Training a First Bully - Barrage of ?'s

[HeyBulldog]

OK - we got our first Bully Murray about 5 weeks ago, he is almost 14 weeks old. Being as this is our first Bulldog some simple questions I am sure have been answered before:

1. We leave him alone during the week for about 4 hours at a time. He is generally good - I see he sleeps most of the time on the puppy cam - but he will shred his puppy pad I leave there with him. I have the puppy divider in, so he only has room to lay and turn around, but that thing will be in pieces when I get home. he dosent eat any - just chews it up. Is it OK to leave in his crate or should I be worried he will start eating it and leave it out?

2. He LOVES pooping in his crate. I have the training pads downstairs in the kitchen and after he eats and before bed I have literally stood there for an hour trying to get him to go out - he wont, but the SECOND I put him in the crate - bombs away! Whats with that?!

3. He nips... fairly often. I stay firm with him and he has gotten better - but at what age is it no longer 'appropriate'? Hes gotten me a few times pretty good. in the face too! but we roughhouse and wrestle, so its not all his fault

4. He hates his harness. When I put it on him in the house he just stands there and stares daggers at me - pretty much refuses to move until it comes off... is that common? any tips on that? I want to start getting him to go on walks with me soon!'

OK - I'm tired and lost a patience battle with him so im going to bed. Thanks for listening to me vent! I truly feel only Bulldog owners will get this: but I love to be frustrated by him. Wouldn't trade it in for the world!

 

[Tooleysmom]

So happy to hear in your message the love you have for Murray. That is the most important ingredient for a well adjusted Bully. After that comes calm assertive and consistent training. I am no expert but some of the things you mention are not unusual. I have Miss Tallulah who is now just over a year and baby Buster who is 14 weeks. Personally I think 4 hours may be a bit long right now. The usual rule of thumb I have been taught is for every month of age you can add an hour. But this is just a generalization.


The divider in the crate is good. Generally puppies will not go where they sleep. But I don't think I understand what you mean by puppy pad? I have a big sheepskin pad in Buster's crate. You might want to provide something safe to chew to keep him occupied until he falls asleep. I put in a kong stuffed with Banana. He sucks at it until he falls asleep.


I am a firm believer in only potty training outside. It is too confusing otherwise. I treat Buster every time he goes potty outside and give tons of excited praise. If he has an accident inside ( he hasn't now for 2 weeks) I quietly clean it up. No treat no praise. I also take him out according to the accepted schedule -after waking, after playing, as soon as he wakes after a sleep, after eating etc. he does not have enough insight into his own signals quite yet. Although yesterday he stood by the door, I took him out and he had a huge pee and poop. So there is some progress.


Bullies respond very well to positive reinforcement training. Lots of literature and videos to look at. Murray has a habit that needs to be broken. It is giving him some sort of reward to poop in his crate so you need to offer a better reward for going outside to poop.


Read lots on bite inhibition. That is what you want to teach Murray. They have evil shark teeth and explore everything with their mouth. With Miss Tallulah I was shredded. With Buster not so much because Tallulah is teaching him bite inhibition by correcting him. So grateful for that. Management is best. Put him away in his crate with a treat to calm or redirect his behaviour. When puppies get anxious or over tired they really amp up the biting. When he gets to be too much you need to slow his energy. When Buster starts to mouth and bite I redirect by placing a chew toy in his mouth. Consistency is key.


Tallulah still does not like her harness . When I put it on I jackpot treat her so she lets me get it on without a fuss. She looks so depressed until we get outside and then she forgets about it because there are lots of interesting things to see and smell. With Buster i tried something different. i slowly introduced the harness with tiny treats of kibble and eventually placed it on him without doing it up and and he is now always associating the harness with yummy treats. So far he does not seem to mind it. I am trying to be more patient with him than i was with Miss T. Live and learn.


When T and i went out for walks at the beginning I used very high value treats ( dried liver her absolute favourite) and a random schedule of reinforcement. Not now - but I used to give her a tiny treat every minutes or so. Now just a couple of times on our walk. She loose leash walks and our walks are a wonderful bonding time and a real pleasure. I took a course on walking your dog when she was a pup and this is what i learned . it was invaluable.


Apologies for being so long winded and I know there will be others who have even more wisdom, insight and experience to help you through this wonderful, frustrating, magical time called puppyhood. Would not trade it for anything! Good luck and happy training!!!

