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My 2 year old male bullmastiff is at times aggresive with people and I need help!
I have a 2 year old bullmastiff male who started out lunging at people on walks. I will take the blame for not socializing him as much as I should have when he was younger. He is fixed. He is now 150lbs and can knock people over. Once he meets someone he is such a good loveable dog after he just makes horrible first impressions. We took him to a agression specialist and it seemed to work for awhile but now he is back to being aggressive with people. With some people he is fine but with others he will jump and lunge at them. Tonight he jumped on a family friend (I must note she entered the house without knocking) He bit at her arm. This is the first time he has tried to bite someone but now I am so fearful he will do it to someone else. Once he meets someone he is such a great dog its unbelieveable that he was ever mean to them. Im nervous to take him out to meet new people and I do not want to get rid of him but training has not worked and I do not know what to do. I feel hopeless.
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Guest 351958
on Jul 12th 2009
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in Aggression
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hmm . I bet your mastiff is a sweety but the first impressions aren't that great . Don't worry , I think there's still time to fix this , it isn't even into the really bad stages yet . You could try this , get an experienced friend or family member & make a scenario . He/she will walk down the street one way while you go the other , so you 2 & your mastiff will meet up along the way . Do a meet and greet & see the reaction , if your dog is really getting agressive i would bring him back to the aggression behaviouralist you brought him/her to before , i don't want anyone getting hurt here . A tip is to always make sure YOU are the pack leader NOT your pooch . good luck , i do feel your mastiff is a loving boy/girl but just has to get more socialized . many daily outings are essential to hopfully cure this bad habit, good luck!
Leila
answered on 7/12/09.
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Without enough info its hard to tell whats really going on here. You really need the help of a trained behaivourist that specializes in aggression.
Without more information, I would suspect that you are STILL not socializing him as much as you need to.
You must control the situation and work slowly so that he doesn't become excited or anxious.
BTW, socializing him will be an on going project that should be done every day for the rest of his life. It is not just a one time thing.
Neka
answered on 7/12/09.
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How much have you been working on his greeting of people? Do you put him through his paces when you're out walking? If not, then you definetely need to. Do you also have him on a Gentle Leader? If not, then you need to have him wearing one. It's a collar/harness that goes around his muzzle and neck and makes controlling him much easier for you and can stop the lunging before it starts. It isn't a muzzle, it's just a strap that goes around his muzzle so you can control him better. It's a very popular training tool.
Whatever your behaviorist/trainer taught you (hopefully it's positive reinforcement stuff), then you need to put it into action on every single walk. And are you walking him twice a day? If not, start.
You need to work on this every single day otherwise it won't go away by itself. I have a dog who likes to lunge at dogs and even though he doesn't do it much anymore (because I worked hard to make it go away), on every single walk or venture outside, we work on it.
Guest 404377
answered on 7/13/09.
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intorduce him slowly if he starts to lunge pull him in the other direction. also use a head collar u can usually get one at any pet store. it goes over the dogs nose so when he pulls it turns his head around.
Guest 832487
answered on 7/13/09.
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