1 french mastiff and 1 bullmastiff

[2bigdogs]

Hi my name is chris. we adopted our first french mastiff 1 year ago she was 5 weeks old when we got her. I have had bullmastiff's since I was 5, so lets just say I have over 30 years experience with them. I have had an english mastiff which was my soulmate, she was awesome and was with us for 10 years before cancer took her from us. I have a lot of experience with the mastiff breeds and didn't think french would be that big of a difference. I had done some research on the breed but felt like I could handle it. I am doubting it now as the french mastiff is a handful to say the least. I am really looking for help with her, and trying to train her. She is terrorizing the 5 pound mutt we have and the 110 pound bullmastiff who is 2 years old. I tried to let them work it out on their own but the fights are getting more intense and more frequent. I can't let her pick on the little guy for obvious reason but she is driving me crazy. I have tried training her, I give her tons of toys, walk her alone and walk the three together, but she just keeps going into the danger zone. She is 13 months old now, I had her fixed hoping to kill the mood swings, there is not one thing that sets her off it just seems random. I am desperate to regain control and peace in my house. Looking for any help or suggestions please.

 

[ruby55]

Hi Chris, Wow; I don't know what to tell you. Hopefully someone will chime in shortly with some advice. I live with 4 bullmastiffs; used to be 5 but we lost our old girl last spring. Ruby, 23 months, just kind of took over in the last few months as alpha, without a single fight (that I know of).

 

[2bigdogs]

yes my bullmastiff is an angel and all the others I have had were pretty easily trainable. Zoey is just really giving me a run for my money right now and my husband who is afraid of dogs is really freaking out. He wants me to get rid of her but I feel like we have to keep working with her at least until she is fully matured. I just don't know what else I can do with her. I really can't afford a private trainer nor do I think she would work with one. We tryed to socialize her early but she never has taken to strangers at all. SShe loves my husband, and I keep telling him he is the key to this he needs to work her and train her more and everything else will fall into step.

 

[chuckorlando]

First I would say I am not a fan of getting rid of a dog for lack of training. Training is what is needed. I would at least check so prices to have a trainer at least observe whats going on. But if thats out of reach buy a book or 2 on hard to train animals. I'm just starting this training learning curve myself. It's really surprizing what one will learn in just the first few chapters. You, like me, have been blessed with easy to train animals in the past. So when you run head long into these issues, we want to throw our hands up.

Ya'll can do it. Some others will chime in with more solid advice for you I'm sure. Good luck

 

[2bigdogs]

I most defiantely agree I am not trying to get rid of her, I am looking for some insight into what else to try with her. She has attacked the 5 pound mutt twice in twelve hours. She is going to kill him if we don't figure something out. I am just baffled if this is a french mastiff thing or just a personality issue. I am going to start making her wear a leash at all times so that I can have quicker control on her, but she is not really into wanting to please me, she wants to please my husband, but he is starting to become fearful of her expectionally after she bit me during a fight. At this point I am just looking for suggestions and the faster the better. I am going to start crating her again when I am gone so her only freedom will be when I am home because he is so nervous of dealing with her now.

 

[natsan6]

I can't offer much in the way of help here but I would suggest starting a post in training and behavior...there are quite a few well versed DDB owners here that can help you. Snakeman has a beauty and there are a few more that would be happy to help but may not be checking the welcoming posts as much Good Luck and welcome. Oh and pics, we loooove pics!

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

dogs can sense something "different" after surgery. I would definitely keep them separated until she is 100% recovered. Especially due to the size difference. It can make even the most balanced dogs a little "off".

I would also advise you to have a trainer come in your home and do an evaluation. There are triggers and early warning signs you are not noticing; They are there. Most behavior similar to this is from dogs not comfortable with their place or "role" in the family or "pack" if you will. It is from a beta dog that wants to be alpha and is doing so by terrorizing. It could also be from a insecure dog that is confused and is lashing out. She is at the right age for hormonal changes, which have been affected by her spay as well. I also don't know the gender of your other dogs but if female, bitches spat A LOT! Males are more "awe inspiring" but females can constantly bicker. You may always have to keep them separated. I am not stating this as "will happen" but is is a possibility you need to consider, especially if you are unable to control the situations.

