How to Train a Staffy Puppy – The Ultimate Guide

We told you Staffies are clever and super eager to please, didn’t we? Well, we should probably also mention that they can get bored if training gets easy, so finding a way to keep them on their toes is important. 

We can get better and faster results while avoiding boredom and frustration by using the ‘Push Drop Stick’ strategy to gradually increase the difficulty of exercises.

The ‘Push Drop Stick’ works by you doing the same thing 5 times with your pup. If they get all of them right 5 times in a row, you get to move to the next level of difficulty (push). If they get 3 or 4 right, you should stick to their level and take more time to practise. If they only get 1 or 2 right, it means they’re finding the lesson a little challenging, so you should switch to an easier version of it by dropping down a level.

Staffies might be strong and independent but they will want to be with you. They’re actually soft and mushy inside. For at least the first few weeks, have a crate or bed next to your bed while you get them into a Puppy night-time routine. That way, they’ll be able to tell you if they need the toilet, and can find you in case they need to be comforted in the middle of the night. Discover how to help a puppy sleep through the night with our handy guide.

The best way you’ll show your puppy the ropes about being fine when left alone is with stuffed chew toys, time and lots of patience. It will be super helpful to do some alone puppy training from that first week to get the train going, but take your time without any rush to avoid getting them distressed. The goal is to make them learn that you going away can also mean some good things, like treats or a yummy chew toy.

Puppy toilet training. The most feared form of training for new puppy parents.  But there’s nothing to be afraid of – our training guide will show you everything you need to know with plenty of detail so you miss nothing, and rather prevent all indoor accidents. As with alone training, you’ll want to start sooner rather than later; when they get older it might be too late.

In this first week, we’ll take it nice and easy – focusing on getting your Staffy puppy used to their new home. We can do this with puppy socialisation exercises such as:

• Exploring the garden – In the first week (if not the first day) showing them where the toilet area is will be the first thing you do. It’s a great opportunity for them to get to know the birds, butterflies, and planes that often make appearances.
• Surfaces – Setting up different surfaces for your puppy to walk on and discover can do great things for their confidence. Use surfaces like grass, moss, brick or tiles – using treats as a motivator of course. 

Okay, let’s get started with some basic training for your Staffy puppy. Remember to use lots of puppy treats and praise when training, remember how much they love making your tail wag!

• Teach your Staffy their name – As with anyone else, it’s quite important that your Staffy puppy knows their name and can respond to it quickly. You can always turn it into a fun game as well. To start, make it a mission to repeat their name to them a lot in the first week so it really starts to click. 
• Teach your Staffy puppy to sit – Sitting will be a great skill to teach to start off with some good manners. Staffies really love jumping and people so this is an important one! 
• Puppy recall – This one is one you’ll want to practice as it’s important for safety. Staffies generally stay close, but do have a tendency to be social and will want to run up to people and other dogs for a friendly greeting. Our puppy recall training article will give you all the details for how to polish up a recall.
• Retrieve/fetch – Staffies love a game of fetch. There will come a time when you’ll be able to play this on a large scale, but for now, getting on the floor and playing softly with your Staffy puppy will be enough.

For your Staffy, it will be important to teach them about giving up stuff they have in their mouths to help avoid resource guarding.

Remember that when Staffies have something, they often don’t want to let go! Those jaws will clamp on really, really well. They just won’t let go. Oh, and you won’t want to chase them around – it will make them think it’s a good game of chase. And trust us, you won’t outrun them.

Instead, always do lots and lots of swaps with toys so that they learn that you’ll trade with them for whatever they have. As you may well know, they don’t have hands to explore things, so the temptation will be to grab things from their mouths.

Staffies love a good session of rubs and pets, but should be handled with care.  This first week, we’ll be focussing on handling your puppy in the best way possible.

• Handling your puppy – Your Staffy puppy will need to look nice and groomed. This means their ears will need to be cleaned, their claws trimmed, and yes. Sometimes their bottoms wiped! In order to be able to do this, our goal is to teach them that hands are nice things. At the start, make sure to use loads of treats to convince them about this. But also, be gentle of course

There are so many new things going on for your puppy these days. From interesting sounds to strange-looking people, to visiting new places. At the moment, your Staffy puppy is in their socialisation period, which is the perfect time to show them anything and everything – including other dogs. 

