General Question How trainable/obedient is your bulldog?

adadrian

New member
Oct 2, 2020
28
2
Brisbane
Country
Australia
Bulldog(s) Names
Athena
How trainable was/is your bulldog?
And how obedient is he/she?

I only have a puppy and she only does what I want when food is involved atm! Iā€™ve read a lot of different sources some saying they can learn pretty fast and some saying they are too stubborn and only do what they want when they want.
 

KrysA724

Member
Aug 4, 2020
324
7
Texas
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Brisket
How trainable was/is your bulldog?
And how obedient is he/she?

I only have a puppy and she only does what I want when food is involved atm! Iā€™ve read a lot of different sources some saying they can learn pretty fast and some saying they are too stubborn and only do what they want when they want.

I think it depends on their mood at the moment when you ask them to do something. Brisket is energetic during the day, but in the morning and in the evenings, he wonā€™t do anything I ask of him because heā€™s tired and grumpy. But yes, he is also very good motivated. I trained brisket certain things, but treats were involved most times. Other times a stern voice and body language does the trick. They are smart dogs and they know when you mean business, you just gotta hold the alpha position.
 

cefe13

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2013
3,714
205
Country
Sweden
Bulldog(s) Names
Castor (2013-2021 RIP)
Castor is extremely well trained and will obey any command. No, kidding, he won't. As a pup we thought he was pretty well trained but as years have gone by, his hearing has become selective and these days he usually doesn't come if we call, for instance. On the other hand, he doesn't do anything he's not supposed to either, so he's easy to deal with. I'm no expert, but my advice is train your pup as much as you can while she's young and also make sure you create a strong bond so that she is easy to deal with when she gets bigger and older. Bulldogs have a strong will and that is what makes them great companions.
 

Hceril

Well-known member
Jan 19, 2017
4,346
691
Middle Georgia
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Bella (EBD) Roxy (pit mix) Tyson (pit mix) Sadie (boxer)
Castor is extremely well trained and will obey any command. No, kidding, he won't. As a pup we thought he was pretty well trained but as years have gone by, his hearing has become selective and these days he usually doesn't come if we call, for instance. On the other hand, he doesn't do anything he's not supposed to either, so he's easy to deal with. I'm no expert, but my advice is train your pup as much as you can while she's young and also make sure you create a strong bond so that she is easy to deal with when she gets bigger and older. Bulldogs have a strong will and that is what makes them great companions.

Bella is the same. The only command she does (maybe half the time) is sit. Lol (probably really only because she wants to sit down) she sometimes come if we call her (a lot of the time wonā€™t even look if we call her ����)
Although she is pretty well behaved I wish she would at least come when called.
 

mer55

Well-known member
Community Veteran
Nov 16, 2012
1,049
105
Venice, FL.
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Jackson, Bogey (granddog) Ruger (granddog)
I almost spit my coffee across the table as I read this! I don't think "obedient" and "trainable" can be used in any sentence with a bulldog!!:w00t: Having dealings with 3 of the little devils, I can honestly say it is "hit or miss" and THAT changes on a daily basis!!:yes: As pups, they learn very quickly to respond to food. They actually train US to have the food handy at all times. I can give a command 50 times in a row and it will ONLY be followed if I have food. Somehow they KNOW when the treat is absent. Then I just get "the look" and the command goes out the window. That said, for the most part, they do become more obedient as they age, ( sans the "teenage years":sarcastic:) and just when you think you have the best trained bully ever, they revert, protest, and make you hit your head on a wall!:wtf:
Best advice, be patient, consistent, firm and loving. Part of their charm is them being "bullish". Ceaser Milan actually raised and trained a bulldog because he had heard how hard they were to train. He did it, but gave the dog away.:ponder: I wonder how much of the "training" really stuck. They are headstrong, one track mindset and stubborn, but they are the most loving, sweet, slobbering ball of fur ever. Wouldn't trade that for all the $$ in the world!!! Jackson sunglasses.jpg
 

1Chumly

Well-known member
Feb 19, 2015
2,911
693
Houston, TX
Country
From England
Bulldog(s) Names
Buster 2013-2023 Monty 6/2010 - 1/2020 Chumly 2002-2014
How trainable was/is your bulldog?
And how obedient is he/she?


HaHaHaHaHa!!!! Sorry, had to laugh!

I only have a puppy and she only does what I want when food is involved atm! Iā€™ve read a lot of different sources some saying they can learn pretty fast and some saying they are too stubborn and only do what they want when they want.

Buster will jump through hoops for a treat but if there is no treat involved it's like "I don't think so!" He can be incredibly stubborn. I have seen videos of obedient bulldogs and can but dream!
 

anatess

Well-known member
Jul 26, 2011
1,758
398
Country
US
Bulldog(s) Names
Bullie (RIP) & Angus (RIP)
I have a very obedient bulldog... but then I've learned not to ask him to do things that is of no interest to him. Hah hah. He's got me well-trained.

