To get a dog to stop a behaviour, walking away, ignoring, no eye contact etc., etc., is the ONLY way you will stop a dog from doing an attention seeking behaviour. Any other method is giving the dog attention - which is what it wants. This is not about being "firm enough" with the dog, it is about the dog realising that if it does a certain behaviour it will get attention - either good or bad.

You have 2 options. Firstly, don't let the dog get wound up and secondly, when it does get wound up simply leave the room. Any other type of "advice" will simply not work - short of beating the dog into submission.

I have had a 37 kilo Bracco Italiano hanging from my leg etc., etc., and I have been able to walk away - and I am only 5' and 7.5 stone. I know that staffies are strong dogs but they're no more stronger than a 37 kilo Bracco who is looking for attention. To say that you hope someone can give you advice because walking away isn't an option is an absolute cop-out. I know because I have been there!!! Obviously you are a dog expert and no better than me though so I'll leave it up to you to discover that the above methods are the ONLY way of stopping this behaviour.

Kind regards
One incredibly miffed and insulted - Gundog Annie

Annie, what I ment by walking away isn't an option is when a dog is holding on to the elastic of your sock pulling at it you literally can't walk away, I also have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which leaves me to weak at time to lift a knife and fork let alone try to walk away dragging a 3 stone dog behind me. Im sorry you are miffed and insulted this was not my intention. I love this forum and appreciate any advice im given. I hope this clears up the misunderstanding

hi girls - lets not bicker, we all want the same thing!!

annie - i have been doing the ignoring thing and it is working!!! Instead of telling Otis off when he has his crazing half hour i have just ignored him and let him get on with it. It doesnt stop him doing it, but he stops quicker than me trying to stop him and him getting more excited!!!

im not sure about the dminace theory either - but my husband agrees with it. He thinks im not firm enough, but i am. i think perhaps otis just listens to his tone of voice rather than mine.

Otis is asleep on the sofa now like butter wouldnt melt - typical!!!

jodie x

Sorry guys!!!! I am feeling ultra sensitive at the moment I think. Had major problems with my computer and just wanted to say sorry!!!!

I've been thinking about this a bit more and a couple of things spring to mind. What are you feeding the dogs? Some dogs get behavioural problems if they eat food containing additives and colourings - and I mean serious hyperactivity etc., If you are feeding one of the shop bought brands that are advertised on the TV - please change to a brand like James Wellbeloved, Arden Grange, Burns and there is a new one called Wainwrights which I have heard really good reports about. Its not that expensive and not any more expensive than the supermarket ones but it is 100% natural. You could be astounded by the results.

The other thing I wanted to say was to get a good "leave" command going. If the dog is causing you pain then you could even try noise aversion but speak to your trainer about how to do this. It involves conditioning the dog to a noise that means no and then setting up scenarios so that the dog learns what is expected of him.

Also, try and find the trigger that starts the behaviour and then avoid the trigger - if you know what I mean.

Another 3 points so basically I was wrong saying you only have 2 options!!!!! See what happens when you put your mind to something!!!!

Kind regards
Annie

no need to say sorry - we all have bad days.

otis was fed burns but was not putting on any weight so is now on james wellbeloved.

spoke to our trainer re the noise aversion. he has told us to try pebbles in a bottle - but as u said, we need to set up scenarios first to teach him what the noise means.

i think otis is playing up cos i am at home and i am usually at work - its a different routine to what he is used to. so now he is going hyper cos he wants me to play with him but cos i have a bad back i cant!!

About the 'ignoring' thing...

I am obviously not doing it right either, cos Gadget doesn't seem to understand being ignored!
It's not as if he has any real 'behavioural problems' I need to deal with, but every now & then something happens where I need to let him know he's behaved inappropriately, and I can tell he doesn't take any notice of me at all! If I turn my back to him he will walk round to be infront of me, and I can see that his face is all excited & anticipating like "what new game are we playing now mummy?!"
Or if I try to leave the room he will either follow me or just not be bothered that I've left the room.

I'd love to see in the flesh how someone else would do it...

