jessica989

Member
Jul 9, 2013
59
0
Michigan
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Porky
I have a 4 year old bulldog. I have had her since August 2014. She is a sweet and loving puppy. The problem I have noticed is that she is unpredictable sometimes. The following have happened recently (in between those times she has been fine):

1. My mom comes to my home to let me bully out while I am at work sometimes, she has brought her dog on many occasions. This time my dog ran up to her dog and took a dominant stance and snarled and barked.

2. My dog and I were sitting on the couch and my niece (age 3) was petting her and it was fine. My niece got off the couch and came back a few minutes later and my dog lunged (not off the couch or anything, but a slight lunge) at her and snipped. She never growled or barked.

3. My brother was at my home painting and his friend came with him to paint, my dog came running out of her crate snarling.

4. My dog was on the couch with me and I had a friend over and he came to pet her and my dog lunged at her. Also, that same night she ran in her crate and if he walked by the she would get halfway out the crate and bark at him.

She is not aggressive with me. This doesn't happen all the time. I am concerned she is getting protective/possessive of her home and perhaps me. I spoke with the breeder I got her from and he said he never noticed aggression and she lived with multiple bullies.....

Any thoughts/suggestions???
 

ddnene

EBN's SWEETHEART aka our little GOOB
Staff member
Jun 19, 2013
14,554
1,249
Nashville, Tennessee
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Willow (2015) Walter (2014-22) Winston (2012-13) Wellie (2012-13) Bella (2007-13)
This sounds like a protective dominance issue w/you… and her home. I'm going to tag our behavior experts… but I would say that a personal trainer might be a good start.
 

brutus77

Skinny-Dippin' Smokin' Tidy Bowl Bionic Woman
Jul 18, 2013
6,940
593
Long Island NY
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Brutus, Frankie, and Jack
Your dog is becoming protective/dominant over you. You have to go back to basics with Porky. Do not allow porky to be on the couch with you. If she jumps up, put her right on the floor and say no. you have to correct this each time she does it. If she is lunging or getting into a dominance stance, do not grab her or try to hold her, this makes the aggression worse. Just simply push her out of the stance and tell her no! My Brutus does this sometimes and I can always tell when he is gearing up. I will simply say "no Brutus"! and stand in front of him and he will distract from his behavior. Now first and for most Porky should have a complete check up at the vet to make sure she doesn't have any medical issues going on. They can show aggression if they are in pain. They also from time to time try to flex their muscles so it is always a training situation of you showing you are the dominant figure.
 

bengardradar

New member
Community Veteran
Nov 11, 2013
189
10
Exira IA
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Radar
I can certainly understand where you are coming from as we are still working through this with Radar and have done absolutely everything to get it under control. Just some suggestions from what I have learned the last 3 months and a few things to think about. Has she had a rabies shot lately? Radar's behavior started not long after his shot. Is there a Thyroid problem? I got in contact with a vet in CA and she suggested a homeopathic detox for the rabies shot since it had mercury in it, after a couple of weeks could see a change. I then had a full comprehensive panel of his thyroid run( all was normal). Next we had a behaviorist come into the home and help out - that was eye opening - he pointed out that Radar didn't really have any rules and was trying to take over the home we have worked on the leadership exercise's he suggested. the little things like always eating something before him, making him sit and wait to get his food, petting etc. In the 2 weeks since he was there I have seen improvements in him he is listening to me again and taking cue's from us. I have also implemented clicker training in our house. We have been working on using his mat(bath towel) as a spot that he can go to when he feels stressed over excited etc. We have only been at it for a few days with no distractions and he is catching on really quick (may be all the treats but we will wean off of those) while we were practicing last night and he was doing fantastic, I heard my husband pull in the driveway and thought it was all over, but he did awesome he stayed on his mat when he walked in the house, got a bottle of water out of the fridge and no movement until I gave him his jackpot for staying on his mat and released him to go see dad. We still have a long ways to go and a lot of things to work on, but we will get there.

I am by no means an expert, but I love google and I love to read and have learned so much. It can be a long road but keep your head up and don't beat yourself up about what you did/didn't do in the past brush them off and start fresh with a new attitude, approach, and commands ( in case the old ones are tainted by a bad experience) You and your gal can fix this and build a stronger bond.
 
