Staffie Rescue - Help.

[shadow_man]

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.

Thanks. The behaviorist confirmed that the alpha roll technique (pushing her down) is not the way to go either. She's going to retrain us humans on Thursday as to how to deal with this handful.

As for exercise she gets 2-3 walks a day and we're more than prepared to put the work in. We just need to rid her of a) chasing cats b) dominating our older dog c) breaking down fences to get out when we leave for work. My GF is against the idea of giving her something to chew e.g. a tennis ball, but perhaps I can use it to tire her out then pack it away once done.

I'm hoping all works out for the best and that she can walk off leash one day without being too rough with other dogs. We go hiking often and our existing dog goes with. It would be a shame to not be able to do that with the Staffie as well.

 

[Joker]

High energy dogs are not difficult to have as long as you put the effort into them:

1. See an animal behaviourist, a good list is here: http://www.animal-behaviour.org.za/karengray/ Don't get involved in the layman method of 'dominating' your dogs as a method to control them. It's completely unnecessary, learn to communicate with them instead.
2. High energy dogs need at least an hour of off-leash walks and playing a day. You'll find them 10x easier to live with.
3. Go to basic training classes, it's not just about teaching your dog tricks, but about learning how to communicate and bond with them.
4. If you're not a breeder get your dog neutered. It doesn't 'remove' any part of their personality, just prevents hormonal chemicals which confuse, frustrate and overwhelm them. I'm amazed at the number of guys who have a problem with this, like their dog is a manifestation of their own masculinity..

 

[shadow_man]

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.

Yes by leash.

I take her for a 40 min walk in the morning and evening. As i've only had her for a week I don't dare let her off the leash, but i'm going to follow the advice in one of the youtube links posted earlier. That seems quite suitable for training and seems to correct the bad behavior on the leash I don't like.

 

[Joker]

My GF is against the idea of giving her something to chew e.g. a tennis ball, but perhaps I can use it to tire her out then pack it away once done.

Giving dogs things to chew is a must. They get immense enjoyment out of it, use up excess energy, and they learn what is allowed to chew because you're giving it to them.

 

[shadow_man]

High energy dogs are not difficult to have as long as you put the effort into them:

1. See an animal behaviourist, a good list is here: http://www.animal-behaviour.org.za/karengray/ Don't get involved in the layman method of 'dominating' your dogs as a method to control them. It's completely unnecessary, learn to communicate with them instead.
2. High energy dogs need at least an hour of off-leash walks and playing a day. You'll find them 10x easier to live with.
3. Go to basic training classes, it's not just about teaching your dog tricks, but about learning how to communicate and bond with them.
4. If you're not a breeder get your dog neutered. It doesn't 'remove' any part of their personality, just prevents hormonal chemicals which confuse, frustrate and overwhelm them. I'm amazed at the number of guys who have a problem with this, like their dog is a manifestation of their own masculinity..

Hi,


1.) I'm seeing Bernice Jaffe on Thursday morning:

http://bernicejaffe.co.za/

2.) Off leash is hard. If she was fine off leash i'd gladly take her to the dog park (5 min from my house) and run around with her for ages, but alas she's not. I'll try and correct this.

3.) I'm seeing the behaviorist, then looking @ puppy classes or looking at following Bernice's suggestions as to what to do.

4.) She is neutered (it's the first thing I did, happened last Thursday so she's still healing and as such I need to keep the strenuous activity low). Bernice recommended that I get rose oil to feed her with her food. She claims that as the Staffie just got spayed that it may have a huge amount of testosterone in its body until things correct themselves. The rose oil apparently fixes this?

Thanks for all the tips, keep them coming. I'm really hoping I can work this out. I don't want to give up on this dog.

 

[Joker]

2.) Off leash is hard. If she was fine off leash i'd gladly take her to the dog park (5 min from my house) and run around with her for ages, but alas she's not. I'll try and correct this.

Nice, yeah obviously you can only let her off-leash when you trust her.

Basically just by seeing a behaviorist is your best decision, you'll get the best advice from someone trained in this. Bernice Jaffee is well known, so good choice there.

 

[shadow_man]

Nice, yeah obviously you can only let her off-leash when you trust her.

Basically just by seeing a behaviorist is your best decision, you'll get the best advice from someone trained in this. Bernice Jaffee is well known, so good choice there.

Yeah. I think its the best bet. Had a nice chat with Bernice on the phone, she even let me call on a Sunday evening - and she really seems to know her stuff, so feeling good about Thursday's visit. We just need to minimize damage until then

 

[DigitalSoldier]

We had a staffie and they truly are the most stubborn dogs.

Instead of learning though after the staffie we got another extremely high energy dog in thr shape of a border collie.

But at least she is also very intelligent.

 

[DigitalSoldier]

Yeah. I think its the best bet. Had a nice chat with Bernice on the phone, she even let me call on a Sunday evening - and she really seems to know her stuff, so feeling good about Thursday's visit. We just need to minimize damage until then

What we used to do was tie a tyre with a rope to a tree. Can keep a staffie busy amd they can chew all they want.

