Bullish Bulldog

[jukejackie]

Goodmorning,
I have a 2yr old female English Bulldog, Annie. We also have a 5 yr old Bichon, Pippin and a 4 yr old Bichon Frodo.

From the beginning, Pippin never really liked the idea of bringing in a new puppy but has tolerated her. Frodo did fine and he and Annie play together at least a couple times a day.

Recently, Pippin and Annie have been "mixing it up" a bit. It was maybe once a week, now it's almost once a day. They have never really hurt each other, I always thought it sounded worse then it was....however this morning Pippin's eye was cut...I was so upset with Annie I tried to flip her on her back but she went down like an oak tree so I rushed to check out Pippin knowing he was bleeding and was terified it was his actual eye. As it turns out, it was the skin above the eye.

Pippin was VERY upset, Frodo was shaking and Annie looked so sorry for what happened. I don't know what to do now.

I feed Pippin and Frodo in the kitchen, sometimes put a broom across the doorway (Annie won't cross anything on the floor!) until they are done eating. Annie is fed in the next room. There is never food left in the dishes, I remove the dish if they don't finish it to make sure there is no fighting.

I did think the food was the issue and sometimes it's my attention they both want, but lately the fights have been random.

Help, I love all my dogs, they all love kids and other dogs. None of them have ever snapped or bit anyone. There must be something we are NOT doing to allow this to continue. Annie is 50lbs to the Bichon's 20 lbs, I worry with her huge jaws she could really do some damage...Any help would be so appreciated.
Jackie

[Giselle]

First tip: never alpha roll a dog. No respectable trainer I know ever endorses alpha rolls. Heck, even Leerburg doesn't endorse alpha rolls and heaven knows they are very much into the whole "dominance theory". If you want to really earn the title of a leader, do NILIF (Nothing in life is free): k9deb.com/nilif.htm

For what it's worth, my dogs have gotten into countless scuffles of this type. It's not a dominance issue with the human. It's an issue amongst the dogs, and it's something they really have to manage and which you have to help guide. Like you already noticed, it was caused by a discrepancy over who could have what - in other words, resources. At the time, it was difficult to tell what my dogs were fighting over, but, in hindsight, I can tell you the three biggies: 1) food and toys 2) attention/affection/petting 3) space (i.e. beds).

Closely examine your house. See how many toys you have lying in the house. See how the dogs share their beds, or if they share at all. See how you give treats. See their sleeping areas. Do they respect each others' spaces or does Annie intrude a lot? Does Annie push to the front when you give treats? Does Annie walk ahead of the others/push them out of the way?

So how do you stop it in the meantime?
Clean up the environment and watch what you do. Enforce NILIF. Begin cooperative feeding and petting (feed/pet Pippin and Frodo while Annie sits off to the side. After Pippin/Frodo receive their shares, give Annie food/pets. Then, alternate between the three. This way, Annie learns to wait and to tolerate sharing resources with the other two. If you have any fears that Annie may attack, leash/muzzle her). Practice your recall. Whenever you see Annie about to go into that aggressive "mode" (i.e. you see her staring or stalking Pipping), IMMEDIATELY recall her. If you touch her, you may set her off. The best way to call off a fight is to recall your dog. So practice that recall!!!

You may notice that I don't give any suggestions as to how to deal with the pups when they're actually fighting. That's because, from this point on, you have to work to prevent them from fighting at all. The more the fighting is allowed to continue, the more the behavior is reinforced. So you have to hit it at the cause and prevent them from fighting in the first place.

[Karen]

Giselle offered some good advice. Annie has the huge advantage in jaw size and strength by nature of her breeding. At least the Bichons hopefully are fluffy enough to mitigate some damage. Yup, some close supervision and work on your part is necessary - but Annie's a 2-year-old - she may be trying to establish herself as higher up in the "pack". Have you done any obedience training with her?

[jukejackie]

Wow, thanks you both Karen and Giselle, what great advice. Some of it I had thought of but didn't really know how to get started. To answer a few questions, I do feed them seperately. There is no toy issue, Annie destroys everything so the only thing lying around are nylabones. She chews all day long and as long as she has those, the rest of the house remains safe. Pippin is not really interested in the bones, he and frodo perfer soft, squeaky toys that I keep upstairs for bedtime and away from Annie.

Annie does push her way around the house, blocking the other's way in and out of the doorway. She is very bullish with them. I don't know how to make it "even"...like who gets to go outside first?? who comes in first?? seems then I am encouraging Pippin to be top dog.

I agree in preventing and fights, that is key. I do have a water bottle and today I followed them around for a couple hours and a few times I saw Annie stalking Pippin and taking her stance with him. I didn't have to squirt her, just set the bottle on the counter and she backed off. I did however notice Pippin circling Annie, egging her on a bit so I did the same with the bottle.

I walk them twice a day and this evening I walked Pippin and Annie in one hand and Frodo by himself, they do fine out for a walk. The other issue you mentioned was the beds. There are 3 beds, Annie will stand over the other 2 dogs until they move from the bed and then she will get in. she has done this, going from bed to bed, until she's been in all of them! So, do we establish 1 particular bed per dog? Pippin and Frodo will lie together, never bothered by the other, so they don't really care which bed they end up in.
I guess I just don't know how much I should intervene on these issues. If the issue is not the particular bed, but rather "claiming" a bed, that I can address, as this usually happens in the morning when I'm around.

