Stud Dog Behavior Question

[HighDesertBulldogs]

I have a really big problem with my male Bulldog stud. Since he was young he gets overly excited when anyone comes to the house. I've taken him out to handler classes and shown him and he's always very well mannered, calm and well behaved. Even my Vet said he's got such a nice calm temperement for a stud dog when I've taken him and a female in for the Vet to do the AI. We live pretty quietly with it being just my husband and I now that our daughters are grown and gone. When ever anyone comes over to the house he goes absolutely ballistic going from a 0 to 10 in a level of excitement in less than a second! I thought he'd outgrow this eventually while trying to correct this behavior but he's over 2 yrs. old now and nothing has changed! I'm at my witts end. I cannot leave him loose like a normal dog if someone comes over, I must have him on a leash constantly pulling, tugging and correcting him because he wants to charge them and jump on them or I have to put him in the large dog pen outside or in his crate! When people come to get a pup from me they want to see him of course so I'll put him in the outside pen and he'll work himself up into such a lather I end up spraying him down with water to cool him down! It's so embarracing! Once he got so worked up in the pen when a couple with a small toddler came to get a pup that I thought he'd have a heart attack so I had to put a leash on him and take him in the house and put him in his crate and then it took him an hr. to calm down from that fiasco!

My friend told me her Bulldog stud dog acted the same way when people would come to her house so now I'm wondering if this might be some type of stud issue, being his home is his 'territory'? Yet...he has never been bred here at the house, always at the Vet's or at my friends house where we do AI's. Does anyone with a stud dog have this problem? When I take him out away from the house he's the most calm, sweet mellow dog and does none of this nonsense! I've had male Bulldogs for almost 20 yrs. as pets that were neutered and never had this problem before. Any idea's or understanding of this issue would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Susan
http://www.highdesertbulldogs.com

[Bulldogg]

I highly doubt it is a "stud" problem. 2 of my bullies do that and they are girls. hee hee

Another very wise person told me this, about when they are puppies. See if you can relate.

"When you bring a new puppy to your home, do not overly praise them when you see them. (like when they see you first thing in the morning). Wait 20-30 minutes to give them goo-goo ga-ga type of attention. When guests come to your home, ask them to please ignore the puppy for the first 20 minutes they are there. While they are puppies, they learn that when someone comes to the home (especially if you invite them over to meet your new puppy), that they are the "star". This behavior will continue throughout adulthood, and they will think everytime a guest visits your home, that they are there to see them. Thus, jumping and over excitement will occur".

My point is this, he obviously thinks this is normal for him, to get excited when guests come over.

What to do about it? Wish you good luck. I guess you can have people who may be willing to help you and come over and ignore your bully as much as possible. I know I have not been able to correct this behavior in my two. I gave up....

[HighDesertBulldogs]

I tried everything you said when he was younger as I have also done with all my dogs when they're young. When my daughters would come by I would have them totally ignore him not even looking at him for awhile and then they could aknowledge him and pet him quietly...no high pitched baby talk allowed either! LOL But as he got older he got worse! As soon as someone would come in the front door he'd go charging at them jumping all over them and getting overly excited. I'd have them ignore him while I tried to correct him but nothing worked so I would end up having to put a leash on him to contain him and it's continued to get worse over time. It's so embarracing because no one can come to our house without me telling them to wait at the door while I get a leash on on my badly behaved dog to him to take him out back! The only thing that I have found to work is to roll him over on his back in submission and hold him there! But how can I sit there with company holding this goofy dog down on his back the whole time??? LMAO! That's insane! And when people come to get pups here's Nitro acting like a total moron running around in the outside pen, jumping up on the sides of the fence barking and getting all worked up!! We have my daughter's wedding in July and 8 of my husbands family is coming out for a week. They're staying in a hotel but will be here at the house most of the time. What am I going to do with Nitro? On one hand it might be a good experience...on the other I worry he might work himself into such a dither he gives himself a heart attack!!! Especially when he see's two little children running about! I've purchased extra kennel panels to make a large place on the other side of the yard farther from the house to keep him in while they're here. It worries me though if it gets too hot being July, I'll have to bring him in the house! I'm so freaked out over this I don't know what to do. I don't have anyone that could take him and babysit him either.

