New English Bulldog Owner in Madison, Wisconsin

[rileycat1971]

Hi everyone! I'm glad I found this group. I am a new English Bulldog owner. In July we adopted our dog, Boomer, from Shelter from the Storm, a rescue here in Madison, Wisconsin. He was found wandering the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on a hot day in July. Our vet thinks he is about 5 years old. My husband got him for *his* kids (blended family) after *their* dog died. Well, the kids want little to do with him because he snorts, snores, eats his own poop, is aggressive (he bit a 3 inch hole in the deliver driver's pants this morning), and has major anxiety and abandonment issues. So, I'm the Dog Mom who works from home and deals with Boomer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in addition to two smaller dogs -- one of the two dogs loves Boomer and the other one despises him.

I am seeking knowledge, advice, and relief from others who have walked this path before me!

Here's a pick of Boomer.

 

[2BullyMama]

Welcome to EBN!! Boomer is a handsome boy!

Try using Nothing In Life is free to help get him inline, he has to work for every thing and will teach him that the humans are his boss


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[rileycat1971]

Try using Nothing In Life is free to help get him inline, he has to work for every thing and will teach him that the humans are his boss

Thank you for the welcome. Is Nothing In Life Is Free a book, a website resource, something other?

Thanks!

 

[cefe13]

Castor says hi to Boomer! You can read about the Nothing in Life is Free technique here on the forum in the section on training and behavioural

 

[Davidh]

Welcome to the site and bless you for taking him in, he is a beauty. The training will help him, and he will settle in before long.

 

[ddnene]

to EBN... and Thank You for giving Boomer a chance. SO many rescues just need guidance to go from being a stray to a family pet...

 

[oscarmayer]

...is aggressive (he bit a 3 inch hole in the deliver driver's pants this morning), and has major anxiety and abandonment issues...and the other one despises him.

The above quoted points are very concerning...the poop eating, snorting and snoring not so much.
The aggression and separation anxiety should have been evaluated by Shelter from the Storm and disclosed to you before adoption. At 5 years old, I would find it very unlikely that you will be able to modify his behavior to the point of not having to manage(in whole or in part and for the rest of his life) all of your concerns/his issues. I encourage you to try any and all of the suggestions you've received here and I hope they work. However, if you feel like you have not gained ground in a reasonable amount of time then your next call should be to Shelter from the Storm. They may be able to offer assistance. It may be that they missed the mark and placed this rescue in the wrong home. That's not your fault. It's their responsibility to find a suitable home for any given animal and proper temperament evaluation is critical to that choice.
Having already attempted to bite someone(during this honeymoon period) is most concerning. I'm thinking it was luck that it was pants only...no biting dog is going for pants only. That bite could have easily involved flesh, blood, surgery, animal control, lawsuit, etc. As things are at present, the liability/risk of having him in your home is substantial. Until he is settled he will require constant management by you, others.
Questions...
how old are the kids in the home?
Did the rescue mention previous aggression or biting incidents?
Did they do a home visit?
Was the rescue aware of the other dogs?
Did they do a neutral-ground introduction with the other dogs in the home?

I hate to say this but...
In order for a placement to have the best chance of success, all parties in the home(pets and people) must be on board with the adoption. Changing the family dynamic to accommodate a rescue is ill-advised and a recipe for failure.
I sincerely hope you can get things stabilized and it all works out. Please post your progress.

 

[rileycat1971]

Our children are 13, 14, and 18. The 20 year old moved out in June.

There was no mention of aggression or previous biting incidents because nothing was known about this dog. It was a stray on the street. We are certain he was someone's pet. He is housebroken, knows sit, certainly knows how to beg for food in the kitchen.

Shelter from the Storm did not do a home visit. We were approved adopters for many months before meeting Boomer, and the rescue knew we had two other dogs. We met him at the shelter and took our two other dogs with us there for a neutral ground introduction. Boomer was docile there and he was docile for at least the first month he lived in our home. The longer he lives here, the more bossy he has become. The bite yesterday scared the hell out of me.



