Staffordshire Bull Terrier With Some Issues!

[JustUs]

Hi everyone,

We have been using this site for so many answers since bringing Dexter home 3 weeks ago, but have another couple of issues and spent hours trawling the site and haven't really found the answers we need.

So if all puppy experts wanna give their opinion that would be great, should add that we start at the local obedience school this Saturday morning so hopefully that will help also.

Before I start listing his problems I just want to assure everyone that we totally adore him, and he was probably a little spoiled so maybe that is to blame a bit, and he has also picked up so many great habits and is really adorable, has crate trained with no probs, is as close to toilet trained as a 14 week old puppy can be ( ie no accidents but we are very vigilant and take him out on a very regular basis so not sure if he is trained or just doesn't have a chance to make a mistake)

The biggest worry is that even though he seems to adore us, it's on his terms (when he wants a snuggle or when there is nothing more interesting to do/see/smell), where as we were expecting him to always want to be right there with us. For example he was left outside earlier as he wouldn't sit before he was allowed to enter, and he cried his little heart out. But then when I went outside, he was happy but after a little pat just went of and totally ignored me! We all feel a little unloved

The other thing that concerns us is his recall or well lack of, will come if it suits or if we have a tasty treat (and he is totally fussy on what his treat should be). We are planning on buying a retractable lead today and cook some more chicken breast and just practise for ages.....is this along the right track?

Also with feeding him, he seems to be losing weight and some days is a total piggy, then other days will pick a little and be fussy and go without.......any ideas?

And the last in the list (for now) is how totally stubborn the little sh1te can be, like earlier today, he refused flat out to sit before coming inside and ended up outside for about an hour before he would sit, what is up with that? He has sat before entering since a day or two after coming home and then just decides out of the blue that he doesn't like that rule now

Just to add with the recall thing he hasn't been growled at for not coming, so thats not the reason for his refusal.

Sorry about the epic essay but we really really want to do the right thing with him and so love him already that we don't want to stuff him up

Thanks in advance for any advice ;)

Edited August 13, 2009 by jaxxie

[Sandra777]

The biggest worry is that even though he seems to adore us, it's on his terms (when he wants a snuggle or when there is nothing more interesting to do/see/smell), where as we were expecting him to always want to be right there with us. For example he was left outside earlier as he wouldn't sit before he was allowed to enter, and he cried his little heart out. But then when I went outside, he was happy but after a little pat just went of and totally ignored me! We all feel a little unloved ;)

What do YOU have to offer him that's better than whatever he can smell and investigate outside. He's learning about his world, in ways that interest a dog - smelling, chewing, licking etc.

He is also entering a phase in his life where he will become more independent - for goodness sake encourage this or you will end up with a dog which is incapable of independent acting (thinking), totally clingy and lacking in personality.

He needs room to develop as an individual - and I don't mean that in a "he needs to go find himself" new age sort of way either! Let him explore and do what he likes (within the rules) and encourage him to spend time away from you, interacting independently with his toys and the world - well the world within the back yard anyway

The other thing that concerns us is his recall or well lack of, will come if it suits or if we have a tasty treat (and he is totally fussy on what his treat should be). We are planning on buying a retractable lead today and cook some more chicken breast and just practise for ages.....is this along the right track?

Don't practice "for ages" He is a baby with a very short attention span. Don't expect his recall to be 100% until he's at least 8 or 9 months old. Practice in different places and always make it fun to come to you. Perfectly normal that he only comes when you have a really good treat otherwise, as said above...What do YOU have to offer him that's better than whatever he can smell and investigate outside. Blind obedience is not something SBTs know very much about.

Also with feeding him, he seems to be losing weight and some days is a total piggy, then other days will pick a little and be fussy and go without.......any ideas?

Normal. He is changing from a fat little baby to a leggy teenager, he will change shape, appear to loose weight and change his eating habits. Make sure you enforce the "go without" - 15 minutes to eat then nothing until the next meal time.

And the last in the list (for now) is how totally stubborn the little sh1te can be, like earlier today, he refused flat out to sit before coming inside and ended up outside for about an hour before he would sit, what is up with that? He has sat before entering since a day or two after coming home and then just decides out of the blue that he soesn't like that rule now

Normal. He's trying you on. If you want him to sit before coming inside just keep on enforcing the rules - but don't call him, expect him to sit and if he doesn't leave him to it because what you are teaching him there is, come here, if you want to stay outside and do fun stuff don't sit. If you WANT him inside, call him, enforce the sit then bring him in. If he refuses to sit, make it happen, bring him inside and put him in his crate. If he comes to the door and you think he wants inside but he refuses to sit, don't leave him out because what he's learning is, if I come to the door someone comes to see me, then I can go and do what I like.

