Your Staffy Isn't Destructive. He's A Chaser With Nothing To Chase.

You've probably just read a story about a Staffy who ate a wall.

Or a doona. Or the carpet at the front door. Or a veggie patch that's now a hole.

We hear a version of that story every week. A plasterer who's patched his own laundry three times. A vet nurse who came home from a 12-hour shift to feathers. A renter with an inspection on Thursday. A landscaper whose own backyard looks like a quarry.

Different houses. Different jobs. Same dog, more or less.

And every time, someone who knows dogs gave them the same explanation. This page is the long version of it.

Three things to know before you blame yourself (or him)

1. He's not naughty, and you're not a bad owner. A Staffy pulling a house apart is a terrier with no outlet for the one thing he's built to do. That's not a discipline problem.
2. More walks won't fix it. Walks matter. Keep every one of them. But a walk moves his legs. It doesn't touch the part of him that needs to chase something.
3. Tougher toys won't either. You've probably bought the "ultra-tough" one already. Maybe three of them. The toy was never the problem. Keep reading and you'll see why.

What it usually looks like

Which of these is in your house right now?

If you've got your own version of this list, you're in the right place.

Every Staffy owner has a list like this. The skirting board first. Then the door frame. Then the thing that finally makes you sit on the floor and wonder what you're doing wrong.

If that's you, this isn't a training problem. And it isn't a you problem.

What everyone tells you to do

The nine fixes that make sense, and why none of them touch it

You've probably tried most of these. Every one of them makes sense. That's what makes it so frustrating.

• More walks. A walk before work and another after. He comes home fit, not finished.
• Longer runs. One owner, a personal trainer, worked him up to 10km a day. All he built was a better athlete with more to spend on the furniture.
• Tougher toys. A toy that sits still is one he's already caught. Tougher just means it takes longer to take apart.
• A crate. Keeps the damage in one place. Doesn't give him anything to do in there.
• Bitter spray. He licks it off. Some Staffies seem to like it.
• A frozen Kong. Fifteen good minutes. Then it's a rubber thing on the floor.
• Puzzle feeders. Solved by day two. Then chewed.
• A dog walker. $35 a day, and he comes home buzzing. A walk with a different person is still a walk.
• A $140 trainer. Who looked at him and said "more exercise".

None of that advice is wrong, exactly. It's just aimed at the wrong thing.

Six people, one answer

Six people who'd never met each other said the same thing

Here's the part that got us. The people in these stories have nothing in common. And the person who finally explained their dog to them was different every time.

And a doggy daycare owner, to someone who's worked in a pet store for six years:

Six jobs. One answer. Your Staffy isn't destructive. He's a chaser with nothing to chase.

The chase, in five steps

What your Staffy is actually trying to do (and why the house keeps losing)

Staffies are terriers. Terriers were bred to chase and catch things that run. Every one of them carries the same game around inside him.

When nothing in the house moves, he can't do steps one and two. So he skips straight to catch and shake, on whatever's there. The wall. The doona. The carpet at the door. The veggie patch.

That's why they're all the same thing. They're the only things in the house that fight back.

Why walking doesn't count. Distance isn't the chase. On a walk he sees things that run (birds, bikes, the cat on the fence) and never gets to chase any of them. That's step one, over and over, with no payoff. Keep walking him. Just don't expect the walk to do the job.

Why fetch doesn't count either. A thrown ball is three seconds of chase in a straight line. Then it stops, and he waits for you. He knows where it's going before it leaves your hand. No surprise, no "go again" unless your arm's up for it.

Why tougher toys don't count. This is the big one. A toy that sits still isn't a game to a terrier. It's something he's already caught. So he does the next bit: he takes it apart. A tougher toy doesn't fix that. It just makes the dismantling take longer. The answer was never a toy he can't break. It's a toy that runs away.

Yes, we read the comments

The things Staffy owners say every time (and they're fair)

When these stories run, the same comments turn up under every one.

"My Staffy would destroy this in 5 minutes." Maybe. We'll be straight with you: nothing is indestructible with a Staffy, and we won't tell you it is. The shell is chew-resistant ABS and TPU, the rope tails are meant to take the beating, and it's built for big dogs. But it's a chase toy, not a chew toy. The point is that he chases it instead of dissecting it. Watch the first few sessions so you know how he plays with it. And if it doesn't hold up to your dog, the 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee covers you.

