[kjhman]

Hello there. I am new to the site and hoping I can find some help from someone here.

So my american bulldog just turned 2. I got him from he time he was 8 weeks old. Amazing puppy. Very sweet and friendly. Right when he started to get around 5-6 months old, he started exibiting some fearful behaviors.

First time he growled, was when he was in his crate and my grandmother approached his crate to greet him. Outside of the house he is being afraid of objects and people. When people would go to pet him, he would cower and sometimes give a little "warning bark", which looked like an attempted bite but he would never actually bite.

I remember when I was walking him when he was only about 3 months or so, a few aggressive dogs ran up and rushed him. I think that traumatic event might be the cause of some of his behavior issues.

Present day if i walk him, hes just looking around back and forth, ears up, just on complete alert. If he sees or hears any person or dog, the tail shoots straight up and he gets into defensive mode.

He is the sweetest dog to my family who seem him quite frequently. It seems like a roll of the dice as to how he will act when i bring friends over. One thing he will do that I really dont understand is that I will have my friend sitting on the couch with me. I'll ask him or her to completely ignore the dog and not touch him or anything. I'll let my dog out of the cage and the dog will immediately walk up and start licking my friends hand. Now, based on that behavior, one would think that would indicate that he is comfortable with that person, but the minute my friend would attempt to pet him after getting licked on the hand for a few seconds, my dogs behavior just snaps and he will lunge or try to bite or do something along those lines.

After that initial few minutes of nerve racking introduction, he turns into the biggest baby with my friend. Playing, Licking him/her, rolling on the ground. Just like he never had a problem with my friend a few minutes prior.

I'm a pretty big fan of the dog whisperer and i've read a few of his books. I try to do everything right with my dog but it seems like I'm just falling short. No amount of correction seems to change his behavior. I'm afraid to take him for walks or to the dog part now becuase of his unpredictable behavior.

Now, he really is a great dog, just I believe for some reason he feels the need to just protect me or my girlfriend from anyone or anything that gets near us.

I'm really hoping that something can be done to slowly get him out of this aggressive, defensive behavior he feels he always needs to display.

Do you think a good muzzle and fequent trips back to the dog park would eventually remove his tension and bad behavior? I'm at a loss on what else could be done, but I'm willing to do pretty much everything.

If anyone watches the dog whisperer, there was an episode with the dog "bella" who was an amerian bulldog, and she was a lot worse than my dog, but the way cesar was able to cure her bahavior, was to have her around a balanced pack of dogs. Since, I dont have a balanced pack of dogs in my back pocket, im hoping there is another way to solve this.

Any suggestions, help, advice,ect would be greatly appreciated.

thank you,

Keith

[CorkyMax]

I don't have any answers but want to comment about muzzles---esp. when it involves your breed of dog---'mushed-in' face breeds have a harder time breathing to start with. Here is a link to a thread that was done in this forum not too long ago. It starts out not to do with muzzles but be sure to read the posts further down near bottom. And the basket type muzzle prob. would be the best type if you decide to use a muzzle.---> my femail dogs are fighting!! I cant stop this please help!!

[lange]

It definitely sounds fear based. Is he healthy? Has a vet checked him all over? Is he neutered? Does he always listen to you aside from when he acts aggressively?

Bulldogs are def a difficult breed if you don't put a lot of ground work in imo.

[reeskujo]

As a trainer the first thing I feel compelled to say is please do not apply the things you've seen Cesar do..He has no formal training,uses very outdated methods and has no clue what positive reinforcement is and in my opinion as well as most trainers some of the things he does are abusive or border on abuse..

That being said I agree with Lange that it does seem fear based..What you may want to try doing is teaching him to associate people and dogs with something positive..You're friends coming over would be a great place to start..When your friends come over have them give your dog a treat as soon as they come in..Make sure that they remain very calm and don't give it to him in an excited manner..When he comes up to them and starts licking them tell them not to respond by petting him because at that point he's really just feeling them out..That would actually be a good time to offer him another treat so that his good behavior is being rewarded..Also when you have a dog that has fear issues especially with being touched it's always best to pet them under the chin rather then the top of the head..It's important to keep in mind that once a persons hand passes over the dogs eyes when they're petting them the dog can no longer see what the person is doing so a fearful dog will bite to prevent the person from touching them..

As for walking him as Lange said putting a muzzle on breeds like his not a good idea unless it's unavoidable as it can make it difficult to breathe..Make sure when you're walking him that you take some treats with you..Whenever you see another dog or person approaching call his name,have him sit and give him a treat..Make sure to try and do it when they are at a far enough distance that your dog has not started acting up yet..Continue giving him treats until the other dog/person has passed by..Also remember that if you start to tense up or get nervous because you're afraid of how he'll react he will feed off of that and it will cause his reaction to be worse as a lot of dogs will assume that your nervousness is because the other person/dog is posing a threat to you and or him..This method will take some time and you have to be rally consistent with it but it can work..Using the treats when there is another person or dog around and having your friends give him one when they come over will eventually teach him to associate them coming over as something positive and that when he sees other dogs/people that it's a positive and not a negative.

[Lunareclipse]

I agree. Do not use any methods ceasar milan uses. Some are rather cruel. The episode with the shock collar was horrid and almost got him sued.