as much about the breed as poss.(I know it says on my profile I recently joined-forgot our password and reregistered) thks

if hes been good most of his life & only just turning bad he could of number problems i would go have a check up dog dont just turn bad if they be brought up good.

Welcome to the forum!

You are looking at a couple of possibles here.

You say he's spoilt? That may well be a problem - he does not know his place in the family & will want his own way. If this is the case he may well get irritable without warning & try to put members of his family (you) in their place.

If he's never been like this before, then it could be that he is not feeling well. He may have a slight infection, he may have a muscle injury (staffs are notorious for not showing that they are in pain), or it could be something more serious.

The first thing you should do is take him to the vets to rule out any illness/injury. If there's nothing physically wrong, then you should go back to basics with his training and make sure that you are firm with what you expect him to do. Don't allow something one day & not the next for example.

It might help to get him castrated. But a word of warning - this is not guaranteed!

With consistent training you should be able to put him right, but it must be the whole family following the same training rules.

Steve wrote:if hes been good most of his life & only just turning bad he could of number problems i would go have a check up dog dont just turn bad if they be brought up good.

thks.he's been golden honestly.just cant fault this lil fella.he listens to all of us and this is why last nites incident was such a shock!!!

Caryll wrote:Welcome to the forum!

You are looking at a couple of possibles here.

You say he's spoilt? That may well be a problem - he does not know his place in the family & will want his own way. If this is the case he may well get irritable without warning & try to put members of his family (you) in their place.

If he's never been like this before, then it could be that he is not feeling well. He may have a slight infection, he may have a muscle injury (staffs are notorious for not showing that they are in pain), or it could be something more serious.

The first thing you should do is take him to the vets to rule out any illness/injury. If there's nothing physically wrong, then you should go back to basics with his training and make sure that you are firm with what you expect him to do. Don't allow something one day & not the next for example.

It might help to get him castrated. But a word of warning - this is not guaranteed!

With consistent training you should be able to put him right, but it must be the whole family following the same training rules.

We have just had a new sofa quite expensive which has been replaced due to it being a DFS pile of junk.but Mr.Marley knows hes not allowed on the sofa without his quilt.If his quilt is NOT on the sofa he'll rest his chin on the sofa to let us know he'd like his quilt so he can lie down on the sofa.All my partner did was lay his quilt out help him up(sofa quite high) and wen he lay down fussed him a bit and he jus snapped at her.obedience is not an issue which is all the more shocking.We've pretty much blanked him today and he's lost not getting the normal attention he gets daily.Me I think he knows what he's done is wrong as he never gets punished as he never does anything to punish him for.Were at a loss at how to handle him.Killing us not giving him his usual fuss.Jus now the Mrs gave him the first fuss since yesturday and me too and hes his loving self it seems.Any advice on how to treat him untill we get to the vets on monday????Last thing we want him to think is this behaviour is acceptable.thks

There's no point being angry or 'off' with him now, because he won't associate your reaction to the original snap.

I would try to act normally, but maybe not get into a close up hug or cuddle until you know what's wrong.

Watch his body language - a dog rarely snaps without giving some sort of a warning. If you're fussing him & he seems not to want to be close, then give him his space. How much exercise does he get & what sort?

You said in your first post that he is spoilt - that, if it's true, is a BIG mistake! I don't mean that you let him get away with murder, but...

1. do you let him get away with anything?
2. when you play, do you instigate the play or does he?
3. when you give him a fuss, is it because he has come to you, or you to him?
4. do you allow something one day (because it's cute) and not allow it another (because it doesn't fit with the present situation)?

Could he be dominating the new sofa etc? ..
Hope its sorted for you all!

I would think a trip to the vet is in order. Until then I would not treat him any differently.

Yes,a vet trip sounds like it's definitely in order. A sudden change in behaviour could mean a number of things. A vet trip just to see if anything serious is the problem,and the vet should advise you on what to to about it. Like Steve said,a good dog doesn't usually just start snapping at people unless there's a reason.

Keep us updated on anything Hope it works out

Caryll wrote:Welcome to the forum!

You are looking at a couple of possibles here.

