english bulldog agression

**ngallegos** · 02-01-2010, 01:29 PM

Hello, my name is Natalia and i own an English bulldog, his name its DUDE...he just turned one this past december so to me he still a pup...anyhow...Dude has been showing really bad agression towards people for the past six months, some people said its because i became pregnant and hes trying to either protect me or hes jeolous IDK what the reason might be... but it breaks my heart to know that ppl is afraid of him, he wasnt like that before at all, he was calm and really friendly, he even had this other dog as best friend they used to play all the time and spent most of the day together while i was at work( the other dog lives in the same house as dude different apparments) .

Dude's first attack was to my sister inlaw idk what happened cause i wasnt araound but she said he was jumping on her n she was telling him to calm down so he went for the bite on her arm, my mother came to the rescue and ended up being more hurt then anyone else they both got stiches and dude was put away on a quarentine for like 15 days, i figured it was because he wasnt nutered but the day of the surgery he n this other dog were at the vet and they were going at eachother so the nurse try to help and also bit her on the finger no stiches tho....after the surgery he came down a lil bit we were trying to take for more walks try to make him as tired as posible and decided o take him to doggie day care, that didnt work well at all, he try to go to the instructor but didnt hurt him, he also has some problems with loud noises everytinme the vacum, blender, fire alarm, the wistle form the water pot come son he goes insane and try to attack whoever is around including me and my fiance....thank god my fiance has been around all these times cause otherwise he would be on top of me....we got this trainer and she came over the house and we showed her about the noises and she tried used to coins in a lil bag that didnt work out at all, he got really mad and tried to get at me but my fiance stoped him so she said he needs to be on medication cause he has some seriuos issues nad she couldnt help us at this time....i feel like i ran out of options some ppl i work with want to take him with them but i feel like i dont want to pass the problem to anyone else until i know hes fine but also i dont want to out my baby at risk at the same time i dont want to get ride of him, so my last thing i am having a dog behaviorost cmoming over this week so until then...any help??????

**Karen** · 02-01-2010, 01:37 PM

I am confused, is he neutered?

But how do you react when he is being bad? Have you done any obedience training with him? He's not a bad dog, but he is an adolescent, and testing his limits. You need to very careful and keep him on a leash and with you at all times for now, especially if anyone is visiting.

I am glad a behavioralist is coming, let us know what he or she says. And does this person have references you can check?

**ngallegos** · 02-01-2010, 01:42 PM

yes he is nutered, and yes we did obidence trainning with him, i mean he listen to us, but hes like a different dog when the noises go on...like yesterday we were boiling the water the wistle went on n he was going crazy...;( i guess yeah w e have see what the behaviorist have to say...

**Karen** · 02-01-2010, 02:04 PM

So you need to watch how you react when he "goes crazy. If you scold him, he may see that as you joining in, and positive reinforcement. You need to get him to switch his focus back to you when a noise is happening, make him do "sit," "down," etc., and reward him with praise, so he gets the idea that the noise doesn't bother you, and his being good makes you happy. I am sure the behaviorist will give you concrete help. Like I said, he's like a teenager, acting out, and with some help, he can again become the calmer dog you once knew.

**Canis-Lupess** · 02-03-2010, 06:47 PM

It's an idea to have him thoroughly checked by your vets for any possible medical problems which could be causing his aggression before embalking on any rehabilitation programme. It's not unknown for some dogs to be found to have a chemical imbalance in the brain or other issues and medication has helped immensely. There might be nothing wrong but it's best to rule that out as wasting loads of time and money training when the problem is medical is not a good idea for anyone.

When it comes to noises, the best thing would be to gradually desensitize him to various sounds. Starting off with him further away so that they aren't as loud and gradually moving closer with lots of positive reinforcement without taking him over his threshold. Here is a link to a youtube channel containing videos made by it's creator about how to train dogs in various things. There's a few vids on barking and reacting to things like noises etc...Emily uses clicker training and it's all positive reinforcement.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=kikopup#g/u

If aggression is not caused by a medical problem, it generally stems from fear or anxiety of something and is learned as a means of the dog coping with or preventing situations it does not like.

**Canis-Lupess** · 02-03-2010, 07:01 PM

Check out this video too about counter conditioning. After seeing this, I decided to try it on my wren who also doesn't like being blown on although she doesn't react like the dog in this vid....it really does work though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI13v...layer_embedded

Obviously, this approach can be used in lots of things...not just being blown on...it is simply one example.