sarros0510
Member
Hello! I need help understanding this behavior as well as some advice on stopping it. My boy is a 12 week old English mastiff and I've had him for 4 weeks now. He's very smart and can be extremely stubborn like a true mastiff. I've come a long way with him. The only thing I'm having issues with is anytime anyone is down on the floor (including the cat), he tries to climb. It's like he's trying to smash you down into the floor. I already have a hard time pushing him off me and when I do he gets nippy and will bark/slightly growl. It's not an aggressive growl by any means. I'm not even sure that he's trying to play. It's really bad when he tries it on my 3 and 5 year olds. He's great with them and usually gentle for the most part. Firmly telling him "off" or "no" does not work when he does this. Those commands are familiar to him and he responds in other circumstances. Anyone have any experience with this? He's very rarely alone for longer than an hour or two and we are typically only gone during nap times when he's crated. A second issue is that he sometimes gets verbally combative and nippy when he's disciplined (firm verbal command to stop doing whatever he's doing). How do I deal with that? Thanks in advance!!!