[gingerlee]

im new to this forum, my wife has been getting advice about our puppy arlo, who is now completly healthy,and to the point active. i read on here to discourage such behaviors as tug of war and growling, we also have a 1 1/2 year old schnauser mix, who is INCREDIBLY ACTIVE. they play quite a bit and arlo gets really into it growling bouncing and is quite assertive trying to be dominant already (7weeks), tug of war with a rope toy being one of their favriote activities. it does not appear to be agression he initiates the play. but is this something i should nip in the but. the two seem to have bonded they interact well and there are no other signs of agression. should i be concerned with agression as he gets older and is there anything i can do to control it now.

 

[PeterC]

pups will be pups. They growl when playing and bite. That is what they do. Relax. Enjoy the pup.

 

[Josie's Proud Mom]

pups will be pups. They growl when playing and bite. That is what they do. Relax. Enjoy the pup.

Can't agree more! you'll know when it is not playing or getting a little too agressive. Let them play and enjoy! Buy the way they're both beautiful babies!

 

[coco]

My 2 play tug of war all the time. They both make growing sounds when they are playing, but they are just playing!! I have heard the same things about tug of war not being a good game for pups to play, but mine seem to enjoy it so much!!! We laugh at them playing for hours!! My AB is 4 months and soooooo clumsy!! It is hysterical!!

You pup is adorable!!!

 

[ZeldasMom]

I was told yesterday that we should ignore our 10 week old AB because our 1 year old AB should come first so that she knows that she is the dominant dog. I feel horrible when our little one is staring at us with those eyes and I can't play with him just because our 1 year old is in the room. Our puppy is already showing signs of wanting to be dominant. He snarls and attacks our 1 year old. It's not playing either. Does this make sense to ignore our puppy? I feel so bad, and that he's only a puppy once so we should enjoy him now.

 

[coco]

I know it has to be hard to ignore the puppy (their just too cute). I am not sure about ignoring him, but I do know that you should always make sure that your 1 yo AB get everything first. When you come in the room pet and play with him/her first, feed her first, give her a treat first, things like that. Just keep working at it and be consistent!! The little one will learn.

 

[PeterC]

feeding it second or first will make little impact when the dogs want to set rank.
if they are both males, you got problems. Separate at all times, if you cannot handle the squirmishes.
ignoring the dog......that does not even make sense.

 

[ZeldasMom]

I'll try! I'm so used to sitting on the floor and playing with Zelda, ever since she was a pup and she turned out great. But again, there wasn't another dog present either. I want to be able to sit on the floor and stroke and cuddle with the new pup. We didn't know to do everything for Zelda first. But we started that last night. The little guy wimpered for awhile and that was hard to hear, but we had to do it. We also didn't seperate them when he would start growling. We let Zelda show her dominant side. He backed down quite a bit and ran away but she is so overbearing that I feel horrible for the little guy because he can't get away. I want to pick him up and take him to another room until they calm down. He didn't growl or attack Zelda as much last night though.

 

[gingerlee]

peter c you say that two male dogs are problems? the only experience i have is raising a litter of black lab pups two of whom remained with my father, very easy to train. however this is the first bully breed and the first terrier breed dog ive ever owned. the terrier/schnauser mix(corey) has absolutly no fear of bigger dogs, in fact he is extremely playful and unrelenting around larger dogs. So being as inexperienced as i am, the point of my question is there anything i can do or watchout for to ensure the two do not become agressive twords each other, . there are no problems yet,corey is very tolerant and gentle with the pup,and when they are not playing they are both very affectionate, (i dont know if it makes a difference buy we brought arlo home at 4 weeks) but i know coreys personality and he does not submiss no matter the size of the dog. at the moment ginger takes arlo to work with her everyday,(kind of the office mascot ).im not even sure at what age we should leave him home alone. we assumed when he can make it out the doggy door. when we do keep him home should we let the two have the run of the house and yard. should we keep them seperate or is that something that depends on how the two are interacting at the time. im kind of getting ahead of myself but id like a little forsight before i leave the two alone for 6-8 hours. Also if you can think of any good reading or websites on temperment and training of abs it would be greatly appriciated.

im trying to learn as much as i can as early as i can
and this forum has been an amasing help
any advice or suggestions are greatly appriciated

 

[ZeldasMom]

PeterC... my 14 month old is a female, and the new 10 week old is a male.

