8 Months and being Awesome with a dash of Beast mode.
Submitted by rich_rufus on February 17, 2016 - 9:38pmAs a new member to the Bulldog world family I just wanted to get a little feedback on a few areas for peace of mind. I have wanted a Bulldog since i was a young lad. I encountered my first bully whilst visiting a surf shop in Cornwall England. From the moment I laid my eyes and hands on the rambunctious little fella it was imprinted on me that this was my dog and I was his kind of owner/ pack leader. If I could, I would have snatched him from that shop and taken him home with me, and to say the least my surf trip was then the second thing on my mind, the priority being getting back and having a bit more time with him.
I have; however, after 16 years of waiting, finally got myself the best dog in the world. I was fortunate to be contacted by another bulldog lover in hong kong. She let me know there was 8 month bulldog up for adoption. After the initial shock that anyone could give up such a pooch for adoption I immediately called and was face to face with my new best friend in less than a few hours.
Rufus came home with me the next couple of days after all the formalities and paper work had been sorted. Trev to the nature of the bulldog, he acclimatised quickly to his new surroundings, exploring, chewing, the usual. His training started from day 1 when he arrived and after just 2 weeks he is responding to his name, sitting, giving paw, waiting for his food until instructed. Potty train is defiantly a work in progress, but we’re nearly there, with the occasional mishap (which I’m putting down to nerves of new surroundings). He has not been desexed yet due to his age and his genitals have not dropped, so we’re (my girlfriend and I) holding off until the next couple of weeks. Which of course leads me to my first question.
95% of the time Rufus is affectionate / sleeping / chewing on a toy, the other 5% he goes into a complete rage and frenzy, barking and generally being quite aggressive towards both myself and my girlfriend. When I say aggressive, I don’t mean an occasional snap at our hands, but I mean full on beast mode. There is no way to calm him down apart from grabbing him and holding him whilst he is like this, which is easy for me, but much harder for my petite girlfriend. It usually last 5 to ten minutes everyday. I never use aggression against him and I don’t not physically punish him, as I understand this would probably cause further aggression. What I would like to know is. Is the Aggression that he shows during “beast mode” due to him not being desexed? And if not is there any recommendations on how to calm him down or prevent it from happening? He is regularly exercised 2-3 times a day so I feel it can’t be a case of stored energy or excitement. And as I mentioned 95% of the time he is submissive and the most wonderful bulldog I could wish for.
We have a wonderful trainer on this forum...
and hopefully she will see this and comment. The way you describe this is worrisome, when he is doing his rage can you get through to him or is he completely fixated? Has he been vet checked? You might need to hire a professional trainer to observe and try to have you girlfriend video him in action. As for the testicles, they will have to be surgically removed if they haven't dropped and while it can help some behaviors, I doubt if it would make much difference in this case. I can see why you love him, he's a beautiful boy.
Kathy, Thanks For the
Kathy,
Thanks For the reply. I've had a little breakthrough with him. It seems that if i respond quickly to his "beast mode" before it super escalates and just get hold of him and hug him he submits (which is now a matter of seconds). I would like to take credit for this breakthrough but it was my girlfriend that discovered his calm button. he is starting to respond to "no" which is good and things are going pretty smoothly, but as with bulldogs always be on alert for michevious behaviour. so hard to tell him off because he just looks at me with that face (you know the one). Again i appreciate the reply. he is booked in for next week to get desexed so hopefully should curb his aggression a little bit more.
Well, lots to think about
if you were my client:
First, I would ask you to video the entire episode, including at least 10 minutes after he "calms" down.
Document everything, write down what he was doing and what you were doing 10-15 minutes prior to the aggression. Does he make physical contact with you or your wife? Any consistency to the time of day? Does he respond to any commands? I would also want video of him when he is being "normal". Does he have any resource guarding behaviors-ie. growling when you get near him while he is eating, growling when you ask him to move, chewing on a toy, etc.
Any idea why his previous owners gave him away?
Lynn King CPDT-KA
Question...
The 'full beast mode,' you mentioned. Does he actually try to bite you or does he run around crazy, snapping at 'invisible flies' and barking like a crazy dog for about five minutes before he goes to sleep?
If it's the latter, then that's probably something bulldog people call 'the zoomies.' A lot of bulldogs do this. It looks scary but it's harmless. Of course there a rule, no teeth on human skin. But zoomies seems to be a bulldog thing.
Where are you located?
Hmm, that's a thought,
I hadn't thought about that, hopefully that's what it is...
Amy and Sophia