Staffy jumping up and biting

WHEN WE TAKE OUR 2 STAFFYS FOR A WALK, WE HAVE TO GIVE THE MALE DOG A TOY OR BALL TO CARRY.BECAUSE HE PICKS UP STICKS. AND RECENTLY HIT OTHER DOG IN EYE WITH ONE.AND SHE WAS IN A BAD WAY. HE WILL Run FOR A WHILE AND PLAY WITH OTHER DOG,BUT THE HE GETS A LOOK IN HIS EYE! and starts to stalk us walking backwards! and then he will jump up and bite! and nothing seems to calm him down untill you get him on lead and then he jumps up at that.. .this is causing a lot of stress on us. and we are even thinking of re-homing him. it would break my heart if i had to do that. if anyone got any ideas about whats going on please let me know. Jan

How old is he? Is he entire? If he is I would consider having him castrated. Years ago, we had a lab/whippet cross who displayed similar behaviour. We had him castrated at two years old and he became a model pet. Might be worth having a chat with your vet.

he is nearly 2 and hes been castrated! hes been doing this since he was done !

whereabouts do you live? Might be able to recommend a local behaviourist that can help. What sorts of things have you tried to do to stop him?

Real or Not ....

Spencer does something like this. I just stand there and ignore him when he does it and the behaviour's decreasing. I also often take a toy out with me and play with him as that seems to prevent it from happening in the first place. Playing on a 2am toilet outing though is not gonna happen I'm afraid lol.

In Bradford west yorkshire, Its like he has 2 personality's! hes great in the house..but he dos get obsessed with balls and sticks when out. and we worried it could get worse.

Staffies I have to say do have neurotic tendencies, they easily develop obsessions. Mine is ball obsessed, but actually it works in his favour as when he is carrying his ball on a walk he cares about no man or dog lol. I would keep your hands in your pockets or arms folded and if he jumps up turn your body on him so he is getting no reaction or anything he can deem as playing back from you and keep walking, totally ignore him. If he continues I would actually stop the walk and allow him to calm down, if he keeps jumping up keep turning away from him so he is getting no reaction from you.

How much exercise a day is he generally getting? If he doesn’t get what he’s needing he may find his walks so exciting that he just goes nuts. Can i also ask what food is he on? As that can make a difference to hyperactive sorts of behaviours.

Staffies are not the calmest of dogs and can become very 'focused' I just use that focus and the ball obsession to train him. I use a ball on a rope and use it to get his attention whenever I need to. They are high energy dogs when they're not asleep with their legs in the air, just use that energy in his training and use his ball obsession to get and hold his attention. What commands does he know? I make mine 'sit' and 'wait' before throwing his ball and he has to 'give' when he returns, I don't throw it endlessly for him either he has had to learn to 'walk on' and ignore the ball until I'm willing to throw it again. If he focuses on something I don't want him to I just say 'what's this' and hold his ball up and he returns in an instant, then has to go through the sit and wait malarky before it's launched in another direction. Seriously being so ball focused is a blessing you just have to utilise it.

A vetcheck could be worthwhile to rule out a health cause here. Not just a once over, but consider maybe bloodtests as well.
Once you know there's no health reason, I would consider getting a behaviourist to come and give you some advice on how to redirect his behaviour onto healthier habits. http://www.apbc.org.uk