I have a 1 1/2 year old staffie bitch, Roxy. We have been very aware of socialising her with other dogs and she is very dog friendly. However she has shown a little aggression towards a few people occasionally and I am wondering whether this is her protecting me? as it has been strange people or strange circumstance (at least to her) the first time it happened was to a strange lady walking in the park that we normally go to. she had on a big overcoat, big rain hat and was using an umbrella as a kind of walking stick. When Roxy saw her, she ran to her barking with the fur up on her back. she would not come back to me and i had to retrieve her. she didnt bite only barked but i was shocked by it as it had never happened before. luckily the woman was ok and not fussed at having a staffie barking at her. yesterday in the same park, a group of kids were laying in the sun (which with our weather is an unusual sight to roxy). i knew that Roxy hadnt yet seen them and so i kept her on the lead. as we approached and roxy finally saw them she started barking aggresively. i am glad she was on the lead as i believe she may have run up to the children. I have owned a male staffie before and he never once barked at anyone, on the contrary would lick everyone to death. is this just roxy being nervous of new sightings still, or do you think this could be something more serious?
i have a female american staffy about the same ge but a month or 2 younger and she has never barked a any1 unless they come on our property but one time she started barking at this person that walked really close to me she started barking and the vet sid that its just staffy,pitbulls and am staffs r really protective and because they are still puppies they r still learning
where did you get her from? kennel club registered ethical breeder? pet shop? back yard breeder? puppy farm?
hello The lady with the rain gear sounds like Roxy was just unsure, some dogs bark at people wearing glasses etc etc. The best way to deal with that is to desensitise her to it, so perhaps get a friend to help you, start with just an umbrella and then add the raincoat etc etc.. and just walk roxy past it, and again and again, treating her every time she DOESNT bark. Is she used to kids? Do you have any ? Any relatives kids that you can use the same theory get kids to give her treats etc and she will soon realise they are friend not foe. I do know that sometimes dogs will be protective of things they arent sure of. Bruno isnt aggressive with people at all, and i know that if he barked or growled at anyone it would be with good reason. But at Roxy's age it sounds more like she is just nervous of it. good luck
Hello nice to meet you so to speak I have a Stafford bitch called Sal who is 6&1/2 and she is my 4th Stafford, your Roxy sounds lovely have you had her since a pup? . May I ask has Roxy been allowed to greet/meet people....socialising her with dogs is lovely but people are the priority. Can I suggest you take her to as many places as you can, places like "garden centres" on quiet days are good where you can walk her round. No need to walk her up to people just walk her round to show her "the world of people is diverse but fine" She sounds a bit of a nervous kind of girl, but she is at that age for Staffs which I think is a bit that people don't understand she will need to be used to different things and you need to show no worry/concern just walk past calmly.
Relevence. My 2yr old bitch only gets keen if im walking her in the dark. She does mot lunge or bark,but if a group of lads are heading our way she does go on alert mode,which im fine with as the way things are today.If you feel tense and unconfident the dog does pick up on this and will think that she is doing nothing wrong.Maybe get her to sit if you feel shes getting stressed.Be confident and just let her know what you expect from her and whats unwanted.
thank you all so much for your replies. I was certain that it was nervousness as it wasnt an 'aggressive' state and she has never shown aggression to anyone else. I have had roxy since she was 8 weeks old, from what you would call a 'back yard breeder', i am now ashamed to say - but i wouldnt change my girl for anything. I have had a beautiful male staffy before, I rescued him from 'friend of friends' when he was 6, so i am used to the breed but the difference in age and sex is making for a obviously a different dog and a different responsibility. I was soooo focused on making sure Roxy was socialised with other dogs when she was a puppy and growing up, that i overlooked the 'strange people' socialisation. However since posting I was so sure that it wasnt aggression that I went back to basics and have been back to socialising her with lots of different people and different environments. I make sure i am relaxed and confident when we come across strange objects and people and she now hardly ever reacts. I can already see the difference of a new grown up confident lady now emerging. She is FAB Your replies suggest that it is common for staffies (or all dogs) to be a little bit nervous at this age, is that correct? thanks to you all
I've only just seen this question. When you have a dog with any behaviour problems, asking where you got the dog from is a fundamentally relevant question that all good trainers and behaviourists would always ask. Because if its from the last 3 on the list (especially puppy farms, which are notorious and ought to be banned), quite often these dogs can bred to parents hat have not been socialised themselves, and/or have phsical or mental health issues which they can pass on to their progeny (ethical breeders would not breed from such dogs). So the pup can have bad genetic breeding, then the pup itself can develop mentally and emotionally stunted, due to lack of socialisation during the critical period from 4 to 16 weeks, especially if they are raised in outhouses or kennels. Whilst this might not be the reason for the OP's dog's behaviour (i havent read the rest of thread yet), its a point to take into consideration, thus a necessary question. Along with other questions regarding things like diet and has the dog been vet checked lately?
