My name is Ben and i am currently in a situation where i am unsure what exactly i can do with a much loved but worrying dog. I will try and explain asmuch as possible so i do apologies in advance if this ends up being a long read.
I own a cross breed staff/border collie mix. She is just over 1 year old and while very loving has recently become exceedingly aggressive and its become a serious concern due to having 2 children around the age of 10 in the house. She is a beautiful dog so when young alot of people would come and give her attention, initially socialising was very easy on her and she would excitedly be happy to meet strangers until one day she just suddenly became wary when one particular woman wanted to say hello (another dog owner). On the side of other dogs, from the earliest she's ever seen another she has always been rather aggressive, never letting any others close to her in parks and being very aggressive to those smaller than her, this initially we understand was anxiety but taking her attention away etc never helped. She would be focused, there was never any hard chain pulling etc, she'd stand her ground until they went away. At the time she was tiny being a early summer pup but she never changed in this regard. (I personally dont believe the whole "staffys dont like other dogs" quote i hear often, as have seen plenty socialise fine so try as we might, she still never would let one near her in dog parks etc).
She's always had a very strong alpha streak, constantly dominating her toys and being generally very staffy in some stubborn ways but constant and strict training meant that she was also very obedient, had a wide variety of "tricks" and learnt at an early age what was acceptable with her "mouthing" at others, especially around the children. One thing i personally felt is the person we bought her from, while their house was well kept and the mother was very calm (the pups were fathered by a family members dog outside the home who we never met) they lied about the pups age and we got her a good 2-3 weeks earlier than she should of been. The problem was the seller was having (or claimed to) issue with a parent in hospital so not only was difficult to get hold of anyway but it felt like once we got her, we were left to it.
Within the last 2-3 months she has changed drastically. She currently isnt in heat, she eats well and is very active but she has taken to become very aggressive at anything and everything outside the home. We initially thought this may be anxiety issues and have been doing more training (positive touching and re-enforcement) and calming techniques and using special calming collars etc to no effect.
There has been a large outside influence recently. We have new neighbours who while also loving their dogs are very similair and there have been many barking matches and snarling through gaps in our fences. This we accept as typical dog behaviour and have reduced it asmuch as we can, making sure the otherside isnt out before letting ours out etc, but recently when my eldest was leaving the house she managed to bull past and due to the neighbours door being open, actually entered their house and attacked their dog suffering injuries to herself.
She originally would stand to other dogs where as now its a tug of war to stop her trying to attack them. She has also become a concern when walking her during school runs as she will often aggressively growl and run towards small children (the same as if she see's a cat in the back yard) barking agrily if they get too close (although i never let her near enough to find out how far she'd go which has meant i've started to short leash her when she does see younger children...something i always thought wasnt a good re-enforcement). This has started reflecting at home where no matter how much we train via the pecking order (where we pass down treats or have my youngest train her specifically and directly) she has started to try similair dominating methods with him, whether its a nip (and now starting towards the face) or generally bulling as she runs past. This has now started with my older son who no matter what he says, she will ignore him usually resulting in us giving her a time out in another room or in her crate when excessive. Only myself and my partner get some kind of attention when we tell her basic commands and usually has to be said in a much sterner voice than before or multiple times. the last few occasions she has also started barking at adults (nightmare at a bus stop recently) which she never did on my walks and only if the children walked her (whether im there or not) in her calmer days months back (which we associated with her protecting the kids).
She has also started to become slightly aggressive in regards to foods. She gets plenty of treats (both training treats and general) and fed well but from an early age she was severely territorial about her food bowl as a puppy when the cat got close (who sadly passed away last year). But as of late when given certain treats she has started to growl and become aggressive if the children get close...although she is ok with my partner and myself taking it away or coming close, which if what we've come to understand, is a serious concern.
We've tried many techniques, a lot are starting to become contradictory and were at a wall of where we can go with our dog. We're very concerned with her around the children and were even more worried she may injure others outside the home. To add to the issues even if we were to muzzle her she has from day 1 been very "mouthy" whenever anyone touches her paws, we tried many techniques to clip her claws from a young age but have had little success, positive re-enforcement talking to her and look at me commands (with a finger between our eyes) while doing it to literally stuffing her with treats which she will ignore to bite at the nail clippers, taking her attention away, the second we held a paw, she'd stop and turn we tried this for months but each time we'd stop as not to create fear via anxiety (The people we bought her from had toddlers etc in the house which is why we initially thought she was coming from a good home with children although in hindsight they may of played with the pup in a way that made me not liking her paws being touched). Due to constant walks and hard floors her claw issues have been kept semi-controlled (not in a way we like) but due to her weight and her dew claws she has caused a few injuries inside the home (scratches down legs or the childrens hands) which means if she is to attack something outside the home, even with a muzzle she can cause some serious damage.
I do apologise if this has become an un-necessarily long read and i know we havent been the best in doing what we can for our dog (i have a real personal shame with her claws because we really did try) but my partner and myself are at a whits end and are unsure what we should do, we feel like the she is becoming a danger in the home, especially with children and any information anyone can provide would be most welcome.
(ps sorry for awful grammar and typo's).
