Hey everyone just after a bit of advice, i have just had my first puppy his name is Alfie, 7 weeks old staffordshire bull terrier.

I am just really worried that he maybe aggressive, i can pick him up feed him out my hands, touch him everywhere its just when he is playing or excited he always goes for my hands he can be quite snappy sometimes he growels or barks and jumps up at my hands to bite them. I have been trying bite inhibition i yelp when he bites me look away then he seems to get worse growels and goes for me again, i have also tried walking out the room after i yelp but then he runs after me, once im out the room i can hear him running about and barking. He does lick aswell which i dont mind, when he tries to mouth i give him a toy to distract him.

I do love him but his behavoiur is really upsetting me at the moment.

At 7 weeks old he should still be with his mum and if you bought this puppy at 7 weeks then I think it's very irresponsible of you to do so, puppies shouldn't leave their mother until atleast 8 weeks old. Leaving their mother and litter mates before 8 weeks old can and have led to behavioural problems.


Does he have a crate? If not that might be a good idea, sometimes it's helpful to 'send the kids to their room!' to calm down, not as a punishment but just to help him calm down if he's getting too excited. Another thing you can do is when you walk out the room close the door behind you, then go back in after a minute or so. If he's still excited go back out, repeat this until he's calm when you enter the room.

I am no means an expert this is just my personal opinion but alot of people on here will be able to give you some better advice on this situation

Puppies are frustrating, see the Sticky on "Puppy Nipping".

You need to persist when he's over excited and teach him that that yelp means a short cessation to play, if he is not reacting that way. If the "ow!" yelp does not cause a reaction, then general advice seems to be to try a growly warning like another pup or mother would do in the situation, to try to elicite the same response.

Even better, is to learn to avoid over excited play, and substitute toys & chews for when the puppy is wanting to mouth/chew hands.

It is common for puppy owners to spend a month, covered in scratches and bruises, not just Staffies either.

It is very important that he learns both doggy manners from other dogs, but also to treat humans differently; it takes time to learn though so you need to keep plugging away with reinforcing acceptable play behavious. I would also begin reward based obedience training as early as possible, to give others confidence and control over exuberant pup.

Get him vaccinated, and find a good "Puppy Socialisation Event" with space for non stressed puppies to interact, normally from 1 week after first vac., preferably with adult dogs acting to intervene as the mother would, correcting over boisterous one sided behaviours.

At 7 weeks old he should still be with his mum and if you bought this puppy at 7 weeks then I think it's very irresponsible of you to do so, puppies shouldn't leave their mother until atleast 8 weeks old. Leaving their mother and litter mates before 8 weeks old can and have led to behavioural problems. (QUOTE)

Although you are quite right, I think you are being a little unfair. Sometimes you are not given a choice. I had one of mine at 6.1/2 weeks. The breeder was not prepared to keep her until 8 weeks. Yes I could have walked away but my sister had gone to a lot of trouble in finding this pup and I'm almost certain, had the breeder kept her, she would have been pts as she had OCD by the time she was 4 months old. She's now almost 9 yrs old and is an absolute joy.

We had to get star at 7, the breeder wnated them gone at 6 and we made her stay on for another week, even though it was just her and mum.
She has no behavioural problems whatsoever, we bought her home with a blanket we'd given the breeder to put in the bed with her, mum and the puppies and slep downstairs for a night with her.
Puppies play and use their teeth a lot, it's perfectly normal and isn't agression, i lost a lot of trousers to star :/ and had an awful lot of scrrathes, obviously it should be discouraged of course, and I suggest as said above you just read the 'nipping pup' sticky thread.

Ideals are great, but I agree. Once the pup is with you, then focus on supporting it's development not to worry about that week with it's Dam that's missing. It does make puppy socialistation more important, which is reason I talked about it. With a young vacinated pup, you do want to make sure it's a good group, not one where older boisterous dogs are barking in a stressed small enclosed space.

[QUOTE=NicoleW;1811330]At 7 weeks old he should still be with his mum and if you bought this puppy at 7 weeks then I think it's very irresponsible of you to do so, puppies shouldn't leave their mother until atleast 8 weeks old. Leaving their mother and litter mates before 8 weeks old can and have led to behavioural problems.

/QUOTE]

If anyone is irresponsible it is the breeder, that is the person that to blame.

I know 8 weeks is better, but correct me if I'm wrong "Guide Dogs for the Blind" give they puppies to their puppy walkers when they are 6 (SIX) weeks old.

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Sorry about any wrong spelling, but I'm feed up of looking things up in the dictionary

Sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone, and I never meant for it to come across in that tone of manner. :-(

Thanks for your advice everyone, the breeder let all the puppies go at six weeks nothing i could have done about it.

I am crate training him at the moment and it is going very well, he is also now sleeping all night love him to bits, he is seeming a alot calmer today even though he still always has his mad half hour. He did get a bit hyper and snappy earlier so i put him in his crate for a bit opened the door when he calmed down paid him no attention then he came and sat on my lap and went to sleep.

I have also been trying to disincourage his jumping aswell today, think he may be learning whose boss lol. Would really like to try puppy classes after his final jabs at 10 weeks, i will have to check if there are any local to me. I think it also helped wearing him out earlier chasing the ball to get rid of some excess energy.

I know you want to protect your pup, and Vets tend to give a specific date for full immunity, but if you haven't seen the sticky Puppy Socialisation versus Risk of Contagion

The best "Puppy Romp" I found, was allowing 1 week after first shot, and there were in the indoor hall, some very young and small puppies, with new confident older pups rapidly getting moved outside to the more boisterous play area. There wasn't any bullying of small pups that I saw inside, they were much more polite and big eyed than I expected before I went.

Sounds like you're doing great