Hi there

I think one of the hardest things to do is not to laugh!!! WHen its something serious like a dog attaching itself to your leg etc., you won't be laughing but you will be screaming (in pain!!! ). However, stupid it sounds that is actually a reward for a dog. Any reaction is reward.

I used to find it very hard with Ruby not to laugh because, basically, some of the things were really really funny that she was doing. If you want to ignore behaviour it means no eye contact, no reaction and walk out - closing the door behind you. Return after 30 seconds. No longer or the dog forgets why you left. The scenario is that you want to stop the behaviour that you don't want immediately. If you turn the other way and the dog turns the other way and looks at you etc., etc., - however hard it may seem you just have to turn away again or walk away. Don't even look at the dog. Then call the dog to you and praise lavishly as this is a behaviour that you want to reward. I hope this makes sense.

I don't want you to think that I don't find some of the things my dogs do really funny. I do and I get it wrong a lot of the time as well. It just depends on whether you want to have a robot that does everything you want (which I don't !!! ) or a dog with character that is sometimes naughty but mostly fab!!!!

I spend a lot of my time laughing at my dogs and their antics and I wouldn't want them to become robots. However, I do think something that actually hurts the owner and is not fun really has to be stopped. The only way to stop it is the ignoring - then praising a new behaviour you have asked for. It can be quite difficult when you really are in pain and I know that sometimes I would scream which would just make it worse and get her more excited!!!! Perseverence and consistency and, of course, age. They do all grow out of it. A staffie of 18 months must be sore!!!

Something happened today that might bring this into perspective. I was out walking with my 4 dogs and my friend's 2 springers. All good dogs and all walking in the fields minding their own business. Just over the hill Baz, one of my rescue dogs, came across a man and girl who were obviously afraid of dogs. Baz got a fright because the girl ran behind the man and the man stood bolt upright with his arms out by his side in a sort of protective gesture towards his daughter. He was staring Baz right in eyes. I told him to look away and walk on as normal; what he was doing was actually confronting the dog and making him more nervous. He didn't listen and then Jack started joining in because he thought something was going to happen to Baz. I called the dogs back and they came but were very "edgy". I told the man and girl that if a dog comes up to you and barks, never ever eye-ball it. Best thing is to just ignore the dog and keep walking. To do what he was doing was basic human instinct and it is something that people do when they are frightened, but it gives out all sorts of signals to a dog. I can say that because I'm not frightened of dogs but it must be quite scary to people who are.

Kind regards
Annie

Cheers I know what to do next time he's naughty!

Thats so true what you described! It's SOO hard not to laugh!

Thanks for this really interesting discussion folks, I've been experiencing almost exactly what you're describing and try to be consistent but it is sometimes really difficult to ignore/walk away from a dog pulling your socks off or jumping up to grab your sleeves!

I know Jake isn't being aggressive with this behaviour as he always goes for clothing (even though nips my toes by accident) and if he gets my hand instead he'll let go and try for the sleeve again. It's tempting to just let him get on with it but I wouldn't forgive myself if he learnt it was OK and tried it on a friend's child.

I hope you don't mind me butting in on your conversation but it's so reassuring to find other people experiencing the same frustrations as I do!

It sounds silly, but different 'ignoring' techniques work for different dogs. With some dogs, a quick 'ah-ah' and walk away does the trick, others need you to walk out of the room and close the door for a few seconds before returning, with others you can just stand very still for a few seconds (with all the above, no attention at all, especially eye contact and body language should be as passive as possible).

Another technique is to ensure your back is turned. As soon as the dog makes any attempt whatsoever to grab, stand up and turn your back and keep it turned. The dog will try to move in front of you (to assess your reaction by gaining eye contact), but keep on turning and turning until the dog has walked away. With the dedicated attention seekers, wait until the dog has calmed then run through a few simple training commands with him to make sure is mind is directed to other things before giving him something to occupy himself with - chew toy etc.

Finding the one that calms your dog the quickest and being consistent with that methods, ie every time the behaviour starts, use the technique, is the key. Inconsistency whereby sometimes the dog is ignored, other times laughed at, other times impatience leading to shouting and pushing him off (the wonderful 'push me, pull you game', will make him determined to keep trying until he gets the reaction he wants.