Hyper staffie puppy with new baby

[Nicola2182]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of having a very hyper/excitable dog with a newborn?

I'm 23 weeks pregnant and have a 6 month old staffie pup. She will be 10 months when baby is born.

The issue is at the minute she is completely uncontrollable around guests in the house. She is very very hyper and excitable (no matter how long we walk her for). I'm just worried how she is going to be around a new baby. She current jumps all over people, runs around having "zoomies" and is very stubborn/hard to train.

I suggest maybe looking into getting a dog trainer to come to the house to help you?

You need some professional help it sounds like. Did you do any puppy obedience classes with anyone? Is this your first dog?

What you actually mean is that you’ve not learned how to control your puppy. Dogs don’t learn self control in isolation.
Fortunately you’ve got time to get it sorted. You need a good trainer who will show you how to control your dog.

Please get a trainer in before you have the baby.

Very negative replies lol
I have had staffies for years and I am aware of how to train her. We have had advice from a professional trainer who has met her and said she is particularly excitable even for a staffie.

@Nicola2182

Very negative replies lol I have had staffies for years and I am aware of how to train her. We have had advice from a professional trainer who has met her and said she is particularly excitable even for a staffie.

You might have had Staffies but having a baby and puppy together is a terrible idea regardless of breed.

They are negative replies because the risk here is massive, both to the baby and the dog.

I have a 7 year old rescue staffy - they are so loving but mostly unaware of how tough they are. But to be fair, what you've said seems totally normal behaviour for a puppy. Had you said the puppy was a fluffy cockapoo, I'm sure you'd have had different responses.

We are trying to think of what the problems might be and any solutions to those problems. E.g. he jumps on the windowsill when a dog walks past and could hurt the baby. We've put one way film up now so he can't see outside and doesn't jump up there anymore. I'd work on setting boundaries and mmaking sure your dog is comfortable being shut in another room if they are being boisterous and you need to change a nappy etc. We're also looking into 'off the floor' seats/bouncers/napping arrangements for baby and will have a stair gate on the living room for tummy time so the dog doesn't feel completely shut out but will be safe. Plenty of people have dogs and babies ☺️

@rathernotshare

I have a 7 year old rescue staffy - they are so loving but mostly unaware of how tough they are. But to be fair, what you've said seems totally normal behaviour for a puppy. Had you said the puppy was a fluffy cockapoo, I'm sure you'd have had different responses.

We are trying to think of what the problems might be and any solutions to those problems. E.g. he jumps on the windowsill when a dog walks past and could hurt the baby. We've put one way film up now so he can't see outside and doesn't jump up there anymore. I'd work on setting boundaries and mmaking sure your dog is comfortable being shut in another room if they are being boisterous and you need to change a nappy etc. We're also looking into 'off the floor' seats/bouncers/napping arrangements for baby and will have a stair gate on the living room for tummy time so the dog doesn't feel completely shut out but will be safe. Plenty of people have dogs and babies ☺️

Thanks for your nice reply.

Yeah I think she will mature and get better as she is older.
The baby gate is a good idea, I may look at splitting the living/dining room and keeping her in there when baby is on the floor etc

This post scares me! Probably because of recent news headlines mind.

People aren’t being negative as such it’s just a bit of a hard post to respond to as it’s unclear what have you tried? Is she crate trained? Is she getting enough exercise? As a dog owner these things should be standard bits of information that you should supply when describing and querying the behaviour of your dog.

If you have had a professional visit already, I am surprised that you haven’t already had suggestions of a baby gate or crate as separation from guests and yourself for when the baby comes.

As others say its a possible dangerous situation, whether it’s a cockerpoo or a staffy. Staffys are lovely nanny dogs and I grew up with many as a child, but any dog needs boundaries.

We have two doggies who are super excitable around guests and just about to have a baby 😊 we have a baby gate to separate them and also a pen for the dogs which I have been getting them used to sleeping in during the day just in case I need alone time with baby. My SIL also had a newborn in July and brought round the baby recently. We initially kept the dogs on a lead just to see how they would react but they were surprisingly gentle and very protective!! They wanted to sniff his toes and sit next to him quietly. It's like they knew it was something to take care of rather than be too excited around! Good luck OP, plenty of people have doggies and babies!! As long as you're cautious, and ease them in gently hopefully will be fine. I wouldn't leave them unsupervised though!

I love Staffies. Great dogs and do so well in families when they’re trained well and integrated carefully.

That said, I would seriously question why anyone would get a puppy while pregnant. The chances of you having the time that the poor pup needs when the baby comes along is very low.

Crikey - please can people only respond if they have something helpful to say rather that being so criticising. I was only wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation with some useful tips!

We had the puppy before finding out I was pregnant, granted only a few weeks but I won't give up a dog just because it is hard work.

Our pup is crate trained, she loves her crate. She is walked twice a day for recommended amount of time. She isn't left much at all and we give her a lot of mental stimulation and play time. She is just a very hyper puppy.

