New Puppy with extreme aggression problems- please help!!!

[HeatherP]

As a quick back story, my parents (bless their hearts) are huge animal lovers, and after we had to put our 10 year old dog to sleep, they were desperately wanting a new puppy once the grieving had passed. Originally the plan was to go to a breeder, take our time, etc... yet when the family walked by a pet store on Christmas eve and saw the cutest English bulldog they had ever seen sitting there, they had to have him. Several of our family friends are 'bully' enthusiasts, and we have been planning on buying an english bulldog for some time so we had done our homework and studied up on the breed, what to expect, etc.

The pet store spun a good story about how he was AKC certified, he comes from a reputable breeder from Iowa, that he is very well socialized, etc... but after about 10 days with this little guy, I am at my wits end and the whole family is terrified of him. Our family is no stranger to puppies- puppy playfulness, the desire to chew on EVERYTHING, the boundless energy, all of that was expected; however this little guy showed up the first day seeming to think he was a fighting dog. The second he is let out of his crate in the morning (after crying and howling ALL NIGHT every night with seemingly no sleep, which means no sleep for me either) he will immediately charge/attack whoever lets him out. I will then let him out to use the bathroom (with him attacking my heels as i try to walk out past him first, and a 10 minute tussle over it), let him back in and then sit down to eat my breakfast in front of him before feeding him to show him I am alpha (we had the whole family do this originally, but after 2 attacks and the 9 year old running away in fear, we now just alternate 1-2 people at a time doing this). I then go to work and whoever is off for the day takes over, spending the day playing with him, walking him, basically just trying to wear him out. When I come home from work the family then eats together (again in front of him) before he is fed... theoretically we are doing everything right, according to the books.

However somewhere we are failing, because this little guy is a monster. He will attack everything and everyone with seemingly no reason. You cannot be on the ground near him because he will go straight for your face (found that one out the hard way, and ended up with 2 stitches in my ear, and 3 stitches in my moms lower lip on a separate occasion). We try to put him on his back and show him we are the Alphas, which has always worked in the past with our past dogs, but this only seems to enrage him further, and one slip up means he gets a chance to tear your arm. When my 9 year old sister tries to go anywhere near him he will growl and lunge at her at times, and then at other times completely ignore her even when she tries to play with him (I am trying to teach her not to be afraid of him, but the hostility and sharp puppy teeth has her so terrified she wont come near him anymore). Last night he went after our family cat who he had previously been ignoring/not seeming interested in, and I almost earned a few more stitches last night separating the two.
I am at my wits end, I don't know what else to do with this dog. I have been reading every book/article/forum I can get my hands on, but this dog a) doesn't respond to any of the suggested training techniques, and the more I try to positively enforce good behavior and discipline bad ones, the worse he just seems to get. And he is only 2 months old!!!!

Today my mother contacted the pet store saying she needs help, and all they said was that they could take him back and then euthanize him because of his obvious temperament issues. We refuse to give up on this dog, but at the same time I'm at my wits end, both with the lack of sleep and the concern I have for my family, especially my 9 year old sister. I realize this can't be normal for a bulldog, but its hard to have a family dog that the whole family is now terrified of. Any advice/tips/suggestions anyone could provide would be incredibly helpful, and I would really appreciate it.

[mtc]

Till someone far more knowledgeable gets to chime in, I'd recomment a full vet workup, AND - I'd stop that "show him I'm the alpha put him on his back" thing.  He IS still a baby.

(that's just my personal feeling on that though - same with pokey collars! )

Find a good trainer too!

[khybeemaow]

I agree with everything MTC said. And I'll repeat that you need to get him checked out by a vet. The behavior that you describe is very unusual for a 2 month old puppy 

[hoegaandit]

Hi

Firstly I’d like to commend you very much for wanting to work through the issues rather than giving up on this puppy.

This behavior certainly seems rather unusual for any puppy. That said, it does seem you and your parents are perhaps not used to bully breeds. Hundreds of years ago they were fighting dogs and we can still see some of that underneath our lovely mainly placid boy, who will growl fiercely if we want to take his ball away from him, and can be very ferocious if he thinks his family is at risk. Although our boy does not play too much with other dogs, I understand that some bullies can play particularly rough eg grabbing hold of the jowls of the other dog.

I would incidentally also keep my face away from any puppy until I felt confident that he knew to be careful, and of course puppies have needle sharp teeth, and as you note are full of boundless energy.

Mainly I think this little fellow is just a puppy, not sure of things and trying to find his way. He needs support and guidance. For support, it seems to me that he is clearly distressed when left alone at night. A dog is a pack animal and it is distressing to be left alone for what seems to him a very long period, until he gets used to that. When our boy was little he slept next to me on the carpet, and I would reach my arm out and comfort him if need be in the night. Some people let their dogs sleep on their bed (like a pack situation). I think if you take some steps like that you will build your relationship with your puppy and his anxiety will diminish.

As regards dominating your puppy, I don’t look at things that way. A puppy is just a little thing, who does not know right from wrong. I don’t believe your pup thinks he is a fighting dog at all. If he nips his littermates they will squeal telling him it was too hard. If a pup gets out of line his (dog) mother will correct him. (Not too sure about this as it’s a long while since we had a litter, but I’ve read of bitches grabbing the pup around the neck and giving him a bit of a shake).

I’m not a believer in that alpha stuff (eating before your dog, not letting him out the door before you etc). Our boy is a really dominant huge bully (90lbs) who does sometimes intimidate other dogs, and always fights back the once a year or so he is attacked by a bigger dog. However he can eat before me, get on the furniture when he likes, leads the walks (we walk off lead, even on the suburban streets) etc. I would certainly never alpha roll him. My rule has been to make the rules very clear from day one (eg no chewing of the washing) and consistently enforce that. I’m kinda old fashioned in my approach to dogs and would not hesitate to give the pup a smack if he was behaving the way he seems to have been doing. But that discipline is only if needed (very sparingly) and not done in anger.

I’d also find lots of toys (can be cheap ones) for your puppy to chew, and redirect him when he’s chewing what he shouldn’t.

I think it essential you (and your sister) go to a puppy obedience class.

Once the pup’s had his shots and can walk outside I’d take him for walks, although you mustn’t walk a puppy too much. Your sister could take him, once he’s learned to walk on lead.

There are lots of stories of rambunctious puppies who have settled down in later life to be calm, placid peaceful dogs. That’s mainly the case with our boy.

You can do it! Give the little guy a chance! Best of luck!

[ksdstny]

that poor little baby. he sounds scared and when they are scared they can be very aggressive. an 8 wk old puppy is a little thing, you shouldnt have alot of trouble controlling him. when mine would want to nip or naw at us with there needle teeth i would put my thumb on the bottom of the inside of their mouths and say no. i also was known to spray myself with bitter apple.

you can also tether him to you with a leash and he needs to go whereever you go. im not one to do the alpha roll, i think there are much better ways. i would def. contact a trainer and you SHOULD be able to contact the breeder, the pet shop should have breeder info and you should have that info on the pups papers.

good luck