 

[christyjulene]

Nice job Tooley'smom I think you got it covered!

 

[Leatherneck]

I appreciate reading these posts. My guys are about 15 months and not trained. I am talking with a trainer now and hope to start this weekend. My guys are pretty good at waiting till out doors to mess, Vince has never had an accident in the house, however Gomer has had 3 when he had a bladder infection. They say I dont wont mess where he sleeps, Gomer finished eating and all of a sudden I heard what sounded like water being poured in a bucket, and when I looked Gomer was proudly peeing in his food bowl. But hasnt happened since he rid the infection. I take them out after easting, when they wake up from their naps, and after they have played in the house for 20 - 30 minutes. Sometimes Gomer will walk to the door and look and as soon as I see that we get them outside. I have a bell on the door that I am trying to get them to ring when they need to go out (for potty not play). My guys also shred any bedding I put in the crate so I will try placing it in there again before bed time and fill there Kong with peanut butter and carrots. Maybe they'll tried themselves out eating the goodies and not the bedding

 

[nycbullymama]

Regarding the harness, Blue also hates his. He runs into his crate whenever we reach for it. We've done the treats thing for over a month now and it hasn't worked for us.

What we're trying now is just keeping it on him. He's eating, getting treats, and sleeping in it. He needs to get used to it.

 

[Richard Jones]

Well, first I have to say that I'm am glad I am not alone. Nate has had his share of health problems with dribbling. With ultrasound and CT scan only to find nothing wrong. I am starting to believe that he just doesn't care to hold it!!! He has gotten better, but will literally pee in his bed during the night and sleep in it. He never poops in the house, however, never goes to the door, and we have the bells. I have come to realize that bullies are extremely smart in the areas that they feel are important. If I say to Nate, "Want to go for a bye bye ride" he will literally go one a dead run to our golf cart and jump on it waiting for me to take him for a ride. I tell him "Lets to get Brandon" and he runs to my truck so we can pick up my son from school. It amazes me how smart, but yet so stubborn!!!

 

[Tooleysmom]

Well, first I have to say that I'm am glad I am not alone. Nate has had his share of health problems with dribbling. With ultrasound and CT scan only to find nothing wrong. I am starting to believe that he just doesn't care to hold it!!! He has gotten better, but will literally pee in his bed during the night and sleep in it. He never poops in the house, however, never goes to the door, and we have the bells. I have come to realize that bullies are extremely smart in the areas that they feel are important. If I say to Nate, "Want to go for a bye bye ride" he will literally go one a dead run to our golf cart and jump on it waiting for me to take him for a ride. I tell him "Lets to get Brandon" and he runs to my truck so we can pick up my son from school. It amazes me how smart, but yet so stubborn!!!

Just goes to show. When it is something our Bullies love they learn fast. Not so much if the reward isn't of a high enough value. For baby Buster and Miss T - they LOVE dried liver treats so I save it for the most important things. Also some Bullies -especially male -take a little longer to potty train. The pee thing may be his bladder is still a bit small and he doesn't feel the signals strong enough to wake in the night. This is also true for some little boys. It takes longer. Patience and lots of praise and high value treats when all goes well Seems like the cart is a great high value treat. Maybe you could wake up Nate in the middle of the night to potty and then reward him with a ride on the cart. :D

 

[chikou]

1 &2:I know exactly what are experiencing. My pup came into my life at 12 weeks. I am thankful my breeder help train her to go outside. But it was a struggle at first to get her not to relieve her self in her crate. The best you can do is stay patient add some toys for your pup in the crate and make it a place they want to be in. The puo is still learning and it takes patience. When I first started training my pup to starr a new routine it was hard but eventually she got it. Now when I give her the command of outside she run or walk to the sliding window door either happily or reluctantly. And if she isnt busy sun bathing she would come inside when I call for her. One of the trick is to treat her if she does relieve herseld outside. The positive reinforcement and repetition gets her on the right path. I just got to figure out to get her to come to me when she sun bathing.

3: nipping is part of puppies habits I unfortunately dont know when it will stop. The weird thing is she only nibble n never bite down. I am also trying to teach her to stop this.
4: I made mistake of doing harness before colar imo get het used to your collar command first the harness will be a cinch
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