Thanks to those who have replied with some helpful suggestions i appreciate it :)

Some suggestions (I'm also pregnant and have a lovely but bouncy 1yr old cocker spaniel):

• definitely get a baby gate / playpen that doubles as a room divider. Get it ASAP and start practicing settling away from you with a chew or stuffed kong - so it's not a new negative thing when the baby arrives.

• think about what training is going to be most beneficial in the early months. Our boy is pretty good at keeping 4 paws on the floor (through lots of consistent training) but he's a shit for thieving (typical spaniel) so we're working extra hard on leave and drop. We're also focusing on barking at the door - a new habit that has appeared in adolescence! - and swapping that behaviour for quietly going to his bed for a treat instead.

• practice pram walking before the baby arrives. You may look slightly mad (I know i will ) but it will be so worth it.

• exercise is good, but exercising can sometimes just make them fitter you need to wear them out mentally too. Puzzle toys or feeders - I really rate the Nina Ottosson ones - are great for this, as are stuffed frozen kongs, anything that takes concentration.

• I've found regular short training sessions (just some sit-down-stay-paw type stuff, a few minutes a couple of times a day while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil etc) really help his focus and are great for interrupting bounciness before it becomes zoomies.

• Rope in some friends to practice having visitors. No interaction with pup until they calm down. Once they sit down nicely, visitors can say hi. You may need to start small and gradually build up to this, but the more you can practice the better.

Good luck!

Our 2 dpuppies were a year old when ds arrived.. They were gorgeous with him. Offered up a bare tiny foot - a few sniffs and licks and they went off happy.
They are 8 and 7 now. Brings a tear to the eye watching them together now.

Sorry you are getting such negative replies OP. I have a 5 year old english bulldog (so similar build) and a 5 month old little one. Our dog still has the zoomies and thinks she is a puppy.

A few things that have worked for us. A high off the floor bouncer/chair is useful, the new highchairs that are suitable from birth are good (we have the silver cross buffet). If you plan to walk your doggy with baby then a baby carrier/sling is a lot easier than pram and dog especially for narrow paths etc. I managed it from about 3 weeks after c section. Let your doggy get as close as you are comfortable with to baby whilst you are around and they are calm so they don’t feel shut out and ways to separate space are also good. Our dog is very gentle with our daughter but I never have her on the floor when guests arrive etc as if she got the zoomies she could accidentally step on her in her excitement. It will be fine! X

Our behaviourist said one of the best tiring out games mentally is sniffing games of 'go find' where you hide lots of treats around at different levels and they have to find them all. Once they get more adept at that, we were told to hide them in little cardboard boxes and inside socks around the room to make it more challenging. It has worked a lot, it really exhausts him.

I've bought a baby carrier for walkies, and plan on doing a lot of that. Our dog is actually lovely with children, he's had a lot of weekends of my baby nephews staying over and is massively gentle with them. It's like he knows to be. Zoonoses etc are reserved for other times and around us and dogs

Also six months is a challenging age, you've got a few more months of growing up and training. The doghouse section might have some better tips and knowledgeable people on it

Ahh, staffies are a lovely natured breed but I agree they are one of the harder ones to train! My main piece of advice would be to persevere with one method of training instead of getting bits and pieces of conflicting info from different people. Rewards-based training I have found to be far more beneficial and productive than dominance-based. Rewarding with food, a favourite toy or cuddles works wonders. So ignoring bad behaviour and rewarding good. When I was training my very jumpy rescue dog not to jump up on people, I would ask people to turn their back to her when she tried to jump up on them and then ignore her completely or walk away. Even if it was a small jump, if any of her paws left the ground she’d get the cold shoulder from our guests. If she approached them calmly or interacted calmly she would be treated or get attention (in a calm manner). She soon learned that jumping = zero attention! A puppy’s behaviour stems from them wanting some form of attention, so removing it when they do an undesired behaviour is such an easy way to get them to relearn how to get the attention they crave.

Also, a lot of the time they pick up on your anxiety and stress if you are having a hard time training them, so as difficult as it is sometimes to stay calm, the best approach is quiet and low-tone commands. If you find yourself becoming impatient or wound up, walk away from the dog for a few minutes. Screaming commands and repeating yourself a thousand times will mean your puppy just switches off to it. For the really excitable ones unfortunately it’s very hard work, but if you put the time into them it really does pay off in the long run and a few hard months now will save a lot of hassle later down the line. It’s much easier to train a puppy than an older dog who has developed bad habits!

Also, I highly recommend playing crying baby noises at random times through the day to desensitise your puppy to the sounds babies make. And starting to place the baby’s stuff around the house so that she gets used to it before baby arrives will help her to adjust to her new companion and will hopefully reduce her excitement around these objects as they’ll become ‘part of the furniture’. If you are still struggling I highly recommend using a dog trainer even if just for a few weeks. They have so many great little tips and tricks that you can use. Just stick to one trainer though as different training methods will just confuse the puppy. And sit command is your best friend. If they can do a good sit and you know they’ll respond to it every time without fail, you can de-escalate most behaviour by just going back to basics and making them perch their backside for a moment!!