I own a cross breed staff/border collie mix. She is just over 1 year old and while very loving has recently become exceedingly aggressive and its become a serious concern due to having 2 children around the age of 10 in the house. She is a beautiful dog so when young alot of people would come and give her attention, initially socialising was very easy on her and she would excitedly be happy to meet strangers until one day she just suddenly became wary when one particular woman wanted to say hello (another dog owner). On the side of other dogs, from the earliest she's ever seen another she has always been rather aggressive, never letting any others close to her in parks and being very aggressive to those smaller than her, this initially we understand was anxiety but taking her attention away etc never helped. She would be focused, there was never any hard chain pulling etc, she'd stand her ground until they went away. At the time she was tiny being a early summer pup but she never changed in this regard. (I personally dont believe the whole "staffys dont like other dogs" quote i hear often, as have seen plenty socialise fine so try as we might, she still never would let one near her in dog parks etc).
She's always had a very strong alpha streak, constantly dominating her toys and being generally very staffy in some stubborn ways but constant and strict training meant that she was also very obedient, had a wide variety of "tricks" and learnt at an early age what was acceptable with her "mouthing" at others, especially around the children. One thing i personally felt is the person we bought her from, while their house was well kept and the mother was very calm (the pups were fathered by a family members dog outside the home who we never met) they lied about the pups age and we got her a good 2-3 weeks earlier than she should of been. The problem was the seller was having (or claimed to) issue with a parent in hospital so not only was difficult to get hold of anyway but it felt like once we got her, we were left to it.
Within the last 2-3 months she has changed drastically. She currently isnt in heat, she eats well and is very active but she has taken to become very aggressive at anything and everything outside the home. We initially thought this may be anxiety issues and have been doing more training (positive touching and re-enforcement) and calming techniques and using special calming collars etc to no effect.
There has been a large outside influence recently. We have new neighbours who while also loving their dogs are very similair and there have been many barking matches and snarling through gaps in our fences. This we accept as typical dog behaviour and have reduced it asmuch as we can, making sure the otherside isnt out before letting ours out etc, but recently when my eldest was leaving the house she managed to bull past and due to the neighbours door being open, actually entered their house and attacked their dog suffering injuries to herself.
She originally would stand to other dogs where as now its a tug of war to stop her trying to attack them. She has also become a concern when walking her during school runs as she will often aggressively growl and run towards small children (the same as if she see's a cat in the back yard) barking agrily if they get too close (although i never let her near enough to find out how far she'd go which has meant i've started to short leash her when she does see younger children...something i always thought wasnt a good re-enforcement). This has started reflecting at home where no matter how much we train via the pecking order (where we pass down treats or have my youngest train her specifically and directly) she has started to try similair dominating methods with him, whether its a nip (and now starting towards the face) or generally bulling as she runs past. This has now started with my older son who no matter what he says, she will ignore him usually resulting in us giving her a time out in another room or in her crate when excessive. Only myself and my partner get some kind of attention when we tell her basic commands and usually has to be said in a much sterner voice than before or multiple times. the last few occasions she has also started barking at adults (nightmare at a bus stop recently) which she never did on my walks and only if the children walked her (whether im there or not) in her calmer days months back (which we associated with her protecting the kids).
She has also started to become slightly aggressive in regards to foods. She gets plenty of treats (both training treats and general) and fed well but from an early age she was severely territorial about her food bowl as a puppy when the cat got close (who sadly passed away last year). But as of late when given certain treats she has started to growl and become aggressive if the children get close...although she is ok with my partner and myself taking it away or coming close, which if what we've come to understand, is a serious concern.
We've tried many techniques, a lot are starting to become contradictory and were at a wall of where we can go with our dog. We're very concerned with her around the children and were even more worried she may injure others outside the home. To add to the issues even if we were to muzzle her she has from day 1 been very "mouthy" whenever anyone touches her paws, we tried many techniques to clip her claws from a young age but have had little success, positive re-enforcement talking to her and look at me commands (with a finger between our eyes) while doing it to literally stuffing her with treats which she will ignore to bite at the nail clippers, taking her attention away, the second we held a paw, she'd stop and turn we tried this for months but each time we'd stop as not to create fear via anxiety (The people we bought her from had toddlers etc in the house which is why we initially thought she was coming from a good home with children although in hindsight they may of played with the pup in a way that made me not liking her paws being touched). Due to constant walks and hard floors her claw issues have been kept semi-controlled (not in a way we like) but due to her weight and her dew claws she has caused a few injuries inside the home (scratches down legs or the childrens hands) which means if she is to attack something outside the home, even with a muzzle she can cause some serious damage.
I do apologise if this has become an un-necessarily long read and i know we havent been the best in doing what we can for our dog (i have a real personal shame with her claws because we really did try) but my partner and myself are at a whits end and are unsure what we should do, we feel like the she is becoming a danger in the home, especially with children and any information anyone can provide would be most welcome.
(ps sorry for awful grammar and typo's).
Your dog will be picking up on your anxieties around her behaviour. This, in turn, will affect her behaviour. You will see, therefore, that things will not improve until you have a definite diagnosis as to what is causing her behaviour. You will be amazed at how reassuring it will be when you know what is causing the behaviour and how to deal with it.