Female EB showing dominance. HELP

Handiangie

New member
Jul 12, 2012
35
0
Northern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Emma
Hello All, I am so GLAD I have found this site! Emma, my 12 month bully and I are wondering if someone can help us. Emma came into our home when she was 8 weeks old. We gotmher after our 3 year old Bully drowned in our pool last summer. She was brought into our home our 100+ lb German Shepherd, Hannah. All was great until Emma got a little bit older. It seems she has decided she is the BOSS. "Bullying" our ever so gentle shepherd around. Aggressive fights over snacks and god forbid Emma should see any of us show any affection to Hannah. Emma is even marking her territory on our personal belongings in the house. UGGGG

She was practically crate trained but I decided she should sleep in our bed. I know I know. BAD BAD BAD. I couldn't resist since I was mourning the loss of our other bulldog. Was a horrible summer.

This post is a mess but maybe there is someone that can offer us some advice.

TY. Angela and Emma
 

JAKEISGREAT

.................
Mar 25, 2011
14,802
1,155
Southern California
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Jake
Let's get @2BullyMama...@Sherry...@Davidh....@Vicaroo1000... @Vince...[MENTION=390]cali~jenn[/MENTION]

What we have done when dealing with a female Rottie and dominance was putting her on a leash at all times. When she would. Show ANY behavior issues like this..we would correct her immediately and over and over again. She has to respect you both as her pack leaders. She needs to know she is at the back of the pack..behind your Shepard too.

Im also sorry for your loss..we lost a Dobie to our pool 20 years ago and it's still a painful memory.
 
Last edited:

Sherry

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Jan 15, 2011
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Denver PA
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[MENTION=5383]Handiangie[/MENTION] first let me say how horrible it must of been for you losing your love to the pool. My sincere sympathy to you and your family.

Dominance, not good, stand tall, confident and be firm, no hollering. No more bed for her anymore. Not until the dominance and marking stop. You could invite her when everything is just the way you want it. Who's the boss? YOU !!! The next time she is mean with your shep, pin her to the ground, no if's and's or butt's , pin and pin her hard until she is relaxed. Then you can relax the hold. She will get the hang of it very very soon. While you have her down there, let the shep sniff her real good. Submission is the key. When she is relaxed then she may get up, watch real close, snatch at her as soon as she circles or looks like she is making a move to your Hannah. This must stop, someone in the house may think it's cute, but it really isn't , is it? Everyone must be on board for the dominance to stop. Not just you. Please keep us posted and,,,,,,,,,,,,

:smileywelcome: we've been waiting for you ...:jumpdance:
 

Davidh

Head Pooper Scooper
Staff member
Mar 21, 2011
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Katy, Texas
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BeBe, Hazel, Lucy Lu, JLO, Hillary, Henri, & Katie
@JAKEISGREAT and [MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] has given you some good advice, plus I would not let her sleep in bed with you while training, because this puts her on the same level as you, and you want to be top dog. Also feed her last. Anytime she shows aggression toward your Sheppard stop and correct her immediately. You need to show her you are the boss and not her.
 

kazzy220

..........
Jul 31, 2010
8,556
441
Grafton, OHIO
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England
Bulldog(s) Names
Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
I agree with [MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] ... you need to pin her on her back as soon as she starts to show dominance towards Hannah. When you pin her have one hand on her chest, and the other around the side of her head. If she is very strong you can use one knee on her chest instead (with just enough firmness to keep her in place. The hand/knee on the chest would be the body of the pack leader, and your second hand at the neck/jaw area would be the mouth of the packleader. If you can, get Hannah to stand very close to her whilst she is in this very submissive position. Do not let her up until you feel she is relaxed and believe me, this could take some time.
 

Vince00

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Community Veteran
Feb 14, 2012
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Estevan, Sask
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Kain
I will try to add more later as I just stopped at home briefly but as mentioned above you need to practice the order in your household daily and with all parts and interations through the day.

Besides pining her when she does get past the point and needs correction to that magnitude I would practice regular items like :

- Let you and your other dog go through doors first
- Feed Hanna first and make Emma wait until she is finished before eating
- Stop the sleeping with the humans immediately and practice good solid crate training again reinforcing who is boss in the house hold
- Walk her and be absolutely positive you are in control, stop make her sit, turn directions constantly so she doesn't know where you are going, if she pulls go the other way etc etc

A good schedule to correct all of these issues will also help you when you need to step in and give corrective action 'BEFORE' she reaches the red zone and gets out of hand and she should respect you more when you need it most.

It may seem harsh and unnecessary but that is the humans perspective, she just doesn't realize she has a leader in all cases so is trying to be that leader so needs correction.