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[oscarmayer]

The age of the kids is no longer concerning to me. Younger children would be. They are old enough to know and look for signs of trouble. Given that one of your dogs does not like him...in the event of an altercation please make sure that kids know not to reach between 2 dogs with their hands. All of the kids are old enough to follow your direction in how to deal with Boomer. All people in the home(and visitors) must be on the same page for behavior modification to be successful.
Your new boy is taking the Alpha position in the home. You must take it away from him. The Nothing in Life is Free is a great start. He needs to earn his privileges.
I feel that the loss of bite inhibition will be your greatest hurdle. Do you know the exact circumstances leading up to the delivery-guy bite?
BTW, the "honeymoon period" is long gone. "July" did not register for some reason.

 

[rileycat1971]

The age of the kids is no longer concerning to me. Younger children would be. They are old enough to know and look for signs of trouble. Given that one of your dogs does not like him...in the event of an altercation please make sure that kids know not to reach between 2 dogs with their hands. All of the kids are old enough to follow your direction in how to deal with Boomer. All people in the home(and visitors) must be on the same page for behavior modification to be successful.
Your new boy is taking the Alpha position in the home. You must take it away from him. The Nothing in Life is Free is a great start. He needs to earn his privileges.
I feel that the loss of bite inhibition will be your greatest hurdle. Do you know the exact circumstances leading up to the delivery-guy bite?
BTW, the "honeymoon period" is long gone. "July" did not register for some reason.

All of us know to not get between the dogs. We have found using squirt bottles to be very effective in altering all of the dogs' behavior when they act up. Boomer especially hates it. Just point the bottle at him and he backs down. I used the squirt bottle yesterday to get him off of the delivery driver yesterday.

I work from home. My office is right by our front window overlooking our front sidewalk. The driver came to the door and rang the bell. I have a storm door on my front door. I can pull down the window on the top half of the door. I opened the front door and had the storm door closed. I told him to NOT OPEN THE DOOR as all 3 dogs were going nuts with barking. When I reached up to pull down the top window, the driver opened the $&#+@^$& door ... that's when Boomer launched out at him. I did not realize it at the time (the driver is a friend so my husband called him after the incident to ensure he was OK), but the driver reached down to grab Boomer's collar thinking that he would run into the street. Instead, Boomer bit into his jeans, thigh level, about 6 inches below where it would have really done some awful male damage. and tore his pants. The driver said he was totally at fault because he heard me say to not open the door and he did it anyway, and that he should not have reached down for the dog's collar. I knew to not put my hand where Boomer was biting so I ran to the kitchen and got the squirt bottle. It took a couple of squirts before Boomer realized that Mom was going after him with the dreaded squirt bottle. I got him into the house right away after that.

 

[rileycat1971]

I forgot to mention that my husband and I decided that from now on the storm door will be locked. The kids come through the garage, no one from our family uses the front door unless they are leaving the house. That will keep anyone from opening the front door before we have a chance to leash the dogs or put them in the laundry room before allowing people into our house.

 

[oscarmayer]

All of us know to not get between the dogs. We have found using squirt bottles to be very effective in altering all of the dogs' behavior when they act up. Boomer especially hates it. Just point the bottle at him and he backs down. I used the squirt bottle yesterday to get him off of the delivery driver yesterday.

I work from home. My office is right by our front window overlooking our front sidewalk. The driver came to the door and rang the bell. I have a storm door on my front door. I can pull down the window on the top half of the door. I opened the front door and had the storm door closed. I told him to NOT OPEN THE DOOR as all 3 dogs were going nuts with barking. When I reached up to pull down the top window, the driver opened the $&#+@^$& door ... that's when Boomer launched out at him. I did not realize it at the time (the driver is a friend so my husband called him after the incident to ensure he was OK), but the driver reached down to grab Boomer's collar thinking that he would run into the street. Instead, Boomer bit into his jeans, thigh level, about 6 inches below where it would have really done some awful male damage. and tore his pants. The driver said he was totally at fault because he heard me say to not open the door and he did it anyway, and that he should not have reached down for the dog's collar. I knew to not put my hand where Boomer was biting so I ran to the kitchen and got the squirt bottle. It took a couple of squirts before Boomer realized that Mom was going after him with the dreaded squirt bottle. I got him into the house right away after that.

Now knowing all of this and how it came to be...and the effort you have put forth so far I'd say you're doing about all you can. Start from scratch using The Nothing in Life is Free and get everyone involved trained and following your lead.