Staffie Rescue - Help.

[shadow_man]

We've recently adopted a female Staffie (6 months - mixed breed).

She's quite hyper and has never been trained. The previous owners had left her to rot outside and gave her no attention (she doesn't even know how to sit at 6 months old) and we thus removed her from them.

We've started taking her for walks (2 walks a day) with our other dog (a pavement special). We will be adding a backpack soon to see if this provides her an output to release all the pent up energy. However, whilst this is stimulating her its still not solving the problems she presents.

She is very high energy and likes to try and dominate our other dog (3 years old). She does this by pushing her, mounting her and generally by being pretty boisterous.

We've tried pushing her down on the floor and we make her be submissive until she calms down, we then let her up again, but she just doesn't seem to learn. We've repeated this process over and over but she just doesn't seem to get it?

She also seems to not like being placed in the garden when we leave for work and has broken (chewed) the fence we erected to keep her in.

Any advice? We would obviously like to make this work, but at some point we'd have to consider that she just isn't the fit for our human / dog family.

 

[shadow_man]

EDIT: I'm seeing an animal behaviorist on Thursday called Bernice Jaffe - has anyone used her, any opinions? She seems quite jacked up on the phone so i'm hoping she's got a solution or techniques for us to try. This is this dogs last chance and i'm hoping we can still the happy ending she needs. I'd hate for a dog to have to go to waste / be put down due to her previous neglect. I still want to save this one if possible!

 

[Batista]

Props to you, but this is the only reason why i dont adopt and prefer a puppy of 6 weeks.
I hope you manage to come right

 

[TelkomUseless]

Not an expert (we have a staffie (f), jack russel (m) and basset(m)). All of them adopted... from less than 1 year of age.

The JR is alpha male, staffie doesn't go against him. But when they were small, the Staffie played rough. Poor JR had swollen mouth sometimes, but she was young.

She is now very submissive towards the JR and basset. She knows her spot in the pack.

 

[FNfal]

I have had staffies , they are definitely high energy dogs .
If you have dogs one will be dominant , that is just the way it is especially if they are both male or female , there will probably be some blood until the other dog gives in to the staffie .
I used command performance to train my dogs and that helped but when you are not there one will be dominant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ4Y-UmRqcg

 

[ToxicBunny]

You have a staffie..

You need to amp up your stubborn level by about 100....They have boatloads of energy, and are stubborn to boot as well.

I have a bull terrier that was a rescue as well, got him from the SPCA. At first he was naughty as hell, took him for a few lessons, and did the tough love thing (with bull terriers you can almost border on abuse of the dog before they start getting the message unfortunately). He is much better now and listens most of the time, still haven't managed to socialise him with other dogs but I have a feeling thats because he was rescued from a dog fighting setup more than anything else.

 

[Celine]

have you tried to discipline her with her food? she must sit before she gets her food. we do this with all our dogs. at 6 months she is still trainable. she has to sit and then you give her a pellet, then she can eat her food. try doing this.

 

[ToxicBunny]

have you tried to discipline her with her food? she must sit before she gets her food. we do this with all our dogs. at 6 months she is still trainable. she has to sit and then you give her a pellet, then she can eat her food. try doing this.

Have you tried this with a Staffie before?

I can just about get this right after a year with my Bull Terrier... they just go mental when they're about to be fed.

 

[shadow_man]

Props to you, but this is the only reason why i dont adopt and prefer a puppy of 6 weeks.
I hope you manage to come right

Thanks. I hope I do too. I really don't want to have to put down this pup due to previous abuse that can't be removed...

 

[shadow_man]

Not an expert (we have a staffie (f), jack russel (m) and basset(m)). All of them adopted... from less than 1 year of age.

The JR is alpha male, staffie doesn't go against him. But when they were small, the Staffie played rough. Poor JR had swollen mouth sometimes, but she was young.

She is now very submissive towards the JR and basset. She knows her spot in the pack.

How long does it take? I'm a bit worried of the effect its having on my 3 year old (sausage dog mixed with what I assume is staffie, short legs, lonnnnnng body and stocky). The 6 month Staffie has somehow I assume claimed both dog beds. The 3 year old won't lie in one now and when i try put her in it she growls at me and shows teeth. She's never done this before and is GREAT with humans and listens.

 

[googoodoll]

I don't think you will have to put her down. Just be a little patient and see what the behaviourist says. Some people just know how to work with animals and should be able to assist you.

 

[shadow_man]

I have had staffies , they are definitely high energy dogs .
If you have dogs one will be dominant , that is just the way it is especially if they are both male or female , there will probably be some blood until the other dog gives in to the staffie .
I used command performance to train my dogs and that helped but when you are not there one will be dominant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ4Y-UmRqcg

Both are female. 3 years and pup (staffie mix) is 6 months. No blood so far, just lots of growling and the Staffie trying to jump my other dog and mount it as a show of dominence. My other dog is naturally submissive to us but she doesn't like the Staffie jumping on her and growls and shows her teeth. The Staffie however wont let up.

