deghj Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 love my dogs, but can't let all the years of working out how to outsmart them to go to waste! wow i needed help on the first puppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOCTRL Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 What do you need help on in particular? We have a Staffy that is now 7 months old (time is flying!) and he is the lovliest, affectionate, smart little man! He is our first Staffy and i can't say enough good things about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 No problems for me. moved from another area. used to help out with information and suggestions on my local forum but am nolonger there. Just offering a helping hand if anyone needs one :) love my staffy too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skully Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 We love our Staffy Pebbles. She's doing so well off lead and is learning so much. Only problem with her is bed time! When she was little she slept in her own bed in our room and was let up on our bed in the morning once the alarm went off. As she got bigger, we noticed she was jumping up on our bed some time after we went to sleep and worked her way up to snuggle with us by the time we woke up. Which is super cute, but not always ideal! For a while we tried to have her sleep outside our room, in her bed, with our door closed. She would cry and cry, sometimes settle down for 20 mins, half an hour, then start up again. We only ever lasted until about 3am before we had to let her in. We tried this for a couple of weeks. We ended up putting up a baby gate instead of having the door closed so she didn't feel as cut off from us....but one night she knocked it over!! So we've gone back to having her in our room, but in her bed to start off with. She's SO cheeky though, just jumps up on our bed anyway after half an hour or so. I always make her get off but then i always wake up with her at my feet (or sharing my pillow)! any tips : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal House Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) She may be cold, the floor gets a lot of drafts. Crate train her, then make sure her crate is toasty warm and comfy and have it by the bed, no more waking up to a staffy on your head. :laugh: There are a few threads with info to crate training, crate games, etc. Take your time with it though, I'm a firm believer that all pups should be crate trained, for their own benefit and yours. :D Edited February 28, 2012 by Bite Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Howdy I know exactly what you mean. Staffies are highly pack orientated and prefer to sleep inside, preferably in your room. By keeping her in your room you've said to her that that is where she is supposed to guard your pack (family) from. When you shut her out she starts trying to get to you to protect you and be part of the family I didn't mind that. As a pretty competent guard dog I wanted my staffy to sleep in my room and he has a trampoline bed there for that purpose. However, when you let her on the bed at any time you're saying that she is equal in status to you within your family and can sleep there. It's the same as letting her on the couch. I suggest you persist with removing her at all times with a firm 'no'. It will take a while to get it through to her. Also try a warm dog jacket on her. She might be getting up because she's cold. Staffies have very thin fur and feel the cold almost as much as you do. You might be warm in your quilt but she could be feeling the temperature. Don't let her on the bed or couch at any time. Also make sure you and your family eat first and then feed her. This will also indicate her place in the family. If you keep letting her on the bed she'll do it forever. If you mind having her in your room it will probably be a matter of training her not to get in the bed and when that's down slowly moving her bed every few days 30cm or so closer to the door until her bed is just outside the room. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shags Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 We have a 6.5 month old Staffy girl. She is going great and has learnt a lot, although she is a bit stubborn on when she chooses to obey??? Our biggest issue at the moment is that she is just so friendly, that she gets really excited and cant stop herself from wanting to say hello to everyone and any dog. We always have her on the lead at the moment (unless in total isolation) but this excitement is hard to stop. I presume time is the only solution here, when she realizes that people and other dogs are just a normal part of life. She gets out to all sorts of places all the time. Pretty much comes everywhere with us except work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Oh, what a sweetheart! Yep, it's a matter of waiting. You can also train her to ignore when walking. It's a bit difficult to explain without a demo but when you see a person or dog coming you can stop, get her to sit and wait, reward her when she sits and then again when the person/dog has passed. Practice at home going past a family member. This should teach her to pay attention to you above others. Alternatively, yep, it's a matter of time and conditioning her to appropriate greetings for people (eg not jumping on them) I found crossed hands with your arms pointing towards her works well if you can picture that. otherwise you'll be waiting for a number of months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 We have a 6.5 month old Staffy girl. She is going great and has learnt a lot, although she is a bit stubborn on when she chooses to obey??? Our biggest issue at the moment is that