 

[PeterC]

Gingerlee, everydog is different.

I have seen many cases. MANY. Where the owners swear that they NEVER thought the two males would fight. They were brought up together. However, one day, they come home to see one dog dead or barely alive. This is not unusal.

I am not so worried about your smaller dog. However, some lines of AB mature mentally around 2. Until then, they show virtually no social dominance. I have seen their eyes change in one instance. Play to Kill. Many dog trainers call this escalation. Bulldogs and terriers are know for this.

Again, it all depends on the dogs. They may get along great. Just do not give them any reason to compete for anything. Bones, toys, food.

Good luck. You may not have any issues. It is a gamble. i would have gotten a female AB. Life would be more peaceful.

Bulldogs and terriers like to fight. Simple as that. True bulldogs are bred for mental toughness and combat. So do the math.

 

[Bruiser1523]

I think your dogs will be fine. Just keep a eye on them, and any behavior you see that you don't like, correct it. Use your own judgement. My 16 week old AB pup pulls rank on my Yorkshire terrier who is two, and they get along great. I wouldn't trust them out alone, because obliviously my Yorkie is just a popcorn shrimp compared to my AB. It is all in how you teach your dogs.

 

[Tia]

As soon as your Ab gets around 6-8 moths (depending on some) i would SEPERATE THEM. believe me its safer that way. I had 2 girls i thought loved eachother for 2 years!!!! and then one day with no toys around etc.. one barked and the other bite onto her... let me say it ended up not pretty. These are dogs. Abs at that. Terrier blood and Ab can get along but...its rare.just keep an eye out.

 

[ZeldasMom]

As soon as your Ab gets around 6-8 moths (depending on some) i would SEPERATE THEM. believe me its safer that way. I had 2 girls i thought loved eachother for 2 years!!!! and then one day with no toys around etc.. one barked and the other bite onto her... let me say it ended up not pretty. These are dogs. Abs at that. Terrier blood and Ab can get along but...its rare.just keep an eye out.

Tia... are you speaking to Bruiser or me? I have two AB's. Should I seperate them?

 

[Tia]

Anyone who has 2 Abs same sex MUST BE seperated i dont care how good they r now...it will chnage within seconds and not always for the best.I say this to anyone who has 2 Abs same sex. Opposite sexes can still have fights believe me, but same sexes are to the death.

 

[ZeldasMom]

Anyone who has 2 Abs same sex MUST BE seperated i dont care how good they r now...it will chnage within seconds and not always for the best.I say this to anyone who has 2 Abs same sex. Opposite sexes can still have fights believe me, but same sexes are to the death.

Well I have a male and female, so I hope I'm ok. I never leave them alone together when we go out. They stay in their seperate crates in the same room. Hope I'm doing this right.

 

[halo]

Tug O War

I have heared the same about tug o war but i let mine play in the begining I would let them play a bit them tell them to break
I trained them to stop on comand so that I had control incase it got to rough. But they seem to like it and they do drop and break when I tell them too so now i let them play and just watch and enjoy them they even like to share they trade toys back & forth its really cute to watch

 

[J_n_T_Onyx]

Is the dog dominant or is the dog just being a bulldog? I have 2 currently and they flat out just play rough. Never with the intention of hurting one another but I let them be ABs. They are male and female and they are well aware of the pack order in our home. Onyx knows when to back off and Maya knows how far she can take it before Onyx brings it to an end.

I never ever let them wrestle unsupervised however. If they are both out then that means my wife and/or I are with them. Whether in the backyard or the house. We never allow ourselves to forget what they are capable of doing to one another, either of us and any other dog or human we come into contact with.

So if Arlo is growling it could mean absolutely nothing. I have had to stop going to dogparks because when Onyx wrestles he growls and I know when he is getting serious but non-bull owners have no idea. They live by the stereotypes and it is probably the best thing for everyone because you never know.

I do not think any bully breed owner should ever take their dogs for granted. I started keeping the breaking sticks with me. JUST IN CASE!! Praise God I never had to use it but I want to be prepared.

Just my two cents!!

 

[ZeldasMom]

What is a breaking stick?

 

[halo]

beaking stick

It is a stick you use to widge in jaws mouth to open dogs mouth and break the bite grip. Some are wedge shaped so you can slide then in their mouth and break the dogs apart