Aggression
Submitted by tiffscooper on July 19, 2013 - 10:30amHi I was wondering if anyone would have any suggestions for me. We have two male bulldogs both neutered that we have had since they were 9 weeks old. We got Cooper first and he is currently 4 and Clayton came a year later and he is currently 3. Clayton has just recently started showing aggression towards Cooper when it comes to me or my husband showing any attention to Cooper. I sit on the floor with them alot and when Cooper tries to come near me Clayton growls and starts a fight. When, we come home and are greeting them this is also starting to be a problem. I've read you should not try to seperate them during a fight but they have drawn blood and I'm worried they will get really hurt. Its frustrating because I feel bad for Cooper and am worried the more this happens they will just end up hating each other . Someone suggested getting a can with coins and shaking that when a fight starts. Currently we address it by seperating them and not sitting with either of them. Not sure if this is helping or hurting the situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!!
My advice would be to find a trainer...
and have him/her come into your home and observe them together. We did this when Ollie started being nasty to Oscar when he was a little over two years old. We thought it was Olie who was the aggressor and it turned out that the bad vibes were coming from Oscar. At any rate, a trianer can see things that you can't and show you how to deal with them. A certified trainer who uses positive reinforcement is what you need. You also need to establish that you are the pack leader by doing the 'no free lunch' thing...they have to sit to get a treat or dinner, you go through a door first, no getting on furniture or beds, etc. Lynn King is excellents with training advice, hopefully she will respond.
I agree
Sounds like you would all benefit from having someone come into your home to do an evaluation. Fighting and drawing blood is getting serious. Please be sure to find someone that uses positive methods of training. In the meantime, keep them separated, interact with only one dog at a time.
You might be able to locate someone at apdt.com
Good luck, e-mail me if you need any help with the trainer.
Lynn King CPDT-KA