Training a 1 year old French Mastiff- Need Help

[celesterosemary]

Hello everyone,

My family has a french mastiff who's about 1 1/2 years old. He's going to be living with me now because he had a biting incident and my mother is going to be having a baby soon so he can't stay, it's not safe for the baby/ youngest child. He wasn't socialized very well/ at all really by my family. He's been around other dogs and a few other people but he doesn't go on walks because he has a very big backyard to run around in. He has problems with being very aggressive towards people who come to the door (woman delivering a package was the cause of the incident) loud aggressive barking, jumping towards people, etc. he has to be put outside when people come to the door or while people he doesn't know come into the house. He's very sweet and loving around the family with all of the kid and with our other dog, a boxer a few months older than him. But he's scared of strangers and therefore aggressive.

I don't know where to start with socializing him and training him not to be aggressive. any advice will help. thank you

 

[musicdeb]

Start by taking him on car rides so he can see people. Take him on walks but keep his distance from other dogs and people until he becomes accepting of them. Take him and just sit at the park and let him watch.

When people approach, tell them to not approach your dog because he is in training. If he starts to lunge, get up and move and place him into sit. Reward when he sits and focuses on you.

I'm currently working with Titan on accepting men and other dogs. I got him at 2 1/2 years with no socialization or training, he was locked in a room for 10-12 hours a day and his owner hit him when he didn't do what he asked of him.

Titan used to lunge at every person/dog that walked within 20 feet of us. Learn your dog's body language so you will know when he's going to lunge. Titan only lunges if the person is within 10 feet of me and they start coming directly at me or talk to me. We are still a work in progress. But he has improved about 80-85% since I started working with him 2 years ago.

Right before Titan lunges, he will zero in on the person/dog. His body become tense, licks his lips and sometimes his tail wags a little fast back and forth.

An unsocialized and untrained DDB requires consistency in training with motivational rewards, LOTS of patience and do not let him feel your frustration when training him. Frustration causes him to shut down and stop listening.

I've been working with Titan for 2 years and we are still in training. Training never ends with dogs.

Teach him sit, stay, come, lay down, calm and most importantly, look. Look helps you to have him concentrate on you rather than the approaching person/dog when out for walks.

If will help you to relax while walking him, buy him a muzzle. He will fear your fear/anxiety and kick into guard mode. Never hit the dog as this can cause fear aggression which is not something you want to tackle. I had to tackle fear aggression with Titan and still a work in progress.

I bought Titan's muzzle here, the one in the picture is the one Titan wears: Mastiff harness, Mastiff muzzle, Mastiff collar, Dog leash, Dog Lead
He no longer has to wear the muzzle on walks but he does wear it to the vet.

If I think of more tips, I will post them.

Keep us posted on his progress.

 

[DennasMom]

Great advice from Deb (as usual!).

I'd also say when he comes to live in your house, have some ground rules ready, and be very consistent with enforcing them.

Have a place for him to go when you need to answer the door - either his 'rug' or, say, the top of the stairs. We have a split level, so sending the dog "upstairs" before we open the door gets them to a safe distance and still lets them observe (i.e. supervise) the new person at the door. Having a good "Stay" and/or "Wait" command is VERY helpful in that situation.

If he's treat motivated, you can stash treats in jars all over the house, so anytime he does something you like and want to reward, you'll have a treat handy to give him - without having to carry them around.

Go slow, be patient and consistent. Also be confident. Tell him what you want him to do and make sure he does it.

Maybe try clicker training if he needs help learning and understanding what you're asking - using a clicker definitely helped me learn how to communicate with Denna better - and also helped her learn to listen better, too (or so I think, anyway).

Good luck! Do let us know how it goes, and share some pictures, too!

 

[celesterosemary]

Thank you for the replies!


teddy and his bone

I thought he would be aggressive towards people coming into the house and people and dogs outside but he's shown little interest.

at his old home he would bark like he was about to tear someone into pieces whenever there was a knock at the door and would growl at people too, But on his second full day here we had lots of people over and teddy was very calm. he was a little scared but he mainly just sniffed them a lot and sat down in one spot and didn't move. After a while he would walk around and sniff everyone more and then go lay by someone he just met and take a nap.

One of my roommates ordered something and the delivery woman knocked at the door, teddy didn't even move let alone bark. This could be due to the fact that the door isn't at the front of the place like it is at his home and its just wood, no glass to see people walking up to the door.

On his walks he's been very calm around other people and dogs as well, I don't let him get that close just because I'm not sure what his reaction will be. But when he sees a dog or a person he just perks his ears up, stands still and stares. It's more of a curious look than anything.

overall I was pleasantly surprised by his behavior, I was expecting worse. Now I've just got to work on some basic training and getting him comfortable with his new humans.

 

[musicdeb]

Handsome Teddy!