Isabel and Jackson
New member
- Jul 5, 2012
- 25
- 2
- Country
- USA
- Bulldog(s) Names
- Jackson and Izzy
So I'll start off with a little background of my bully's. Isabel is a 5 year old, she's spayed - she was previously in another home for the first 10 months of her life in which she was abused. She was chased with bats/long sticks & vacuum cleaners. She used to be afraid & directed her aggression towards me since the previous owner who abused her was a woman - me & her are past that now. She is very protective over my boyfriend & I. I also have Jackson who is almost 2.5 years old, and intact! He's a feisty guy who loves attention and doesn't want anything more than to be the center of attention & in the action with everyone (humans) - he's also a good listener/obedient. Sometimes. These two used to play & play & the occasional hump! Never a problem.
So a few months ago, we had to leave to work somewhere to stay in a company apartment for about a month & one of the dog kennels broke so we let Isabel sleep out of the kennel & Jackson had to sleep in the kennel. We trusted her more to not pee on everything in sight or chew anything. This is when the aggression towards each other started. I've been watching their behavior & trying to correct it for over 3 months. At first it seemed like Isabel would "strut" around his kennel, almost in circles to show her dominance. Probably when we weren't home either. I believe Jackson would get sick of it, growl at her, thus giving her a reason to lunge at him & they would both attack each other through the kennel. To fix that, when we weren't supervising or at night, she had to be locked in another room. Now when the roles are reversed and we put her in the kennel and him out - we wouldn't have this issue at all. Jackson would walk around her kennel or sniff at her - from what I observed, he was mostly just interested in her (like he used to be).
When we got back home, I thought maybe the fighting would stop but it just gets worse.. These two can't even be outside the kennel (in the house) together... It will start as a staring contest, then fight. Jackson always holds his stance, very still, staring & Isabel is always the one to lunge at him first. When we all walk outside, they're fine. Drinking water, fine. We feed them in their kennels.
Jackson just does not like to be in his kennel when she's out, he's jealous & wants to be the center of attention too. Today when he was in his kennel, he just stared at her until he got her attention, then she lunged at his kennel. I have to distract her when she's out so she doesn't pay attention to this staring. Now when he's out of his kennel, he's a doll & couldn't care less about staring at her unless he wants to sniff her. But in his kennel he turns into a beast.
I'm sorry this is so long, I just want to get all background information out there, I hope someone can guide me into the right direction. We are looking to see a behavioralist soon if we can't fix this ourselves. I've heard that this is "cage aggression" but I've had no luck in changing it. I've even put a towel on a side of his kennel so he can't see her. One thing that I try to do is when Jackson starts to growl or stare, I go over to him & make him lay down in his kennel. He's usually good about it but sometimes I think he just wants to be a challenge & wags his tail when he doesn't listen! ugh!
He turned his aggression towards me today, I had a knock at the door & he saw it as an opportunity to run out of the door to play outside. (By the way, I spend a lot of time outside with this guy just about every day - thinking it will wear him out... No, he just wants more). I grabbed his hips before he could hop on out & pulled him back. He growled at me & I told him to get in his kennel & he kept growling at me. I didn't scold him, I just told him to lay down. I was pretty unsuccessful in getting him to lay down, I didn't even get angry with him - but definitely showed me that this dog does not think I'm the leader
So a few months ago, we had to leave to work somewhere to stay in a company apartment for about a month & one of the dog kennels broke so we let Isabel sleep out of the kennel & Jackson had to sleep in the kennel. We trusted her more to not pee on everything in sight or chew anything. This is when the aggression towards each other started. I've been watching their behavior & trying to correct it for over 3 months. At first it seemed like Isabel would "strut" around his kennel, almost in circles to show her dominance. Probably when we weren't home either. I believe Jackson would get sick of it, growl at her, thus giving her a reason to lunge at him & they would both attack each other through the kennel. To fix that, when we weren't supervising or at night, she had to be locked in another room. Now when the roles are reversed and we put her in the kennel and him out - we wouldn't have this issue at all. Jackson would walk around her kennel or sniff at her - from what I observed, he was mostly just interested in her (like he used to be).
When we got back home, I thought maybe the fighting would stop but it just gets worse.. These two can't even be outside the kennel (in the house) together... It will start as a staring contest, then fight. Jackson always holds his stance, very still, staring & Isabel is always the one to lunge at him first. When we all walk outside, they're fine. Drinking water, fine. We feed them in their kennels.
Jackson just does not like to be in his kennel when she's out, he's jealous & wants to be the center of attention too. Today when he was in his kennel, he just stared at her until he got her attention, then she lunged at his kennel. I have to distract her when she's out so she doesn't pay attention to this staring. Now when he's out of his kennel, he's a doll & couldn't care less about staring at her unless he wants to sniff her. But in his kennel he turns into a beast.
I'm sorry this is so long, I just want to get all background information out there, I hope someone can guide me into the right direction. We are looking to see a behavioralist soon if we can't fix this ourselves. I've heard that this is "cage aggression" but I've had no luck in changing it. I've even put a towel on a side of his kennel so he can't see her. One thing that I try to do is when Jackson starts to growl or stare, I go over to him & make him lay down in his kennel. He's usually good about it but sometimes I think he just wants to be a challenge & wags his tail when he doesn't listen! ugh!
He turned his aggression towards me today, I had a knock at the door & he saw it as an opportunity to run out of the door to play outside. (By the way, I spend a lot of time outside with this guy just about every day - thinking it will wear him out... No, he just wants more). I grabbed his hips before he could hop on out & pulled him back. He growled at me & I told him to get in his kennel & he kept growling at me. I didn't scold him, I just told him to lay down. I was pretty unsuccessful in getting him to lay down, I didn't even get angry with him - but definitely showed me that this dog does not think I'm the leader