[roanne9145]

All dogs get very excited when people come over which is never a good thing for dog or visitor. What I did was have a small crate near the door so when people come in and he starts to get overly excited immediatly put him in the crate. The minute he calms down ( hopefully a minute or less) take him out. I'm sure he will go right back and jump up getting excited again so again put him in the crate wait a few seconds for him to calm down and let him out. This has to be done each time he does it and sometimes it is quite a bit. It worked for mine because they want to be out of the crate more than they want to jump all over like a maniac. It helps if you have a friend who will take the time and work on it with you. Good luck.

[harlowsmama]

ahhhh, training, training, training. i had/have this problem. first with my female (now 2.5) and my boy whose 11 months. i will ADMIT most of their inadequacies are MY fault. i am not consistent with their training and some things have not stuck. when i am consistent the issue gets better and better. but it is baby steps. i have young granddaughters so i have to address this issue as my boy is a big one. putting him on a short lead in the house has helped him be calmer as does ignoring him when entering. if he barks, runs, tries to jump our guests or family promptly leave for a few seconds til he calms and sits and we do it again. sometimes it takes 5 times sometimes 2 times. it is a huge pain in the arse but unless he is calm he gets NO attention. he used to bark, and then do baby nips on your legs if you didnt acknowledge him. i had to stop that FAST.

another good tip is to teach a good DOWN STAY. if you can master that under distraction then it will be easier to tackle the other issue. but it takes time and patience, over and over and over again. they are smart as heck, its us that give up too soon.

good luck.

[TessaAndSamson]

Samson does the same thing and like Bulldog I pretty much gave up. He will calm down after a while though. Sometimes I give him a bone so he'll go lay down on his bed and relax but I know thats wrong because it's just rewarding the behavior. I have to say though having someone completely ignore him when they come in HAS to work somehow because he ignored my dad when my dad came over. My dad came to see my house for the first time a couple months ago, my dad is NOT a fan of dogs. Obviously Sam and my beagle Loki knew that and never bothered him really. I mean my dad really isn't interested in dogs, he will walk in and not even awknowledge them so it really does have to be an effective theory. Well at least for some dogs.

[HighDesertBulldogs]

Wow! I LOVE that crate idea in the living room when someone comes over! As soon as he starts acting like a nut (which is immediately) I'll just put him in the crate until he calms down right there in the living room where people are! I can have some friends come by while I practice with him. I'm going to try that one! Thank you!! Also I have two female bulldogs and they don't act like my male when people come over. I guess it's not that he's a stud causing this...which made me wonder since my girls don't act like this. I also have a brother who lives in another state who has come to visit and although he loves animals is not interested in my dogs when he comes to visit. He'll stay at my Mom's, and when he comes to our house he never looks down at the dogs nor acknowledges them and Nitro wiggles around for a few minutes and gives up and goes and lays down (like a normal dog)! But only with men I'm realizing that he's better behaved if they're calm and ignoring him. With women or small children I've noticed gets him the most worked up. Maybe it's the higher pitched voices of women and kids squealing. I don't know. That's all I can figure looking in hindsight. I don't know about teaching him the 'down stay' because I don't teach my dogs to sit because I raise my dogs hoping to show and I don't want them to sit in the show ring. So 'Sit' is not something I teach them.

Hey, thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! I'm feeling a bit more hopeful that there's possibly some hope for my goofball male whom I love dearly!

Susan

[bustarop]

For some odd reason, putting a harness on my male stops him from jumping. He still wants all the attention, but at least he's not clipping a guest's knees from behind! He did it when he was a stud dog and he still does it after he was neutered so I don't believe it is a stud dog thing.