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An Anxious Staffy - Looking For Advice


scolly
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we have a beautiful 2 year old staffy girl that we have had for a year.Unfortunately,we don't know her history for the first year of her life. Generally,she is very well behaved,affectioned and loves to hang out with us;however,every now and again when she urinates inside because it is raining outside and we gently reprimand her using our voice she runs and jumps on our bed and starts shaking/trembling.Is that normal behaviour in staffords??

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we have a beautiful 2 year old staffy girl that we have had for a year.Unfortunately,we don't know her history for the first year of her life. Generally,she is very well behaved,affectioned and loves to hang out with us;however,every now and again when she urinates inside because it is raining outside and we gently reprimand her using our voice she runs and jumps on our bed and starts shaking/trembling.Is that normal behaviour in staffords??

Don't know about staffs but it does not sound normal. Considering you don't know her history it is possible she has been mistreated. The old method of rubbing a dogs nose in its 'mess' is unfortunately still used by some ;)

When you discipline her for other mistakes how does she react? Is it only after she urinates in the house that she reacts this way?

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every now and again when she urinates inside because it is raining outside and we gently reprimand her using our voice

Why reprimand her? You do understand that she doesn't KNOW what she's done wrong, all she knows is you're telling her off. It's possible that in the past she has learned to associate a puddle on the floor and an ''angry'' owner with serious punishment, but she won't have figured out that peeing outside in the rain is the way to avoid it.

And you do know that Staffords are made out of cotton candy don't you - they MELT if they go out in the rain ;)

Stop reprimanding her for something she has no control over - much better to get a newspaper, roll it up and smack yourself over the head while saying " I know my dog doesn't like to go and pee in the rain so why did I allow her free access to the house while it was raining and when I didn't know if she'd peed or not"

To get her to pee in the rain, you may need to train her to pee on command and you may even need to allow her an undercover area (carport for example) where she is allowed to pee if you take her there and give her the command to pee.

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Don't know about staffs but it does not sound normal. Considering you don't know her history it is possible she has been mistreated.

And just as possible that she wasn't mistreated, but may just be a nervy, badly-bred dog.

Her behaviour now is mostly due to her current management, and so that is what needs to be changed.

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And just as possible that she wasn't mistreated, but may just be a nervy, badly-bred dog.

Her behaviour now is mostly due to her current management, and so that is what needs to be changed.

Indeed ;) Dogs are not all born solid and well-adjusted .

My recommendation is to enlist the help of a professional - who can observe the behaviour- then explain it to you, and give you some management help ;)

Edited by persephone
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My Dally hates going outside to toilet in the rain but is much happier if he is wearing his waterproof coat. Of course he doesn't mind going for a long walk in the rain! Agree with what others have said about the pointlessness of reprimanding. Treats can help reinforce the behaviour you want as well.

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Don't know about staffs but it does not sound normal. Considering you don't know her history it is possible she has been mistreated.

And just as possible that she wasn't mistreated, but may just be a nervy, badly-bred dog.

Her behaviour now is mostly due to her current management, and so that is what needs to be changed.

Hence the use of the word possible.

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My dog is not nervy, nor weak tempered, but she is very sensitive to reprimand. As a 12 week old puppy, I caught her weeing in my room, said "uh uh" and went to pick her up, she screamed her little head off! She's a confident dog in general but does not like it when we are not pleased about something.

Is it possible that although you say it was a gentle reprimand, you use very strong body language or tone of voice?

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One of my dogs didn't like to toilet outside when it was wet, either. I put it on cue and gave him treats when he did it. It just meant standing out in the rain under an umbrella with him on leash until he went until he got the idea. Now he happily scratches at the door to be let out to toilet even when it's raining.

Whether it's normal or not is beside the point. It's what you've got, so that's what you've got to deal with. If reprimanding her upsets her that much then don't do it. You don't have to. I hardly ever reprimand either of my dogs. They get rewaraded for behaviour I like instead.

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Maybe irrelevant would be a better word than possible? Speculating on an unknown history doesn't assist in solving the problem.

I disagree irrelevant would not be a better word. I believe being open to all possible scenarios gives a greater understanding and better chance for solving this problem. In the world of both animal and humans medicine, history gives you 90% of the answer to any presenting problem. If history is unknown all possible scenarios are considered.