Great video btw - I'm definitely going to check his other stuff and use that for leash training the Staffie.

 

[shadow_man]

have you tried to discipline her with her food? she must sit before she gets her food. we do this with all our dogs. at 6 months she is still trainable. she has to sit and then you give her a pellet, then she can eat her food. try doing this.

I make them both stand outside whilst I fetch their food inside, they aren't allowed in while i'm doing this.

I then make them both sit and then once sitting I allow them to take their food and eat.

 

[shadow_man]

I don't think you will have to put her down. Just be a little patient and see what the behaviourist says. Some people just know how to work with animals and should be able to assist you.

I'm trying we take her for 2 walks a day (both dogs), every morning and evening. We then put them in the garden when we go to work but the Staffie gets so upset at being parted from us that she has today destroyed the makeshift fencing I put in. (till I can put a real gate up as she arrived earlier than we thought).

It's becoming harder to contain her and I don't want to segregate my animals, so holding thumbs till Thursday. Help is needed!

 

[Rocket-Boy]

We've recently adopted a female Staffie (6 months - mixed breed).

She's quite hyper and has never been trained. The previous owners had left her to rot outside and gave her no attention (she doesn't even know how to sit at 6 months old) and we thus removed her from them.

We've started taking her for walks (2 walks a day) with our other dog (a pavement special). We will be adding a backpack soon to see if this provides her an output to release all the pent up energy. However, whilst this is stimulating her its still not solving the problems she presents.

She is very high energy and likes to try and dominate our other dog (3 years old). She does this by pushing her, mounting her and generally by being pretty boisterous.

We've tried pushing her down on the floor and we make her be submissive until she calms down, we then let her up again, but she just doesn't seem to learn. We've repeated this process over and over but she just doesn't seem to get it?

She also seems to not like being placed in the garden when we leave for work and has broken (chewed) the fence we erected to keep her in.

Any advice? We would obviously like to make this work, but at some point we'd have to consider that she just isn't the fit for our human / dog family.

Hoooboy!
I have a female staffie that is 3 years old now. All I can say is that staffie puppies are little demonic things!!
They are *incredibly* headstrong and stubborn but they are quite easy to train because they badly want to please you.
They are hectic as puppies and then go through another stage around 6 months where you almost need to retrain them.
If you are persistent though then you will end up with one of the most obedient and loving dogs you have seen.

Most staffies like tennis balls, we use one to supplement walks and just throw it in the garden until she is tired(this happens about 3 times a day)

They play pretty rough, its just how they are. If it really is becoming an issue with the play being too boisterous or feels wrong then you need to get in an separate them for a little. She is young so dont expect that is how she will always be. The pushing down thing will not work, stop doing it because its only going to mess with her trust of you.

They suffer quite badly from separation anxiety until they get used to it, our vet confirmed its often worse with staffies cos they love to be around their people. She will get used to it and having her well exercised will make it easier.


Bottom line is that you will have to put some work in but you will be rewarded with an absolutely awesome dog at the end of it all.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

You have a staffie..

You need to amp up your stubborn level by about 100....They have boatloads of energy, and are stubborn to boot as well.

I have a bull terrier that was a rescue as well, got him from the SPCA. At first he was naughty as hell, took him for a few lessons, and did the tough love thing (with bull terriers you can almost border on abuse of the dog before they start getting the message unfortunately). He is much better now and listens most of the time, still haven't managed to socialise him with other dogs but I have a feeling thats because he was rescued from a dog fighting setup more than anything else.

I love bullies too, also stubborn as heck but such clowns.

 

[Joker]

When you say "walks" is that by leash? She'll never get her energy out unless she can run around for about an hour a day.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Both are female. 3 years and pup (staffie mix) is 6 months. No blood so far, just lots of growling and the Staffie trying to jump my other dog and mount it as a show of dominence. My other dog is naturally submissive to us but she doesn't like the Staffie jumping on her and growls and shows her teeth. The Staffie however won't let up.

You cant allow that!
They will figure it out soon enough but she needs to be corrected. prodding her on the side of the neck and a yell normally does the trick. Otherwise a good slap on the butt works wonders too. They dont feel it but the idea of it makes them stop.

 

[ToxicBunny]

I love bullies too, also stubborn as heck but such clowns.

Yup..

trying to stop him getting onto the bed in the middle of the night.. its proving a lot more difficult than I care to admit... He goes to sleep in his bed when its bed time, but by about 2am, I am woken up with a dog curling up next to me.. its so incredibly difficult to get angry with him for that.

 

[ToxicBunny]

You cant allow that!
They will figure it out soon enough but she needs to be corrected. prodding her on the side of the neck and a yell normally does the trick. Otherwise a good slap on the butt works wonders too. They dont feel it but the idea of it makes them stop.

Completely agree with this... and when it comes to a Staffie/Bullie... the slap on the butt will need to be hard from your point of view... my bullie only really starts responding when I get close to hurting my own hand if I have to smack.... even then its still sometimes a game to him.