Ive got a staffy she was fine when we got her from the rescue centre about 6 weeks ago. She great with my little boy but shes started to be really naughty. Shes takeing things (my little boys toys) out of the house and chewing them, shes started to wee in house, she pinches food off side when she has got her food in her dish. Could anyone help me as i dont know what to do?

it sounds to me shes jelous of the attention your sons getting ....... and by being naughty, shes getting the attention (even negative attention is attention) ........ i have no idea how to stop her behaviour though

Thanks anyway

Ive got a staffy she was fine when we got her from the rescue centre about 6 weeks ago. She great with my little boy but shes started to be really naughty. Shes takeing things (my little boys toys) out of the house and chewing them, shes started to wee in house, she pinches food off side when she has got her food in her dish. Could anyone help me as i dont know what to do?

has she got her own toys?if so when she get 1 of your sons toys take it off her &say NO then give her 1 of her toys & praise her . as for the weeing i
know its hard but when she does a wee again say no and put her out or take her out & praise when she goes outside , staffs will usually do anything for a fuss ,hope this helps:thumbsup:

This is a really quick reply because I have to go out in a sec.
6 Weeks is about right for the settling in period to be over with your dog, she has basically been watching you in this time and assessing what she can and can't get away with.
All dogs do this its perfectly normal for them to try and stretch the boundries at this stage.
As for what you need to do...well its back to basics I'm afraid, treat her like you would a new puppy, and start to house train her as you would a baby, out after each meal, after playing or sleeping and probably ever couple of hours if she is awake.
As far as the toys are concerned make sure that she has her own, and knows that they are hers, get your son to try and be tidy with his ..it does save a lot of hassle, take his toys away tell her no and give her a toy that is hers then praise her for playing with it, and make sure that she has regular play/training times and walks so that boredom does not become a problem.
The stealing from work tops is a problem I know for lots of people, again its all about re training her, keep her with you more so you can watch and stop her from doing undesirable things, the key to success is timing with dogs, but just be sure that you don't leave temptation in her way if possible.
Sorry this is not as well wrote out as I would like but I don't have time now :hihi:
Perhaps someone else will be along with more advice later...good luck :)

The major question really is what do YOU do when she does the things mentioned?

Try not to leave food down for her all day - feed her twice a day and anything that's left gets binned or re-used. Dogs are scavengers so will always steal food if they feel that way out regardless of what it is.

You can use aversives to stop food stealing but it will only work if you're around, dogs learn what's safe and what's not, what's reinforcing and what's not - and if it's not safe to steal food while you're there, but it is safe and reinforcing when you're not there to stop them - then they'll just learn to do it when you're not there. The best way to stop it is to be tidy! I've tried all sorts with my youngest dalmatian (a breed renowned for it) but I have just learned not to leave things in her reach!

I'd be asking what you do when the bad behaviour occurs and what the dog may think to this - as pinklady said, even negative attention can be reinforcing to a dog, and especially if you're chasing the dog around when she steals a toy - it becomes a game to her.

Toiletting in the house can be down to several reasons and I wouldn't like to advise without knowing the full story.

Hope that helps a little :)

My rescue staffy is about 10 months old and she does everything you have mentioned exept pinching toys my lads are teens.You have to be really firm with staffy's and as said if you are chasing her with the toys she probably thinks you are playing.Our's knows she must go out for wee's and we praise her but she still does it in the house:confused:She pinches food too and we never leave food out all day.We are being really strict the NO word does work.

Hi thanks for all your advice. Shes got loads of toys of her own and its not very often i leave food on side. The weeing in the house is when i go to bed at night i leave her the light on cos that stopped at first. The back doors open all day so she can go out when ever she wants. When she does something naughty i tell her off and put her outside and close the door then let her back in 10 mins later. But when i do tell her off she doesnt listen.

Hi thanks for all your advice. Shes got loads of toys of her own and its not very often i leave food on side. The weeing in the house is when i go to bed at night i leave her the light on cos that stopped at first. The back doors open all day so she can go out when ever she wants. When she does something naughty i tell her off and put her outside and close the door then let her back in 10 mins later. But when i do tell her off she doesnt listen. My bold

Typical staffie, that! Whether they listen or not can depend an awful lot on the tone of your voice - if you sound as if you really, really mean it and you're annoyed with them (without shouting) then it can work. I'm afraid I can't tell you how to get that "tone", though, but lowering your voice seems to help, a deep voice is stronger than a higher-pitched one.

