Hello.

I am the owner of a 1 yr old, male, English Bulldog. We got him when he was 4 months old and he has always been very calm, passive, and loving toward everyone - including other dogs, strangers, etc. We got him neutered when he was 9 months old. The past few months he has been suddenly more aggressive with me, but not my husband at all. We try to put him on his back as "discipline," like our breeder told us to but he doesn't seem to understand that I am in charge. He listens to my husband - but not to me at all.

It was bearable until the past few weeks when he began getting playful and excited outside to the point where he would just run and run and run - which I don't mind.. but then when I would try to get near him he would get very aggressive and snarl, growl, and actually bite me. When he first started doing it - it seemed like a game to him, but not it is at the point where I do not like taking him out by myself because he has bitten me to the point of breaking skin.

We are just at wits end. We tried obedience training when he was 5-6 months old and he just laid on the floor while all the other dogs were learning. We have tried "dominance training" as per his breeder as well as click training.

I have heard of the pennies in a can trick but he seems to be very skittish around MANY household objects like the broom, or anything that makes noise - so I think shaking a can with pennies would send him over the edge.

I have thought about just leashing him all the time in our back yard, that way there is no chase to get him inside which may be what is getting him excited but when you put a leash on him he cowls down like it is going to hurt him and won't go potty.

Please? Any suggestions would be so helpful.

Stop rolling him over. This was once thought to be effective based on studies from the 1940's studying wolf packs. later it was found that rolling on the back was not forced upon the dog, but more that the dogs offered this position as a sign of submission.

Aggression really needs to be seen in person to see what is causing it. I tried dominace theory based training when I first started training dogs. I found, along with many other people like yourself. that it really does not work. And a lot of time exhasturbates the problem. I am not bashing your breeder. But when I get advice from people I ask them a few questions. What are thier accomplishments in training? Why do they think it works? I have found that I used to think Vets, breeders, and even dog trainers all believe they are right. I am super skeptical now. I need proof.

If you could video tape the behavior and post it on you tube or sennd me a PM with it or at best describe the behavior as in as much detail as possible, I maybe able to help more.

This behavior you say is isolated to you. That makes things very interesting. somewhere it is specific to your relationship with the dog. Which is good. Because that means if you change your relationship it has a probablity rate it will go away.

And do not throw out the clicker yet. Clicker training is good for teaching Obedience but not good for Behavior Mod. As you have found.

So is the dog biting you in response to punishment, or out of fustration to get a toy or other resource, to protect a resource it already has, or maybe some outisdre stimulus like noise is causing this? Or is just drive...the dog is just getting so excited they are getting out of control. I have seen this in a lot of dogs. It's not really aggression, but thier little brain short circuits from all the excitement.

The problem I found with dominace based training theories is they all require you to be in conflict with the dog. To basically engage in a fight with them at some degree. This is exactly the problem the dog is engaging in a conflict with you. You cannot put out a fire with fire. And once you start you are in a fight with the dog. you cannot stop, and you have to succeed each and every time. If the dog gets what he wants, he will view this like anyother reward...it worked. So you have to keep going till you get a desired response....by any means necassary. You can see if the dog gets real crazy. this can be pretty nasty.

Keep an open mind, try to keep your emotions under control. We already have one creature who's emotions are getting the best of them.


One thing you can try is keep a rope slip leash on the dog the line does not have to be long, maybe 12-18 inches long, plus the loop. A lot of times the dog will start to get amped before it bites, when you see this calmly and with a word, pick the dog up off it's front feet so you cut off his airway. you will see him struggle a little, then when you see he is more focused on getting air than biting you. put him down, calmly. this is not a jerk em'up punishment. This is to change thier mind about what they are thinking about. Also, this is not a fight with the dog. Calm, Calm, Calm. The nice thing about this is if it does not work. I have never seen it make a problem worse. If you place the dog back down, and he revs again...repeat. This is not to cause pain but to just to bring the dog out of the red zone. Ceasar Millan does this one a lot.

A good book is fiesty fido. Written by one of the most successful behaviortists in America. Dr. McConnell.

And the pennies thing, Is a tough one, the dog cannot know it's coming from you. or they will revert back if they think you do not have the pennies. And also, they will know it's really just a can pennies and nothing to fear.

The more I read your post it sounds like the dog is not dominate, he actually seems to be quiet worried about his saftey. Is there anything you may have done to make him worry about you? I do not mean that in a judgemental way. God knows I have done similar things.

And chasing him is an activity once started you have to finish. You cannot stop mid way and switch to another tactic not matter how long it takes because the dog will learn you will give up before him. and even if takes 3 hours and he decides to finally you cannot scold him. Then he learns coming to you gets a punisment.

So, because the dog is soft to things like rooms and rolling is not working. I highly doubt our dog is doing this because he wants power. I think he wants security.