English Bull Terrier

[pooky]

Hello

I'm wondering if anybody out there has/had an English Bull Terrier??

I have a 4 year old called Oliver and he is a DEVIL! He has calmed down a bit with age but he's just about as crazy as when he was a puppy. He still chews everything he can find, loves jumping, pulling on the lead when walking, chasing cats but his main problem is biting.

We took him to a dog trainer 2 years ago and he did improve but still he will not stop with the biting. He doesn't do it all the time but when he gets excited....you can imagine, he's a big dog, with BIG teeth and it does hurt. He even bites my husband who is definitely the Alpha male in the house. I have to use a muzzle when we go for walks cos I'm worried for other dogs/people, I don't think he would hurt anybody but I'm not taking any chances. I'm thinking to go back for some more training but I don't want to waste money if it's not going to work.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of problem and have any advice on how to stop him biting??

Thanks

 

[tropicman]

I have a ***** english bull terrier and she does bite sometimes when excited but we often sort this out by geting her a big rope to pull or with males even old car tyres work.

hope this helped tropicman

 

[Colin_T]

Your dog is the alpha dog and you and your hubby are the subordinates. You need to take control of the dog. If he bites you, growl at him and pin him down on his back. Grab him by the neck and grrrr at him. If you can't grrr then say bar and try to emphasise it. (BARRRRRR). Do that any time he misbehaves and he will quickly learn that he is not in charge, but you are.
When a dog is on its back they are at their most vulnerable. They don't like it and will struggle to get up, especially if they are a dominant dog. In a pack situation the alpha dogs will pin any subordinate or disobedient dog down on its back and hold it by the throat. If the weaker dog struggles or resists the dominant dog will bite its throat.
Once the dog knows who is boss you can have fun with him and run around playing. Bull terriers aren't renowned for their intelligence but they can be taught and will learn quickly. Be persistent and patient and he will settle down soon. They also have very strong jaws and like to chew so a couple of chew toys would help but probably not last long. Get him a couple of toys and replace them with different ones each week. Keep the others to use a bit later on. Vary the toys each week if they last that long
As for pulling on the lead. Whenever he does it stop walking and make him sit until he is quiet and calm. Then start walking again. If he pulls again then stop again. If he does it a third time then turn around and go home.
If you are having trouble controlling him on a lead you can get a Halti Gentle Leader. They work wonders on dogs that take you for a walk. Make sure you get one that fits correctly.

 

[smithrc]

try to catch the "Dog Whisperer" on TV

Its on at about 6:00 week nights on Sky 3 in the uk - (sky 3 is on freeview too)

I dont even have a dog and its great to watch to see how it should be done

 

[pooky]

Thanks for all your advice.

I'm not sure about the pinning him down on the floor bit though!! Oliver weighs nearly as much as me so it could be difficult but it's worth trying because then I can start to enjoy playing with him again and not be worried about if his going to rip my best jumper!

The old tyre is a really good idea because toys from the pet shop literally last less than an hour and they are expensive to replace.

Ok, I'm off to try a bit of dog 'wrestling'!!

Thanks again.

 

[Colin_T]

Every dog I have seen on the dog whisperer has been undisciplined and the owners are the subordinates. As difficult as it sounds if you can dominate the dog you will have a much better chance at becoming boss. If you don't dominate him you may as well leave him in the yard to go nuts. And that's not good for anyone.
If you have trouble pinning him down just get him to lie down and you stand over him with one leg on each side of him. Bend down and pat him while he is lying down. This is similar to domination because you are above the animal and it is on its side below you. But it is a pleasurable thing for him because you are patting him. Do this when you are inside watching television and he is being good. If you can get him used to that then you will have more control over him.

 

[kribensis12]

I have a Cousin Whbo has Boston Bull Terrier. She learns well and is well behaved, so i dont know why your's wont listen. I am aware that they are different Breed's, but not by much.

