[ZeldasMom]

I almost had a nervous breakdown the other night. We have had our one year old AB since April of last year, so we've had her just under a year. She has been the best dog I have ever owned. We decided to get another AB. When I was at the vet last week in walked a guy with a 10 week old male AB. I was floored because he was surrendering it. He said he was too aggressive and was growling and biting at everything. Well I decided to take him because he wasn't acting like this guy was saying. We took our female one year old up to meet him a couple times before bringing him home. They got along great. When we got Zorro home this Friday, wow, all H*** broke loose. Zelda (our girl) will not leave him alone. She follows him everywhere trying to play. She's 90lbs and doesn't know her own weight. She mouths him but never bites him. But I'm sure it's pretty scary to this little guy. However, he bites us, bites Zelda, and is trying to tear up everything. I figure its just a puppy being a puppy. But I'm really starting to get worried because he is fine when he's playing by himself, but the minute Zelda comes over he jumps up and gets on his hind legs and starts this horrible growling and starts biting. He's drawn blood a couple times already. Zelda I believe thinks he's playing because she just rolls on top of him or tries to put all his weight on her to hold her down. I'm at a loss because I don't want Zelda to get hurt or think that we don't care about her anymore because here it was perfect and now we bring this other dog in here and he's so mean to her. I'm also scared that this little guy is going to continue to be aggressive with us and Zelda. We're working with him on his food and water aggression and it seems to be working. He is toy aggressive when it comes to Zelda. He wants what she has and will go over and start biting her and growling to get it. However, if we try to correct him for snarling and biting Zelda, he turns on us and does the same thing. I am really reaching out to all of you expeirienced AB owners. Is this going to be a serious problem? Is Zelda going to get hurt by this other dog? I'm not one who will ever put a dog down or just turn them in. I believe in working with them, but I'm scared. Please help me. I've spent the past two nights crying myself to sleep over this.

 

[Care]

You need to take your dog to a professional. Try and make sure whoever you go to has experience with Bully breeds, and if possible good word of mouth recomendations. People can give you advice, but nobody can tell how your dog is really acting without seeing it first hand.

One thing I can say is, when you correct your dog and he starts to growl and bite you, you need to let him know this is unacceptable. You are the alpha! Remember that, and make him realize this. It may just be puppy play, but it sounds more to me. Then again like I said nobody can really tell you anything online. You can get tips, but that's about it.

Let us know how it turns out. Good luck.

 

[PeterC]

sounds like a cooooooooool dog!

Personally, I like my dogs dominant as hell. However, once the dog knows his role in the pack, a properly bred AB will settle down and be submissive with the owner and BRUTAL TO STRANGERS.

Sometimes you just have a dog that is too much for you.

Sometimes too much is too much. DON'T PUT DOWN THIS DOG.

Sounds like a nice dog, actually. :lol: I don't like the growling but I do like it if he is in play mode and he growls, as long as he does not have hackles up and showing teeth.

If he is just a dominant SOB, that can be worked with. Actually, that is a gold mine. LOL.

Bloodlines please? Who bred it?

Find an owner who knows bulldogs. Hell, let me look at the boy.

If it is just dog aggression, that is easily solved by a trainer. If it is just sheer dominance, that is not for a pet owner. There are degrees. Obviously, you are not in the hospital so he is not that bad.

If you know what you are doing, many of these dogs make the most LOYAL dogs. Just make sure you are reading your dog well.

You have my curiocity.

