I have a 2 yr old staffordshire bull terrier, I got her as a rescue 3 months ago. The previous owner couldn't home her but had bred her excessively. I also have a male labrador and 5 children. Up until now the staffy has been fine but last night when my son was petting the labrador she went and started snapping at the other dog, today my daughter got down to stroke the staffy and the dog went for my daughters face leaving a visible bite mark but fortunately no blood. The staff hasn't been spayed and had her season in December. I am trying to understand why she has become so snappy over the last 7 days. In general she is very well manered, behaves herself and is a pleasure to have at home. Very affectionate and loving, can anybody help? As I don't want to have her destroyed but at the same time I am reluctant to put my family at risk from being bitten.

As an owner of one, and someone who has been rehousing surrenders for a while, I cannot stress enough to people that these dogs need to be spayed and neutered. There are too many that have been placed in the situation you have described. Do you know the history of the dog, other than being used as breeding stock? Frankly, if you do not know anything else about the dog, I would suggest you give the dog up to your local shelter and let them take it from there. Her aggressiveness toward your children is of great concern to me. You can call the last 3 months the "honeymoon" period. She knew she was the new kid on the block and she is starting to become comfortable. If you are not familiar with this breed and how to train them, you cannot place your children at risk. I never recommend that Am Staffs are placed in homes with children under 10 or 12 years of age. They make wonderful pets when given the proper training from puppyhood but can be problematic if not. Please don't misunderstand me. They are no more problematic than any other dog in training but because of that jaw, if not trained properly they can do a lot of damage. Your children should come first.

There is an expert on this site named Labman who may be able to give you more info and insight on this. You may want to search for him on the site. When he signs on, I am sure he will find your question and provide additional info.

I don't mean to sound so pontificatory (if that is a word). They are wonderful, affectionate, and loving dogs. But, her biting is starting to escalate and I am very worried about the safety of your children. This is a training problem that takes time and may not be corrected so easily depending on her background. You may find that she really does some damage to your children before you have a chance to correct the situation.

I think that RubyPitBull has done a wonderful job of explaining the issues at hand.

My experience is only with the smaller terrier breeds and english setters. The little terriers can be a major handful but at least they're small enough to manage, and the setters tend to be more easily managed.

I would reiterate though, that the health and safety of your children and family have to be at the top of your priority list.

Here's a good link to someone who specialized in having pets in the family with children. Jen has been immensely helpful to our rescue. Be SURE to look through her section on reading dog body language... It's something I would like someone to do a more extensive web page on

familypaws.com

-Beth

I thank Rubypitbull for the kind words. Ruby seems to have more experience with formerly abused pit bulls than I do. Beth is good too. I certainly agree on the spaying. In addition to the ''honeymoon'' period, she is still maturing which can lead to problems as she decides she is a big girl now and ready to claim her place in the pack.

I think many people make the mistake of expecting all members of a breed to be alike. You may or may not be able to salvage her. The first step is a vet check. If a physical problem has left her out of sorts, nobody can train that away.
The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position That site also has a good page on dogs and children.

SEE! I knew Labman would have more to add. And he is right about the maturing process. Am Staffs take 3-5 years to mature. I noticed at 2 yrs mine was starting to exhibit her "growing up" signs.

Both those links are excellent! I have read the Monks of New Skete book. Very, very useful. Another great book is Jean Donaldson's, The Culture Clash.

My main concern here is the time it will take to teach the children to be the alphas which is why I didn't bother explaining it. She is already asserting her dominance over the Lab. I do not know how young your children are, but even though it might be possible, it will be a very difficult thing to teach children under the age of 8 to assert their alpha position with the dog. Time is definitely of the essence in this situation. In any event, if you decide you want to keep the dog and learn the "Art of Alpha" as Labman suggests, you should never leave your children unsupervised with the dog.