Help Needed! Durbi's Agression

[The Worldbreaker]

Hello,

My oldest of two male Bulldogs is now 3 1/2 years old now. For the first 3 years we never really had any serious issues to speak of, occasional selective hearing being the worst problem. But within the last 6 months or so he has begun to get aggressive in certain situations, this mainly manifests with my wife more than myself although it has occurred with me as well. When he is getting in trouble he will begin to growl and get very defensive, at which point if the person doing the reprimanding makes a move towards him he will bite at them occasionally making contact. In one such occasion he also latched on to my wife's leg with his front legs and held on for while. We have noticed as well that he gets like this when he is on his bed, he will sit there and act very defensive, his ears will go back and he will look at us as though he is getting in trouble and if we get too close he will start to growl(occasionally) . I have been trying to work with him on his bed, I will get right down there with him and give tummy rubs and love, but the whole time he is unbelievably tense. Before long he will let out a little quiet warning growl, it usually doesn't escalate beyond that point with his bed, but of course the big concern is when it does escalate to biting. Beyond that I can't think of any other circumstances where Durbi gets aggressive, he has never been food aggressive at all and never with toys either, just when he is getting reprimanded(and not all the time either but it is becoming more frequent) or on his bed. Can anybody give me some advice? I'm not sure what approach to take with him.

Thank you very much,

Jeff

 

[GatorRay]

I am not a behaviorist or really any sort of expert on this subject but I thought I would add my two cents for what it's worth.

I would first ask myself a few questions. How are you "reprimanding" him? Do you touch him in any way? Could he be in pain or ill in some way? Is his eyesight and hearing normal?

I would say that now is the time to go back to NILF (nothing in life is free) just to reinforce that you and your wife are the ahead of him in the pack order. As far as his bed, I would let sleeping dogs lie! You can google nothing in life is free for some tips on this. Personally, I would start with hand feeding. At his meal times, stand in front of him with his food and give him a command such as sit, lie down, or whatever commands he knows. When he performs offer him some of his food from your hand. Continue until he has finished his meal. Both you and your wife should do that. Once, you have done that a few times, just have him perform the command and then you can give him his bowl.

It sounds like a fear reaction when you reprimand him. That is why you should question how you are doing it. I don't touch my dogs and just use my voice. I make a gravelly sound with my voice or sometimes (depends on the situation) I will then turn away from them and ignore them or something. If you aren't pushing, pulling or in any way touching him, I am not sure. We do correction on leash with a quick pull but, again, do not touch them in any way.

There are many others on this site who are much more knowledgeable than I am so I will leave it to them. I have not had any experiences with aggression other than Gypsy growling at me when she has to take a bath. We used treats to re-enforce her compliance and make the bath a rewarding experience and she got over it.

Good luck and I know that someone will come along and give you more (and maybe better!) advice. Keep us posted.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Let's get you some help! [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION]...[MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION]...[MENTION=2614]Vicaroo1000[/MENTION]

 

[2BullyMama]

Can you please explain how you are reprimanding him?

 

[Davidh]

I would like to know how you are reprimanding him also, before we can try to help.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

I might suggest two things right away:

1) change the method of reprimand. Disagreeing with a behavior you don't desire shouldn't solicit such an aggressive response. Clearly what you're doing isn't working for your pup.
2) Take the bed away --- for now. It's a "target" and closer he gets to the target the more energy he has to protect/fuss/etc. about the target.

Dogs do in fact perceive injustice. When we favor one or the other, they know it. Above all, Be a balanced pack leader.

[MENTION=4305]Vince00[/MENTION] - I'd be interested to know what you think on this one.

 

[Vince00]

I'm thinking the same as above, how are you correcting and what methods is he disagreeing with? Are you raising your voice, do you use a correct touch of some sort? what ever the method you may want to try to stop that and direct it in another fashion for the first part but we will need more information before making a suggestion so we don't make matters worth.

I agree that if you find something like the bed that he is more agressive around you should practice your initial steps elsewere like on the feeding (even though he is NOT aggressive at this time) it is important to build on that foundation and expand on the respect he gives you there.

Remove the bed and catch the trigger 'before' it happens, you will have to be quick and a keen eye so you can correct before anything escalates.

We need some more info though...

Are you scared around him? How is your body energy? Do you talk or yell? Are you Calm? Assertive? or scarred and edgy around him now?

All of these could be feeding his ability to sense you have a week spot and he is testing you with.

Once you have a firm understanding where he is coming from you can start to plan a strategy on correcting him daily by feeding him on your terms, walking in doorways last, not getting up on furniture unless welcomed etc etc... and define your position as pack leader.

Hopefully I didn't mis-speak too early not knowing the full details yet.

Vince

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Thanks [MENTION=4305]Vince00[/MENTION]

[MENTION=5615]The Worldbreaker[/MENTION] - How's it going with your pup? What have you tried? Are things improving?

I think "aggression" is mislabeled more often than not -- and I know we all hope that this is the case with your boy!