 

[ALPHAMALE]

wow sounds like you got VEGAS over there :lol: he's all over Stella same way well dosent draw blood i never let it get that far with out getting in his face but he's a hand full I LUV IT but thats just me i dont like the growing so mutch but never gets the hair up on his neck but he dose get into it quite a bit but soon as i interup he CHILLS right out i then put him into a submissif possition under Stella for 4- 5 sec and then let then carrie on this chills his domance isuse for hour or so ! Stella is a verry layed back A/B but Vegas hes all bully ! AND HE'S ALL MINE ! :wink:

 

[coco]

Well this is just my personal experience, but I have a male boxer that is almost 2 years old and a male AB that is about 16 weeks old. They play very good together. My AB ,Zack, bites at my boxer ,Beaux's, legs and stuff all of the time. Luckily Beaux is submissive, dog friendly and gentle!! I had a lot of people tell me lots of bad thing about owning 2 bully breeds, however I have found with training everything has worked out thus far. Zack is learning his role in the pack and getting better everyday!! Although I have also noticed that the older Zack gets the rougher the play gets. Zack has learned to tell when Beaux has had enough, and will just go lay down. I was told thing could be fine until Zack was about 2 years old, but we are hopefully that things will not change. They love each other!! They take naps together everyday. You will not find one without the other not far behind. If you really like this new pup, I don't think I would give up on him just yet. Good luck, hope everything works out.

I have read a lot of useful information on this site:

http://www.leerburg.com

I have also ordered some of his training videos and really like them. Check it out. It has a lot of good reads on raising a dominant/aggressive dog.

 

[Tia]

I always seperate my dogs to be safe

 

[ALPHAMALE]

I always seperate my dogs to be safe

so your dogs never! interact with each other !

 

[ZeldasMom]

Thank you all for your advice. Today I noticed that Zelda (the older one) is backing down on the playing. She still likes to play, but not as interested as before. Until they get outside and then Zelda goes crazy. However, when we are inside, I noticed that she is always on our 10 week olds side. It's like Zelda hovers over Zorro. Zelda is always wagging her tail, but it's like she's miserable now. I know it sounds stupid but it's like she is jealous. Does that happen in the dog world? I would never want Zelda to think that she isn't important anymore. I'm stupid aren't I? I'm very sensitive when it comes to her since she's been through so much with us.

Zorro is still growling, snarling, and showing his teeth when it comes to Zelda. But it's a little hard to tell if his hackles are raised because he has so much fat on him. We try and stop that immediately. I don't know if we're doing it right, but when he gets really aggressive like that toward Zelda, we put him in a submissive state and firmly tell him NO. But he goes right back to it. I am not going to give up on this dog. He's only 10 weeks so I am hoping that he can turn around and be just as sweet as Zelda is.

PETERC, you asked what type and breeder I got him from. I have no clue. I saved him from the vets office. I was told by the guys friends who was surrendering him, that he was a purebred AB and the papers would be in shortly. I can post a picture if you'd like. You all could tell me what you think.

How much do you think training would cost to fix the aggression? If that's what it is.

 

[Tia]

I allow Male and Female supervised to be together (when not inheat) they play together but they do have breaks apart as well. Never same teo sexes together EVER. Soemtimes i do have opposite sexes that have their moods and want to be alone soemtimes as well

 

[Jack]

Hmmmmm similar situation to ours
we have a new AB puppy - but a bitch
for the first few weeks she really went at our 10 month old AB bitch - growling and relentless biting
i couldnt believe the older girl didnt put her in her place - she was covered in bites
but fortunately she is finally starting to slam the little girl when the need arises and they are so close they are inseparable

she didnt however growl at us - just the usual puppy biting - which she grew out of quickly
if it was me and he was growling at me - i would be giving him a firm smack to the rear and a big noooooooo!

 

[RED]

Hmmmmm similar situation to ours
we have a new AB puppy - but a bitch
for the first few weeks she really went at our 10 month old AB bitch - growling and relentless biting
i couldnt believe the older girl didnt put her in her place - she was covered in bites
but fortunately she is finally starting to slam the little girl when the need arises and they are so close they are inseparable

she didnt however growl at us - just the usual puppy biting - which she grew out of quickly
if it was me and he was growling at me - i would be giving him a firm smack to the rear and a big noooooooo!

Our situation is very simalr to yours. My male is 4 1/2 months and my female is 1 and they have been at it non stop since we brought Torco home. They really battle it out, it is rare to see Torco back down from her, and she is not cutting him any slack. They both spend equal amount of time on their backs. When he gets older its going to be intresting to see what happens between the two. They are in seperate crate's when we are not home. Their hackles have never come up on either dog while playing either. :?