We would need much more info on what is happening to give advice on how to treat the aggression, it really depends on where it is coming from. For now keep them separated, if you want to have them interact I would only do this if you are there 100% focused on supervising (ie no phone, tv, ect.), the are both fed, exercised, and tired both mentally and physically. I would also only interact two at a time not all three. This way you can watch the interaction between the dogs. Sometimes it is not the dog you think that is causing the problems. Lastly, you need to be completely calm and confident and not give attention to either dog during the first few interactions.

 

[PuppyPaws]

I agree with Oak Hill, Supervise and only allow 2 out at a time. Exercise, Exercise, Exercise and especially when you start restricting them to more time in a crate. A tired dog is a more well-behaved dog and more easily managed. I posted in your other thread, then I saw this. It is a very scarey place to be. I have been there. Dogs that have once loved each other and spent hours playing, then turn on each other start doing severe damage. I have had to break up several fights, it is taxing both emothionally, mentally and physically. I was able to eventually manage the behavior and was never seriously injured myself, but it takes a toll on you. You have to be constantly aware and on gaurd looking for triggers and keeping them exercised. If I sound alarming, it is only because I have experienced it and it is alarming. I hate you are having to go through this. It takes a great deal or work and awareness. Good luck!

 

[musicdeb]

Post to the training forum. Lots of great input on that forum.

 

[bullyBug]

Call around. There are some trainers that do free or low cost evaluations. See if you can contact your local DDB or Mastiff rescue. They may be able to put you in touch with someone that can help. Five weeks is entirely too young for a pup to be separated from it's mother and littermates. Your girl missed out on valuable life lessons on canine interaction. I don't think this is something you are going to be able to solve on your own. Please keep her away from your little (preferably both dogs) until you get help. This is not something someone can fix for you over the Internet.

 

[Cody]

Welcome what has been said above I agree with, just one more thing to add, please be careful when separating them.
personally I would have her on a leash when in the house at all times. Correct if she so much as gives a "look".
And again, be careful

 

[Reneeeee16]

I have an 9 em that was a piece of cake to train. So easy so calm and sweet. At 8 weeks it took her about eight days to get house broken. Then recently I got a 7 week French mastiff boy. He was nuts. Tore lamps out of walls ran off with them peed in the house constantly and fought with my em all the time. He was so hyper. I gave up. I heard when they're away from their mom too early ( mine was separated at 4.5 weeks) that they are very rambunctious. I thought I'd just wait to train him when he got a little older because he had no attention span whatsoever. Now my ddb is a little over 3 months and he is the laziest dog ever. He will sleep for two days if I let him. I really think it is just age thing for them. He is doing so well. A huge thanks to crate training too because he still Isn't quite housebroken yet. We have started training him at home now, easy stuff through out the day and he's doing great. He hasn't retained any of his bad behaviors from the first few weeks we had him either.

 

[MixMamma]

We had a similar situation with our Pitt/boxer male (Tank) and blue pitt female (Jasmine). The female we had from about 13 weeks of age. She continually instigated and challenged Tank for dominance. Even with daily runs next to the bike together and plenty of training, that part never got better. Eventually it escalated where they would fight every time they were in the backyard or if there was something to possess. Tank had to have surgery because Jasmine bit him so often in the same spot the tissue became infected and had to be removed. After 18 months of this we finally came to the conclusion that for both of their safety we had to rehome Jasmine. Family friends adopted her so she comes over once a month or so to hang out and socialize with our pack. To this day (4 years later) the two of them will start to antagonize each other, and if not corrected immediately, they will end up in a fight.

Sometimes, it might just be that it's not a good match. There's nothing wrong with rehoming if there is a good reason, like safety!