[JustUs]

Thanks heaps for the info Sandra, was starting to think we had a broken Stafford! I really thought they were a little more like velcro, but yes you are right having him being independant is a good thing and he really is still a sooky lala but only when he want's to be.

When you say what have we got to offer thats better than whatever else he is interested in, I am assuming that means the tasty treats and lots of pats, yes? have those in plenty but as you say the world of our yard is really interesting! And he does listen better inside so I guess it's just that he is intested in other things.

Edited August 13, 2009 by jaxxie

[Sandra777]

I really thought they were a little more like velcro,

I've never found Staffs to be particularly velcro dogs - not compared with the collie types for example - unless you have something of interest to them, or there's no sunny patch to sleep in.

he really is still a sooky lala but only when he want's to be.

Get used to it - the dogs never grow out of being sooky lala's

When you say what have we got to offer thats better than whatever else he is interested in, I am assuming that means the tasty treats and lots of pats, yes? have those in plenty but as you say the world of our yard is really interesting! And he does listen better inside so I guess it's just that he is intested in other things.

Not necessarily - treats are a tool not an end in itself. At some point you need to get him to obey just because you say so, not because you have treats. Hopefully the instructor at obedience will be able to help you sort out the line between "treat" and "bribe"

He has to develop enough of an interest in the rest of the world to be able to occupy himself, but at the same time you have to keep control of the very best resources - so start thinking about things like really great toys that only come out when you choose, walks are an obvious one (only happen when you're there), and don't fall into the trap of cuddling him when he wants - insist on being able to cuddle him when you want - and if he comes begging for cuddles or pats don't always give them to him without him doing something for you first (sit, play dead, whatever). You control the stuff in life that he really wants (to a degree, it doesn't have to be a prison camp!) but you have to figure out what really gets him going, they're all different.

[Aidan]

I think all your concerns can be answered with this one line - he's 14 weeks old! He's not going to do anything reliably for a little while, and in a few weeks you'll probably notice he will forget what little he already knows for a couple of weeks too!

[APBT]

if he wont sit at the door before you open it, then simply dont let him in.

But have you trained him to sit yet?

Also dont let him be fussy with his food, if he wont eat it then take it away and give it back next meal time.

i wouldent waste my money on teh retractable lead, a long rope would work much better and much harder to break.

I would never use a retractable lead on a bully breed.

[poodlefan]

I think all your concerns can be answered with this one line - he's 14 weeks old! He's not going to do anything reliably for a little while, and in a few weeks you'll probably notice he will forget what little he already knows for a couple of weeks too!

What Aidan said.

He's a puppy. And a very young one at that. He doesn't have "issues", he has the attention span of a gnat.

I'd strongly recommend you book in for some training with him. In addition to getting some skills for yourself, you'll probably get a lot of reassurance that what you are seeing is perfectly normal puppy behaviour, not "issues".

[Aidan]

i wouldent waste my money on teh retractable lead, a long rope would work much better and much harder to break.

I don't like retractable leads either, but if you've ever had a strong dog take off while you're holding a rope you'll never use a rope again. A good quality tracking leash is much safer (and you can use it for tracking too).

[tdierikx]

Agree pretty much with what everyone else has offered here...

With the feeding thing though - I have had a few foster pups who have done the exact same thing, will eat voraciously for a few days, then appear to have no appetite at all for a few days - this seems to coincide with the growth spurts they are going through - eat like a little piggy when they are in a "filling out" stage, and picky when they are in an "upward growth" stage. Unless you see you baby getting underweight for his age/breed standard, then I wouldn't worry overly much about it, OK?

You baby sounds like he's going to a perfectly fine canine citizen - keep up the good work!

T.

[poodlefan]

i wouldent waste my money on teh retractable lead, a long rope would work much better and much harder to break.

I don't like retractable leads either, but if you've ever had a strong dog take off while you're holding a rope you'll never use a rope again. A good quality tracking leash is much safer (and you can use it for tracking too).

Cotton lunge lines are good too.