This is a wonderful site, I am already so happy I found this resource. I never felt right alpha rolling my dog, guess I watched too much Dog Wisperer!
Jackie

[Giselle]

I suggest picking up the Nylabones. If Annie wants to chew on them, let her chew them *in her crate*. That way, you can close the door so that Pippin and Frodo can't bother her and she won't feel the need to lash out.


Annie does push her way around the house, blocking the other's way in and out of the doorway. She is very bullish with them. I don't know how to make it "even"...like who gets to go outside first?? who comes in first?? seems then I am encouraging Pippin to be top dog.
Rather than just opening the door and letting Annie gallop inside, teach her "Wait". When you open the door, say "Wait" and don't release her from her wait until she gives you eye contact. If Annie is truly dominant, the other dogs won't even come in before she does, so you needn't worry about who comes in first. To dogs, it's really not that big of a deal. Besides, if you teach "Wait", Annie realizes that YOU control the situation and that she should have no reason to aggress. FYI, my dobermutt, Ivy, is the bully. I always make her wait before she can come in. However, because Ivy is truly dominant over my greyhound, my greyhound will wait with Ivy, even though I never taught my greyhound the "wait" command. Alternatively, if you're really concerned about who comes in first, though, teach all the dogs "Wait".
- (If you need tips on how to teach "wait", just let me know)

Regarding the issue of beds, I would suggest leaving an open crate just for Annie. If she's attempting to push the others out of their beds, I would recall her and send her to her crate (not as punishment, just as redirection. You can also give her a treat in the crate so that she won't associate the crate with punishment). My dogs all have their designated spots. Nobody ever really intrudes. I do think they like the clarity of knowing exactly who sleeps where.

Again, practice that recall and do NILIF. Together, these two will build the foundation for a very strong relationship between you and Annie, and you'll become a very effective leader! :)

[jukejackie]

Good Morning,
what is NILIF? I love the idea of making the dogs "wait", how would you go about it? When I am walking them, I make them "wait" before we cross a street and point out the cars, funny thing, the 2 Bichon's seem to understand (not to say they wouldn't run in front of a car) however Annie seems to have no thoughts about it. I think she's alot smarter then I sometimes give her credit for. The best thing about her personality is she makes me "gut" laugh everyday, she is so full of antics!!! If she were in a one-dog household I would have no complaints about her, she is sweet as anything, loving and has a need to be right by your side........problem........so do Pippin and Frodo! lol

none of my dogs have crates. I started with crate training when we got them, each as a puppy. They were released from the crates (to be honest, I didn't have room for 3 crates in the house) when they got potty trained. Annie is very scared of so many things, I don't know if I could get her in a crate, I think she would bolt, no matter how long it sat there with food in it. Perhaps I will look for a crate at Goodwill and see how it goes with her. Would that make her protective of her crate if the other 2 dogs got near it? Sorry for so many questions, I am so afraid I won't be able to control my dogs. thanks again for all your time,
Jackie

[Karen]

NILIF is Nothing In Life Is Free. Do a search for it in this forum and you'll find several threads on it - it's a training method that teaches dogs that you are in charge and helps keep order without squabbling!

[Giselle]

I included the NILIF link in my first post, but I guess the URL didn't quite work. Here it is again: http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

Teaching "Wait": For this example, I'll assume the dogs are outside and you're trying to let them in.
1) Open the door just a little bit. Most likely, the dogs will butt their noses through and try to clamor their way inside
2) Immediately close the door.
3) Open the door just enough to excite them again. If they're clamoring to get in again, close the door. Repeat this enough until the dogs understand that butting through the door means that the door will close on them. At this point, when you open the door just a tiny bit, they'll control themselves and wait.
4) Open the door a little wider. If they try to clamor in again, immediately close the door. Repeat repeat repeat. With enough repetitions, the dogs will control themselves and wait even if you open the door WIDE open. At this point, say "Okay!" and let them inside.

Once the dogs start showing self control, you can include the verbal cue "Wait". Voila, the behavior is taught. You should also use this for the front door, the car door, any gates, etc.

You know, your question about crate guarding has a lot of merit, especially if Annie is the only one with the crate. In all honesty, if Annie is the possessive type, she could become possessive of her crate. But the reason I use it so much with Ivy (my bully dog) is because I can lock her in it and it provides a safe haven for her, which means that my other two dogs are safe, too. It's a bit of a paradox. If you don't give them separate sleeping areas, Annie will probably bully the other two for their beds. If you do give them separate sleeping areas, there's a chance Annie may become possessive of "her" space. My three have their designated spots and it works well for us. If your pups have a "system" that works well with their beds, keep it. If not, consider spreading their areas out and see how it works for you. I'm sorry I can't give a clearer answer, but it is a bit "you're screwed if you do, you're screwed if you don't" :p Do what works best for you!