Behavior Questions

I have a 2 year old, male, Am. Bulldog, who in the last month has become aggressive towards my husband and I. It is sporadic, we do not know when it will happen or what may or may not cause it. Until then he has shown no sign of aggression at all. We have no children, just the three of us. However, for the holiday season we were around the entire family with numerous kids of various ages, in our home and at other locations and he completely enjoyed himself. He even plays with the neighbors kids and love it.

But since we have noticed this aggression towards us, we are limiting the people he is around.

Has anyone experienced this or does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try?

First go see a vet to get him checked out if he's in pain (pulled muscle ear infection sore pad broken toe etc)
Move his bed to quiet place where no one walks by away from doors.
Look at ingredients in his food & treats artificial colouring/ favouring can cause dogs to become hyper & irritable.
Age wise can also factor into his behavior specially if he's approaching the "Kevin Stage" trying to intimidate you into getting his own way.

Went through all this when I had my first Rottweiler, he soon realized I was the boss & I was in charge not him.

When a new behaviour suddenly appears, there is often a medical cause for it, therefore, vet check first and foremost.

Also, think carefully about any changes you may have made on the run up to this behaviour. Have you perhaps changed his food, his place to sleep, his routine?

We did take him to the vet today, but it was for neutering. He is on the same food he has been on for about a year now, (a raw diet), sleeping, walks, all the same.

Unfortunately at this time, I cannot think of anything that has changed. He is extremely a dog of routine/habit.

I will keep all this in mind and continue to think about his routine more.

Thanks for your input.

No health problems went to vet today, his bed stays in the living area of the house no foot traffic at night and he has the house to himself during the day if it rains, if the weather is nice he is outside.

His diet is raw meat, has been for at least a year. I don't think that is it.

His age and him trying to take the boss role, that may be more the case. I guess I may have to do some research on this and start showing him who the boss is.

Thanks for the input, I truly do appreciate it. I will do my research and prepare a plan.

Did you actually have him checked at the vet? You said it was only got neutering. When I've taken mine to be spayed they only do pre surgery blood work that's it. I can't imagine other vets doing anything beyond that, think owners wouldn't agree if they didn't request it.

I would be very careful in the actions you take in showing him who`s boss" this may well get you seriously bitten.

The first thing I would do is seek medical advice , there could be a number of things causing this behaviour, from minor to serious.

At 2 years of age, it could be a bit of a "to big for his boots" thing, but to be honest I would have expected it earlier, and if he has never shown this behaviour before, then I would be putting it down to something else and not age.

You have to be careful with other people around till you find what is causing this, do not put the dog in any situation where he feels you are challenging him, do NOT practice any form of "dominance training" on this dog.

You need a medical all clear first and for most before you do anything .

I would also think that showing aggression towards yourself & your husband is a bit excessive for 'simple' adolescent type behaviour. What does the aggression consist of actually?

I also strongly advise you against showing him you're 'boss'. It's absolutely not necessary and can often do more harm than good.

http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die

http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance

http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html

I know you say he's in good health, but has the vet checked his joints? Sore or painful joints can trigger aggressive reactions in some dogs and with an Am Bull he could be susceptible to HD. Definitely worth mentioning to your vet.

You really need the help of a good behaviourist. Ask your vet for a referral firstly. I'm not in the US (assuming you are? ) but perhaps the US members here can help point you in the right direction of where to begin searching for a good behaviourist local to you.

Wholeheartedly agree with the two previous posts.

My dog goes to the vet on a regular basis. I even carry health insurance on him. I spoke to the vet and have gotten information and opinions from his trainer as well as another trainer and American Bulldog Breeder on this situation. I am not just jumping out there trying to man handle my dog.

Tryp is part of my family he is like our child. While I appreciate your input, I do NOT appreciate you assuming my words meaning mistreatment or challenging him or dominating him on training.

If I were that type of person I would not be on a forum asking to see if anyone else experienced this.

The majority of people I have discussed this with seem to have the same opinion that Tryp is trying to take over the "leader" of the pack role.

And we are taking steps to allow him to know he is not the leader.

He did go to the vet for neutering to assist with his new aggressive behavior. Tryp goes to his vet on a regular basis for check ups. His vet did evaluate him beyond the neutering. We communicated throughout the day with the Doctor so I could approve, the other charges.

Thank you for your input , we have a trainer and we have been working on the same type of training.

I did not assume you would use any form of negative treatment on your dog , I gave you advice (you asked for it) on the dangers of using any form of dominant training on your dog.

I would be very careful in the actions you take in showing him who`s boss"

Unfortunately when people use terms such as "showing him who`s boss" and "leader of the pack" it shouts out warning signs of people using or believing in "dominance" over the dog training.

I don`t know you, you came asking for advice, we can only respond to what you write, and when you mentioned the above, it worried me that you "may" either believe in or been advised to use these techniques on your boy.

Challenging a stroppy dog can get you bitten, (in which ever way you wish to take this) Azz has given you good advice in using the NILF was of training.

Your Boy may well be just going through that stroppy phase, but again I suggest you revisit the vet to have blood work done to rule out any illness , because if this behaviour has suddenly come out of nowhere, then its not normal.

The stroppy adolescent age can develop from anywhere from 8 mths onwards, but you would have seen this progressing , from what you say your dog has suddenly become aggressive, that to me is different to the "kevin" like behaviour.

Neutering an aggressive OR nervous dog can make a situation worse rather than better,

Dogs (specially young ones) need all the testosterone they have to balance out emotions, testosterone is not just to fuel sexual behaviour, when you take it away from a a dog that is showing any form of aggressive behaviour you can escalate the behaviour.

@mellynn99 I appreciate that you are doing your best to help Tryp to get through this phase, but your post did also make me think of Cesar Milan, and his 'poke and pin down' methods. I'm glad that you have chosen to use positive methods.
Have you kept a diary of the events leading up to these aggressive moods? If so have you been able to identify any triggers?
One small addition, has your vet. checked Tryp's hearing and eyesight?

Also it would help if you gave an example of the aggression he is displaying, what doe she do, when does he do it, that sort of thing!

Could you detail some of the incidents of aggression, ie what was your dog doing, what was your husband doing, what time of day, how close to feeding, exercise etc?

Also, what type of training are you doing? For example, how are you teaching him new behav

Can you also give us an example of your training @mellynn99? I think it's the wording you use that is confusing us perhaps about what you mean by showing him 'he's not the leader' which in it self seems to suggest you do subscribe to the dominance, pack theory type training/behaviour which has actually been discredited over the years. I would also suggest you need a behaviourist, not so much a trainer.