Over excited dog - advice needed pls

Hi All

bit of advice needed. I have a 21 month old staff called otis. He is absolutely adorable but still very boistrious. I have taken him to puppy classes for a year and he is a saint and does everything asked of him when we are there.

The problem is he is so bouncy when we have visiters round and doesnt calm down no matter what we do. Yesterday my brother came round with his two kids and Otis ran straight at my nephew who is 4 to give him big sloppy kisses. I am 100% sure he did not want to hurt him but he literally launched himself at him to kiss his face. My poor nephew went hysterical as 3 stone of staff is not the most appealing site coming towards you. We put otis in his bed in the kitchen to calm down then my sister in law went into the kitchen with the baby to heat up her milk and otis jumped up and snatched the baby's sock from her foot and scratched her slightly.

Now i am panicking cos we want to start a family next year and i dont know how otis will be. Otis is my baby and i could never rehome him!!! Maybe i am overreacting, (which i always do!) Maybe it was my fault that otis was so hyper cos we had a houseful of people and that is not the norm. Please can anyone advise how i could have helped the situation and reassure me that otis will be ok when we have kids!

jodiex

Hi,
Unfortunatly that is just typical stafford behaviour,they seem to think everybody just wants to love them,
Maybe he did get a bit excited as it was a change to the normal day to day routine.
Does Otis have a crate you could put him in when visitors arrive?
I put our dogs in there crates when we have visitors as not everybody likes to be welcomed in the stafford manner
I'm sure somebody else will be able to give you some good advice soon.

hiya jodie.

I wouldnt panic firstly - staffies are notoriously boisterous ( expection i have found to be bruno who is actually quite calm compared to some I have met)

perhaps you could introduce a house line and when you have visitors have them come in whilst otis is sitting and getting treats etc so he is calm and then not petting him unless he is calm?

I was always worried about bruno and kids and whilst he plays boisterously with our freinds little girls - he is fab and calm with my best friends 5 month old baby.

otis is young so probably just needs to calm down a little which will come with time as much as training.

thanks all - i just panick sometimes! it was so stressful with kids at my house at the weekend with otis i actually thought 'oh my god i cant have kids cos i cant cope with both!'

otis is a lot calmer than he used to be - how old were your staffs when they 'calmed down'?

jx

not to mislead u - Bruno hasnt actually calmed down completely - he will still go loopy when he sees someone he lurves !!!

but bruno certainly has chilled out alot in the last year or so - but then he is now 5 1/2 !! so thats only what another 3 years to go !! LOL

The point is not to get stressed. Staffs are boisterous (I know I have 2 and have had them since the 70's)
First and foremost don't get stressed.
Part 1 Otis needs to understand that excited behaviour gets him no where.
Part 2 When visitors come, put Otis's lead on so you have control.
Part3 Toddlers can find dogs overwhelming, especialy as they are on eye level. So if thats the case put the dog out safety and peace of mind are more important than anything you don't want people not coming round or feeling uneasy around your dog.
Part 4 As suggested by Dani, get Otis to sit and behave on the indoor lead, so he realises good behaviour calm gets him treats, bad behaviour "jumping launching himself etc" gets him put out. He will get it.
And not to worry you unduely but my old Staff Sam and Gyp were still OTT at 16 and 15 respectievly.
But they soon learn maybe getting someone to call round maybe a friend ring the bell come in you have Otis on the lead the visitor sits down ignores the dog you have control with the lead, the visitor leaves, I think someone hit the nail on the head he finds visitors exciting a change to his routine.

I have a puppy too and I got a helpful leaflet from Pets at Home of all places... Like above, it advises to have a "doorbell party". You get a few friends to stand outside and take it in turns to ring the doorbell and come in whilst you are inside with your dog on the lead and treats. You basically do what Kazz advises above.

I guess like all training it will take time but where food is involved, they usually pick it up quickly! I'm hoping Honey will soon, she is growing at a rate of knots now and she's going to be very large being a Leo!!!

What do you do if you don't have any friends??

i agree with kazz. couldnt have put it better myself

if you dont have visitors often and dont have many friends its going to be loads harder to sort out, you must be consistant.

the only other thing i will suggest which works with indie, she is a nightmare with visitors, and we only have them once in a blue moon! try telling her to be calm! just being loopy i think is rewarding for her! lol.

what i try and do, is if i know a visitor is coming, take her for a nice long walk, or a vigorous run in the park. then when the visitors arrive, i ask them to just walk with me round the block with indie. shes much calmer on this initial meeting cos shes interested in the walk too. so she gets used to their presence with only perhaps a few excited bits, but nothing like if theyd walked in the house.

then they walk back home with you, and because your dog has walked with them for the last 5-10mins their presence isnt that interesting anymore.

of course i still maintain control of indie, still being young (2 and a half) she will occassionally forget they are here, then when she remembers, gets all excited, but i am able to ask her to sit, whilst holding her collar and asking the visitors to calmly say hello to her.

this method can work wonders

Time,training and patience !!!!
Alfie and Daisy are Two and a half now,Daisy has always been relatively calm when we have visitors, Alfie on the otherhand has always been bouncy and very excitable but slowly and surely he is finally calming down when we have visitors,If he listens and sits by them nicely and waits to be petted/greeted (as opposed to jumping and Beagle howling all over them lol !) he gets a treat,if not (and hes got his 'selective' hearing mode on) he goes into the kitchen/diner for some 'time out' . I have a baby gate up instead of the door so he can see us and hear us,then i try him again after 5/10 mins.
They get there in the end..............