ZuzuPebbles
New member
- Jan 6, 2014
- 13
- 0
- Country
- Canada
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Malcolm
Morning everyone! We recently adopted (about 2 weeks ago) an 8 month old bulldog. His owner passed away and we received him from the owner's caregiver. We don't know a lot about his background, but overall he seems to be a very gentle and friendly dog.
Our only concern is that sometimes when we try to discipline him or prevent him from doing something (move him off the sofa, switch out a toy for a found slipper, not allowing him on the bed) he can get really excited and nip and bite at us. This seems to happen when he is overtired. We usually hold onto his scruff and gently push his rear so he lies on his side and calm him so we can tell him no, this is wrong, and try to direct him to chew a toy or tell him how awesome he is relaxing on the floor. Sometimes he gets really rangy and out of hand (usually when he is overtired) and we'll put him in another room to take a nap.
I am just wondering if this is the right approach to take? My husband sometimes gets really nervous with how aggressive Malcolm seems and we want to make sure this is normal behaviour and we shouldn't be seeking out a behaviourist or anything.
Just for a bit of background, we do also own two pugs who are 6 and 7 years old. I remember Iggy, the oldest going through a nipping age, where we gave him timeouts in the bathroom when he got too out of hand, but you don't really get much aggression from a pug puppy!
Our only concern is that sometimes when we try to discipline him or prevent him from doing something (move him off the sofa, switch out a toy for a found slipper, not allowing him on the bed) he can get really excited and nip and bite at us. This seems to happen when he is overtired. We usually hold onto his scruff and gently push his rear so he lies on his side and calm him so we can tell him no, this is wrong, and try to direct him to chew a toy or tell him how awesome he is relaxing on the floor. Sometimes he gets really rangy and out of hand (usually when he is overtired) and we'll put him in another room to take a nap.
I am just wondering if this is the right approach to take? My husband sometimes gets really nervous with how aggressive Malcolm seems and we want to make sure this is normal behaviour and we shouldn't be seeking out a behaviourist or anything.
Just for a bit of background, we do also own two pugs who are 6 and 7 years old. I remember Iggy, the oldest going through a nipping age, where we gave him timeouts in the bathroom when he got too out of hand, but you don't really get much aggression from a pug puppy!