😊

You train your dog, which should be happening whether you are having a baby or not. You teach down, sit and stay commands over and over until your dog is bombproof on them. You don't allow super excitement around guests irrespective of babies. You walk the dog for longer than the recommended amount of time for the breed if your dog needs more. If the walking is contributing to hyping it up you limit walks where it gets wound up by other dogs etc and take longer, sniffy walks with fewer distractions. You get a Kong/ snuffle mat/ lickipad and teach the dog down time with those. Personally, I think all dogs should be muzzle trained also. You need safe spaces for the dog, where the baby can't get to it to bother it and you need the dog to be trained to be happy to be gated off or otherwise separated long before the baby is born, the dog should learn that if the gate etc is shut it should go and get in it's bed/ crate and chill. If you don't teach these things you're going to have a nightmare with a newborn around. The breed of your dog makes it more likely that any accident will have worse consequences, a SBT stepping on, running and knocking over or jumping up at a child will have worse consequences than a lap dog doing the same.
And I was the owner of a very, very beloved SBT for many years including when I had my first children and I now own another large breed. So I'm not coming from a place of ignorance or fear of the 'devil dogs' AT ALL.

I have a staffie who is 5 and my toddler is 3 next week so they have grown up together and have such a special bond and im expecting no2 next month. He wasnt as young as yours when hudson was born but i think its a case of clear boundry setting. Are they food orientated mines is... with lockdown ect oscar has developed a little sepraration anxiety as i had been working from home, tbh his behaviour has declined not anything bad just he now barks when the door goes or if he sees someone coming to the house not major issues but it will be when the baby is here so i im trying to associate the door with a reward to get him away from it. They are fabulous dogs and with this one being so young they should easily be moulded into your lifestyle you just have to be firm. My oscar is just a big baby and the best natured dog ive her had. I never read the comments as i hate to see the whole stigma attatched to staffies and refuse to listen to it, the only dog ive been bitten off was a bichon frise! People accept small in fashion dogs that bark alot and are aggressive as the norm, can you imagine if our staffie's were like that sorry im getting off track but just the whole topic infuriates me when i live it daily.
I think you will be fine, the dog is nice and young and it will be lovely for them to have each other, you never no a sibling is maybe just what they need ☺

A well-trained Staffy can be a great family pet. A poorly trained Staffy can be a recipe for disaster.

You absolutely need to have your puppy trained by the time your baby arrives.

I'm a dog-lover and I've experience with Staffies - I'm not saying this to be harsh, but you need to make sure you get this right, for the sakes of both your baby and your puppy.

Hire a professional dog trainer, practise commands over and over and over, give her lots of exercise (if she's still hyper with two walks, take her out more often, get someone to take her out for a jog, etc.), find a puppy training class where she can get used to other people and dogs, and make your house as safe as possible so that you can keep them apart. Never leave them alone with each other - a puppy won't know their own strength and a curious nibble could cause serious injury.

I think you'll be ok. My lab puppy was 10 months old when I had my son in June this year.. he's very very bouncy and excitable and just like yours hard to control around guests!! Thankfully he can be controlled with treats and commands in any situation and he does listen to us (most of the time). He knows his boundaries and most of the time doesn't even pay attention to the baby, he'll try and sneak in a little lick of his hands/ears sometimes and that's about it. He's even learned not to take his toys so I guess some of the learning just has to be done along the way! Of course do get some professional training if you can as it's only going to help and give you some peace of mind but I do think dogs know to be more gentle around babies and you'll just have to set boundaries along the way. Remember you'll be holding the baby most of the time in the beginning so it is easy to stay out the way of the dog whilst she learns what's right and wrong. I realised I didn't need to worry as much as I did because baby was pretty much always in my arms anyway, and the dog is surprisingly sensible around him! It'll be so nice for you to see them grow up together and become the best of friends

Oh and for the first few weeks we had a dog walker a couple days a week which gave us a little break and they took him on long walks with other dogs.. this was great as it also gave the dog a break from us!

Our second pup was fear reactive to the doorbell and he’s a big dog (numerous reasons for fear, he was a street pup and was scared of hands and strangers).
He was about 4 months when I fell pregnant with DS1 and I was adamant we wouldn’t have a dog that scared people away from the front door so we did a shit ton of training with him, with a trainer (who trained police dogs).

As he’s gotten older (he’s 11 now), he still barks ferociously at the front door but adores kids and whilst still nervous around strangers, loves them as soon as he realizes they mean no harm to him.

He has never even curled a lip in the direction of the kids and for me that was always the tell. Had he even looked sideways at one of the kids, I’d have rehomed somewhere he was more comfortable. As it was, he was their best friend from day one, followed them everywhere, let them use him as a walking aid, a pillow, you name it.

He now sleeps with DS1.

Get your pup into training, training, training and keep going. You can never be sure how the dog might react when you bring home the baby, but at least you know if you’ve socialized your hyper pup as much as possible, excitement will hopefully calm down and you’ll have a relaxed and friendly dog you can trust with people in your home.

Good luck!