 

[Tolak]

Look into crate training, start at square one. Limit access to items that can be chewed, no dog should have access to areas where they could cause damage unless properly trained. I have yet to own a dog that has had access to all areas of the house whenever it wanted, and none of my dogs get access beyond a small couple of rooms, usually starting with the kitchen, until they have earned it. Dogs have to learn young that everything they get must be earned, look into nilif; http/k9deb.com/nilif.htm

When the dog bites, walk away, leave the room, shut the door behind you, fun time is over. The same goes for jumping, ramming into you, any behavior that is directed towards you personally. When the dog bites, walk away, leave the room, shut the door behind you, fun time is over. When it pulls on the lead stop, until the dog stops pulling, then proceed. For a larger puller, look into the gentile leader harness, the lead attaches in front, to the chest area. When the dog pulls hard, he turns himself around in the direction opposite of where he was heading, very few dogs figure out to try pulling backwards to get to where they are going, because they can’t see where they want to go.

I've owned smaller terriers for many years; they have the same attitude as the larger ones. My smaller Westie & Cairn had the same attitude as my uncles Airedales, and have some pretty good size teeth for 20-pound dogs. I currently have a 9 month old Aussie terrier, at 14 pounds he has the same complement of teeth as my mom’s 45 pound Siberian husky, bite inhibition is something they need to learn in order to be allowed anywhere outside of their little kitchen area.

This is the first dog I’ve raised since computers have become a household device; I trained somewhat Kohler method with previous dogs, along with nilif. Sometimes a cross back to the old school Kohler method is needed, as terriers can be stubborn, though I don’t 100% agree with some of Kohler’s methods.

 

[pooky]

I have a Cousin Whbo has Boston Bull Terrier. She learns well and is well behaved, so i dont know why your's wont listen. I am aware that they are different Breed's, but not by much.

Just my dog's personality I guess, he just won't listen and if I get angry it makes him even more excited. I have a friend with a 3year old male English Bull Terrier and he has no problems with him at all! Even the dog trainer was suprised how difficult my dog was and what little progress he made during his training.

You've all given me some options to think about and I hope that sooner or later that Oliver will be more manageable and I can start enjoying his company more without having to worry about the biting and what he going to destroy next! He really is a lovely dog, but like a lot of males he has selective hearing...!

I don't have any good photos of him to post on here, not only because I've only just got a digital camera but he won't sit still long enough to take any decent ones, but when I take a good one, I'll post it so you can see my beautiful dog!

 

[Colin_T]

I have a Cousin who has Boston Bull Terrier. She learns well and is well behaved, so I dont know why your's wont listen. I am aware that they are different Breed's, but not by much.

It's not just the dog, it is the owner as well. A dog can only be as good as its owner. Sorry pooky I don't mean you're a bad owner or anything like that. It's just that you have a head strong dog with a dominating nature. And it is more dominating than yours. It is a bit like a spoilt child getting their own way. They will do it for as long as they can get away with it. Then one day they come across someone with a stronger nature and all hell breaks loose. Eventually the most dominant personality wins. Hopefully it will be pooky and not her dog.

 

[kribensis12]

Well, if if the BBD mishbehave's my uncle with either hit her( not very hard, juse good enough to let her know not to do that again), or he will yell at her and tell her what she did was wrong, or put her in her kennel for the rest the day. Which is probably why she dosent misbehave.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Your dog is the alpha dog and you and your hubby are the subordinates. You need to take control of the dog. If he bites you, growl at him and pin him down on his back. Grab him by the neck and grrrr at him. If you can't grrr then say bar and try to emphasise it. (BARRRRRR). Do that any time he misbehaves and he will quickly learn that he is not in charge, but you are.
When a dog is on its back they are at their most vulnerable. They don't like it and will struggle to get up, especially if they are a dominant dog. In a pack situation the alpha dogs will pin any subordinate or disobedient dog down on its back and hold it by the throat. If the weaker dog struggles or resists the dominant dog will bite its throat.

I disagree, i think that such training as yours is only likely to make the dog even more aggressive, the dog learns from your behavior and if you act aggressively towards it in certain situations, it may react aggressively towards individuals it views as lower ranking or weaker (while it may view you as the boss, you don't want the dog scaring people you invite into your house for the first time etc because the dog see's them as intruders or lower ranking individuals in the pact etc). Being the boss doesn't necessarily mean acting aggressively towards the dog.

