Josephine after 2 weeks with us, training, behavior, etc

Pugaboo

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Hello everyone, sorry for posting and disappearing it's just been a bit of a whirlwind. Josephine is 10 weeks old. This is going to get long but I so want to do this right for her, train her properly and integrate her into our lives happily.

I have some questions and also giving a bit of info on how things are going on that maybe you experienced EB veterans can help with.

Potty training is going pretty well, she is still quite young and I don't expect her to be 100% until she is closer to 6 months. That is how long it took all of my Pugs to become what I considered reliable. We had a small issue of accidents in the crate the first few days but then realized it was too big so stepped her down to the smaller crate for now. I simply moved the larger one into the dining room and have seen her checking it out and playing with her toys in it but for now she sleeps in the smaller one in our bedroom each night. I check it each morning and so far no accidents. She usually wakes me up once a night to take her out to got potty. I have her trained to use a custom made litter box on our upstairs porch. She will actually go out and tinkle on it all by herself, poops she is having a bit more of an issue with it but it's all a process.

She is a morning puppy and wakes us up with the birds. She barks, "Mommy Mommy the birdies say it's time to get up!" She gets carried down the stairs and out into the yard where she does her business. Then I put her harness on and the others join us. We have had some issues of her biting at the Pugs legs and trying to drag them around, it doesn't seem agggressive more like play but the Pugs don't enjoy it. To help prevent this I have taken to putting her in a harness with a leash. I am teaching her No Bite when ever she gets over excited and tries to nip at them, or us. This is a work in progress.

She nips and bites a bit more than I would like but have been reading on here that she will hopefully outgrow this stage? So for now it's a harness and leash to control her with the command No Bite as well as anytime she goes to Bite us we stuff a nylabone or toy in her mouth instead of us or the Pugs. She definitely has a finger fetish and would much rather chew on a human finger than a toy but I am working diligently with her to stop this. I have noticed she gets nippier when she gets tired so try to watch for her energy level and be prepared with toys and commands to stop the biting when she tries it. I asked a couple different vets before we got her if EBs were aggressive and was assured they are not, I talked to a few people with EBs and they said they were not aggressive, I am hoping this is true as she seems a bit more aggressive than I expected. Should I be worried about aggression? The biting is the thing that worries me the most and I really want to get control of it ASAP. My husband is disabled and one of his medications is warfarin and small bites and scratches bleed quite badly for him. Any pointers?

She has the SIT command down pat. I am training her to sit before she gets her food bowl, when I am attaching or removing her leash, waiting for a treat, etc. I am working with her on the leash to walk with me then when I turn and say SIT to immediately sit, she does this correctly about 90 percent of the time. She is a little ADD and gets distracted very easily so I think the 10 percent failure rate is from her going oh look a butterfly or look a bug or look a motorcycle etc you get the picture. I am teaching her, Let's Go In which is the command I've used for years with my Pugs to let them know it's time to, well, go in, lol. She doesn't always listen but have taken to bribing her if she crosses the threshold of her own volition, if I have to force her in she doesn't get a treat. She knows the Go Potty command as well.

As I said she wears the harness all day and it seems to help keep her calmer for some reason. She gets attached to a leash when she starts acting out or gets overly aggressive so I can keep her from hurting herself, others or if I need to make her do what I want her to do not what she wants. She needs to know that what I say she HAS to do. If she does it when asked she gets pats, kisses, or a treat, if I have to make her do it then she doesn't. There are times when I attach the leash but don't hold the end, I want her to act like I AM on the other end even when I am not so eventually I can dispense with harness and leash inside the house altogether. Am I going about this correctly?

There is so much more but this will hopefully give you an idea how I am going about this and maybe make some suggestions as EB owners that you know get better results.

Terry
 

Hankster

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I loved reading this and I'm looking forward to hearing others' input. My eyes are having a hard time staying open so I will leave it at that but couldn't just leave without saying howdy . You sound like a real good bulldog mommy :-)
 

Lalaloopsie

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Don't worry, these dogs are very clever, she will learn No bite, from my experience bullies love to chew their family A LOT, but my boy knows No bite perfectly well, even more - he knows that chewing mom (me) is complete no-no, but in case with dad ( my husband) No bite means "more, more":yes: so he is perfectly obedient with me and very loose with my hubby:yes: He also knows Play nice, what means gentle licking your hands.
It also helps a lot to stop playing with her or even isolate her for some time if she persistently does something you don't like.
 