You say he's spoilt? That may well be a problem - he does not know his place in the family & will want his own way. If this is the case he may well get irritable without warning & try to put members of his family (you) in their place.

If he's never been like this before, then it could be that he is not feeling well. He may have a slight infection, he may have a muscle injury (staffs are notorious for not showing that they are in pain), or it could be something more serious.

The first thing you should do is take him to the vets to rule out any illness/injury. If there's nothing physically wrong, then you should go back to basics with his training and make sure that you are firm with what you expect him to do. Don't allow something one day & not the next for example.

It might help to get him castrated. But a word of warning - this is not guaranteed!

With consistent training you should be able to put him right, but it must be the whole family following the same training rules.

Thks for your reply.HONESTLY theres no issue with Marleys training he listens to the whole family and we've never had any issue where by Marley has been uncontrollable.far from it.This is why snapping at my Mrs has been such a shock.She is his main carer as the kids are at skool and I dont live with my partner,but I'm here most days.The vets sounds the best option and we'll book an appoinment first thing Monday and keep you posted.thks for your advice.

Caryll wrote:There's no point being angry or 'off' with him now, because he won't associate your reaction to the original snap.

I would try to act normally, but maybe not get into a close up hug or cuddle until you know what's wrong.

Watch his body language - a dog rarely snaps without giving some sort of a warning. If you're fussing him & he seems not to want to be close, then give him his space. How much exercise does he get & what sort?

You said in your first post that he is spoilt - that, if it's true, is a BIG mistake! I don't mean that you let him get away with murder, but...

1. do you let him get away with anything?
2. when you play, do you instigate the play or does he?
3. when you give him a fuss, is it because he has come to you, or you to him?
4. do you allow something one day (because it's cute) and not allow it another (because it doesn't fit with the present situation)?

When I say spoilt I dont mean Marley dominates and does as he pleases.More like Marley is loved to death and gets treated (better than me.lool) like a king.In answer to your questions
1. Marley does'nt do anything that you could catagorize as 'getting away withanything' he's a placid staffy and we've raised him to be dog friendly and we havea rabbit and he loves playing with the rabbit.He does'nt overbare other dogs wen he meets them and we walk him off the lead.His first reaction on seeing another dog is once passed sniffing out the new dog is to play.Marley will only 'growl' if he's on his lead and the other dog shows aggression first.
2.When we play with Marley it's alway at our initiation.he play fights with me but never the ladies of the house and wen he runs out into the garden he'll grab his ball/rope and let you know he wants to play.
3When we fuss Marley it's a combination of both.if I come in after work he'll be all over me and other times he'll jump on the sofa and start licking us to death.so bit of both.
4.No we don't and never have give Marley 'mixed' signals.he knows the bounderys and whats acceptable and whats not.Marley is 2.5yrs and we've never had to discipline him more than the odd occation an if my mind serves me right this was down to road safty/awareness.
As I stated Mr.Marley has been the best dog in the world and is loved to death in this house.Him snapping at the Mrs the other night is so shocking to us were dumbfounded as to why he's reacted this way.Thks for your input and advice!!!

ps.Marley gets plenty of exersize!!!! I walk him a good 2miles 5 times a week an we go to the field where we play fetch with his ball and toys....

i mite be well off but it sounds to me that the pack order that he has always bein used to is bein tested by the way the kids are answering back and such and he may well be trying this in his own way its no ones fault but dogs do pick up alot more than people think he may well be trying to be pushing his boundrys im probably wrong but it may help

giblet wrote:i mite be well off but it sounds to me that the pack order that he has always bein used to is bein tested by the way the kids are answering back and such and he may well be trying this in his own way its no ones fault but dogs do pick up alot more than people think he may well be trying to be pushing his boundrys im probably wrong but it may help

I was sort of thinking something like that too, I heard on the news a few months ago that a golden retriever attacked its owner after the two older sons got into a big argument, I think they definitely pick up on those sorts of things

Mr.Marley wrote:ps.Marley gets plenty of exersize!!!! I walk him a good 2miles 5 times a week an we go to the field where we play fetch with his ball and toys....

he should get 2 walks everyday around 45 mins or over a hour.

giblet wrote:i mite be well off but it sounds to me that the pack order that he has always bein used to is bein tested by the way the kids are answering back and such and he may well be trying this in his own way its no ones fault but dogs do pick up alot more than people think he may well be trying to be pushing his boundrys im probably wrong but it may help

Certainly sounds possible.

