Anyone have any information or idea of what just happened I'd appreciate it. I had just been sitting on the couch with my 7 year old son and husband watching television. Our english bulldog is just now 13 weeks old and was great with our children until tonight. We had been sitting there on the couch for over a half hour petting our lovable female when my son had gotten up and came back in. After 5 minutes he came back in sat back down and went to pet her and then she growled at him and went to attck the side of his head. I saw what happened and instantly grabbed her but she had gotten him on the ear. He had not hurt her, taunted her anything. I can only think maybe she thought he was intruding with her and I. A territorial type thing. Anyone who or may have had this same problem I would greatly appreciate information on your part. When she had done this I told her BAD in a deep sharp voice and put her in her crate.

You are not supposed to punish a dog by putting it in a crate. Now when you put her in her crate she will think she is being punished.

you just experiraince classic dog aggression. The puppy is trying to establish pack order very normal but preventable. One do not allow the dog on the couch or beds it stays on the floor. the kids stay over the dog at all times they sit on the couch not the floor. no playing with puppy laying on them. two teach the pup down and roll over on the belly. when you are holding the pup down belly up every night have the kids stand over him while you are firmly holding the pup down whith the scruff and the muzzle. this is what the mother dog does to all puppies and the dad it does not hurt but establishes pack order when you do this pull on the ears and tail and handle all over the paws every thing the more he fights the firmer you hold when he plays dead then you ease up. he can not get up from this position until you tell him to. by hand command or voice command.

Your english bulldog is trying to establish its dominance over your son by doing behavior typical to correction among other dogs. The dog considers you dominant to itself, and itself dominant to your son. This is A Bad Thing, obviously. When dogs correct each other, the dominant dog will snap at or bite at the loose and hairy flesh on the side of the other dog's face, the jowel/cheek area below the ear and eyes. When a dog does this to people, the skin rips where it wouldn't typically with another dog. This is why so many dog bites among children occur on the face. When your son came in after you'd spent so much petting the dog, and then (to the dog's mind) tried to interfere with that attention, the dog gave your son a dog correction. I'm glad the bite wasn't worse. You did well by catching i tbefore it did get worse, and seperating him from the objects of his affections.. You. The crate works just fine, many breeders and handlers correct their dogs by putting them in the crate when they've been really bad. How old is your son? If he is old enough and responsible enough, and he is willing, he needs to take over care of the dog. If he feeds the dog, waters the dog, lets the dog in and out, etc. the dog will learn that if he wants to eat in the 'pack' it's gonna come from your son, and therefore your son is dominant. Don't let your dog up on the couch, sleep in the bed, or put up with begging behavior. Teach him the 'sit' command and make him 'sit' before he gets any attention at all, petting, feeding, going for a walk, the whole nine yards, so he has to 'work' for his affections. Let it see your son sit or lay on your bed, on the couch, while it doesn't get to. Dont let the dog try and intercede between you and your son when you are being affectionate or talking. If you haven't already, start taking your puppy to obedience training, again wtih your son. You have to think like a dog. When you give the dog more attention than you give your son (even inadvertantly!), you're rewarding the dog and reinforcing its belief that is higher ranking in pack structure. He's had a free ride for a while, you need to turn it around and make him work like a dog now. There are some breeds predisposed to dominance behavior, I own one, an Akita. Many of the bulldogs, bull terriers, mastiffs, dobermans, etc also exhibit certain characteristics of this. Obedience training really helps with this. Keep a close eye on the dog when it is around your son. I know you will be extra careful now anyway but you will know when there is trouble brewing. The dog wlil go very still, and focus on whoever it is pissed off at. There might be a bit of a curled lip. Rarely are there no warning signs when dogs bite. It's more that we as humans don't recognize the body language. There are very subtle cues here that you need to be watching out for. As soon as you see *any* of those cues, put him in the crate. He will learn that if he wants to be around you he better not do that. Last but not least, your puppy is young still, and there's plenty of time to get this turned around before it gets any worse or ever happens again. If you need to , contact a behaviorist and get professional help. Good luck!

That's a good point, the down or lay command doesnt' come very naturally to many breeds, because it puts the dog into a submissive position. This is a command you need to teach the dog with all family members. As the one poster said, try persuading the dog to lay down with a treat to start off with, then push it over till its laying on the side. Hold the dog down by the neck (pull the front legs out from under it if you have to) until the dog relaxes. This lack of struggle is usually accompanied by a deep sigh, this is submission. Then have the other family members pet her while she is flat on her side. Talk soothingly to her and such as you're doing it so it's as pleasant as possible. Have treats handy for all family member sto give her while she is down. Practice this a lot! She'll get the idea.

My youngest is 8 and she can dominace roll my 89 pound rock solid Import male but he is use to it. we make him do it weekly since he was a puppy. males are usually the more dominate but some bitchs are too. lots of praise for good behavior and i find haveing the kids work the dog with dog cookies helps alot too. make sure you are there to back your kids up though. and the pup learns the child is boss too. dont let him bolt though the door before the kids either that is a dominace thing too.

First keep the dog off the couch and don't pat a dog just for the fun of it. We sometimes don't even realize that we are petting the dogs, but the dog is paying attention.Make the dog work for this attention.The son should start an obediance class with the pup. The problem so far is between the pup and the boy so he needs to get help.Put a leash on the dog if you have trouble correcting her, don't use the crate to punish, you don't want her to hate the crate.The dominant animals of your pack are allowed on the couch only so that means only people!!!Make her sit for her meals and only leave food down for 10-15 min then take away.as leaders you are incontrol of food and affection!!