2BullyMama

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I think you are right on track! Stay consistent and make sure hubby is on the same page with all you are doing... she does not seem aggressive in how you explain things she is a puppy exploring and they explore with their mouth/teeth. The biting, with all your training, will stop or at least slow down at around 5/6 months when teething is done. What I did with Lambeau was got the nylabone 'keys' and would place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes to get them cold... when he was really nippy, he would get those and it settles him for a while. The cold helps with the teething just like in skin babies.

She might be more dominate than the Pugs.. is that possible? Is she the only female?
 

ddnene

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I think you are doing an amazing job training your pup... consistency is KEY!!! I agree w/Christine I don't think this is aggression per say, I think this is just excited bulldog puppy... AND trying to establish dominance over the pugs. Is she the only female in the house? She will calm down, and all the nipping will as well... unfortunately is does take some time.
 

Manydogs

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[MENTION=17037]Pugaboo[/MENTION] It sounds like you are doing a good job. One thing I KNOW,having had many breeds of dogs, is that English Bulldog puppies are more mouthy("bitey") than any other pups I have had. Keep at it! They usually quit(when they are taught) after their second teeth come in!
 
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Pugaboo

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Thank you everyone!

I am trying to get my husband to use the same commands as I do. For some reason he tries to have conversations with her. Such as, you know biting Daddy is bad why do you do that? I want you to stop do you think you can do that?
Josephine is of course sitting there practically nodding her head... yes daddy I promise not to bite any more (for this moment in time) yes daddy I love you and don't want to hurt you (but chewing on you is so much fun), etc.

I just stop, say firmly No Bite and she does. It's a process I know and when I trained all the others over the years he was at work and came home to tired and obedient dogs. He had no idea I spent days with them hooked via leash to my waist to teach them some of this stuff.

She is definitely going to be the alpha, I lost my alpha pug a year ago and the rest have just been confused over the situation. I have 4 Pugs the eldest is over 15 and kind of sort of maybe thinking she's alpha but not since she seems to have no clue what that entails. My second oldest is 12 but had a stroke a while back and is blind, she is the only one that can put Josephine on her back and in her place but she kind of has to stumble over her to be able to do that since she can't see all the crazy antics Josephine is enticing her with. The other 2 a boy and a girl are 7 and they are so laid back my husband says it's like having stuffed toys we have to feed. They are all fixed and get along perfectly so now it's time to get Josephine integrated into it all.

She had an accident in her crate last night, sigh. She did wake me up to take her out and everything but her blanket was damp this morning. I don't know if I slept through her whining to go out, I'm a bit tired these days after all, or what happened. I cleaned and washed everything and if she does it again will have to take a step back and start over by setting up an alarm to get up every couple of hours to take her out.

On a happy note SHE FELL ASLEEP ON DADDYS CHEST FOR THE FIRST TIME TONIGHT! She's been doing that with me since the first day she was here but she's always been too wound up and excited or tired and cranky to do that but this evening I looked over and she was sleeping draped across his chest while he petted her, I take that as a good sign and progress in bonding with him. She needs to see him as something more than someone she can play and wrestle with she needs to understand he gives comfort too. So far she has come to me for that, she will be playing with him but when she is tired she fusses until she is allowed to come to me then goes to sleep in my arms.

Every day is an adventure with a puppy in the house.

Terry
 

2BullyMama

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Wow.. what a pack! I had a friend with a blind and deaf Pug that weighed about 15 lbs and ruled the house... her name was Kisses and was the smallest of 5 dogs. So, it doesn't surprise me that your blind baby is trying to run the show.

Please keep us posted and post some pictures too


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Hankster

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Fun reading :) enjoyed it :) I'm going to add (since you were talking on getting on the same page) that ,,,,,,,,,,, I am 'lovingly' named the witch, as I have rules and 'daddy' likes to wrestle, feed from the table, and generally let the 'boy' run all over him. Whats amazing to me is, Hank knows the difference (he's just over a year now though) ... He is rough with dad but a very soft mouth always. it's those darn strong legs that injure at times. And he doesn't even think to roughhouse with me, or ask for food. I'm still not completely fond of the 'food' from the table thing, so dad now does wait till were finished, and puts in his bowl.. If he had it his way, Hank would sit at the table with us.. Anyway, what I'm trying to add is that these guys are smart, and even if you don't completely agree on everything, (which I'm sure would make things much easier) Sometimes it's not worth the fight, so keep doing what your doing and work with the hubs and the pup ;) ...
 