"My dog doesn't care about toys." He's not bored of toys. He's bored of toys that sit still. A toy basket full of things that never move is a basket full of things he's already caught. Most owners who say this have never seen their dog with something that runs away from him.

"Staffies are couch potatoes." Some are. And then some eat the couch. If yours sleeps 20 hours a day and the house is fine, you don't need us. This page is for the other kind.

Why the toy basket doesn't help

Tip out your toy basket. It'll sort itself into two piles.

Ropes and chews are fine as extras. They just aren't the chase, and the chase is the bit that's missing.

The five-point checklist

Check these five things before you buy him another toy

Whatever you buy, from whoever you buy it, check it against this list. It's what every one of those six people was describing.

1. Moves on its own. No throwing, no dragging, no you on the other end.
2. Changes direction. If he can predict it, he's done with it.
3. Stops dead, then takes off again when he touches it. That's the "go again". It's the step most toys skip.
4. Works inside and out. Tiles, carpet and floorboards, plus grass, dirt and concrete.
5. Built for a Staffy's mouth. Big enough and tough enough that he can grab it and shake it.

★★★★★

I have an American Staffy. This is a game changer. She LOVES IT. Plus has given her an afternoon workout. She chews this, but has not broken the outer shell.

★★★★★

Our Staffy loves his new toy.

The toy basket scores zero. The cheap smart balls score one, maybe two. One toy scores five.

The one that scored five

The toy that runs away from him, so he stops catching the house

It's called The Chase Buddy. Yes, we make it, so take this bit with whatever grain of salt you like. Here's how it lines up against the list.

"Moves on its own." Switch it on, put it on the floor, sit down. It does the running. You don't throw it, drag it or dangle it.

"Changes direction." The movement is randomised. It cuts sideways, spins, stops dead and bolts. He can't get ahead of it, so he keeps going.

"Stops dead and takes off again when he touches it." That's Interactive Mode. We call it touch reactivation. He pounces, it goes quiet, he noses it, it's off. That's catch, then go again, over and over. The step a still toy never gives him.

"Works inside and out." Carpet, tile and hardwood inside. Grass, dirt and concrete outside. The laundry tiles, the hallway carpet, the backyard.

"Built for a Staffy's mouth." A chew-resistant ABS and TPU shell, with rope tails that take the shaking. Safe for small, medium and large breeds.

USB-C, about 90 minutes to charge, up to 24 hours of play. Twenty to thirty minutes a day is enough.

What the first month looked like

What the first six weeks usually look like

Pieced together from what Staffy owners tell us. Your dog's will look different, but probably not that different.

The maths

Two of them cost less than two days of a dog walker

The Chase Buddy is $54.99 AUD incl. GST. Right now it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free, so that's two for $54.99 AUD.

Put that next to what the stories cost:

• Another doona.
• A sheet of plasterboard, and your Saturday.
• A carpet re-stretch at the front door: $90.
• A trainer who said "more exercise": $140.
• A dog walker: $35 a day.
• And the next "indestructible" toy, which will last about 11 minutes.

Two Chase Buddies works out to about 15 cents a day over a year. One for inside, one for the backyard, so one's always charged. Two dogs? One each. Buy 2 Get 2 Free is $109.98 AUD.

Free shipping on every order. Ships within 24 hours.

From Staffy owners (and a few others)

What owners say after the first few weeks

If you think your Staffy is the extreme case, he probably isn't. He's not being naughty. He's got a chase in him with nowhere to go.

The guarantee, in plain words

Try it for 30 days. If he isn't happier, send it back.

Two ways this goes

You can keep buying tougher toys, or give him something that runs

The first way, you keep doing what everyone said. Another walk. Another "indestructible" toy. Another tub of plaster, another doona, another weekend. And he keeps looking for something in the house that fights back.

The second way, you give him the chase. Keep the walks. Add Slow Mode, five minutes, day one. Watch his ears go up. Then see what the wall, the bed and the backyard look like in 30 days.

Every week you wait is another week of him catching the house. Six people said it six different ways. He's not destructive. He's a chaser with nothing to chase.

Common questions

Not a substitute for veterinary or behavioural care. If your dog panics when you leave (howling, drooling, trying to break out, hurting himself), talk to your vet or a qualified behaviourist. That's separation anxiety, and a toy isn't the fix.