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Bullmastiff behaviour advice!

ARose

Member
Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and thought i'd post my first thread :). Basically I have a 5 month old bullmastiff pup, and he is absolutely gorgeous. One behaviour that is worrying me however, is he blocks me and my family from walking from the backyard into the house? If you try to walk through him, he will get extremely excited / energetic and jump, nip and let out soft barks. He also holds eye contact when outside but never when he's inside and calm?

I always considered this to be him trying to initiate play, and have handled it by getting him to sit and stay in the yard until I call him inside. However, this morning my mum was doing washing and she got quite frazzled and worried by his behaviour, and had to climb up onto a garden chair to get away from him.

I guess I am wondering if anyone has experienced this behaviour before? And do you all think that it is cause for concern in regards to aggression / dominance / territory issues.

Thanks so much guys for all your help.
 

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Effie

Active Member
He's so adorable! We had a dog trainer tell us one time that one of the most important exercises you can do with your dog is to teach them that eye contact is a "good" thing. So that's usually one of the first things I teach them, after "sit." We even taught it to our male Bullmastiff that we took in when he was 2, and he "got it." Here a link to a video on how to train your dog to make eye contact: Video: Train Your Dog to Make Eye Contact
 

ARose

Member
He's so adorable! We had a dog trainer tell us one time that one of the most important exercises you can do with your dog is to teach them that eye contact is a "good" thing. So that's usually one of the first things I teach them, after "sit." We even taught it to our male Bullmastiff that we took in when he was 2, and he "got it." Here a link to a video on how to train your dog to make eye contact: Video: Train Your Dog to Make Eye Contact

Thank you, I have been teachig him sit, stay, lie, shake, and to wait for his meals until I release him. Hopefully teaching him to focus on me will break his excitement a bit?
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
A dog needs to learn to move out of the way. I think it's rude behavior. I didn't teach this step by step, but rather just push the dog out of the way using forward body pressure or give the dog a shove with a leg or foot depending how the dog is oriented. It shouldn't be too long before the dog catches on. I use the "move" word.
 

karennj

Well-Known Member
I always make Bear move out of the way. Even if I need to take something from him, I move him back with my body before reaching down and getting it. I use "back" to back him out of my space or the space I want. If you watch dogs interacting they often will block and move each other with their bodies. Sometimes it is guarding, sometimes it is play, sometimes it is just being a bully. Regardless of why the dog is doing it, if I want the space he needs to move. I would work on your "move" command in the house with praise/treats when he does what you want then move it to outside when he understands what the word means. Also, for awhile while you establish the move command I would manage the outside door. Is there another door you can take him in? If you bring him around the house and in the front what does he do? What if you make him sit/stay or down/stay like 10ft away from the door so you can get to the door, open it and then call him in? Don't let him get infront of the door. If he beats you there call him back, make him sit and then call him in.
 

musicdeb

Well-Known Member
I agree, teach the pup to move out of the way. A little push to motivate the move is ok. Teach the pup what you want him to do and reward with motivational reward. Consistency and patience are key to training a pup at any age.
 

ARose

Member
I agree, teach the pup to move out of the way. A little push to motivate the move is ok. Teach the pup what you want him to do and reward with motivational reward. Consistency and patience are key to training a pup at any age.

He is surprisingly trainable and smart! He learns everything quickly (especially when there is cheese or a sausage involved). He seems to get more excited and riled up when I push him or walk through him. I might make a video and post it if that's possible? thank you for your input :).
 

ARose

Member
I always make Bear move out of the way. Even if I need to take something from him, I move him back with my body before reaching down and getting it. I use "back" to back him out of my space or the space I want. If you watch dogs interacting they often will block and move each other with their bodies. Sometimes it is guarding, sometimes it is play, sometimes it is just being a bully. Regardless of why the dog is doing it, if I want the space he needs to move. I would work on your "move" command in the house with praise/treats when he does what you want then move it to outside when he understands what the word means. Also, for awhile while you establish the move command I would manage the outside door. Is there another door you can take him in? If you bring him around the house and in the front what does he do? What if you make him sit/stay or down/stay like 10ft away from the door so you can get to the door, open it and then call him in? Don't let him get infront of the door. If he beats you there call him back, make him sit and then call him in.

It's so strange because inside is a completely different story! he is calm, relatively docile for a puppy, gentle and obedient, I have no idea what triggers him to go crazy outside, and it pretty much is bullying behaviour. I have made a rule that no one goes outside without me there to supervise, but it is difficult because I live with my dad who's quite old and incessant that he knows how to handle it :( (which pretty much involves walking around the backyard with using a chair as a shield...).
 

musicdeb

Well-Known Member
Outside means play time to him. Try teaching him "calm" before you go the door to enter the house. I say the word "calm" to Titan and hold my hand like a stop signal. It took a few times for Titan to get it. Now when Titan gets excited after eating, I say "calm" and hold up the stop signal and he calms down.

You can also try putting him on leash before approaching the door. When you get to the door, use the leash to move him and say, "move."
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
He is surprisingly trainable and smart! He learns everything quickly (especially when there is cheese or a sausage involved). He seems to get more excited and riled up when I push him or walk through him. I might make a video and post it if that's possible? thank you for your input :).

Yes get a video.