# New Dog owner - Amstaff/Lab mix - need help!!!



## jlove3 (Apr 18, 2007)

We just adopted an Amstaff/Lab (we think Lab) mix from the shelter about 4 weeks ago. This is our first dog (as adults)... we also have 5 cats. No children as of now.. 

My puppy is 11 months old and her name is Madison. She was so cute and quiet in her kennel at the shelter, but now we call her the "demon dog"  
Madison is crate trained, she is attending obedience classes. This Saturday will be week 3. The trainer has already called her the "class clown". The other 7 dogs in class are angels compared to her. She seems like she is over excited and just wants to play and jump. We recently purchased the prong collar for her walks and will be using it this Saturday for the first time in class. Previously we used a harness that was recommended from the pet store but not from the trainer since she has a huge strong chest it wouldn't work (and the trainer was right). Taking her on walks was a nightmare... she would pull me down the street. 

*Question: Madison is new to walks, with the prong it is easier, but how do you get her to walk by your side and not want to sniff everything in sight? *

Our routine as of right now is... get up at 5am, go outside, eat, play for a bit, and then go back outside by 6:30am. Then she is in her crate until we return from work which is around 5pm. We both work at the same job and live to far to take her out at lunch.. but thankfully she is good in her crate. I take her out as soon as we get home and then feed her. She then plays with her toys for a bit, or we go outside again and kick the ball around. She is a super high energy dog... after a bit of play we come in and I hang out with her for a few hours more, then around 10pm we go out for the night and back to bed she goes. 

*Question? Since she is a super high energy dog (especially in a crate during the day) what are some suggestions in burning off her energy? How long should we play? How long of walks should we do after play? Before play would be a disaster of her wanting to run.. How should we play in the house? She has chew toys and ropes... a lot of toys.. *

We have tried several ways of introducing the cats to the dog. The cats own the house all day long and run as they please, but as soon as Madison is out of her crate and has her collar on, the cats run and hide. We did leave all of the doors open and picked up the cat food, b/c she was eating it. Well Madison would run and find the cats, usually under the bed. She would get down on the side of the bed and just start to bark and wag her tail at them. They did nothing but hiss hiss hiss... Well recently, I found that I was letting the dog introduce herself to the cats, thinking the cats would smack her one when they have had enough and found a surprise in my bed. Madison peed on our bed. This was just the other day... so I am now closing our bedroom and office door completely and the 3rd bedroom is the cats room where their things are.. so I would round them up and put them in there until Madison goes to bed. I feel bad b/c the cats were there first, but things are now going to have to change. We just bought a kitty door today at lunchtime and will install it this weekend. We want the cats to have access to their room when they want, not be kept in there while Madison is out. She doesn't seem like she wants to hurt them, but is curious and wags the tail and barks.. which is the only time you hear her bark.. it is silly... 

*Any thoughts on the above paragraph? Any suggestions on 5 different cat personalities and one super high energy dog? *

The other issue we have follows the peeing on the bed, housetraining. She knows the word outside.. but we have to say it all of the time, I watch when she paces and say "outside" and she wants to go out... how do you train them to tell you when they have to go outside? There have been a few accidents in the house already..

And the last thing for now is the jumping and nipping. She loves to jump at you and nip... it seems all like play, but Madison is strong and can whip my butt if she wanted too. We just bought a jumping harness today, I don't know if it will work or not.. but we need to try something. 

While at the store today we picked up a book, Training Secrets for Bully Dogs and the Amstaff was named one of the bullies. We were reading it at work and my husband said if he had this book before we adopted her, he may not have.. it seems like these dogs are a lot of work and super high strung. Any advice is sure welcomed, we want to make this work and have her as part of our family. We plan to have a child within the next year or two and do not want anything bad to happen.. So we hope to get her trained and settled in well before then. 

I want to do everything in my power to do this the right way and not the wrong way. I feel we adopted her and need to give her that second chance, I just don't want her to turn on us or become agressive, etc... per the book we may not see agression until 3 years old.. she is almost 1 year now.. 

Sorry for the novel of a post, but I am new here and need to get as much out as I can for now.. 

Thank you for your time reading and responding...


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

jlove3 said:


> *Question? Since she is a super high energy dog (especially in a crate during the day) what are some suggestions in burning off her energy? How long should we play? How long of walks should we do after play? Before play would be a disaster of her wanting to run.. How should we play in the house? She has chew toys and ropes... a lot of toys..*


To burn off energy a good combination of mental, physical, and social exercises are ideal. Try to keep play sessions short, no more than 5-10 minutes at a time, and all play sessions should be under control, including in the house. Your dog's energy level will dictate how long your walks are. Typically, anywhere from a half hour to an hour is average, and I like to walk my dog twice a day, everyday, rain or shine. Keep her toys in a toy box, and let jer play with them only one at a time.