Look into crate training, start at square one. Limit access to items that can be chewed, no dog should have access to areas where they could cause damage unless properly trained. I have yet to own a dog that has had access to all areas of the house whenever it wanted, and none of my dogs get access beyond a small couple of rooms, usually starting with the kitchen, until they have earned it. Dogs have to learn young that everything they get must be earned, look into nilif; [URL="http/k9deb.com/nilif.htm"]http/k9deb.com/nilif.htm[/URL]

When the dog bites, walk away, leave the room, shut the door behind you, fun time is over. The same goes for jumping, ramming into you, any behavior that is directed towards you personally. When the dog bites, walk away, leave the room, shut the door behind you, fun time is over. When it pulls on the lead stop, until the dog stops pulling, then proceed. For a larger puller, look into the gentile leader harness, the lead attaches in front, to the chest area. When the dog pulls hard, he turns himself around in the direction opposite of where he was heading, very few dogs figure out to try pulling backwards to get to where they are going, because they can’t see where they want to go.

I agree with this advice the most .

 

[Tolak]

Being the boss means controlling resources. Much of the statements on pack behavior in dogs goes back to a limited study done on wolves decades ago. The resource controlling is why in many situations the largest, strongest dog is not the alpha, the one that controls the resources is. We have nearly all heard of situations where a smaller dog in a group of pets, sometimes much smaller, is the dominant or alpha. Resource controlling is the reason, and it's why nilif works so well.

By walking away from a situation where a dog is misbehaving, you are teaching the dog that this is the way to deal with an undesirable situation. If you have ever watched adult dogs interact with puppies, when the pups get too annoying, the adult gets up, and walks away. The adult is obviously dominant over the pups, but has no need to show any aggressive pinning. You can use this instinct to your advantage.

 

[Colin_T]

If a dog is a subordinate then it no longer has to protect the family and try to put everyone in their place. It will leave that up to the alpha members (hopefully the humans). However, an alpha dog will be the first one to bite an intruder or go nuts when someone knocks at the door.
As for the dog acting aggressively towards others because it learns it from you, the dog is already being aggressive. We are trying to get the dog to submit and then positive reinforcement can be applied.
Positive reinforcement is where you offer a reward, (treat or praise) when the dogs does something right. But discipline must remain. If the dog steps out of line it must be told off. In the wild an alpha dog will hold a subordinate down until it submits.

 

[Tolak]

If you think opinions differ in regards to aquatics, check out some of the dog forums in regards to training. I've seen some discussions go way beyond heated! My previous dog lived to be just shy of 16 years old, him, and the dogs before him, were trained using incredibly limited resources, considering what is available today with the availability of the internet. I probably learned just as much about my training methods as training itself, and why what I was doing worked, or at times didn’t work. I’ve owned, and trained my own dogs since around ’85, and have had a hand in training the family dogs as far back as I can remember.

What you are describing is more of the older Kohler method. While it is very good for schutzhund training, which is more guard dog oriented, unless you are experienced in training guard dogs this is not something you want to try yourself, leave it to the pro’s. Bill Kohler was unbelievably successful in his time with training dogs, but it has been found that with some dogs these extremes of dominance can create a fearful dog. If you already have a dog that bites, but not out of fear I don’t think you would want to risk creating a fear biter, as this is one of the toughest issues to deal with in any dog. Kohler didn’t worry about this, if a dog didn’t work for what he was training for he would try another dog, I don’t think Pooky is looking to try another dog, at least not yet.

Trust me, dogs who are not dominant in the family will have no problem sounding the alert, or using their teeth if need be. Just because they are subordinate to known humans does not mean they will be subordinate to all humans. If something is out of the ordinary they will react as trained, if you want a dog that barks at the door, or bites anyone who shouldn’t be entering you can train for this, though I advise against training a dog to bite.

I think we are dealing with a family pet here, not a dog that is considered for guard or watchdog duty. As I stated before, I do more of a crossover sort of training, as terriers can be stubborn, and at times do need to be put in their place, but I cross into the Kohler/dominance area only when absolutely needed, and this is when other methods have not worked.

You also have to remember that we are not dealing with a dog on dog situation in the wild; we are dealing with dog/human interaction. The dog knows you are not a dog, and you are training a dog to be a good citizen in a society that is mainly human. While some of the dog/dog interactions apply to dog/human interactions, the old alpha roll, or pinning has been proven to be inferior for the most part. As I started previously, much of the info provided long ago was from a limited study of wolves, and some does apply, some doesn’t.