If she's used to going out and peeing whenever she wants to, then she doesn't have to practice much self-control, she can just pee exactly when she wants to. Perhaps you could try not leaving the door open all the time for a while, and making her "ask" to go out, that way she might get the hang of holding it in. Going out with her last thing at night and praising her extravagantly for doing a pee for you might also help.

Good luck.

My advice with regard to the toy thing and I've found my staffy wants constant attention :rolleyes: is to ignore her. Eventually she gets the message and can differentiate between exciting play time and inappropriate behaviour, 'time to calm down missy' moments.

No! does work but it has to be said with conviction.

My advice with regard to the toy thing and I've found my staffy wants constant attention :rolleyes: is to ignore her. Eventually she gets the message and can differentiate between exciting play time and inappropriate behaviour, 'time to calm down missy' moments.

No! does work but it has to be said with conviction. My bold

Yes - I forgot to say, it's best to have just one word you use when you want them to stop doing something, they're far too stupid to remember more than one.:hihi:

Hi thanks for all your advice. Shes got loads of toys of her own and its not very often i leave food on side. The weeing in the house is when i go to bed at night i leave her the light on cos that stopped at first. The back doors open all day so she can go out when ever she wants. When she does something naughty i tell her off and put her outside and close the door then let her back in 10 mins later. But when i do tell her off she doesnt listen.

She probably doesn't understand what you want from her, remember she talks dog and not human language so its all a load of wcjchrmtjsbkfgnymdei**:hihi:
I really think that you get a lot further with dogs by physically showing them what you want, such as removing the childs toy and replacing it with a dog toy, or pulling down from the worktop and a sharp no (or most dogs respond well to a sharp AHAH) and actually placing the dog where you want her to be, and repeat until she understands, then praise for good behaviour.
Praise works a lot better than a negative response (although I know we all do it at times when they push us) shutting her outside will do nothing at all to teach her anything, just leave her feeling confused and rejected.
Don't just leave the door open for her you need to physically take her out for a wee.
If the wee problem is only night times perhaps she is feeling a bit vulnerable alone, after all from a rescue centre she has been through a lot.
I really think a crate is a good idea if she will go in one... though you do have to get them used to it first, and its only for nightime or a very short time in the day, but a crate often helps with house training issues and helps a dog feel quite secure, and does not need to be forever just till the dog settles down.
If you wish you could also try letting her sleep in your bedroom, so long as you spend the time teaching her where she should sleep ect (I always said I would never do that but after 3 months of hell my dog sleeps crated in my room and its the best thing I ever did).

I agree with all the advice above, but just to add - don't leave a light on for dogs. If it's dark they know it's time to sleep, so leaving the light on will more likely lead to a disturbed night!

When is she weeing in the house? Some dogs do it as a territory marking thing if they have a large area to 'look after' whilst you're out, so restricting to a smaller space often cures the problem instantly. Is it whilst you are there? Has she just discovered this is a great way to get attention from you in the same fashion as stealing toys? Without wishing to worry you - weeing can also be indicative of a medical problem, so identifying why she's doing it could be quite important ;)

Thanks for all advice. ill try turning light off tonight. Thanks she wees when i go to bed but she also wees when she gets told off and when she get too giddy.

the cure for the giddy problem is to teach her a little self control ;)

don't make a huge great fuss when you return home for instance - take a leaf out of Adz's book and completely ignore the dog for 20mins when you arrive, and don't allow the dog to bounce all over visitors either - put a lead on and ask the visitors to ignore her in the same fashion

Weeing when she's told off is a submission thing, so try not to put her under too much pressure under those circumstances - learn to gauge how much disapproval or what 'punishment' works for her (eg, put her outside for ten mins like you already do, but don't say anything more than 'NO!')

Weeing when you go to bed sounds like it could easily be territory marking coz she's nervous of having to look after the place without you. Try giving her a smaller space to look after, or as Moonbird suggested, crate her in your bedroom or on the landing so she feels safer