Please help my dog is such a pain in the butt!

[Alchiepoo135]

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I've had him about 4 months, he's a 16 month old blue staffy x pitbull. He's so loving and cuddly and amazing with the kids and soo happy, BUT he can be such a pain in the butt!

He chews up all the kids little toys, it doesn't matter how much we smack his bum or shout at him, he knows he's not allowed as he hides when he does it, but he just doesn't quit.

He still nips hands, I thought it was a puppy phase but he even tries it with the kids now. And again I shout and smack his bum, but he doesn't learn

Last but not least, he drags me down the road, he pulls so hard on the lead. I dread taking him for walks!

Help me! This is my first dog and he's harder than the children, terrible 2's?!

 

[Raven oaktree]

Please stop smacking him. does he have plenty of exercise? has he got toys of his own that keep him occupied?..things to chew on?..antlers, kongs etc

 

[Alchiepoo135]

My neighbour has a staffy too, and he said the best way to train a dog is to wack him. He said you can tell him a million times no and get nowhere, or smack him. I don't do it hard, I'm only 5'3 7 and a half stone, and I don't put much force behind it! I've bought him loads of toys, he just breaks them and eats them, he chews up toys, toilet paper, paper. Anything he can get his hands on really. He's outside so most of the day. I don't see what I'm doing wrong. He's as bad as the children.

 

[Raven oaktree]

Honestly..whacking your dog is not good. There are a million ways to teach your dog to behave and hitting them is not the way..you have said your self its not working and as a parent of 4 , a fostercarer for over 12 years, with a degree in social work specializing in behaviour management I can.assure you it doesn't work for children.either otherwise why would you have to keep hitting them for the same reasons?. Ive also worked in rescue for years and now I have left the rat race and manage a smallholding .i have to work with large potentially dangerous animals and trust me.. you will only teach an animal to either be very afraid of you or to bite you back really hard..those are the only lessons you will ever teach a dog from.smacking it. I feel really sorry for you that this is your first dog and the only advice you have had is that ..

Dogs are fab animals but they need to be taught what is good and what isnt, mostly they will work for treats which is fab because they will quickly learn if they do good they get a sweetie

First things first i would crate train the dog so that you can leave him in a safe place when you cant supervise him

http://thedogtrainingsecret.com/crate-training/Crate-Training-An-Older-Dog/

Crate training him will mean it will take some of your stress away because when you cant watch him 24/7 ..and lets be honest no one can watch their dog all the time..he wont be getting up to mischief or eating things that will do alot of damage to him.Little plastic toys can cause an obstruction in his bowel and possibly even kill him ..kids toys have batteries in which will also kill him so its important if you cant watch him to put him somewhere safe. Teach the kids tidy up time..when they have finished playing anything they dont want eaten needs to be put away. This goes for food too. There is loads of food that kids have that is very toxic to dogs, chocolate, chewing gum, rasins, grapes..you will be able to find a list of toxic food online hun

Dogs dont just know how tto behave, they need to be taught..this goes for things like walking on the lead too. The people that had him before you have obviously not taught him how to walk on a loose lead so its going to be down to you im afraid . Will you be able to walk your dog without you kids being around for now?..just till you teach him how to walk well?

http://www.battersea.org.uk/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=00Pb0000007Kx5lEAC

Maybe have a look if there are any good dog classes in your area..they are not expensive ..usually between 5-7 quid a session, but honestly well worth it, especially for a first time owner. they will show you how to each him he basic things as the prievious owners obviously didnt...You are gonna have your work cut out im afraid, bu it sounds like if you are willing to do he work you are going to have a fantastic dog and friend for a long time...but please..stop hitting him this is honestly not the way. If he has started snapping at hands he is already learning hands bring bad things...train him with treats and teach him hands bring good things / The other thing i would suggest is find a staffy rescue and ring them for advice. Usually breed specific rescues give fab advice because they want to prevent dogs coming into rescue..they usually have a behaviourist on board than you can get advice from too. We have a german shepherd cross who is a monster!! well, she is really clever , learns everything really quickly but you have to watch her like a hawk because she will get into everything and anything. She also started attacking my lovely old dog. We now know its because she was hand reared and dosent understand calming signals given off by other dogs because she was never with her mum to learn this doggy language..so she is being taught how to behave and how not to behave, but its a slow process and anything you do with this boy will need you to be committed and need you to work hard with him..but it will be worth it in the end

 

[goldenbear2013]

Fantastic advice from Ravenoaktree, and I cannot believe someone told you the only way the dog will learn is by hitting them.....I mean MY GOD!!!!

You will create fear in your dog and then he wont learn at all.

You poor thing you must be so stressed!