But seriously... my bulldogs are very intelligent. They are so intelligent they have the capacity to decide whether something is of benefit to them. For example, I work from home so I've trained my dogs not to bark for what they want even to go potty (it is very unprofessional to hear dogs barking in a meeting!). Rather, I take them to potty every 4 hours and they've adjusted to it. So, when I tell them to go outside and it's not "that time" they just look at me like... "you spaced out? it's not time to potty..." and pretend they didn't hear me.

Now, I have to say... since Bullie died, Angus has been very obedient. He has always been the beta dog and would just follow Bullie around. Now, he has become so clingy to us that he'd do anything we ask of him!
 

Shirley Wigglebutt

New member
Jan 16, 2021
194
10
Country
N/A
Bulldog(s) Names
N/A
I have to admit, out of all the different breeds I've owned, Shirley by far "got" things much quicker than any of them, but being a first time bulldog mom and adopted an almost 7 year old breeder surrender from a local rescue that only knew her name, she has progressed leaps and bounds with ALOT of input from others on this forum. She will obey commands most of the time but does still sometimes ignore me. As far as training, as everyone has said bulldogs have us trained LOL!
 

tigertanktoo

Active member
Mar 31, 2019
550
209
SW Georgia
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Gabe - EBD 7 yrs old and Charlie - Cockerspaniel 15 yrs old
How trainable was/is your bulldog?
And how obedient is he/she?

We are very trainable and obedient. I know, "I gotta go outside dad, I'm hungry dad, my recliner sheet needs cleaning dad, I'm thirsty dad and I want a treat dad."
 

Hceril

Well-known member
Jan 19, 2017
4,346
691
Middle Georgia
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Bella (EBD) Roxy (pit mix) Tyson (pit mix) Sadie (boxer)
Unfortunately Bella could care less about food.....
but she is very smart! She has us trained just as she planned I am 100% sure!

She can (does) ignore me with the best of them!

But she knows she couldnā€™t be loved more!! [emoji1787]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Mechadogzilla

Member
Nov 15, 2020
71
38
Maryland
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Hugo(English Bulldog) and Hans(Rottweiler)
I have had some interesting experiences training my bully (8 months old).

For context, I spent hours a day for months training my other dog (A Rottweiler) because in my opinion an untrained Rottweiler can be more than an annoyance but can actually be dangerous. Therefore, my Rottweiler is well trained and will respond to hand/voice commands or any combination thereof.

I started working on training Hugo (our Bulldog) as soon as we got him at 3 months. He learned sit the first day. Even now, if I give him hand or voice command for sit - he will do it immediately. That is as far as I got with Hugo - I tried for weeks (and a pro trainer that I know tried as well) to get him to lie down, stay, or any other command with no success. He just wonā€™t do it.

When I get ready to open a door to take them outside to play frisbee, my Rottweiler watches in horror as he sits patiently 3 feet from the door while Hugo jumps on the door and scratches it in excitement to go out. I had pretty much given up on training Hugo and was just working on making sure he is social with people and other animals.

However, Hugo really shocked me a couple weeks ago. I train my Rottweiler in agility and have some equipment at home that I use to train him. I usually take Hugo out to play before I work with my Rottie on agility as I canā€™t have them out at the same time when I am doing the training. One day, I put up my agility equipment early and set the jumps all the way down and figured i would let Hugo mess around the course a bit (he always watches through the window when I train Hans). Hugo was absolutely amazing on the course, he listened to me completely, following my hand commands as I sent him out to different jumps (which I had low enough for him to walk over), had no issues with the tunnel, and navigated the weave better than my Rottie when he first started. He ran the course over and over, listening to my sit/stay commands every time.

When Hugo gets a little older (and his bones are fully grown), I think I am going to try and train him for competitive agility. I am interested to see how he handles some of the more challenging obstacles (like the teeter, but so far, he is a natural. I think he is much smarter than he lets on but only listens when he wants to.
 

KING OLLIE HOUSE of BULLDOG

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2016
1,443
62
Florida
Country
usa
Bulldog(s) Names
King Ollie
Castor is extremely well trained and will obey any command. No, kidding, he won't. As a pup we thought he was pretty well trained but as years have gone by, his hearing has become selective and these days he usually doesn't come if we call, for instance. On the other hand, he doesn't do anything he's not supposed to either, so he's easy to deal with. I'm no expert, but my advice is train your pup as much as you can while she's young and also make sure you create a strong bond so that she is easy to deal with when she gets bigger and older. Bulldogs have a strong will and that is what makes them great companions.
So basically youā€™re saying that heā€™s become a husband?ā€¦
 

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