This week, concentrate on the following socialisation and habituation exercises:

• Fireworks – Start playing these sounds at a low volume. It’s a good sign if your puppy just ignores them. While they’re listening, use treats now and again too to help them adjust. If you want to know more, we’ve got a full programme of getting your puppy used to noises in the Zigzag app – go take a look!

• Watch the world go by – For this socialisation activity, with your Staffy all it takes is for your puppy to sit tight out the front of your house, and patiently watch around for everything that goes past them. Soon enough, they’ll start getting used to so many new things, and they won’t think of them as being such a big deal. 
• Play dress-up – No outfits for your puppy needed yet. In this exercise,  you’re the one that’s dressing up with hats, sunglasses or even a walking stick so your puppy gets exposed to new things.
• Sit in the car – With a few treats at hand, teach your puppy that the car is nothing more than a form of transport. Nothing to be scared about. There’s no need to go anywhere yet, you can explore a bit around the seats and boot.

This week, we’ll get to do some training too – nothing too crazy but useful for a young Staffy puppy to learn.

• Alone training – Oh, how great would it be if we could spend all day with our puppies. Until the world is arranged in a way that we’re able to do so, we’re stuck teaching them that being on their own while home alone is fine. 
• Crate training – Crate training will do wonders for teaching your puppy to switch off. It will become their safe space whenever you have visitors too – somewhere they can find peace and quiet.
• Teach them their name – In the garden this time. We need to make sure your puppy knows their name anywhere, and the garden, having thousands of distractions in it, it’s the best place to practice.
• Recall training: Add a cue word so that you’re not just calling their name you’re also giving them the instruction to ‘come’. 
• Fetch and drop – They’ll do the fetch part of the game just fine – it’s the reliable drop at the end you’ll have to work on.
• Introduce lead walking training – A harness will come soon enough. For now,  we’re just practising close following in the house and garden; focusing on teaching them how to walk nicely next to you. 

• Brushing your puppy – Staffies can enjoy being groomed but it won’t take long until they start biting on the brush and turn it into a game. Lucky for you, Staffies don’t shed a great deal, but brushing their coat is nevertheless a good bonding exercise. Use a soft brush though; their coats aren’t very thick so nothing too hard.

• Scent trails – Now Staffies aren’t known for their hunting skills, but are still equipped with a formidable sense of smell. To make them happy, set up some treat scent trails around the house or garden for them to follow with their nose. 
• Invite friends over – Your Staffy will love social encounters, but let them ease into it on their own – let’s not push them to get picked up and passed around too much.
• Go for a drive – Safety first! Make sure they’re strapped into a car harness or in a crate in the boot so that they’re safe before you drive off.  Some will like a booster seat to see out of the window too and let their ears flap in the wind. 
• Write a puppy socialisation checklist for your Staffy puppy: This will help them blend into your lifestyle in a calm, and happy way. Make a list of things that are important in your life – are you usually around horses? Do you go on camping trips or road trips?  Your puppy will probably need to be exposed to these things in the most positive way possible to make it an easy transition to adulthood.

• Recall: Let’s get your puppy to come to you when called. We’ll want to train this outside where there’s plenty of distractions – good practice for when you’re out and about.  
• Stop your puppy jumping up: Puppies jump up to be friendly – they really don’t mean to give you muddy jeans. Staffies are actually really friendly and love getting to know new people, but they still have to be polite. That means four paws on the ground, and sitting nicely. 
• Generalisation: Practice the exercises you’ve been acing so far with your puppy in 5 different places around your home to help them manage for when they’re out in the big world. 
• Teach your Staffy puppy to lie down – Always useful to have a puppy that can lie down and settle easily. Especially when you’re trying to watch some telly.
• Alone training – Keep on building on the home alone training week by week so that your Staffy puppy can settle by themselves.