OP
J

jessica989

Member
Jul 9, 2013
59
0
Michigan
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Porky
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Your dog is becoming protective/dominant over you. You have to go back to basics with Porky. Do not allow porky to be on the couch with you. If she jumps up, put her right on the floor and say no. you have to correct this each time she does it. If she is lunging or getting into a dominance stance, do not grab her or try to hold her, this makes the aggression worse. Just simply push her out of the stance and tell her no! My Brutus does this sometimes and I can always tell when he is gearing up. I will simply say "no Brutus"! and stand in front of him and he will distract from his behavior. Now first and for most Porky should have a complete check up at the vet to make sure she doesn't have any medical issues going on. They can show aggression if they are in pain. They also from time to time try to flex their muscles so it is always a training situation of you showing you are the dominant figure.


Thank you for the advice. The hard part for me is that she doesn't do anything when it is just us so it is hard to have large gaps between her behavior...

- - - Updated - - -

Those are some good ideas. It is hard when she behaves fine when it is just us in the home and she doesn't misbehave with everyone or even always with the same people.
 

brutus77

Skinny-Dippin' Smokin' Tidy Bowl Bionic Woman
Jul 18, 2013
6,940
593
Long Island NY
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Brutus, Frankie, and Jack
I can certainly understand where you are coming from as we are still working through this with Radar and have done absolutely everything to get it under control. Just some suggestions from what I have learned the last 3 months and a few things to think about. Has she had a rabies shot lately? Radar's behavior started not long after his shot. Is there a Thyroid problem? I got in contact with a vet in CA and she suggested a homeopathic detox for the rabies shot since it had mercury in it, after a couple of weeks could see a change. I then had a full comprehensive panel of his thyroid run( all was normal). Next we had a behaviorist come into the home and help out - that was eye opening - he pointed out that Radar didn't really have any rules and was trying to take over the home we have worked on the leadership exercise's he suggested. the little things like always eating something before him, making him sit and wait to get his food, petting etc. In the 2 weeks since he was there I have seen improvements in him he is listening to me again and taking cue's from us. I have also implemented clicker training in our house. We have been working on using his mat(bath towel) as a spot that he can go to when he feels stressed over excited etc. We have only been at it for a few days with no distractions and he is catching on really quick (may be all the treats but we will wean off of those) while we were practicing last night and he was doing fantastic, I heard my husband pull in the driveway and thought it was all over, but he did awesome he stayed on his mat when he walked in the house, got a bottle of water out of the fridge and no movement until I gave him his jackpot for staying on his mat and released him to go see dad. We still have a long ways to go and a lot of things to work on, but we will get there.

I am by no means an expert, but I love google and I love to read and have learned so much. It can be a long road but keep your head up and don't beat yourself up about what you did/didn't do in the past brush them off and start fresh with a new attitude, approach, and commands ( in case the old ones are tainted by a bad experience) You and your gal can fix this and build a stronger bond.
I am curious to know what the homeopathic detox was for the rabies? Brutus was acting funny in the last few weeks and he had a rabies shot in September. I mentioned this to the vet as maybe it was the source of his bad behavior and the vet said it is too long since the rabies shot. I didn't think so but he hates when I argue with him so I left it alone for now.
 

bengardradar

New member
Community Veteran
Nov 11, 2013
189
10
Exira IA
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Radar
I am curious to know what the homeopathic detox was for the rabies? Brutus was acting funny in the last few weeks and he had a rabies shot in September. I mentioned this to the vet as maybe it was the source of his bad behavior and the vet said it is too long since the rabies shot. I didn't think so but he hates when I argue with him so I left it alone for now.

Radar got his yearly shot and his rabies on the same day (BIG MISTAKE I HAVE LEARNED) so we did 1 dropper of Thuja in the am and 1 dropper full of Lyssin in the evening when we were done with both of those we did one dropper of Sulphur once a day -- we actually just finished that last night. I have learned in this whole experience that you can give it to them for a specific number of days before and then a specific number of days after the shot as well to help with the side effects, but I am not sure of the amounts or days.

My vet told me the exact same thing - the rabies shot had nothing to do with his change in behavior, I don't agree with that. I am stubborn and told my vet that I want a titer test done before we vaccinate for anything else. To my surprise she was very receptive and has agreed, but why shouldn't she be she still gets paid its just not for a shot that he doesn't need
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
Staff member
Community Veteran
Jul 28, 2011
48,581
3,673
Gilbertsville, PA
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
agree with the others, she is trying to take possession of the home. i would get a trainer to come to the house to evaluate the best way to address it with you and family members. Then be sure to share all that info and maintain consistent training with regular visitors in the house
 

Most Reactions

📰 Latest posts

Members online

Top