Lastly, EVERYONE has to step it up with her in this fashion and no special treatment from other household members or in a few months this issue will be a "she's good with me but not my husband thread :)"

Good Luck!
 

acarabias

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Sep 15, 2011
1,551
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El Paso, Texas, United States
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Aldo Chocolate, Katara Fiona, Bruno Cannoli
I have a female bulldog with some of the same issues. When she attacks my male I turn her around, pin her until her breathing slows down and her legs relax. When they are fully relaxed you can let go and they will just wait there. I use this correction for both my dogs and they know they cannot move until I release them. If Katara gets territorial I pin hrler down and put her in her crate in time out. I also have an e-collar that I use for correction when the behavior is severe. I am still struggling with them but I do see my training is working and I take it one day at a time and celebrate the good days..
 

cali~jenn

..........
Mar 28, 2010
0
419
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
First off welcome! I am soooo sorry to hear about your loss, my gawd. I am glad you are here for the advice you are getting for this situation. You can totally fix this, trust me. Your girl sounds EXACTLY like Miila was. I had no clue what to do and thankfully I got a LOT of wonderful advice from here and learned SO much about being in control and not allowing that bad behavior. Here is the link to that thread. I like to share it cuz it really taught me so much!

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/f...73-need-help-our-training-experts-please.html

First I would say only hand feed for now. Sounds like a pain but really isnt at all. Make her sit/stay before doing anything. You are in control of when and what she eats. Period. Grab a handful at a time and hold it, wait.... make her do a trick, maybe 2 even, wait... then let her eat from your hand. Basically mess with her. Sounds sad BUT this will tell her who you are and that YOU make the rules. I did this with Miila for some time until I felt like she was getting it. Then I would start each meal with a handful and then allow her to eat from the bowl after that. BUT I would make her take a break, sit and stay and wait until I said it was ok to proceed. Sometimes 3 times in a feeding, again messing with her. The snap of my finger was all it took and she would back up and sit. In addition to this she was eating AFTER the other 2. She would sit and watch them eat before I even began this routine with her. (Now she is back in the pack since all is fixed and they eat together like normal so you wont have to do this forever) As for taking the bones toys etc, you step in remove from her and give to the other pup. Make her sit or lay and watch while your other pup chews etc and after Hannah is done, then she can sit as long as you want and when you want her to have it then you give. Whenever Miila would go to snatch a toy or something away from my other 2 I would bust her and take it and give it back to the others. This is something you have to be totally on top of and it is beyond exhausting to say the least. BUT like with children it does pay off eventually. Also pinning is a biggy. If she does something she is not supposed to, no hesitation pin and hold laying across her chest with your fingers in the side of her neck which resembles the pack leaders teeth. Not to hurt her of course but so she knows you are there and not allowing her to move. Once she relaxes then I would hold for a good 3 minutes if she was biting or something just awful. I could go on and on really. lol I will stop at this I think. Dont hesitate to ask any questions or pm anyone if you need. Many of us have gone thru this behavior so dont be shy. We are here to help. ;)
 

Texkota

New member
Jun 21, 2012
467
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South Riding, VA
Bulldog(s) Names
Renzo
I have a female bulldog with some of the same issues. When she attacks my male I turn her around, pin her until her breathing slows down and her legs relax. When they are fully relaxed you can let go and they will just wait there. I use this correction for both my dogs and they know they cannot move until I release them. If Katara gets territorial I pin hrler down and put her in her crate in time out. I also have an e-collar that I use for correction when the behavior is severe. I am still struggling with them but I do see my training is working and I take it one day at a time and celebrate the good days..

This right here, I also feed our animals in pack order. My Brittany Spaniel first, our Bully second.
 

Vicaroo1000

"Slug Assassin" and PBS Gardening Dweeb
Jun 23, 2011
5,775
389
Mukilteo, Washington State
Bulldog(s) Names
Beefeater's Buxom Beatrice and Lord Harrington's Bodacious Beauregaard
This right here, I also feed our animals in pack order. My Brittany Spaniel first, our Bully second.

When the pups were small, I even made a point of eating FIRST. Stand in the kitchen by their prepared bowls of food and eat a cookie or toast or something. The pack leader always eats first.
 

RiiSi

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Community Veteran
Sep 30, 2011
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Taisto, Kylli, Salli, Angel-Usko and Angel-Voitto
Welcome! You've had some good advice, I don't really have anything to add. Remember that bullies are very stubborn, don't give up, you just have to be more stubborn.
What I have noticed that in households where the dogs don't sleep with the humans there is a lot less dominance issues than in the households with "mixed sleeping arrangements".
 

cali~jenn

..........
Mar 28, 2010
0
419
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
Oh and with sleeping... All of mine r welcomed on my bed but miila was not during this period of time. Her trigger was food in the kitchen with my girls dropping stuff and fights would break out so she was NOT aloud in the kitchen. For a period of time she was baby gated in the garage (door is in the kitchen) so she could see the other 2 I'm there being good. Little things like this make a huge diff.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
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Handiangie

Handiangie

New member
Jul 12, 2012
35
0
Northern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Emma
  • Thread Starter
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  • #13
Thank you everyone for the GREAT advice. Emma slept in her crate from about 10:30 until about 3:30. She didn't make a peep untill she wanted to go outside at 3:30. Maybe is possible she actually enjoyed being in there. We are going to work on a few things today (submission training). Hopefully it goes well.

have a GREAT day everyone! Angela
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
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WOW... i can not add anything except.... you got some awesome advice from our community! best of luck and stay consistent.
 

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