• Choosing a harness for a Staffy puppy. There are a lot of harnesses on the market and some will be better than others for your Staffies shape. They do quite like to pull so having something smaller across the chest so they can’t pull against it can work better for them.

• Meeting another dog: Over the moon is where your puppy will be when meeting another dog. But let’s take an easy route – choose a nice calm older dog who likes puppies for your Staffy’s first encounter. Staffies need lots of socialisation with other dogs, so a few play dates will help them tremendously. 
• Find a good puppy class for your puppy: The Association of Pet Dog Trainers, The COAPE Association of Pet Behaviourists and Trainers or any of the members of the UK Dog Training and Behaviour Charter have fantastic options for puppy classes. Zigzag approved!

• Settle on a mat – We know you want to show your Staffy off to everyone at the pub. Either that or you simply want to enjoy a cup of tea with your pup somewhere else than in your living room. For this, you’ll have to teach your Staffy puppy to settle on a mat. A stuffed chew toy under your foot with some yummy goodies inside for your puppy to focus on eating is a great way to help them through it. Extra points if you can get them a comfortable piece of vet bed or a memory foam travel mat to settle on. It’s not like they’ll hate lying on the floor,  but the mat will help give a clear signal that you want them to settle. 
• Lead walking – With your new harness, practice walking your Staffy puppy around the garden. You’ll soon find out they are strong and determined dogs, so you’ll want to teach them that being next to you is the right place to be…and not sprinting over to the pond where the ducks are.  You really don’t want a full-grown ball of Staffy muscle pulling on the lead so start now.  
• Recall games – Yes, playing tennis with your puppy is a thing. Get them to lap up the attention of being called between people, for treats, rubs, kisses and praise.

• Grooming a puppy – Staffies are low maintenance when it comes to pampering but it’s important they get used to being handled as it will make life easier for future vet visits. Those ears catch a lot of dirt too.  Use only dry cotton wool pads for a few days, treating your puppy frequently as you do it, and then move on to moistened pads with some special ear cleaner like Epi-Otic ear cleaner to give them a thorough cleanse. 

Oh, and never squirt things in your puppy’s ears! They will hate it for sure – and you’ll struggle to clean their ears after that.

• Go to the pub or a dog-friendly café: After all your hard work, you deserve it. As you may expect, everyone will love to say hello to your Staffy puppy, but it might be the case that not everyone wants to, or that you might not want to have strangers staring over looking hopefully. Before you get to your destination, decide in advance if you’re happy with people coming over so you know what to do. 
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – what will it be this week? Perhaps a trip to the beach or a hike is next. (vaccinations permitting of course)

• Alone training: Time to increase the time they’re left on their own. Can you get outside the front door yet? 
• Recall – Practice your recall outside, in your garden or the park. Make sure you choose a relatively quiet area away from the road. You can practice recalls on the lead as well if you’re not ready for taking it off – take a few steps backwards so your puppy has to travel a bit further. You can also think about using a long recall lead so that your puppy has a little more freedom to move around. In parks there are going to be a lot of distractions, so bring along the stinkiest treats and toys you can find that will tickle your puppy’s fancy.

• Lead walking – Get ready for the pulls and shoves. Walking your puppy outside will be a challenge. To make it easier on yourself, think of it more like you’re going on a training walk, rather than on a walk to the park. It helps manage expectations, right? It can be useful to keep going up and down the same road several times too, that way your Staffy can satisfy all of their novelty sniffing needs out of the way to actually get some practice done.

• Push/drop/stick on known exercises – Let’s see…can your puppy sit on a verbal cue yet? How about sitting for 3 seconds? Think of creative ways to raise the difficulty) of exercises to avoid them getting bored. 

• Pretending clipping your dog’s nails – Get your puppy used to you feeling in between their toes to make sure nail clipping doesn’t become something they fear later on. Give them some yummy treats while you show them your claw clippers so they begin to make the link of good things happening when the clippers come out.  
• Grooming your Staffy puppy -Keep doing a great job of brushing and cleaning their ears and face each week. We bet they love you doing that anyway, but you could never use enough treats

• Tick 3 more items off your socialisation checklist – Perhaps a trip on the bus or train sounds like a good idea. It might also be a good time to visit busier places, as well as quiet ones to see if you can manage him in both scenarios.