Scolly a professional would be of help in this scenario. As everyone has said prevention is better then cure. Spend time teaching her a word that she can associate with going to the toilet, such as "quick" or "toilet". Then take her out in the rain frequently, that way you can avoid the problem.

Best of luck!

Edited by cmkelpie
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Don't know about staffs but it does not sound normal. Considering you don't know her history it is possible she has been mistreated.

And just as possible that she wasn't mistreated, but may just be a nervy, badly-bred dog.

Her behaviour now is mostly due to her current management, and so that is what needs to be changed.

It might be none of the above either.

I have one who is very well bred, plenty of drive and balls of steal to go with it. She won;t take two steps off the back verandah to toilet when it's raining and given a chance she'll go in the house too, rather than get her percious feet wet. :heart:

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Scolly a professional would be of help in this scenario.

How? Assuming the bitch doesn't react the same way in other circumstances it's obvious the trigger is her owner telling her off for something when they shouldn't be and they should stop doing it.

A dog behaviour professional isn't required, a human behaviour professional? - Maybe :heart:

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People might be more open to the very real possibility that a dog might have a genetic or inherent temperament fault if people weren't so quick to suggest 'mistreatment' every time a dog of unknown history displays a behavioural problem.

Whether a dog's past history is known or unknown doesn't really affect the chances of owners being able to fix this type of toilet problem. The dog needs a new routine in this home.

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Scolly a professional would be of help in this scenario.

How? Assuming the bitch doesn't react the same way in other circumstances it's obvious the trigger is her owner telling her off for something when they shouldn't be and they should stop doing it.

A dog behaviour professional isn't required, a human behaviour professional? - Maybe :heart:

A professional trainer would be able to help Scolly change his or her approach/training methods, to get a better response from the dog. In all areas of their training not just the issue at hand. You are of course aware that they train the owner as much as the dog right?

Scolly still has not confirmed if this is the only circumstances. Better not to assume.

Edited by cmkelpie
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Don't know about staffs but it does not sound normal. Considering you don't know her history it is possible she has been mistreated.

And just as possible that she wasn't mistreated, but may just be a nervy, badly-bred dog.

Her behaviour now is mostly due to her current management, and so that is what needs to be changed.

It might be none of the above either.

I have one who is very well bred, plenty of drive and balls of steal to go with it. She won;t take two steps off the back verandah to toilet when it's raining and given a chance she'll go in the house too, rather than get her percious feet wet. :heart:

I was talking about the dog's OTT response (shaking, slow recovery) to (mild?) verbal reprimand, rather than its unwillingness to get its feet wet. Preciousness isn't a behaviour fault is it? I'm in trouble here if it is. :cheer:

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A professional trainer would be able to help Scolly change his or her approach/training methods,

So is it behaviouralist or trainer you're talking about - two different things.

But IF this reaction only manifests in these circumstances what is there to train??????????????

People are putting the cart way in front of the horse here assuming there IS a bigger problem (or even a problem at all, really :heart: )

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A professional trainer would be able to help Scolly change his or her approach/training methods,

So is it behaviouralist or trainer you're talking about - two different things.

But IF this reaction only manifests in these circumstances what is there to train??????????????

People are putting the cart way in front of the horse here assuming there IS a bigger problem (or even a problem at all, really :heart: )

I only ever used the word professional and trainer, it was you that used the word behaviouralist.

All it may take is the owner persevering with training pup to toiled on command and then stand outside in the rain with it. But once again as I have said all along a professional could help.

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Hi and thank you for your advice.we don't yell at her as we know she doesn't know what she has done.Its more a surprise at having found the puddle and if she is in ear shot she runs to the bed and we find her shaking.When we first got her we spent a lot of time training her to sit,walk on a lead etc and go outside and "make the wee" which she does.She has improved greatly and there have been just a couple of accidents since .The back door is always open. She is not a nervy dog and is very friendly,she is not scared of men, women or teenagers. On a couple of occasions we have found her in the outside laundry trembling,I think when my two adult chidren were being silly with each other not her, she takes herself there,we don't send any dog there. we use positive reinforcement not fear. I know staffords like to please their owners and thought it could be linked to that.Don't know??

I will look into it further. It's not nice to watch.

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