Hellooooo, Little advice please

Helloooo,

Im new to the forum but not to stafford keeping. I have a 5 year old (Blue) and bought another puppy 11 wks (mocha) only last week. Both are bitches. My husband and i love our staffords and wouldnt have anyother breed!!

Blue has a absolutely brilliant temperament, a very loving and affectionate staffordshire. Mocha we dont really know yet as she is so new to the family. Anyway Mocha keeps biting/mouthing me like crazy. I know pups will be pups but the vet advised i get her out of it now why she is young. I have tried various methods but nothing seems to be working much. So tonight i gently held her down by her scruff for a few seconds as her mother would (advice online) and she went NUTS!! Attacked me, my husband and even blue. Full on staffy fight mode iygwim

Im soooo gutted! I feel awful for trying the method but also worried that she is going to become a aggressive dog. I have a 2 year old daughter and would hate her to do anything to harm her and am also concerned for blue.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks
Deb

Hey, welcome to the forum.

It sounds like your pup's a dominant type, and so pinning will just get her hyped up.

The way I'd always start with is the "No!" and immediately turn away - no interraction at all, no eye contact, touching or talking. When she's calm you can give her gentle praise, but as soon as she starts mouthing, repeat the ignoring. This will mean that all members of the family (and all visitors) must do the same thing. If she still doesn't stop, then pick her up & put her out of the room. Don't say a word, just shut the door & wait till she's calm then try again.

It takes a while, but it will eventually click that mouthing means no fuss.

P.S. We'd love to see some pics of both of them!

Thank you for the warm welcome and quick reply.

I was thinking we had our self a little dominant bitch. Do you think with proper training we could get the dominance to subside? She really is a lovely little thing but i want her to be a good girl, i dont want her dominance to turn it to real aggression. I do as you say and fingers crossed it will work. We never had this problem with blue, she was a good pup really

PS. Will get some piccys up in the morning for you. Share my little gems with the rest of the world.lol.x

Hi there, and Welcome.

Sounds very much like when my girl was that age........I tried every method I was recocomended to try, and the pinning down just got her more worked up, so that was not used again.
Saying "NO" and turning away also had little effect, she would just think it was all a game.
Like Caryll suggested, you may need to remove her from the room unitl she calms and then try again......if she gets too exciteable again with the mouthing/nipping repeat the remove from room, return to room again. Hopefully this will teach her what you expect.
My girl is now 8 months, and still likes to use her "mouth" at times but is in NO way aggressive at all, she is an extremely friendly girl so hopefully you will have no issues with aggression either ( as you mentioned you were concerned )
As you already have a 5 yr old Staffy, i'm sure you know.....consistency is key.

Good luck, and I too am looking forward to some pics

Heavy handed techniques do not work as well in real life as they do on TV, especially not with more dominant dogs. These techniques can actually lead to aggression and fear issues.

With my Saxon we just said "No Bites" or "Leave it," if he got really bad we put him in his crate to calm down. Never in an angry way, though, we were always calm about it. He's pretty great now. Rarely mouths and will stop the moment you say "No Bites" or "Leave it."

Remember, though, that she is still teething. You could also try saying "No" and giving her something that she is allowed to chew instead of your arm. My friend did that with her boxer and now whenever he gets overly excited he goes and finds his toy, it's really cute.

nothing to add to the advice above but welcome from me and woody

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CatStina wrote:Heavy handed techniques do not work as well in real life as they do on TV, especially not with more dominant dogs. These techniques can actually lead to aggression and fear issues.

With my Saxon we just said "No Bites" or "Leave it," if he got really bad we put him in his crate to calm down. Never in an angry way, though, we were always calm about it. He's pretty great now. Rarely mouths and will stop the moment you say "No Bites" or "Leave it."

Remember, though, that she is still teething. You could also try saying "No" and giving her something that she is allowed to chew instead of your arm. My friend did that with her boxer and now whenever he gets overly excited he goes and finds his toy, it's really cute.

Haha my girl does the same thing, especially when we come home from work. She runs in does a circle and then runs out to get a bone to chew!

We always make a point of sounding hurt whenever our dogs mouthed us and both are really good now - the 4 month boy still mouths a little but applies next to no pressure - doesn't take much for those sharp puppy teeth to hurt a little! If he gets too rough we shout out an 'ouch' pull away quickly and turn away from him and it seems to work a treat.

Thank you everyone!!! I really appreciate all of your help!

I have been trying the chew toy in her mouth and putting her out of the room since we got her but like you guys said i will just perceiver with it. Wont be holding her scruff again, i really was sooo gentel when doing it mind. I cant stand any sort of animal cruelty let alone the doggy kind.lol.

I will have a look at those links now and do the poll Tracie.

Thanks again everyone!!

Deb

ps. will upload piccys now. xx

Hiya and welcome

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. Nothing really to add to the advice already given.

I cant seem to get piccys on. The following comes up when i try - New members are not allowed to post external links or emails for 7 days. Please contact the forum administrator for more information. Is it me just being thick?lol.

Oh well, just have to keep you all on your toes.

Hi and welcome to the forum

Hi from me and harvey

hi and welcome..

I can't add any more to the advice above and hope little Mocha is starting to behave herself now !!