Hello, this is my first post on the forum, but have viewed topics for great information before. Last week (7/31/14) we purchased a male English Bulldog for our family. The breeder was located and KY and we drove from VA to pick him up. On the day of purchase he turned nine weeks old and weighed about eight pounds. It was a nine hour drive from KY back to VA and I think he did a great job. He cried for a bit at first in his crate and each time we put him back in after a potty/water/gas break. When we picked him up the breeder said its going to be a long night. They had him away from his pack (brothers/sisters) the previous night and he apparently was none to happy. How little did we know how unhappy he would be his first couple of nights.
The first night home we made sure he was super tired and physically/mentally ready for bed. We sat his crate (big enough for him to move and lay down) in our room and shut off the lights. Before we put him in his crate we made sure he was in a calm state and comfortable with going in. We also wanted him in our bedroom so he could hear and smell his new pack, since he was being taken away from his original. He was quiet for about 30 seconds and then went into a wild fit. We have crate trained seven or eight dogs in the past and have never heard anything like this
. The only thing close was a pit bull puppy we rescued at five weeks of age. For that we totally understood, as everyone knows what a puppy being separated from mom/pack that early leads to. Needless to say it was a long night, but we know its a long road with a new puppy.
The second day home we took him to our local vet for a check up and his second round of shots. The vet found an infection in both ears, updated all shots, gave us meds and we were on our way. After finding out he had an ear infection, we thought we had found the reason for his super long night. Fully medicated and mentally/physically trained we prepared for our second night home. The second night was more of the same. Violent scratching, crying and biting at his crate all night long. During both episodes we used a combination of crate tips/tricks found on here and by reading and listening to Cesar.
Despite those few long nights he has settled down and the last couple of nights has slept for five or six hours at a time. This is unusually for his age (ten weeks on 8/8/14) but a welcome change. Of course if we hear him cry during a long span we run him out for a potty. For those with new Bulldog pups and going through crate training I will post my big tips. The first tip that really seemed to help was laying beside his crate until he entered a calm state. The calm state I see in Rocky is yawing, and laying down. I never walk away from the crate unless he is in this calm state. The second tip is, placing light sheets/shirts(we have used) over all sides of his crate with the exception of his front door. I know each puppy is different, but these two things have worked for us.
With crate training going in the right direction we moved the focus to potty training. We live on the third floor of a luxury apartment in the middle of a town center so we have been using a combination of real puppy grass on our patio and taking him outside to the puppy stations. With constant monitoring (like every 30 mins) and breaks after every water/food/play session he has done well. The full time system we have used has made it almost impossible for him to have an accident. With that said if he is not mentally happy, he will just pee for no reason
When I say mentally happy I mean: a)We step out of his puppy play area in the house and don't take him. b) is not happy with multiple corrections and is not getting his way. c) goes in his crate without being 100% exhausted. We have owned several breeds of dogs, including Akitas (know stubborn breed) and have never gone through this. With that being said we read plenty of Bulldog potty horror stories and are/were prepared for a long road.
Our biggest issue and the only one we need help with ASAP is the most serious. We have read plenty on the English Bulldog and understand and have witnessed puppies talk with their teeth. However, the bitting that Rocky does is completely over the line. Since we brought him home he has been nippy and displayed your typical puppy bites. We have used tips from this forum, Cesar and from owning other big biters (American Bulldog, APBT, SBT, Dogo Bordeaux, GSD) . These tips and tricks have done little to slow down Rocky. Again, we were prepared for a long road, but have run into a major problem. When outside our neighbor sometimes brings her Wheaton Terrier (also a puppy 5 months) to play with Rocky. Rocky is more serious than Milo (the terrier) and really seems to not enjoy his company. Rocky has since started to show is displeasure with Milo by bitting and holding(1 or 2 seconds) on to him. We would correct him and then put him in a relaxed state, but the actions continued. The last time Milo came out Rocky bit him so hard Milo cried and sat down. Now Milo does not come out to play anymore and other dog owners in the building seem to avoid us. We already have Rocky signed up for puppy classes, but he can't start till he turns ten weeks. He will be ten on Friday and he starts classes on Saturday. Unfortunately that is not the worst situation we have with biting. Yesterday when both my son and I were sitting and playing with Rocky he bit my son in the face. The bite left three long bite marks from his nose to his upper lip (almost looks like a cat scratch). My son is now very scared to play with Rocky and Rocky picks up on that energy.
Before getting an English Bulldog we did a lot of research and reading. We knew we had to make a smart decision on our dog breed because of our unique situation. Two years ago I was involved in a serious accident with a tractor trailer. It left me with a mild/moderate traumatic brain injury and a long road to recover. We use to own a large home in the country, but had to move to a smaller, city center, low maintenance home to aid in my recover. We spend the first year at our new home getting me on good system and controlling my health. This summer with my wife home (a teacher) we decided to purchase a puppy. We needed something under fifty pounds, good with children, and could be happy without a big yard. We also wanted something with low energy so I could handle it during the day once my wife and son went back to school. We thought the English Bulldog would make the perfect best friend for my son, and companion for me during the days. We have put copious amounts of energy, time and money into Rocky. With that being said, its only been a week, but if the serious biting continues we may have to find Rocky a new forever home
The first night home we made sure he was super tired and physically/mentally ready for bed. We sat his crate (big enough for him to move and lay down) in our room and shut off the lights. Before we put him in his crate we made sure he was in a calm state and comfortable with going in. We also wanted him in our bedroom so he could hear and smell his new pack, since he was being taken away from his original. He was quiet for about 30 seconds and then went into a wild fit. We have crate trained seven or eight dogs in the past and have never heard anything like this
. The only thing close was a pit bull puppy we rescued at five weeks of age. For that we totally understood, as everyone knows what a puppy being separated from mom/pack that early leads to. Needless to say it was a long night, but we know its a long road with a new puppy. The second day home we took him to our local vet for a check up and his second round of shots. The vet found an infection in both ears, updated all shots, gave us meds and we were on our way. After finding out he had an ear infection, we thought we had found the reason for his super long night. Fully medicated and mentally/physically trained we prepared for our second night home. The second night was more of the same. Violent scratching, crying and biting at his crate all night long. During both episodes we used a combination of crate tips/tricks found on here and by reading and listening to Cesar.
