Our younger bulldog bullies our older one

[yankydoodle]

Hi folks,

Our younger bulldog is a bit of a bully. She picks fights with our elder one and i have no idea why.
Our elder one now tries to avoid her, and it is really sad. Our younger one is a bigger breed, so i think she thinks because of that, she can dominate the elder one.

Their relationship is getting a bit toxic now.

What can i do to remedy this ?
Please assist

 

[helsonwheels]

Hi folks,

Our younger bulldog is a bit of a bully. She picks fights with our elder one and i have no idea why.
Our elder one now tries to avoid her, and it is really sad. Our younger one is a bigger breed, so i think she thinks because of that, she can dominate the elder one.

Their relationship is getting a bit toxic now.

What can i do to remedy this ?
Please assist

You need to show who’s alpha which is “you”. She needs to know fights aren’t tolerated. Grab her and with a firm NO...put her in her kennel or area for time out. Not 2,3 mins but a good 15mins without leaving that area. Check eye contacts or body language “before” a fight starts.

 

[Cbrugs]

Yes, you need to show who is alpha. However, they are bulldogs aka BULLIES. Sometimes it is what they do but that is why you need to show them who is in charge. My Louie can be a big bully sometimes

 

[Dollys Owner]

2 females in a household can be bad, I had to rehome one of mine since they both wanted to be alpha, and nothing I tried worked including being very alpha. In a worse case scenario keep them in separate parts of the house or rehome the newer one.
[MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION] seems to have multiple female bullies in his house with no fighting, maybe he has some tips

 

[oscarmayer]

...multiple female bullies in his house with no fighting, maybe he has some tips

We've had as many as 5 females at a time...all living quite comfortably with each other. But, that being said, Sandy is ALPHA...and by that I mean No dog dare screw with her. She does it with a VERY loud voice and does not tolerate any sign of getting out of hand. She's quick to recognize the body language and quicker to put potential issues to rest. When she's not around I do what she does. If any dog gets out of hand or acts like they are about to, their name gets SCREAMED out, they go into the kennel and get covered up. There they will stay until we decide it's time.
They will not be allowed on the furniture and do not get any human interaction until we say so. They love the human interaction and you can tell that they miss it. A few rounds of that and the behavior begins to change.

Sounds like your young one is posturing to take over the home and is starting with the weaker Sr member. When Sr. member is no longer around(separated or passed on) this behavior may turn to a human...a child, an adult, a friend, neighbor, whoever. Position yourself to take lead right away before this becomes something unmanageable. You will likely have to be very forceful.
It may be unpleasant, but you're not going to stop this with rewards or hugs and kisses.

 

[Dollys Owner]

We've had as many as 5 females at a time...all living quite comfortably with each other. But, that being said, Sandy is ALPHA...and by that I mean No dog dare screw with her. She does it with a VERY loud voice and does not tolerate any sign of getting out of hand. She's quick to recognize the body language and quicker to put potential issues to rest. When she's not around I do what she does. If any dog gets out of hand or acts like they are about to, their name gets SCREAMED out, they go into the kennel and get covered up. There they will stay until we decide it's time.
They will not be allowed on the furniture and do not get any human interaction until we say so. They love the human interaction and you can tell that they miss it. A few rounds of that and the behavior begins to change.

Sounds like your young one is posturing to take over the home and is starting with the weaker Sr member. When Sr. member is no longer around(separated or passed on) this behavior may turn to a human...a child, an adult, a friend, neighbor, whoever. Position yourself to take lead right away before this becomes something unmanageable. You will likely have to be very forceful.
It may be unpleasant, but you're not going to stop this with rewards or hugs and kisses.

All great points! I thought you never allow any of your bulldogs on the furniture so as to keep alpha level high??? Or do you allow them when they're behaving?

 

[oscarmayer]

All great points! I thought you never allow any of your bulldogs on the furniture so as to keep alpha level high??? Or do you allow them when they're behaving?

We never allow RESCUES on the furniture. Ashamed to say this, but our personal Bulldogs spend more time on my Ethan Allen Leather furniture than WE do. It is our duty to prepare a rescue dog to be re-homed to the best of our ability. Many potential adopters do not want and animals on furniture, so we do not allow them on ours. This also helps establish our in-house pecking order. Our guys have privileges that they do not. Rescues see our guys on the furniture and always test us. Test, test, test...we always have the correct answer. "Get out of that chair!" It only takes a day or so for them to "get it".
If an adopting family wants to allow them on furniture that's their call. The same applies to kenneling...we prepare them by kennel training. It's up to the new family to follow through with it...some do, some don't.

With Sandy in charge, the Alpha level is Exospheric...
really high

you have a good memory, btw.

 

[2BullyMama]

great advice..... agreed you have o establish alpha -- using 'nothing in life is free' technique is very easy but ALL in the home have to be on the same page and use the same commands for consistency. dogs are about structure and schedule.