Nichole Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 (edited) Hi Everyone, Ok, so last night was our first night at puppy pre-school....... My amstaff (3months) just lost it! At home he is really good, sits, stays, drops etc. But at the school with all the dogs all he wanted to do was play. He was jumping barking crying you name it. During this time the trainers told us to take him to the corner and face the other way, plus reward him when he is quiet. Funnily enough he still did all the drops and sits as he was supposed to but it went unnoticed as we were tucked in the corner When it came to play time he humped and chased the other dog and the trainers picked him up and said no more... Does anyone have any good techniques to settle him down? I am hoping this behaviour will stop! Does him playing with bigger high energy dogs not help this behaviour? A comment from one of the maltese dog owner when patting my amstaff "so here's the killer"!! What The?!...... Any opinions / help would be great! Thanks everyone Edited June 25, 2009 by Nichole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 The play time should be on lead (if your pup immediately goes to hump and chase) so that you can intervene if need be. The behaviour won't stop unless you teach the pup to stop and your instructor should be ale to help with this. You can try gently holding your puppy facing you and high value, reasonably constant rewards for calmer, quieter behaviour before and after play time. Ask your instructor to show you how to do this without always having to remove the puppy. Arrive early at class next time and quiz your instructor. If you are then not satisified that there is a plan to actively teach your pup how to engage and interact appropriately AND how to settle- start looking for another puppy school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar (AmBull) Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I have an Amstaff who is now 13 weeks and we have had the same issues. It does get much better! First class we couldn't get him to do anything he was jumping barking howling, all he wanted to do was play. We have found go armed with a whole lot of different treats. When he is calm and displaying god behaviour we say very quietly "Calm" and reward. It has worked for us, but those first few classes are a challenge. We have even had people commenting on how much he has improved over the weeks (just finished 3rd class). He is still gets excited, however we have much more control. I am unsure whether putting him in the corner is the right thing. With Oscar we would pick him up as shown to us, sort of like a time out. It really calmed him down everytime. Basically we put him in our lap with his back to the stomach and your two hands cross at the chest. So your arms go under his front legs and upto the shoulders, if that makes sense. We haven't had to do that the last couple of times as he has imporved so much. We to had the issue of shy pups with him as he is very boisterous. We are enrolled in two schools. The better school does not allow off leash time for him as he is far to big for the other dogs. However in the offleash school we have had the same humping issues. The instructer in that school has chosen to ignore it so we have taken it upon ourselves to correct him, so he knows this is behaviour we do not want. It is really upto you what you want to do, it is hard with a breed like the amstaff as many people are prejudice. It is unfair in my opinion that he is stuck in a corner during the school. I agree with Cosmolo, get there a bit earlier see what suggestions they have if they don't seem to be able to help your pup then maybe a different school is a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 See, this is one of the BIG reasons you take your dog to PPS and then on to Dog training classes - so that the dog can learn to be well behaved and follow instructions with 'distractions' - the distraction of other dogs being close to them. The more you practice, the more the dog learns that you are the leader, not them, and then the better behaved they are around other people and dogs. As puppys have NO self control, that is what you are trying to teach them. So, practice the exercises every day for 10 minutes at home, take notice of what your class teacher tells you and you WILL notice that your dog will gradually improve. It won't happen unless you make it happen and that takes perseverance, consistency and time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgieboy Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 A comment from one of the maltese dog owner when patting my amstaff "so here's the killer"!! What The?!...... Its amazing how uneducated peope can be sometimes! I've had several people say that about our Staffy and it could not be further from the truth! The only way ours will kill something is lick them to death! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nichole Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Thanks everyone for some good advice. We are going to take hima bit earlier next week to try to settle him a bit earlier. We will also limit the playtime with the over excitable boxer he plays with. Thanks NewAmstaffOwner, i thought he turned into devil dog so i am glad he is not the only one! Good to hear your boy is settling down and ihope ours can too! I suppose patience is the key there. A comment from one of the maltese dog owner when patting my amstaff "so here's the killer"!! What The?!...... Its amazing how uneducated peope can be sometimes! I've had several people say that about our Staffy and it could not be further from the truth! The only way ours will kill something is lick them to death! Exactly!... You cant look at our boy and say that... as cesar milan would say its not the breed its the deed...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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