Hi I'm new to this forum but came across it researching what I could do to keep my dog from being too protective of me around other dogs. My pup is a 10 month old Dogo/American bulldog named Hammer. He is about 80lbs of baby and lives for attention and loves children of all ages. I find he has mostly the dogo physical and mental qualities except is almost all black instead of white.
So my issue is a new one for me. The past week or so he has shown aggression tried to attack 2 dogs. First was my parents ridgeback at their house. The ridgeback ran over and jumped on me as he always does because he's happy to see me. My dog snapped and went at him instantly. I seperate the dogs and all was fine. We thought it was just that he was overwhelmed because of both my parents dogs and his sister (6 year old husky female). Running around and playing with the 2 dogs.
Next was this Saturday night that just passed we went to a friend's place and brought just Hammer. My friends have a 3 year old golden retriever who is very gentle but is over the top hyper. We got there and the retriever was barking at us and running around us. When it got really close to us he would snap. I kept hammer leashed and went to their basement but when their dog decided to come from behind me, between my legs Hammer turned and went at him again. We separated them for about 15 minutes and after the retriever was calm we re-introduced them and they were best friends. They were fine the rest of the night except when the retriever tried to lick my wife's face and he snapped again.
He has never shown any aggression towards other dogs or people up until last week. He has been socialized a lot with many situations and around many dogs. He has always played really well and has been gentle and polite with other dogs. He was neutered a bit over a month ago and we have not noticed any changes in how he acts from that.
I just want to try to keep him from being so protective when other dogs come around us and don't want to have to worry about him hurting another dog that just wants to meet us. Are there excercises that we could work on with him that will help this?
I am definitely the alpha in the house as well, if I talk too firmly at him he will piss himself. I have never struck him and the worst I will do to him physically is roll him onto his back and hold him like that to show I am still the boss (done this twice, once when he tried humping me and other time growled when I was taking a bone away)
Thanks
I look forward to looking around this site
Nick
So my issue is a new one for me. The past week or so he has shown aggression tried to attack 2 dogs. First was my parents ridgeback at their house. The ridgeback ran over and jumped on me as he always does because he's happy to see me. My dog snapped and went at him instantly. I seperate the dogs and all was fine. We thought it was just that he was overwhelmed because of both my parents dogs and his sister (6 year old husky female). Running around and playing with the 2 dogs.
Next was this Saturday night that just passed we went to a friend's place and brought just Hammer. My friends have a 3 year old golden retriever who is very gentle but is over the top hyper. We got there and the retriever was barking at us and running around us. When it got really close to us he would snap. I kept hammer leashed and went to their basement but when their dog decided to come from behind me, between my legs Hammer turned and went at him again. We separated them for about 15 minutes and after the retriever was calm we re-introduced them and they were best friends. They were fine the rest of the night except when the retriever tried to lick my wife's face and he snapped again.
He has never shown any aggression towards other dogs or people up until last week. He has been socialized a lot with many situations and around many dogs. He has always played really well and has been gentle and polite with other dogs. He was neutered a bit over a month ago and we have not noticed any changes in how he acts from that.
I just want to try to keep him from being so protective when other dogs come around us and don't want to have to worry about him hurting another dog that just wants to meet us. Are there excercises that we could work on with him that will help this?
I am definitely the alpha in the house as well, if I talk too firmly at him he will piss himself. I have never struck him and the worst I will do to him physically is roll him onto his back and hold him like that to show I am still the boss (done this twice, once when he tried humping me and other time growled when I was taking a bone away)
Thanks
I look forward to looking around this site
Nick