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Hi there,[SIZE=6.5pt][/SIZE]
I've got a "Staffordshire bull terrier", I say that, but I'm pretty convinced he's got lots of other stuff in him, He's too tall for a Staffie, and his head isn't quite the right shape. I took him from a young lad who just wanted him as a trophy dog, to make himself 'look hard'. He wasn't doing a good job of looking after him and was going out for days at a time leaving Syd (the dog) in his flat for two or three days at a time. So one day when the opportunity presented it's self (I had been dog-sitting for him a lot already) I took the dog and moved house. On the evening in question the Lad was being arrested for all sorts of nuisance-making, and was ultimately, sent to jail, so I'm not sure what would have been Syd's fate had I not 'stolen' him. The point is I know very little about Syd's history and breeding, the lad had only got Syd a few months earlier (I acquired him about 18 months ago). On one hand he had clearly been chosen by the lad because he was a 'big, intimidating' dog, on the other Syd is very friendly with people, he's a happy, playful character, he's never in the least bit aggressive towards people, even strangers that come to the house, if we had a burglar, he'd probably put the kettle on. He is very troublesome around other dogs though, if he is on a lead he makes an awful noise and pulls to get away. On a couple of occasions he's been loose and bolted for other dogs and I've had run after him and grab him. Very fortunately he's crap in a fight, he go's charging in and gets 'seen off' every time, even by much smaller dogs (he lost a fight to a Hedgehog). But I know it's not a joke, he's very strong, he just doesn't realize it. This only happened when I first got him and since then I've been VERY careful not to let him loose in public. The fact that he's in "run away" mode when on a lead and "attack mode" when loose, I think he's more concerned with protecting me, and he's actually a bit scared of other dogs. When I got him, it was just a coincidence I was moving back to the family farm, because my parents are in to their eighties now, and clearly can't manage the property themselves. So the issue of his behaviour around other dogs isn't an issue so much any more, he has room to roam within our walls and fences, and I walk him regularly on a strong lead, on country lanes. We have cats here, and over the course of 18 months he has become accustomed to them, he chased them a little at first, got his nose bloodied once, nowadays he ignores them completely, but they are still a bit cautious of him, the tend to stay on high shelves if they find themselves in the same room, but its a big property so their paths rarely cross. The point I mostly want an opinion on is Chewing, particularly on my wrists and nose, he never hurts me, it's clearly a passive thing. We were playing with a stick once, and I accidentally got my thumb in the way, so I know exactly what he would do to my face if he was being aggressive, but as I said, he never hurts when he's chewing. I'd kind of like to stop him doing it to other people, because some people panic if he starts to chew on their wrists, but I'd feel id be taking away a form of communication from him if I stopped it completely (I’m not sure even if I could train it out of him now, he's about 6 years old). Id like to know people's opinion on the chewing, is it a communication thing, or a bonding/submission/dominance thing. I've read up on Muzzle grasping, apparently that it's something senior dogs do to junior dogs, so maybe by letting him chew my nose, I'm letting him think he's top dog? He clearly knows who tells him where to go and when he eats. [SIZE=6.5pt][/SIZE]
To sum up,
What to people think of the wrist and face chewing?
Should I try to dissuade it? I think of it as 'talking with his teeth'.
Could I stop him doing it to guests?
and, will I ever get him to behave better around dogs?
People have said things like 'it's in his breed, you'll never get that out of him' but I disagree. I think any breed (or mongrel) of dog can potentially be trained to behave around other dogs and animals. And should I neuter him, I think at his age it might be a bit cruel, and I've heard it can mace some breeds of dog develop fatty lumps and tumors. Syd is currently very fit and healthy and very strong. He weighs 25 kgs, without and ounce of fat, he eats 1 meal per day of tinned meat and 1 meal of complete dried food. As I said he's Mongrel/Staff, his torso is large male Staff-size, his legs are just a bit too long, making him taller than he 'should' be, and staffies have 'flat' or 'rugby ball' shaped heads, which he sort-of has, but not as pronounced. Some people have suggested he may be a Pit, but Iv'e shown him to police and a vet and neither were concerned. The vet thinks he's mostly staff with a boxer somewhere in his ancestry.