 

[TelkomUseless]

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.

Wasn't sure how long it took. But our staffie was just playfull and accepted that JR was the dominant one (JR is a fighter, he doesn't stand down).

But a newspaper for a "stick" and she is scared.. no need to hit her. But that is our staffie.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

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.

Hehehe, I know exactly what you mean. We let ours on the bed on Saturdays and Sundays, other than that she is happy to sleep in her bed next to me. She knows exactly when its weekend though and first thing Saturday morning she is up on the bed and happy as a pig in poop.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Thanks. The behaviorist confirmed that the alpha roll technique (pushing her down) is not the way to go either. She's going to retrain us humans on Thursday as to how to deal with this handful.

As for exercise she gets 2-3 walks a day and we're more than prepared to put the work in. We just need to rid her of a) chasing cats b) dominating our older dog c) breaking down fences to get out when we leave for work. My GF is against the idea of giving her something to chew e.g. a tennis ball, but perhaps I can use it to tire her out then pack it away once done.

I'm hoping all works out for the best and that she can walk off leash one day without being too rough with other dogs. We go hiking often and our existing dog goes with. It would be a shame to not be able to do that with the Staffie as well.

Yeah alpha role really doesnt work, the key with controlling powerful breeds is that you need their trust. They are headstrong like nothing else but their need to please overrides that.

Umm good luck with point A I honestly dont think its possible to stop that.
Point B you will get sorted out soon and point C will relate to point B in the end.

If you want to leave her something to chew then those really big rawhide bones can work, just dont expect much to be left at the end of the day. Those things are chainsaws with legs. With the tennis ball we never leave it with ours, it stays in a cupboard and she knows that as soon as she is tired the ball is going back in there.

 

[IzZzy]

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.

Have exactly the same problem as you.... Finding very hard to resist this face in the mornings:

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Hi,




2.) Off leash is hard. If she was fine off leash i'd gladly take her to the dog park (5 min from my house) and run around with her for ages, but alas she's not. I'll try and correct this.

3.) I'm seeing the behaviorist, then looking @ puppy classes or looking at following Bernice's suggestions as to what to do.

4.) She is neutered (it's the first thing I did, happened last Thursday so she's still healing and as such I need to keep the strenuous activity low). Bernice recommended that I get rose oil to feed her with her food. She claims that as the Staffie just got spayed that it may have a huge amount of testosterone in its body until things correct themselves. The rose oil apparently fixes this?

Thanks for all the tips, keep them coming. I'm really hoping I can work this out. I don't want to give up on this dog.

Off leash is a bad idea until you really know each other well and how she will react. When you start doing off leash you need something that can hold your dogs attention more than anything else around you, with ours it was a tennis ball. The next problem was getting her to bring it back so we kept a 2nd one with us which worked very well.

If you have something to redirect their attention on, like training etc then that will go a long way to getting things sorted out.

What I used to do too was to ride my bicycle with the pooch running next to it, that worked wonders for completely tiring her out.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Have exactly the same problem as you.... Finding very hard to resist this face in the mornings:


View attachment 99095

Man that is gorgeous. How old is he/she? Pitbull?

 

[IzZzy]

Man that is gorgeous. How old is he/she? Pitbull?

Posted from phone, didn't realise the picture was so big. He is a pitbull cross, about 10 months old. Found by a kind lady on the centre island of the R21 with a broken shoulder - she couldn't keep him because she stayed in a small complex.

First in class for training, and absolutely adored by my mate's 5 year old girl.

With all terriers, you need to put in 100% effort but the reward is unquantifiable. They really are the best breed. Rescue's are harder, they do not have a fixed sense that they are "home" now and will take a while to settle in. My guy only settled in after two or three months - in the meantime he destroyed every piece of furniture that had stuffing inside, right down to the other dogs beds (he conveniently left his alone )

 

[shadow_man]

Hi guys,

Dog is chasing my cats and they're becoming scared and reclusive.

I need to stop this. Would crate training be a good way of doing this or should I wait to see the behaviorist on Thursday before I consider investing in a crate.

I'm thinking a crate would be good for a) introducing cats b) stopping the anxiety issues the dog has when we leave e.g. she's in there for 30 mins, then I come back, then it increases to 40mins etc, until she's comfortable with being left alone for hours.

Thanks,

 

[ToxicBunny]

Wait to see your behaviorist ... don't go down any specific road until you've spent time with her.

**EDIT** - Maybe keep your cats inside for the time being until you've spent time with the behaviorist .

 

[shadow_man]

Thanks for all the tips guys, still seeing the behaviorist tomorrow BUT i'm seeing some positive signs.

We took the staffie to the dog park, initially on the leash - but all the other owners there were friendly and told us to take her off the leash and not stress - the dogs will sort it out themselves.

We took her off leash and she was very boisterous and rough compared to the other dogs, but ultimately fine, only one dog had to put her in her place.

We also met another owner with a puppy of similar breed + age and they played very well together. We've got a play date for tomorrow night to meet at the park and let them play again, hopefully this removes a lot of energy and helps with much needed interaction.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Good news dude.. very very good news.