Help Needed! Need help with my Bulldog issues.

[tyree213]

My Bulldog is a male and 2 years old. He has a few issues.

1. He jumps on anybody who enters our home and keeps at it.
2. He jumps at the front screen door if someone including kids walk up to the door. He doesnt attack or anything just lunges at them.
4. When im not looking or not around he trys to steal food from my kids hand.
3. At the dog park he humps on male dogs. I guessing that all of this is dominance related?

Ive been trying hard to break this but its that much harder since we got him at a year and a half. Any tips/feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Baconator]

Consistency is the best advice I can offer, they are smart and can be extremely stubborn. We are in the process of breaking some bad habits that ours has gotten due to us being lazy with controlling him and it's a long process. We started about 3 weeks ago trying to stop the jumping and started using a firm NO, and putting our hand down in front of him to stop him from jumping more. We are at the point now where all we have to do it put our hand down with one finger up and he will calm down and sit like a good boy. One thing our trainer told us when we took his class was to make sure you are still standing straight up when giving commands to the dog. Good luck and to EBN, I'm sure more will be along with advice as well.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

I think he isn't taking you seriously as the pack leader. These definitely are dominance problems..if you don't get them under control it will get worse. Let's see if we can get you some help that's more experienced.

[MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION]...[MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION]...[MENTION=2614]Vicaroo1000[/MENTION]...[MENTION=4305]Vince00[/MENTION]

 

[Sherry]

My Bulldog is a male and 2 years old. He has a few issues.

1. He jumps on anybody who enters our home and keeps at it.
2. He jumps at the front screen door if someone including kids walk up to the door. He doesnt attack or anything just lunges at them.
4. When im not looking or not around he trys to steal food from my kids hand.
3. At the dog park he humps on male dogs. I guessing that all of this is dominance related?

Ive been trying hard to break this but its that much harder since we got him at a year and a half. Any tips/feedback would be appreciated.

I well I hate to tell you this, but apparently you are letting him get away with murder. You need to stay on top of things and you are the only one that can fix this. Dog parks are for dogs that behave, if you can't control you dog, don't take him. People come to your house expect you to control your dog. If I came to your house I'd probably pin your bad dog to the floor. But this is up to you to fix this serious problem. You say your dog jumps on anybody who enters your home and keeps at it. It is your responsibility to stop this, if you don't curb this behavior, then put your dog in another room when company comes. Who's the boss, you are and only you can control your dog. Make him behave the way you expect him to behave. Start with a good collar and leash, even in the house, start to control this guy. A quick jerk on the leash and a sharp no is a good place to start. Cesar Milan has lots of books, magazines and tv shows to help with bad behavior. Most tips are for the owners.

 

[Vince00]

Agreed as above you can and will have to not only take control and let the dog know the chain of command that all humans are above him and he has to give respect as such. It sounds like you have that ability as he does not steal food etc when you are there so that is a good start. You will have to start with working on him on a daily basis ever hour is important with everything he does, examples like sitting and waiting for a cue before going through a door (after you), eating last on EVERY occasion (also let the kids do the feeding to show him he is not above them), Make sure and implement a wait before eating only on your cue (you can teach this in as little as 48 hrs to start shifting behaviour they can learn VERY fast when you start showing them they are not in charge lol.
Consistency and repitition is key, you need to have or continue your correction sound or touch but expand it on anything that is not acceptable like jumping on the furniture, setup a visitor test with the kids so someone you know is coming to the door but put a leash on him prior to the setup, when you hear the knock you can get in 'front' of him and block him from escalating to the people at the door. Don't open the door until he is under control as you can easily do this since you know it's your kids there etc. Once you start this you will see immediate results and use the same concept with everything you want corrected, be sure 'EVERYONE' in the house takes part on playing this roll and your dog will scale back and be a dog and let you and your family run the show again

I'll try to check back later as I'm in a hurry but the good news is you can address and fix this with consistent repetition. Like Sherry above I walk in a house and immediatly let the dogs know what isn't and is acceptabile in my body language, you don't need to yell, get mad or anything as long as you are CONFIDENT, believe you are in control, don't show signs of fear or scaredness and be happy for him no matter what. If Kain is out of line somewhere along the line we as there trainers went bad, that is hard for my family to accept but somewhere along the line we allowed that behavior in some way when he tested us.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Good stuff here! These good folks have said exactly as I would have suggested. Exactly. Your pup needs a serious dose of NILF ("Nothing in Life is Free") while the humans in the dog's life buck up and be genuine pack leaders. All the yelling in the world isn't going to fix this dog and in fact, will likely make him worse. Calm, assertive leadership will change this dog and it's up to the humans --- even the kids -- to make it happen doing just as has been suggested here.

I have just one thing to add......That lunging? Not good. Scarey, actually. Absolutely unacceptable behavior and you must stop it before it escalates --- and given what you've said about your dog so far -- it will. Keep in mind that the closer to the "target" (the trigger for the lunging, in this case), the harder it is to control the behavior. No more screen door for your pup. He has to stay BACK from the screen door until he's been given (and has earned) the privilege of being there. If you've crate trained your pup, all of this will be MUCH easier.

The good news is that you can fix this --- but it's not up to the dog. It's up to the human pack leaders. The HUGE gift in all this is the relationship you will develop with your dog. It's magic! And a truly fabulous journey worth taking!

 

[babybully]

You could try keeping a small spray bottle of water near you so that you can spritz him to snap him out of his really bad behaviors. I have used it on occasion with Mac but only when he's going psycho-nuts.

 

[Taylor]

Everyone has good advice, but I would also suggest positive reinforcement training. I try to do this as opposed to positive negative punishment

Teach your dog to station. Get a mat or small rug and put it away from the kitchen and the door, feed him there, and do some training sessions. Give it a name, such as "station" or "place". You want to tell your dog "place" and he'll go to the rug and sit, waiting for a reward. This will allow your family to eat and your friends to come into the house.

 

[linwhite]

Spray bottles and gates are wonderful tools for many things.

 

[2BullyMama]

you've been given great info/advice... be consistent