You do get the second fear imprint period between the adolscence around 6 - 14 months, but that is more common amongst males. It isn't common for all staffies (or dogs) to be nervous at this age. I work in rescue with dozens of staffies everyday, most are adolescent and very bouncey, happy, and sociable without any nervous or defensive behaviour. The odd nervous few dogs (of any breed), we regard as unusual and needing work. The initial back yard breeder experience may have limited her social skills, plus the limited socialisation you mentioned earlier, which are both likely to have an influence on her responses now. However, it is not uncommon for dogs to react to people behaving in certain ways in the dark, even for dogs that arent nervous, but it shouldn't be regarded as normal and accepted as desirable (especially when you consider the law), and you are right to recognise the nervousness of your girl and work on the problem. Female dogs arent more likely to be protective due to being mothers (how would that logic work if a female dog had been spayed early and never had pups?). That doesnt really have any bearing on the situation. Its all down to good breeding, socialisation and training. Its sounds like you are now making great progress. She had a good owner
Funny you should say, I have an 11 year old girl and a few years back she was out in the woods with my hubby and was due in season and saw a cat on a wall and ran round the corner to my hubby almost screaming. I called my breeder as was very worried and she said she is just like her mum VERY protective and she was just trying to protect my hubby from a nasty cat trying to attack my very well built hubby. Very Sweet!!!!!
is this just roxy being nervous of new sightings still, or do you think this could be something more serious? Your dog is not protecting you , she is insufficiently socialised and habituated. Confident dogs which have been sufficiently socialised and habituated do not behave in this way (provided they come from sound genetic stock). A dog that is TRAINED to protect you should always be a confident one so that it never makes the decision on what to do. The window of socialisation closes at 16 weeks, and it is vital that a great deal of work is done before this time so the dog just looks at something and shrugs its shoulders and says “oh it is one of those!”
i practice personal protection with my dogos,as a hobbie.......they are so intent on my comands that not much else matters.total focas...and they think its all a game.....done right, you dog should feel they have just pleased you..not nailed a bad guy in the arm....nasty dogs are just fearfull.left alone to fend for themselves ..stuff like that..
my staff rosie is the same when we walk in the forest if someone is in there with a dog she is fine but some times there are people in there without dogs and she woofs at them with hackels up but tail wagging, also if someone has dumped somnething in the woods like a tv or some object that shouldnt be there she woofs at that aswell
It sounds like it's the fight or flight scenario, mine used to just turn and run away if it was scared or nervous about something yours is confronting it, either way you just need to make sure she is confronting her fear but she needs to be rewarded when she doesn't bark, and with repetition she will act normal around these things aswell as you.
Most dogs do not like people who wear hats. my AB used to bark at most people wearing a hat. i used to have a female staffie who was very protective of me. she would bark at people but it was mostly men. When my AB goes to bark at someone with a hat i ask him to sit and distract him with a treat and he stops barking. he's now learnt to ignore most people wearing hats.
She sounds very much like Dexter He used to bark at anyone carrying anything - umbrellas, bags, newspapers. He would get very agitated and not just bark but also lunge when on leash. We worked with a great trainer who helped me to desensitize Dex to some of these things. That said, even now if Dex encounters something new and 'strange', he will occasionally still bark and go running over to it. I think it may be because he's a Rescue and we don't think he got much socialisation during his first year of life. If you can gradually expose your dog to more things and people, and praise her for calm behaviour, that can help. You can also give treats when she walks calmly past 'strange' people etc, so she associates them with something positive.