With the cross breed you have positive reinforcement is the only way to go, as smacking him could get to the point where he will retaliate through fear and that means him biting you or god forbid your children!

Staffies and pitbulls have super strong jaws and if they bite down then you are not getting him off! and then he will have to be put down and none of us want that for you!

Take everything Ravenoaktree said on board and keep going.

Your puppy is a teenager and testing boundaries. One minute a lovely dog and the next satan in a fur coat! it's horrible and so so stressful but you must teach him who is boss before something bad happens, or you end up rehoming him because you cant cope.

If he nips at your hands, walk away into the other room and ignore him. This will teach him that that kind of behavior means he gets no attention and no dog in the world likes being ignored!

Also I will add is don't leave him outside. I would put money on the fact that your dog is bored and when he does finally get to interact with you his excitement level boils over and that's when he becomes out of control.

Plus Staffies are renowned for separation anxiety so leaving him outside is a no no in my book (others may not agree with me but I have had a staffie in the past)

You need to put a hell of a lot of time in with your dog, and with children it can be challenging. try and incorporate the training with your children. this will also mean the dog learns that the children are the boss of him as well, not just you.

You can even take your children with you to the puppy/obedience classes. It will be fun for them too and great family thing so you all bond better with your dog.

The breed that you have are truly wonderful breeds (I don't care what people say, the owner makes the dog who it is he is not born that way!), who will adore you, and obey you and protect you until their last breath. They are highly intelligent and just love to be loved!

On the flip side, you do not train your dog to learn who is boss (this applies to ANY breed) he will walk all over you.... simple as that!

I could go on but Ravenoaktree has said everything else I would say.

I wish you the best of luck, keep us posted and keep posting on here if you need anything more advice!

Sophie x

 

[eingana]

I'm with others I'm afraid. Smacking doesn't tell him anything that he's doing wrong unless he associates the chewing with the smack. If he doesn't then you're just hurting your hand for no reason other than making him confused and possibly afraid of you. The way to go is to teach him what 'no' means, along with 'drop', 'trade' and 'leave', and make sure that he's rewarded for doing them when you ask him to.

Another mistake that you seem to be making is believing that being outside is the same as getting exercise, but I'm afraid it's not. Going out for a proper walk is mentally challenging and gives structured exercise too. Walking on a lead is a learned skill and it appears that he hasn't learned how to do it yet (there are lots of ways to teach this BTW, and I recommend choosing one method and then sticking with it as chopping and changing will only confuse him). My dog weighs 45kg and I have 2 knackered knees, one gammy arm, a degenerative spinal condition and a walking stick, yet she has never pulled me painfully when out walking- it's all in the practice.

Raven oaktree and goldenbear are on the same wavelenth as me with loads of the behaviour management stuff- if you don't manage your dog's behaviour and teach him what you want from him then he's not going to understand it innately. You can yell 'sit' at a dog all you want, but if he doesn't know what action you want from him as a result then it's all pretty pointless and you'll just get hoarse from yelling.

Start at the beginning with training and don't leave out any steps. It will take a lot of time, but if he's only 2 then you've got a lot of years to live with him with all of his new knowledge, enjoying life together as a happy family.

Good luck

 

[Chatterdog]

I agree with above. Smacking a dog won't work, especially with a powerful breed like that as they will not feel it once 'in the zone'.

Not sure if I read it above but have you tried some classes like agility? This would stimulate the mind as well as the body, a total workout. Also regular training in the house, tricks etc, you can also get the kids involved this way he will learn to respect them.

A friend once told me 3 R's - Routine, repetition and respect. It's difficult at times owning a dog but be persistent, it will pay off.

Good Luck.

 

[sally-and-flo]

I agree whacking isn't constructive. have you tried the brain teaser type toys? the treat puzzle balls and so forth? they are pretty strong and durable and they do occupy their mind and tire them out they are only a few pounds on Amazon and so such. With regard to pulling you have my sympathy Flo was so bad it nearly put me off walking her but i got a gencon headcollar and it has helped so much she is totally in control now and no more shoulder separating sprints through the park for me

 

[gypsysmum]

Turn over a new leaf and try teaching your dog to do things for a reward.

Make sure he is on a good quality diet (not Bakers) like Burns or James Wellbeloved.

Give him lots of exercise and lots of down time to rest away from the children.

Paying attention to him when he is being good and ignoring him when he is bad will turn him around but you do need to persevere. He will be even naughtier to start with. That is a good sign because he will not like being ignored. He will soon learn that being good is the way to get attention. It will be hard in a busy household to notice when he is being good but do try.

See if you can get a book called The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey. it is just a small book but full of great advice.