 

[Bruiser1523]

My wife and I have a teacup yorkie that is two years old, she is only 3.5 lbs. I got a AB pup for Christmas, and from the start I thought man this dog is aggressive. She had our Yorkie covered with puppy bite marks. She is now 15 weeks old, and is still rough, but is not as bad. Through reading, and constant research I found some very helpful tips. Daisy my AB is naturally going to be the alpha dog of the house, she was bigger than our Yorkie from the first day we got her. What I do is pay more attention to my AB. As bad as this may sound I always pet, feed, water, and let her outside before my Yorkie. This lets her no that she is the pack leader to the animals, and doesn't confuse her, which means less lashing out. But, I also let her know that my family and I are her pack leaders. She is very submissive to me, which I like, but very cautious of other people and dogs. It is just the breed, some are laid back, and some are not. With all that said I wouldn't get rid of my dogs for a million bucks. Work with your pup, she will come around.

 

[cfhoftampa]

Your problem was alot like mine was too. I had 10 month old AB female and brought home a 9 week old male Pit bull...when we first got home Scarlet would not leave him alone. SHe was constantly pushing and mouthing him...he could not go 5 steps with out her being on top of him. Scarlet was so happy to see another dog it was play play play to her. She seemed super excited all the time. When she would come up to him he would give her the glare eye (as I call it) and stare her down....thats how I knew it was time to calm down. He would growl at her and constanlty bite her flappy cheeks...she had scabs and scratches for about 2 months on her face. We just worked with them every day and constantly corrected for the biting. We started to realize his way of attitude and the warning signs and would stop things before they started...the main warning sign was the "stare down" ...he would eyeball her from accross the room. Also Scarlet we would constantly correct for plowing him over...a main part was keeping her calm because if she was calm he was too. Once they get used to each other it will get better...the "excitement" of the new dog will be over and their place in the "pack" will come out...You just have to watch them 24/7 and not let them out of your site...see a trainer (like everyone else said) that is experienced in bully breeds and dominant behavior...the main fix to the problem will be you ....and learning your own dogs behavior...The dog you already have is 1/2 of the problem. Both of them will need training...just keep on top of things and watch them like a hawk! It may take time...It took us about 4 months...dont be discouraged!

 

[ZeldasMom]

Thank you so much for all your comments. I've attached a link with Zorro's pictures. Their not the best quality because I had my settings wrong on my camera.

I'm really hoping that we can get Zorro out of this behavior fast. Zelda hasn't been as pushy when it comes to playing with Zorro. I don't know if she's getting bored or what. Last night was the first time she went in the room and laid down by herself. However, she seems like she's stressing. When Zorro is in his crate at night, the slightest noise he makes wakes Zelda up and she rushes over to the crate to check out what's going on and then sits by it until we tell her to come back to bed. What is that all about?

A coworker here told me I need to go to the Cesar Milan seminar.

 

[ZeldasMom]

Opps, noticed I didn't attached the link:

http://photobucket.com/albums/a14/QueenZelda/

 

[Jack]

When Zorro is in his crate at night, the slightest noise he makes wakes Zelda up and she rushes over to the crate to check out what's going on and then sits by it until we tell her to come back to bed. What is that all about?

I would guess this is Zelda being maternal and worrying about the little guy
and possibly a bit of jealosy thrown in

Our big girl is so maternal with our new pup - I was bouncing on one of those mini trampoline things - the pup came up and got on with me - next thing our older girl comes rushing in and drags the pup away by the ear - as if saving her from some great danger - so funny :lol:

 

[RED]

Chassis has no mother instincts. She would rather kick Torco around the back yard than to protect him.

 

[ZeldasMom]

I have to admit... I don't think Zelda has maternal instincts either. She'd rather throw her weight around and fall on top of him before helping him. She mouths on him, but never aggressively. But as far as being maternal, I could only hope you're right.