english bulldog agression

**Karen** · 02-01-2010, 02:37 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, 02:42 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, 03:04 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, 07:47 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, 08:01 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.