• Following on walks – By getting your puppy to be happy and excited to stay with you when they’re off lead, they’ll be far more likely to stay by your side. Frequently call them and reward them with treats for their good choices!
• Push/drop/stick – Let’s try it on any of the cues your puppy knows by now. To keep it interesting, practice the Push, Drop Stick in a distracting area, holding a longer duration or covering a longer distance.

• Start checking your puppy’s mouth and teeth: Remember those strong jaws we talked about? Definitely don’t want those snapping at you or the vet. Getting them used to having their mouths checked will be very handy since the vet will always have to check their gums. Make sure you take note of any lost puppy teeth, or their adult teeth aren’t coming through over the top or in front of them in case they’re still there. 

At the start, just see if you can lift their lip and reward them with a treat. Then, slowly and gradually open their mouth a little more, giving them lots of verbal praise. Easy does it!

• Have a go at puppy agility – Staffies and agility? Well, yes. A bit of fun agility is great for all breed types, not just the ones we see on TV. Staffies can be super quick and really game for some fun agility – regardless of what their bulky muscles say. 
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – How does taking a trip to the agility club sound? For now, we can just let them have a watch of what the other dogs do.

• Teach your Staffie puppy to stay: Teaching your puppy to stay will be very useful in the future.  For example, when you want them to stay at the front door while wiping their paws down, or when they should wait at the side of the road with you until you say it’s safe to cross. It’s a great self-control exercise too!
• Go for a walk with a friend’s dog – Going on a double-date doggie walk sounds like the perfect adventure. Make sure to use lots of treats for both dogs so that they’re calm when walking on lead.
• Recall – off the lead. This can sound pretty scary for some. But by now, with the great training you’ve done so far should have built a huge reinforcement history and wonderful bond between the two of you. If you’re not feeling too sure yet, you can simply drop their lead and let them drag it or switch to using a recall line. 
• Push/drop/stick on known exercises – Let’s do this for recall. If you’re feeling up for it, we can build on the distances too.

• Pretend ear drops – Now, Staffies’ ears are funnels for dirt. Prevention is always better than a cure though so they’ll need drops. Our goal here is to teach them that ear drops are nice when they’re young so they get used to them. First, take a bottle with the lid on and pretend to put the drops in their ear. Of course, give them a treat after that. Keep it light and stress-free though! If they walk off, that’s okay – you can try again later.

• Joggers and Cyclists – All dogs, no matter their breed, have a prey drive! That means that anything that moves fast can trigger the need to chase, in particular joggers and cyclists. Take your trusty treats out with you for your puppy to on you; rewarding them for being calm will help.
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – At this time, their socialisation window will be closing, but it’s still important to introduce them to new things. Never gonna be too late for that!

• Practice exercises in different locations – let’s try out a new dog-friendly place, hey? 
• Teach a hand target  – Staffies love to play this game, and will help out great for recall.  Targeting is actually the base for many tricks. If you want to call all the attention towards you and your puppy at a party, it’s something you’ll want to practice. 
• Introducing nose work to your puppy – Staffies’ noses are incredibly powerful! You can try to hide their toys somewhere around the house and get them to find them by sniffing them out.

• Trim your Staffy puppy’s claws – Get ready, we’re going to do this for real this week. Snipping their claws regularly will be helpful for you actually – all you’ll need to do is just snip the very ends off.  Make sure you don’t snip off the quick though – it’s a little blood vessel that runs almost to the end that can be hard to see if your puppy’s nails are black. The dewclaws (those weird-looking fingers that might have once had been thumbs) don’t touch the floor so they’re extra sharp and will need more snipping than most. Just do one paw at a time to start with, or even just one or two claws and then take a break. Treats will always help calm them down, but you could also opt for a  lickimat to make sure their attention is really taken away from what you’re doing.