I've got a "Staffordshire bull terrier", I say that, but I'm pretty convinced he's got lots of other stuff in him, He's too tall for a Staffie, and his head isn't quite the right shape. I took him from a young lad who just wanted him as a trophy dog, to make himself 'look hard'. He wasn't doing a good job of looking after him and was going out for days at a time leaving Syd (the dog) in his flat for two or three days at a time. So one day when the opportunity presented it's self (I had been dog-sitting for him a lot already) I took the dog and moved house. On the evening in question the Lad was being arrested for all sorts of nuisance-making, and was ultimately, sent to jail, so I'm not sure what would have been Syd's fate had I not 'stolen' him. The point is I know very little about Syd's history and breeding, the lad had only got Syd a few months earlier (I acquired him about 18 months ago). On one hand he had clearly been chosen by the lad because he was a 'big, intimidating' dog, on the other Syd is very friendly with people, he's a happy, playful character, he's never in the least bit aggressive towards people, even strangers that come to the house, if we had a burglar, he'd probably put the kettle on. He is very troublesome around other dogs though, if he is on a lead he makes an awful noise and pulls to get away. On a couple of occasions he's been loose and bolted for other dogs and I've had run after him and grab him. Very fortunately he's crap in a fight, he go's charging in and gets 'seen off' every time, even by much smaller dogs (he lost a fight to a Hedgehog). But I know it's not a joke, he's very strong, he just doesn't realize it. This only happened when I first got him and since then I've been VERY careful not to let him loose in public. The fact that he's in "run away" mode when on a lead and "attack mode" when loose, I think he's more concerned with protecting me, and he's actually a bit scared of other dogs. When I got him, it was just a coincidence I was moving back to the family farm, because my parents are in to their eighties now, and clearly can't manage the property themselves. So the issue of his behaviour around other dogs isn't an issue so much any more, he has room to roam within our walls and fences, and I walk him regularly on a strong lead, on country lanes. We have cats here, and over the course of 18 months he has become accustomed to them, he chased them a little at first, got his nose bloodied once, nowadays he ignores them completely, but they are still a bit cautious of him, the tend to stay on high shelves if they find themselves in the same room, but its a big property so their paths rarely cross. The point I mostly want an opinion on is Chewing, particularly on my wrists and nose, he never hurts me, it's clearly a passive thing. We were playing with a stick once, and I accidentally got my thumb in the way, so I know exactly what he would do to my face if he was being aggressive, but as I said, he never hurts when he's chewing. I'd kind of like to stop him doing it to other people, because some people panic if he starts to chew on their wrists, but I'd feel id be taking away a form of communication from him if I stopped it completely (I’m not sure even if I could train it out of him now, he's about 6 years old). Id like to know people's opinion on the chewing, is it a communication thing, or a bonding/submission/dominance thing. I've read up on Muzzle grasping, apparently that it's something senior dogs do to junior dogs, so maybe by letting him chew my nose, I'm letting him think he's top dog? He clearly knows who tells him where to go and when he eats. [SIZE=6.5pt][/SIZE]
To sum up,
What to people think of the wrist and face chewing?
Should I try to dissuade it? I think of it as 'talking with his teeth'.
Could I stop him doing it to guests?
and, will I ever get him to behave better around dogs?
People have said things like 'it's in his breed, you'll never get that out of him' but I disagree. I think any breed (or mongrel) of dog can potentially be trained to behave around other dogs and animals. And should I neuter him, I think at his age it might be a bit cruel, and I've heard it can mace some breeds of dog develop fatty lumps and tumors. Syd is currently very fit and healthy and very strong. He weighs 25 kgs, without and ounce of fat, he eats 1 meal per day of tinned meat and 1 meal of complete dried food. As I said he's Mongrel/Staff, his torso is large male Staff-size, his legs are just a bit too long, making him taller than he 'should' be, and staffies have 'flat' or 'rugby ball' shaped heads, which he sort-of has, but not as pronounced. Some people have suggested he may be a Pit, but Iv'e shown him to police and a vet and neither were concerned. The vet thinks he's mostly staff with a boxer somewhere in his ancestry.