Steve wrote:

Mr.Marley wrote:ps.Marley gets plenty of exersize!!!! I walk him a good 2miles 5 times a week an we go to the field where we play fetch with his ball and toys....

he should get 2 walks everyday around 45 mins or over a hour.

I would agree with Steve here. A staffy (especially an entire male) needs at least 2walks a day and those walks should be long ones! Two miles isn't really anything to a staff!

However, I'd still be looking at seeing the vet before trying to sort out other aspects.

Thanks for all the advice folks.I was thinking along the lines Marley was not feeling his usual self to have snapped at my partner.We'll see what the vet says 2moz and ill update everyone who's been kind enough to debate the possibilitys and possible soloutions.well appreciated!!!

Good luck - what time's the appointment?

Having read your original post and the following message I would be inclined to agree with Caryll and say that he is being dominant is pushing his boundaries. It sounds to me like confusion manifested in dominant aggression, and you will often see these issues come out when there is a slight shift within a packs hierarchy.

I would take him to the vets for an M.O.T anyway just to rule out any health issues but afterwards I think it may benefit you, your partner and her children to give a decent animal behaviourist a ring. I get an inkling that perhaps he is trying to tell you something but noones picking up the signals. Given he has reached full sexual maturity by now any underlying issues will come to the surface. Perhaps having seen the two teenagers acting differently towards their mother he has forgotton his place and is trying to dominate her too. Also how much are you there? Do you live in the house with your partner?

We had a incident with Milly last week she was sprawled on the couch and there was no room for anyone so i went to move her to which she growled at me which is so out of caracter. i made her get down on the floor and would not allow her up again all night. i mentioned it to the vet on Friday as we had a appointment and she said it was a dominence issue she got the behaviour lady at the vets to have a word with me and she put me in my place i felt like a little girl at school again when she had finished with me. She went on saying that because i have been off work for a few weeks and had basically been spoling Milly she thought she had moved up the chain she told me Milly is not my baby she is a dog and that I need to show her again were she sits in the chain. At first when i left the vets i was like you who are you to tell me but later on at home when i thought about it she was right. So we have gone back to basics with Milly she only gets on the couch when we invite her and not when she wants along with other things we are now doing.

Took Marley the vets and he has a clean Blk of health!¡!!.The vets opinion was Marley growling at the Mrs was a behavioral issue an pretty much like millie-moo's mum I was told pretty much word for word and told to remember Marley is a staffy. Not a child.Big Thks for everyone's help comments and advice.sorry it's took so long to reply!but our local hub was vandalized and I've had no internet for 5 days.Thanks again to everyone.pearls of wisdom are always a blessing and very much appreciated.

well i would say go back to the start by making him no where his place is in your home pack and no more up on the couch till he no's where he stands once he dose you will soon have your great little staffy back

I never made my dog feel like outcast & there no chain in this household, i dont like some dog trainers advice!

Bring up a dog is really simple you have to be consistent like when you bring you a childen, everyobdy in the house as to be the same, if a childen is kicking up a fuss and shouting you not just let them carry on they go on a naughty step or place in their bedroom till they calm down, and you cant let them get away with it once and then punish the next becasue you have a problem childen basically same with dogs but dogs learn qicker.

I agree with the others you have a dominant dog who is a little confused to what to do at the moment, you cant expect him to know the rules if you dont show him them. Although whilst hes sleeping is not the right time to give him kisses think about it if you were tired and someone woke you I think you would be grumpy too thats not excusing what he did.
Think very carefully before you stud him if you intend to then get him castrated no idea were your going with this a dog that has mated 3 times will be proven he will know how to breed and then you are going to have him neutered is there any point its not fair on your dog, a dominant male will be so frustrated you have potential for more behaviours.
I would only consider breeding if your dog is a nice example of a sbt standard and has all heditary disease tests done and is clear