Despite those few long nights he has settled down and the last couple of nights has slept for five or six hours at a time. This is unusually for his age (ten weeks on 8/8/14) but a welcome change. Of course if we hear him cry during a long span we run him out for a potty. For those with new Bulldog pups and going through crate training I will post my big tips. The first tip that really seemed to help was laying beside his crate until he entered a calm state. The calm state I see in Rocky is yawing, and laying down. I never walk away from the crate unless he is in this calm state. The second tip is, placing light sheets/shirts(we have used) over all sides of his crate with the exception of his front door. I know each puppy is different, but these two things have worked for us.
With crate training going in the right direction we moved the focus to potty training. We live on the third floor of a luxury apartment in the middle of a town center so we have been using a combination of real puppy grass on our patio and taking him outside to the puppy stations. With constant monitoring (like every 30 mins) and breaks after every water/food/play session he has done well. The full time system we have used has made it almost impossible for him to have an accident. With that said if he is not mentally happy, he will just pee for no reason
When I say mentally happy I mean: a)We step out of his puppy play area in the house and don't take him. b) is not happy with multiple corrections and is not getting his way. c) goes in his crate without being 100% exhausted. We have owned several breeds of dogs, including Akitas (know stubborn breed) and have never gone through this. With that being said we read plenty of Bulldog potty horror stories and are/were prepared for a long road.
Our biggest issue and the only one we need help with ASAP is the most serious. We have read plenty on the English Bulldog and understand and have witnessed puppies talk with their teeth. However, the bitting that Rocky does is completely over the line. Since we brought him home he has been nippy and displayed your typical puppy bites. We have used tips from this forum, Cesar and from owning other big biters (American Bulldog, APBT, SBT, Dogo Bordeaux, GSD) . These tips and tricks have done little to slow down Rocky. Again, we were prepared for a long road, but have run into a major problem. When outside our neighbor sometimes brings her Wheaton Terrier (also a puppy 5 months) to play with Rocky. Rocky is more serious than Milo (the terrier) and really seems to not enjoy his company. Rocky has since started to show is displeasure with Milo by bitting and holding(1 or 2 seconds) on to him. We would correct him and then put him in a relaxed state, but the actions continued. The last time Milo came out Rocky bit him so hard Milo cried and sat down. Now Milo does not come out to play anymore and other dog owners in the building seem to avoid us. We already have Rocky signed up for puppy classes, but he can't start till he turns ten weeks. He will be ten on Friday and he starts classes on Saturday. Unfortunately that is not the worst situation we have with biting. Yesterday when both my son and I were sitting and playing with Rocky he bit my son in the face. The bite left three long bite marks from his nose to his upper lip (almost looks like a cat scratch). My son is now very scared to play with Rocky and Rocky picks up on that energy.
Before getting an English Bulldog we did a lot of research and reading. We knew we had to make a smart decision on our dog breed because of our unique situation. Two years ago I was involved in a serious accident with a tractor trailer. It left me with a mild/moderate traumatic brain injury and a long road to recover. We use to own a large home in the country, but had to move to a smaller, city center, low maintenance home to aid in my recover. We spend the first year at our new home getting me on good system and controlling my health. This summer with my wife home (a teacher) we decided to purchase a puppy. We needed something under fifty pounds, good with children, and could be happy without a big yard. We also wanted something with low energy so I could handle it during the day once my wife and son went back to school. We thought the English Bulldog would make the perfect best friend for my son, and companion for me during the days. We have put copious amounts of energy, time and money into Rocky. With that being said, its only been a week, but if the serious biting continues we may have to find Rocky a new forever home
I'm in the same situation as you, with the sharky tough boy, 9 weeks old 
to EBN.... the puppy shark teeth stage is brutal! redirection is a good way and another thing to use is 'noting in life is free'... teach him quickly that he has to earn play, affection and food so he knows to listen and obey.
to EBN hope this helps and am sure others will try as well. My pup is 5 months old and still softly mouths my hands the odd bite while playing with toys. One thing never play tug of war until they know not to bite. This is very common in bullys and had me wondering what i had done and what did i buy. He bit neighbors, family and even my vet who said he never gets bitten. Just finished puppy class it taught me lots, him a little but in time with me doing my end he will learn a lot as well. What helped for me was learning how to do a time out and putting him in his pen, play time over instantly. This is common it is not just your dog, time and training will help with the biting and Food is different with Bulldogs as well as most are allergic to chicken and will lose hair and get yeasty. I feed my pup Fromm puppy food and will be switching to Fromm Adult as soon as this bag we are on is finished. Hopefully this has not scared you they are fantastic pets or fur-babies if you will. Making your dog earn things is fantastic advice who dosent like a well trained dog
. I know they seem crazy and it's SO exhausting having them launch at you every awake moment but trust me it will pass. Like others have said, keep a toy close and direct him to bite it when he starts, if he bites your hand to hard let him know it hurts by telling him, he will probably not care at first but when he gets older he will realize what it means
Someday you will be thankful that you did not give up. We have most all been there with little sharks!!!
