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Steve
There is no doubt – a Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a powerful dog, with powerful jaws – one once specifically bred to fight other animals. So it goes without saying that – like many other powerful dogs, the potential for aggression exists.
With younger dogs it’s important to gently but firmly control aggression – from around 4 weeks, getting the dog to accept you as leader! If you do not do this, the dog may try to establish itself in a position where it sees you as the under-dog quite literally.
Now please – this training should be done as gently as is possible, I know that men in particular can be too harsh with dogs, as some of the articles I’ve posted on here on cruelty will suggest!
If you have a dog that growls at you as a pup – all that is needed is to hold the pup at your eye level and growl; until it stops growling at you! Often it may lick your nose as a sign that it has submitted!
Nothing stronger than this or some simple – Time Out in a cage or darkened room is necessary on puppies!
Once male dogs get older though – there may be another challenging period around 12 months of age or so – you might call this stage the “troublesome teenager” stage!
Here a male dog, may make another attempt to dominate you – and this may even take the form of some quite nasty sounding growling!
This can be a really difficult stage – and we’re told is the point at which many dogs are destroyed; as a result of the human fear of the dog becoming dangerous!
As I write this article – we are experiencing this phase in our first ever male Staffordshire. Up until now we have only kept females and put our bitches out to stud dogs!
Our 12 month red male has taken to some quite nasty sounding growling – whenever he’s asked to do something he does not like!
I must admit, when I first saw and heard it for myself; I was concerned that we may have to have him euthanised! But we are persisting with training him for the moment – and I will report on his progress! Needless to say, this is quite serious for us – and for him!
Through reading books on Canine Behaviour, we have established this as Dominance Aggression – a period where he’s trying to position himself as dominant over our 4 bitches – but also over us!
This is UNACCEPTABLE – and we will not permit him to continue with this behaviour!
Treatment for him at present, consists of treating him as if he does not exist for most of the time! And when we DO acknowledge him, e.g., at meal times – it is ALWAYS with some request from him to do something for us!
In other words when we feed him – we always make him DROP – before he eats and only allow him to eat – once he has done this!
Or when he omes to us for attention, he only gets the attention after he has done the Sit or something similar. The idea is to get the dog to accept your control of him – NOT the other way around!
Please be gentle – and have a heart – I am NOT asking you to be cruel!
You should already have trained him to Drop prior to this, so just get him to Drop and then say OK or whatever you normally do before he is released!
Excuse me if I’m cautious in how I explain myself, but one of our bitches came from an abusive home and I believe many owners are just too heavy handed in discipline!
Besides there are a lot of “Dropkicks” out there; who’s very small ego means that they think they need a tough dog to be complete, these types are often cruel to dogs also, believing that by fostering aggression in a dog, they’re somehow heroes!
SHEESH!
We have just started this phase of his anti-aggression training and already have begun to see some changes – but we are NOT finished yet! Stay tuned for news on his progress!
Steve
Have the puppy on the leash with the dog standing at Heel position on your Left side.
Say Stay—and step in front of your dog. Kneel down and placing 2 fingers inside the pups collar say Drop, and gently pull the pup into the dropped position, this is with the dog lying on its tummy back feet tucked under and front paws extended forward. Immediately give strong praise of Good Boy or Good Girl, but do not allow the dog to break position!
When your puppy seems steady or comfortable in the Drop position, tell him Stay – then get up and move back a little. If the dog moves say No – gently and place him back into the Dropped position. Once the dog does this praise him warmly. Repeat up to four times the first day.
Continue to practice the Drop, Stay adding it to your regular twice-a-day training routine and shuffling it in with Sit, Stay and Come.
When working indoors on the Drop you will probably not need the leash. But when used the leash may make your puppy feel training is more serious. Put it on and let it hang or hold it, whatever works for you. When you say Stay and back up, you can pick up the leash handle and take it with you.
