Bulldog behavior?

[arthur2474]

Hello everyone. I am new to this site and it seems great so far. I was wondering something about my 2 yr old E. Bulldog named Winston. I have always had some type of dog in my life but this is my first Bulldog, so I am still trying to figure this clown out. I have had him since he was 11 weeks old and we are very close. I wonder if I did something wrong in raising him. I have always read that Bulldoge are very laid back, relax alot, and are terrible watch dogs. That has not been my experience at all. Winston seems to take security very serious (better than my expensive German Sheperds in the past) and he is very conscience of everything going on around the house. Lately he is starting to bark at every noice that he hears that sound like it is knocking, doorbells, or other misc. noices from outside. I hope this does not keep him on edge and nervous. He seems happy overall and is very sweet to other animals and all people. He is scared of the dark and chipmunks. I am not scared that he will hurt someone because of this behavior. It is kind of annoying however(randomly barking) and it is not mellowing with age. I have never rewarded this behavior. I know he is excited about people visiting but I need to know how to chill him out. Maybe he needs more exercise or a different way to train him. I would love to think that he loves me very much and he is trying to protect me but I doubt that is the reason. Does anyone else out there have a security minded Bulldog? Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Mugzilla]

hey there and welcome.

it sounds like winston is a nosey neighbor, as i call my eb's

during the day, if anyone is outside my house (ie neighbors doing yard work, kids playing, etc), if my blinds are open, all of my dogs, including my two eb's have their wrinkly faces stuffed between the blinds, trying to get a nosey peak and doing their under the breath 'muff' barks and also alerting and barking.

a solution that works for me/my dogs when it's not a great time to have commotion is to simply close the blinds/curtains, and if the noise outside is still obvious, i turn on animal planet on the TV. i know that might sound silly, but my dogs all love animal planet and will sit watching it like human children.

during the times that it's not inconvinient to have them being nosey neighbors, i let them have at it. regardless if being a guard dog is their strong point or not, i think most dogs instinctively want to know what's going on-some more than others

i have never managed, however, to train them not to bark/race to the door every time the door bell rings or someone knocks on the door. one of the 4 inevitably hears and alerts the rest and off they go barking to the door. they do seem to be having fun with it though instead of it being a point of stress for them.

like you, i'm not afraid that this behavior will lead to anything harmful. they're not being aggressive at all. they're more excited than they are 'guarding'. if i can't find one of the dogs in the house (it's a big house and my dogs are laaazzzy and not inclined to wake from their naps just bc i want to know where they are), or if they don't want to come in from playing in the back yard, i'll go ring the door bell and they all come racing in and to the door. it's kind of comical most of the time.

my female eb is a pretty good watch dog, though i've never assigned her that duty my male eb is a total wuss and runs behind me at the slightest hint of anything wrong. i guess it takes both kinds.

while most eb's are laid back, they are also very stubborn. if it's a behavior that you can't tolerate and it can't be reduced by limiting visibility and noise from the outside, i think my best suggestion would be to ignore him/the behavior when he alerts and pay him attention again only afterhe has calmed down--then reward him and lavish him with attention. that techinque worked out very well with my alapaha bulldog, regarding jumping up/onto people when he greeted them.

winston will mellow out more. 2 is still very young. he's a teenager.

i'm sorry i wasn't able to be more helpful. i hope it helps some to know you're not alone in winston's nosey neighbor status

[cali~jenn]

My boy Cutty was the more laid back type when it came to people outside until the crazy over-protective pug taught him to bark at everyone. He still is mostly laid back but not if someone comes to the door, watchout! lol. Sometimes I dont hear the bell if I am outside or something but they will always let me know when someone comes over. One thing I have noticed with my boy anyhow is he is the exception to most the bully rules also. Not the lazy, sleeping eb I was told about. He has ocd like crazy and mostly is obsessed with his ball or anything that can be thrown. I think they are all different so dont worry that you did something wrong to create this behavior. Just like kids, no 2 are alike. Not sure how you can help prevent this behavior since I havent been succesful with my boys. I do like the idea of letting them have their time to "protect or be nosey" and then shut the curtains for quiet time. That is what I have to do when the baby takes a nap to make sure my boys arent barking at someone on the sidewalk across the street or something crazy like that.

[Brunos bullies]

Well my boy is a great watch dog! When he hears a knock on the door or a different car pull up like the UPS man, he is barking at the door not excessive. He doesn't bark at neighbors in their yard, but if you walk onto our property which we all have 5 acres then he barks at you till you get to him and then he is in love. He doesn't bark at noise in general just when he hears someone outside of the house. He can actually tell when my Boxer that is outside is barking for a reason and then my EB will bark from inside again just a warning bark a few times!

You can teach him with the command of "NO", they are quick learners! ALL my dogs know NO, GET(move away), BE NICE(after play fighting), BABY (small children or puppies), OWIE, get your toy! My female EB is quiet, never barks, and never heard her! She doesn't train well at all. My male at a year and a half knows how to give high 5, Shake, lay, sit, put a treat on the ground tell him to stay and even walk into the other room where he can't see you and from that other room I tell him "okay" and at that point he will go get his treat, Whine to go outside and beg. He learned each one of these in less than a week about 4 times in a row of teaching it in the day. Smack your hands loudly and say NO with a very strong firm voice if he doesn't have a reason to do his behavior. If you ignore it then he thinks it is okay. You should not have to live around them and their behaviors!

I hope I was some help. Good luck!

[arthur2474]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Helps to know that I am not alone. Its good to hear about your experiences too. I will continue to work with him on it. This is his only real "flaw" if you could call it that. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I have such a great dog. Take care.

[amelyza]

Learning a lot.... Thanks


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