[Jack]

Ever since the arrival of our new pup - our 9 month old girl has become very aggresive towards anyone or anything outside of the immediate family
I guess she is being extremely marternal and protective - but wow she is starting to worry me
She went into a frenzy when my sister visited the other day - I really thought she was going to attack her
And she was very slow / hesitant to back off despite my commands to do so

How do I train her to back off?

Any help appreciated

Jack

 

[BanterBull]

Was she adopted? Was she abused before you got her or something? It seems like confidence and temperament problems. I would look for a professional bully breed trainer and/or someone to test her temperament and see what they think. It's not something we can really answer on here.

~S

 

[ambulldogpup]

I'm no expert by any means, but could it possibly be jealousy? When you bought your new bully did you know that they are prone to dog aggression more than any other breeds? I really, terribly, hate to say this but you may have to give up one bulyl if things don't brighten up. Possibly calling a professional dog trainer to do some in home dog training with you and your dogs is a good idea, even though it can be pricey.

 

[yungster]

Oooh that's a sticky situation. I wish I had the right advice, but I honestly don't know. I'm sorry though... I hope everything works out somehow. People aggression is very different from dog aggression, and I've never been exposed to it. I'm not sure how I would handle that. Can you afford to have a behaviorist visit your home and evaluate your dog?

 

[PeterC]

does your sister visit often? Is she a stranger to the female? Please explain a bit more detail, your present living conditions and when EXACTLY she is aggressive. I do not think she is dog or human aggressive. She is just protecting her pact. That is a good thing.

Just teach her the new person is friendly. Is she like this with ANY member of your home? Is she like this with kids? New or her own family kids.

There could be so much going on here.

 

[Jack]

shes been a real sweety most of the time
she lives fine with our other pets - male Golden Retreiver and a Himalayan cat
is cuddly and stuff with us and the kids
i am sure the new puppy has brought out her maternal instincts as well as a few jealosy pangs as well
she has always been a very fanatical watchdog
i am sure the sister incident was just her being protective of us and the puppy
but obvisously i want her to back off immediately when i tell her to
plus we have a few other issues - she recently growled at my wife when she told her to vacate the lounge - probably beacause that was the lounge where the pup spends a lot of time sleeping - i am presuming my wife needs to establish dominance over her
(and this shouldnt be too hard - cos she certainly has no trouble establishing dominace over me :roll: )
so hopefully nothing too dramatic going on
there are a few local dog trainers advertising - so i will phone em later and see how much they charge - a few training pointers wouldnt hurt - specially since we got two of these beasts now :lol:

 

[BanterBull]

shes been a real sweety most of the time
she lives fine with our other pets - male Golden Retreiver and a Himalayan cat
is cuddly and stuff with us and the kids
i am sure the new puppy has brought out her maternal instincts as well as a few jealosy pangs as well
she has always been a very fanatical watchdog
i am sure the sister incident was just her being protective of us and the puppy
but obvisously i want her to back off immediately when i tell her to
plus we have a few other issues - she recently growled at my wife when she told her to vacate the lounge - probably beacause that was the lounge where the pup spends a lot of time sleeping - i am presuming my wife needs to establish dominance over her
(and this shouldnt be too hard - cos she certainly has no trouble establishing dominace over me :roll: )
so hopefully nothing too dramatic going on
there are a few local dog trainers advertising - so i will phone em later and see how much they charge - a few training pointers wouldnt hurt - specially since we got two of these beasts now :lol:

Oh, shoot! Sorry, disregard my first post. I read it wrong...as the 9 month old WAS the new puppy... But, you still have some work ahead of you. And, still consulting an experienced bully trainer wouldn't be a bad idea. Yeah, she needs to realize you and your wife are dominant over her and she CAN'T test that. Other than that, just listen to whatever PeteC has to say, I'm sure he'll give you some good advice.

~S

 

[PeterC]

Sounds like a simple problem of a dog testing its position in the pack. Virtually every dog will do this. Be glad your dog is not a Czec shepard. LOL. God love em. :lol:

Anyways, my suggestion is DEFINITLY go to a training session with a guy who specializes in aggressive dog behavior.

Next. The most important thing.............repetition and consistancy. Very important.

Bulldogs are creatures of habit and consistancy. Even the most BRUTAL bulldogs can be trained this way. I have seen it!

Make it sit for his food. Do OB exercise with food every 2 hours or so. This could be a mini session of only 2 minutes. TELL it what to do and give it a treat. To a human, this just means I give you treats. To a dog's mind, it means I control your life. I have the food. I contol your happiness. I am above you in the pack. YOu comply with my request.

Many aggression issues with the owner, almost all of it with non working bloodlines of dogs, can be resolved by doing these simple but consistant (and constant) exercises.

One of the dogs I sold as a home invasion dog to a doctor, here in Vancouver, did not do the exercises I TOLD him to do. He did not have the time. Guess what happened. The dog saw no reason to comply to this NEW guy's requests.
This was a brave dog. A big a## teddy bear. Once he realized what he had and a few more weeks of training (NOT THE DOG. THE HUMAN!), he was fantastic.

Try it and tell me how it goes.

Actually, your dog sounds like a good bulldog.

 

[Tara<3Boss]

Wow, I'm no expert, but I've never in my life owned a dog who was human-aggressive. I'm not sure about other bully breeds, but I know that human-aggression is absolutely NOT a characteristic of the APBT and any pit that shows aggression towards people, is not a dog you want to own. Any dog who is showing signs of being aggressive towards people ESPECIALLY it's owner, is potentially very dangerous. Hopefully you watch this dog closely and pay attention to these warning signs. Ignoring and or mis-reading human-aggression can lead to a big problem. Good luck.