she is just so friendly, that she gets really excited and cant stop herself from wanting to say hello to everyone and any dog. We always have her on the lead at the moment (unless in total isolation) but this excitement is hard to stop. I presume time is the only solution here, when she realizes that people and other dogs are just a normal part of life. She gets out to all sorts of places all the time. Pretty much comes everywhere with us except work. hi there :) its really important to never allow her to greet another human or dog when she is in an excited state. Otherwise she thinks that her excited behavious is what gets her what she wants. You will probably need to recruit some friends and dogs you know to start off with. Have her on lead and the person or dog around (not too close) and she is only allowed to greet, or go closer once she has started displaying calm behaviour. This may take some time in the beginning and you will need to keep practicing. This sort of behaviour does not just go away, dogs need to be trained how to greet in a calm manner :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 howdy. I agree with the training part. But it will go away to some degree after time. It's important to understand this with staffies, not in the hope that it will go away on its own, but rather to give you patience when it persists for another year or so despite training. Training will help, but until she's about 2 to some degree it will persist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyLane Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Hi, any help on training my puppy not to bark at everything that moves at night would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 how old is your puppy? is it male or female? where does he sleep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyLane Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 how old is your puppy? is it male or female? where does he sleep? She is 4.5 months old, female, sleeps outside with another dog. She has only just started barking in the last 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Good morning Staffies tend to start noticing potential threats from outside your property around this time (in my experience anyway). To some degree she will settle down when she learns which ones are significant and which ones aren't. I can only speak from personal experience here so there may be a better way but what we did was get up and acknowledge the barking when it was something you would be concerned about (shouting in the street, loud odd noises, etc) check it out and then get her back on her bed/in her kennel. We ignored everything else and it took a bit of patience. I would also have a look at where she's laying. Moving her to the back of your property away from street noises, facing her kennel to a quiet area I also use a DAP spray which is a pheramone that calms dogs down. Unfortunately the most effective method is via an airwick type preparation for inside but they have recently released a spray that can be sprayed on her kennel or bedding. hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 The best method from stoppping your dog barking up a storm at night is dead easy. Sleep her inside. :) It will make the neighbours a lot happier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minimax Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 The best method from stoppping your dog barking up a storm at night is dead easy. Sleep her inside. :) It will make the neighbours a lot happier. Yet ... that doesn't teach her not to bark at things. Removing the problem doesn't solve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal House Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Staffies (as well as most breeds) like to be with their humans, and dont do to well sleeping outside away from their pack. She might be cold, why not have your dogs in the Laundry in a nice warm bed? Mine would bark at everything too, possums, birds, the wind, neighborhood cats, etc. As for "removing the problem doesn't solve it" comment, unless you are out there all night to teach her what is acceptable barking, then sleeping her indoors is the best solution. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 (edited) The best method from stoppping your dog barking up a storm at night is dead easy. Sleep her inside. :) It will make the neighbours a lot happier. Yet ... that doesn't teach her not to bark at things. Removing the problem doesn't solve it. Sure solves it for the neighbours. :) Happy neighbours don't call council or drop baits over the fence. Good luck teaching a dog not to bark... aversive collars work on some dogs but personally I prefer preventing problems to managing them. How you'd think using aversives on a pup to stop natural behaviour is preferable to preventing the issue in the first place sure beats me. I don't know a single knowledgeable Stafford person who'd tell you sleeping one outside is a good idea. Edited February 29, 2012 by Telida Whippets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 I don't think sleeping your dog in a comfortable area, removing them from busy areas, where they are unlikely to sleep well anyway and sleeping a dog in the laundray (if possible), rewarding desired behaviour and using a natural pheremone that happy dogs emit anyway are bad measures. I think they're all good ideas. What i learnt from my staffies is that what works for one may not work for another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deghj Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 and by the way...who mentioned using an aversive collar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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