When you practice Drop outside, the puppy must always be on leash so you are in full control. He may not want to lie down outside on the first few tries. Assist him – and then make your Stays brief until he gets used to doing this command anywhere with relative ease.
Start to increase the time of the Drop/Stay indoors. Have the Stay last five seconds, then one minute, then ten minutes. Do not break the dog because you see he is starting to get restless or starting to get up.
If he gets tired or bored, stop the training for that day and resume the next. Persist with this and you will soon have a dog that is a joy to own! For a look at a system to train you to train your dog that’s available right now – Click Here
Steve Gaskin
How to Train a Puppy to Stop Biting
Puppies love to chew and your puppy will have a natural instinct to bite everything he can reach. As his instructor you WILL need to set boundaries on what he CAN and cannot bite or chew on.
The pup MUST NOT be allowed to bite you! Puppy teeth are a sharp as needles, and can inflict real pain! Additionally the bacteria in a dogs mouth can cause infection in even minor wounds. PLUS the correct discipline here and now, will assist to prevent more serious injury later when an older dog may be able to inflict serious bite wounds!
Even a gentle dog can get overexcited when playing. If the dog has not been taught to keep his teeth off you, he can escalate gentle mouthing to a painful bite in no time!
When your puppy bites you, tell him NO or give a deep growl like a dog – they instinctively understand growling. If he does it again, repeat the process and stop him physically with your hands. Consistency is the key in all dog training.
If the dog does not listen, grasp his collar, look into his eyes and shake him and repeat the NO or growl and then roll him over onto his back into a position of submission.
If the puppy persists in spite of all these, it’s time to use the most severe punishment, which is to put him in his darkened crate or a ventilated box to cool off.
Confining your dog to his crate as a punishment is very effective – dogs enjoy the company of humans and hate isolation! If you have been clear about what the dog is being punished for, the correction will be understood and – though it may take a few visits to the crate or box, — you WILL win eventually and the dog will stop! We’ve had some problem ‘children’ that have tested us sorely!
The crate should be the most severe tool for prevention of dog problems! Do not beat the dog – no matter what you have heard, hitting the dog is cruel and unnecessary, especially since there are more effective methods.
Using the crate lets him know he cannot act in certain ways. When he’s not in the crate, keep the door open and let it remain accessible, he or she may also use it to retreat from the noise or disturbance.
In addition, to overcome the tendency to bite or mouth things (and destroy them), it’s vital that dogs are given other things that they CAN chew on. I can strongly recommend rawhide chews or a Nylabone or a large RAW bone to gnaw on – dogs love these and having them gives an outlet for the natural chewing tendency. As a bonus, it will save your furniture and other possessions too!
Steve Gaskin
Dog Training – Teaching a Dog or Puppy to Sit
Teaching a dog to sit is one of the easiest and most basic of instructions. With puppies keep your training sessions extremely short (5 minutes) and always keep it fun.
Say the pup’s name and say SIT as you move your hand under the pups chin and at the same time put the other hand down on the pups rump. Lift under the chin and push down on the rump, the head will stay put and rear end will lower into the SIT position.
When the puppy has completed this say Good Boy or Girl. Repeat 3 or 4 times – less if the pup loses interest. After a number of repetitions, the pup will start sitting without the use of hands.
Teaching an older dog to sit is almost as easy. The principle is the same – if the head goes up, the rear goes down. If the older dog won’t focus on you, leash him and get the dog’s attention. Say the dog’s name and SIT and pull up on the leash and push down on the rump with your other hand. As he starts to sit, say Good Boy or Girl.
Don’t give praise until he sits all the way. Then make a fuss and pat him briefly, then say OK or FREE to release him from the sit.
Teaching your dog when to stop sitting is almost as important as the sit itself. Gradually make the sits longer, try 20 seconds up to a minute and on to 5 minutes; until the dog really gets that sitting means sit until I release you.
Five to ten minutes a day should be all that’s required to teach your dog this one simple command, but it forms the basis of training and can completely change your relationship with your dog.
Steve Gaskin
