Need to be firm with my friend.

[Celestria]

I have a best mate and I think the world of her. I would support her in anything but I can't with her dog.

She got dog as a three month old pup. He is a pure bred staffy. He is now a year old and ridiculously strong.

She tried her best with him. Took him for long walks. Made sure he had bones to chew. Reprimanded him when he did wrong. And plenty of love.

At a year old dog still bites. He bites constantly though it is in play. He is also not house trained despite my friend regularly letting him out to go and taking him on long walks.

He did listen to her. But he is constantly hyper and actually comes across as being crazy.

Two days ago she phoned me in tears. Dog had chewed something he shouldn't so she told him off. And he growled at her and tried to bite her.

My friend also has an eighteen month old girl.

She said she felt she had to put him to rescue for rehoming. I felt this was the best choice as whilst there is no doubt she loves that dog I believe he is a danger.

Last night however she went back on it and text to say she was keeping him for another fortnight. I am very concerned at her choice and very worried for her safety. That is not being dramatic. The dog really is out of control and is extremely powerful.

The child is at risk.

Your friend is unable to provide provide adequate behavioural training.

She either rehomes the dog to someone who knows what they are doing or she pays to have the dog sent away on a residential training course where an expert trainer can provide proper training and inform your friend if the dog will continue to display aggression.

It is very sad as Staffies are lovely dogs but in my opinion a dog that strong who is displaying aggression and hasn't been adequately trained, presents a danger to the child.

Another dog inadequately trained and socialised who is now dumped on a rescue at puberty
I actually agree with you, if there is any suggestion the dog is a risk to the child she can't keep it. She will struggle to find a rescue place, they are bursting at the seams with Staffies, and she must be scrupulously honest about his issues so he's not rehomed with young children or to someone else inexperienced. Sadly I suspect he may have to be euthanased. Better that than being passed through a series of dodgy homes or languishing in kennels though.

It's very sad that ignorance of a dog owner results in an unhappy dog who is punished for his behaviour.

Long walks and bones are but a very small part of raising a happy and well behaved dog.

Depending where you live I don't think she will find a rescue because as bakingtins has said, rescue centres are overrun with dogs, especially staffy types.

Staffies have got a bad reputation of late, yet when trained and socialised are a wonderful family pet.

What food does she give the dog?

Diet can play an important part in their behaviour. You say he is hyper hyper yet is well exercised?

It's not enough to simply love a dog, you have to educate yourself on the breed and do everything you can to train and socialise them.

I was also going to ask about food. If it's Bakers, then that could be the problem. If it's a better quality food that has too high a protein content then a change may work. Good luck, awful scenario as the rescues are full of staffies :(

I first thought food too
Staffordshire bull terrier can't be that hard to train, surely?

If he's not house trained her best was pretty poor.

Perhaps she could keep baby and dog separate if she's going to try for a bit longer? Vet check could be a good idea to ensure there's nothing wrong physically.

Obviously it was a terrible idea to get a dog with a six month old baby and expect something not to give, but too late now, and it'll be the dog who suffers the consequences.
Your mate needs to educate herself immediately on positive training techniques before she does anymore damage. The dog growling is trying to tell her he's unhappy and feels unsafe in a situation, he could bite but is trying to get her to make the situation stop, first.
She needs to keep her kid separate at all times from the dog, which she should be doing anyway.
If she chooses to dump the dog it will probably be killed, rescues are full, there's too many staffies and no one wants them.
Harsh, but your mates feelings aren't really important to me the life of yet another dog.... His shit upsets me.

THIS, not his!

How far is your friend prepared to go?

This poor dog needs proper training, not bones or being yelled at. She can't have tried that hard if he's not even house trained.

He needs someone to properly train him. Is he neutered? What does he eat? Where I'm the house with a child is his quiet space?

This is not going to end well :(

Where in

Absolutely heartbreaking. I love Staffies and they are generally lovely dogs to train, very motivated to please their owner. But they are exuberant and energetic dogs, especially when young and your friend is obviously utterly clueless if she can't even manage toilet training.

Again speaking broadly, they are sensitive souls so if she is reprimanding him rather for "doing wrong" and teaching and positively motivating desirable behaviour, I'm not surprised that he is stressed and displaying some aggression.

I'm would like him out of your friend's home as she is doing him no favours. I dread to think how she manages interactions with her child if she is not even capable of basic house training. But there is unlikely for there to be anywhere for him to go. Any dog with no bite inhibition is a risk for injury if not properly trained and managed.

I would be advising her to contact every staffie rescue and going on any waiting list going. Has she got money for a positive APDT trainer to come and help?

Try again on second paragraph:

Again speaking broadly, they are sensitive souls so if she is reprimanding him for "doing wrong" rather than teaching and positively motivating desirable behaviour, I'm not surprised that he is stressed and displaying some aggression.

I love my mate to bits and yes she made a mistake that means her dog is the one that may suffer because of it. I'm not happy about that I love dogs and she knows what I think regarding him.

She decided to keep him which was very much against my advice but she's been trying hard and it's been a week with no accidents in the house. She is taking him out more regularly and I have passed in the advice I received from a behaviouralist with my own staffy that was stolen from my garden believed to be by travellers that were staying nearby.

I was told that staffys need to know where their place is and to do things like making sure you go in the house first before the dog. That you feed the dog but he or she should wait until you say it's okay to eat. That you should turn your back to the dog if it's jumping up. Make sure there are lots of chew toys and that staffys are very intelligent so things like treat balls and hiding treats for them to find is good.

I also advised her to contact staffy rescue to get advice from people that know the breed and can offer further advice.

Finally I advised her to get him neutered. There are female dogs about her place that come in and out of heat and that won't be helping.

I'm not sure what else I can do. I can't take him myself as I am in a top floor flat with no garden and by a very busy main road.

Treat balls etc is good advice but the "knowing their place" stuff is garbage I'm afraid OP. Very outdated theory that has been completely disproven. Eating first won't "teach a dog their place" and will be of precisely zero help with the issues he has.

Staffie pups are whirlwinds of chaos and destruction, ime. They are lovely and I adore them, but their energy levels are something to behold. At a year old they are still very much puppies.

They don't need to know their place, they are well aware that they are dogs and people are not. I often think dogs are more aware of this than most humans All of that alpha male crap was disproved years ago. Dogs need boundaries, the same as toddlers do, they don't need silly rules about who gets to walk into the house first. Mine are trained to wait at the door but that's because there is 2 sometimes 3 of them and all trying to get out of the door at once, doesn't work. It's common sense, not dominance.

They are very tolerant dogs, so the fact the he growled shows things have been going very wrong for a long time now.

Your friend needs an APDT behaviourist. If her vet refers her, her insurance might cover this.

1yr is very young, this could easily be sorted out without your friend having to give up on her lovely dog.

It was about five years ago I was given that advice which is why I said she should contact the staffie rescue.

My staffy was offered in gumtree. I took her and about three weeks later staffy rescue contacted me to say she shouldn't be with me. She had been put to a foster home and the rescue decided she was untrainable a danger and may suffer from a neurological condition staffys can get.

My dog was loving and I trained her easily. She was so soft she would lie on the floor and let my house rabbit groom her.

I refused to give her back but said I would contact a behaviouralist to assess her and if the behaviouralist believed she was a danger I would accept it for the sake of my children.

The behaviouralist spent a few hours with my dog and told me nothing was wrong with her at all. She just hadn't had boundaries in her first home and didn't know who was in charge.

I then adopted her officially and for nine months she was a wonderful dog. Until she was stolen.

I never actually implemented the advice of the behaviouralist because my dog didn't need it.