[JustUs]

OK thanks for the advice and maybe I shouldnt have used the word issues, but was just a word. Something very strange happened late yesterday arvo and he is now acting exactly as I thought a puppy would!! Much to my horror, our daughter let his leash go this morning and he rushed out just onto the road but then to our delight he actually turned around when we called him and came running back with his tail wagging

We have already booked in for obedience school, starting tomorrow so yes hoping that will help us with some extra info.

And in regards to not sitting before entering the house, of course we had trained him to do that before expecting him to do it :D and I did exactly as you suggested and left him out untill he did as he was asked.

Food wise he is now eating really well again and we have also just purchased some Royal Canine as I am not all that impressed with the food he was on.

Thank you so much for the vote of confidence tdierikx, really appreciate it.

I think I must have sounded a little dumb in my original post by some of the replies but it was just hard to try to compress what I was trying to say down so that it wasnt an even bigger post than it was.

Anyway thanks again everyone, our whole family is really appreciating all the clever and informed information because as new dog people, there is only so much reading you can do before it becomes totally confusing

[poodlefan]

OK thanks for the advice and maybe I shouldnt have used the word issues, but was just a word. Something very strange happened late yesterday arvo and he is now acting exactly as I thought a puppy would!! Much to my horror, our daughter let his leash go this morning and he rushed out just onto the road but then to our delight he actually turned around when we called him and came running back with his tail wagging

I hope you've taken steps to stop that happening again.. all it takes is a split second and I shudder to think what might happen if your daughter gave chase. :D

Edited August 14, 2009 by poodlefan

[JustUs]

Yep Poodlefan of course we have, if it makes you shudder imagine how much shuddering was going on at our house!!

[poodlefan]

Yep Poodlefan of course we have, if it makes you shudder imagine how much shuddering was going on at our house!!

Probably all happened in slow motion and your heart rate went through the roof.

[JustUs]

Yep it was really horrible, but we were also so proud of our gorgeous boy for coming straight back, if it had of happened yesterday morning it would have been very different.

We actually went down to petstock and got him a harness as he kept tangling in the lead and she was trying to undo him when he got away, and the harness is awesome as he isnt pulling at all now when he walks.

[poodlefan]

Yep it was really horrible, but we were also so proud of our gorgeous boy for coming straight back, if it had of happened yesterday morning it would have been very different.

We actually went down to petstock and got him a harness as he kept tangling in the lead and she was trying to undo him when he got away, and the harness is awesome as he isnt pulling at all now when he walks.

If you don't insist on no pressure on it, he will be soon enough.. it's probably still creating a bit of discomfort so he won't pull. Stand by for a change of attitude once he gets used to it. They use harnesses on sled dogs for a reason.

[Sandra777]

We actually went down to petstock and got him a harness as he kept tangling in the lead and she was trying to undo him when he got away, and the harness is awesome as he isnt pulling at all now when he walks.

Unless it's a purpose-made "anti pull" harness (which has no place on a puppy anyway IMO) it's not going to help - Staffords LOVE to pull if given half a chance and a harness will just encourage this. Have you got info from the breeder in his puppy pack on teaching him to walk nicely on a flat collar and lead?

[JustUs]

Hi again Sandra,

Thanks for taking the time to reply again, nope it's not anti pull just a standard type I think, the petstock guy showed us all the diff types and this seemed to suit him best, he also showed heaps of others that we could use later if needed but hopefully we wont need to. Nope no info about just using the collar and lead and he was crazy pulling but with this as it hold all his mid section (if you know what I mean) he was just trotting along beautifully beside us and responding to heal instead of just choking himself.

Also took your advice and got some special toys to play with only with us and he loves it, as soon as they come down he wants to play, but he has been really fantastic since yesterday with wanting to play and coming to us and even more independant and staying out in the lovely sunshine on his own instead of sooking as soon as we come inside.

[poodlefan]

How much onlead walking is he doing Jaxxie - it's easy to overdo it with the youngsters.

[JustUs]

Not much Poodlefan...........we drive down the street then get out for a little walk and then onto Gloria Jeans for coffee and lots of interaction with people, he is creating quite a stir as he really is a little gorgeous honey.

So in saying not much, I guess the actual walk would be 15 mins tops and its just strolling around the CBD but I so cant wait till he is old enough to walk with me, the rest of the family and Dexter drove home today while I walked on my own and I was so jealous of all the other dog owners out walking. I want my big boy