*



Any thoughts on the above paragraph? Any suggestions on 5 different cat personalities and one super high energy dog?

Click to expand...

* http://www.sfspca.org/behavior/dog_library/cat_dog_intros.pdf




> And the last thing for now is the jumping and nipping.


The Bite Stops Here


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## Curbside Prophet (Apr 28, 2006)

jlove3 said:


> *Question: Madison is new to walks, with the prong it is easier, but how do you get her to walk by your side and not want to sniff everything in sight? *


Loose Leash Walking Using Positive Reinforcers - Dog Training Forum - Dog Forums - all breed dog forum


And don't forget to add NILIF as a part of your dog's daily life!

NILIF (nothing in life is free) - Dog Training Forum - Dog Forums - all breed dog forum


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## dtweena (Oct 11, 2013)

Our Dog:
We adopted an 11-month Amstaff (American Staffordshire Terrier) Chocolate Lab mix 1yr ago. She came from a rescue place and they said she had been at six places prior, they found her at a kill shelter to be put down. I think people give up on these dogs and the 200% energy have and desperately NEED to release, or your house can take a beating... 

Outside Exercise:
We walk our dog 3x's a day (rain or shine) about a mile in the am and the afternoon and evening about 1.5 each. We discovered these breads need a "JOB". Some jobs could be holding something on a walk, having them pull something, or putting a dog backpack on them when you walk with two small water bottles on each side. Having the backpack on with a small amount of weight gives them a job and simulates their mind. It also gives them exercise and fun just being with you. 

Walking:
On the beginning of our walks we hold the leash so her head is right next to us sometime a bit behind us. We make a noise “Uh Uh” a quick fix to get her back to where she should be. We also walk a bit and say “Uh Uh this way” if she slows to smell every blade of grass along the walk or pulls to go a different direction usually again because of some good smell. 

After a bit we let her go ahead and enjoy, but if she make the leash taunt we give it a tug say “Uh Uh this way” and walk the other direction so realizes “we are the master/dominate” not her. 

Training/exercise:
We also take her to the part and do about 10/15-min of training on a long leash by having her sit and come with a little treat incentive. On the days I can tell she just needs to run run run, my husband takes her out for a run/jog on the side of his mountain bike. She LOVES that! And it is also Job oriented as she has to concentrate so it wears her our physically and mentally, which this bread you need to wear them out mentally just as much if not more. 

Some in house exercise; she loves tug-a-war and just playing with you. I also found if you don’t mind dog toy fuzz, toys she can play with that have 16 pillows of squeakys keeps her busy and challenges her to get all the squeakys. We also hook her up on the treadmill and have her trot along, they get the hang of it pretty fast and we are right there in case she needs us. (We learned this from the Doggie Day Care, they put the high energy dogs on there). 

Speaking of that We take her to Doggie Day Care once a week to keep her socialized with other dogs and she can run wild and play all day. SHE LOVES IT and comes home from an all-day fun day as a zombie! Haha.

We avoid the word NO
We stay clear of the word “No” because that is used in casual conversations too and they just begin to ignore that. That is why we use “Uh Uh” or “Uh Uh This Way” or just “This Way”, we use these word that are just for her or “her correction work “. We also never use her name when “correcting” keeps her name from being used in a “negative tone” as we want her always to be trusting and happy when say “Nena” or her many nicknames “Neener Neener” and Neeners” hahah.


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## 3doglady (Jul 31, 2011)

Agree with the above. 

I have to say that she sounds like a lot of the pit/lab mixes we get in class. They have all been very high energy and bored from lack of mental stimulation. The most productive approach I've found so far, is (aside from NILIF), to keep them mentally busy, in class, or anywhere where they are likely to blow off some of that energy. Give them an alternate behavior and reward every time you catch them doing behaviors you like. Reward for eye contact (or 'watch), reward for quiet, reward every time they come or look to you for instruction, etc. Then do sits, touches, downs, heel, watch, come, stay, wait, or whatever you are taught in class. If you are able to, do these things in class while watching and listening to the trainer.

If you can get her focus on you, then you can do more challenging venues, like rally, nosework, triebball or agility. And by all means, train her to put toys away, carry things, shut doors, hide N seek, find hidden objects, etc so that she has something constructive to do.

Edit to add: you can teach her to 'go sniff' as a command. Then help her with heel on her heeling walks by giving the "watch" command and treating for that as you go. After a few hundred feet, give her the go sniff command, then ask for Watch and Heel, when you're ready for heel again. You can also pair a particular halter or collar for your "go sniff" walks, then give her the command to go sniff. When my dog is in harness, it's go sniff time. When she has a flat collar or martingale on, she is to heel. She has learned that over time.


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