How to make our bully behave better

[Bullygirl3910]

Need advice . . . we have a 6 year old male (neutered) bulldog. He is our 5th bulldog so we are not new to the bread. We recently moved near our grandchildren. He is usually a very laid back docile couch potato. However, whenever the children, 1 ½ & 4, come over he is so excited with them. He is never aggressive but constantly tries to “herd” them. He’ll bump them or walk up and lick them in the face or on the arm or leg — constantly “sliming” or knocking them over. We don’t know which command/technique to use with him and hate to be constantly yelling “leave it” whenever he goes near them. He has been to obedience training and knows the basics when we enforce them. So far the only thing that really works is to put him on his leash and keep him next to me or my husband. He’s not like this with other people or children or animals but he spends a lot more with the grandkids than others. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[helsonwheels]

Need advice . . . we have a 6 year old male (neutered) bulldog. He is our 5th bulldog so we are not new to the bread. We recently moved near our grandchildren. He is usually a very laid back docile couch potato. However, whenever the children, 1 ½ & 4, come over he is so excited with them. He is never aggressive but constantly tries to “herd” them. He’ll bump them or walk up and lick them in the face or on the arm or leg — constantly “sliming” or knocking them over. We don’t know which command/technique to use with him and hate to be constantly yelling “leave it” whenever he goes near them. He has been to obedience training and knows the basics when we enforce them. So far the only thing that really works is to put him on his leash and keep him next to me or my husband. He’s not like this with other people or children or animals but he spends a lot more with the grandkids than others. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

WELCOME to EBN! Your dog is just happy to be with the kids. He's not doing anything wrong as he's only licking n playing which is a happy dog. I understand the grandkids are young and can get hurt if knocked down. Dont put him on a leash as you're going to send him mix messages. You dont want him not to play or not be friendly towards your grandkids. This is just a situation that needs to be "hands on" as we say and no leash but just a collar. So when he plays around them, instead of saying "leave it" go up to your dog and remove him while you're saying "Easy Chaps, babies. (Dont know his name sorry) and remove him slowly and say "good boy". If you keep doing that he'll understand fast because he's 6yrs old. But you're going to have to keep an eye on the grandkids not to go after him so you dont confuse your dog on what to do. I personally dont see any issue. I would just sit on the floor or a small stool because this is all new to them. They'll figure it out among themselves while you're supervising.

[2BullyMama]

Need advice . . . we have a 6 year old male (neutered) bulldog. He is our 5th bulldog so we are not new to the bread. We recently moved near our grandchildren. He is usually a very laid back docile couch potato. However, whenever the children, 1 ½ & 4, come over he is so excited with them. He is never aggressive but constantly tries to “herd” them. He’ll bump them or walk up and lick them in the face or on the arm or leg — constantly “sliming” or knocking them over. We don’t know which command/technique to use with him and hate to be constantly yelling “leave it” whenever he goes near them. He has been to obedience training and knows the basics when we enforce them. So far the only thing that really works is to put him on his leash and keep him next to me or my husband. He’s not like this with other people or children or animals but he spends a lot more with the grandkids than others. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

I would allow him to say a gentle hello using a word for him only... 'nice' 'easy' .. pick a word, just like you would 'leave it'... and start teaching him what that means when the babies are around.

My Banks, was INSANE with children, her love of them was through the roof.... she would do all you are saying so we trained her with 'easy'. When the kids came in, we would just say ... Banks.. easy and her big butt would just wiggles and she nicely walk up to them and give kisses. it did take awhile to get her settled when it first started or they walked in, but for the most part it worked well. We did sometimes have to get between her and the kids, but she was not meaning to be forceful, she just loved being with children. if you are more comfortable training him with the leash on, you can, but if he is usually obedient... training with a new word should work well.


now -- let's see the handsome fella

[Hankster]

this is so interesting because I thought it was just Hank that was so overboard with kids... We're working on it to so love reading this..