Lalaloopsie

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Aha, we found the culprits:)! Seems like hubbies are preventing our bullies to become well behaved pups! But it's really funny, a lot of similarities- when my husband tries to stretch on the couch after working day, Tank immediately comes with all his chewing toys, all in spit and jumps on him, and starts biting him. No way hubby can watch TV, as Tank is roaring like a lion:). Hubby shouts Stop! TAnk, no!, but Tank is going on(bcs he knows, it's just part of the game). Sometimes hubby pretends that he is angry that TAnk doesn't listen, so he runs after him all over the apartment, Tank is completely delighted, runs and hops like a bunny. They drop chairs, tables, vases etc. Everybody is overexcited. Hubby doesn't believe me that doing so he just reduces his chances to teach TAnk to stop when he wants him to:). When they both are exhausted, hubby wants peace and Tank is out of breath, eyes red and popping out and foam coming out of his mouth (I call it "fire extinguisher stage" of playful rage), Mom is called. I say Tank, stop it! And he stops. TAnk, go to bed! And he goes and lies on his little couch catching his breath. Like an angel. And hubby asks "how do you do this? He listens to you". Btw, he also likes to talk to TAnk in long monologues, with very few results:).
Being serious I think that if your hubby would join you in your efforts, it would make process of teaching quicker. Dogs definitely cannot understand long speeches, I even read that it makes them tired, and if you talk to your dog too much, it can make her not attentive to what you say, as they get used to sound of your speech flowing in a default mode. Then you will have troubles to get her attention.
They recommend that it would be better if you speak to your dog, use predominantly language she knows - like short commands to get what you want, and otherwise use words she definitely will understand with time - like "good dog...well done... bad girl" etc. Dogs are like humans, they are mentally like a 3-4 year old child. You speak to children the language they understand, right? Do the same with your dog and you will be amazed how she will progress. And she will pay more attention to what you say to her if you speak to her in language she understands.
 

Manydogs

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Your husbands are setting themselves up to be in trouble when the dog is grown. They will get "No Respect!" Training dogs-and children, both parents have to work together! Both dogs and children know how to play one against the other! Believe it!
 

Hankster

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boy, I know your right as,,,,,,, 'daddy' will sometimes look at me like
why does he listen to you"... well duh! but,,,,,,,,,,,, He only gets to see him a few days a week so I let them play outa control. Only thing we worry about is, if Hank will transfer that kind of play with my grandson, but so far he knows dad is his only roughhouser. Not recommending it! but at this point, At least Hank is smart enough to know the difference..
Your husbands are setting themselves up to be in trouble when the dog is grown. They will get "No Respect!" Training dogs-and children, both parents have to work together! Both dogs and children know how to play one against the other! Believe it!
 
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Pugaboo

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I think Josephine has chosen our roles in her life. Daddy plays rougher and crazier whereas Mommy is quieter and for snuggles. She TOLD me so today...

I had a class to teach this afternoon so was gone for about 5 hours when I came home I was excited to see her and we got to playing. I tried a "Daddy" game and she got upset! She backed off then barreled into me and hid her face in my neck and gave me a million kisses then did it all again. It was as if she was telling me No Mommy you for snuggles Daddy for crazy time! She was quite adamant about what games I should and should not play with her.

She is so smart and funny and adorable and cute and and and....

T
 

2BullyMama

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I think Josephine has chosen our roles in her life. Daddy plays rougher and crazier whereas Mommy is quieter and for snuggles. She TOLD me so today...

I had a class to teach this afternoon so was gone for about 5 hours when I came home I was excited to see her and we got to playing. I tried a "Daddy" game and she got upset! She backed off then barreled into me and hid her face in my neck and gave me a million kisses then did it all again. It was as if she was telling me No Mommy you for snuggles Daddy for crazy time! She was quite adamant about what games I should and should not play with her.

She is so smart and funny and adorable and cute and and and....

T


HOW FREAKIN SWEET IS THAT!!!
 

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