Rescue dog needs some training, nipping.

Neilw

Hi all,

We recently got a rescue bull terrier, he’s 5 years old and a lovely guy.
We have had female bull terriers for the past 20 years but he is the first male we have had. He is neutered.
The females were all very placid.

He has some problems, he’s very stubborn...like he’s the boss.
When we eat at the table he barks looking for food, we always eat first.
He doesn’t like to be outside and scratches at the door constantly, he lives inside but obviously he needs to be out now and then.
The biggest issue is he tends to nip looking for attention, only very lightly mind you but it’s not a nice trait.

He has no aggression whatsoever, he’s great with people and kids it’s just the few things above I would like to try and put a stop to.

Any thoughts on how to try and tackle these issues?

Thanks

loveisdivine

Neilw wrote: »

Hi all,


When we eat at the table he barks looking for food, we always eat first.

Thanks

I can't really offer much advice except on this part. I don't really understand why you would eat first and make the dog sit watching you eat? The dog is a part of the family unit, you should eat together. What does you eating first achieve? Other than winding up a hungry dog?

Doop

loveisdivine wrote: »

I can't really offer much advice except on this part. I don't really understand why you would eat first and make the dog sit watching you eat? The dog is a part of the family unit, you should eat together. What does you eating first achieve? Other than winding up a hungry dog?

It lets the dog know hes not the leader of the pack and is subservient to the humans who live there.

loveisdivine

Doop wrote: »

It lets the dog know hes not the leader of the pack and is subservient to the humans who live there.

That is what I'm expecting the reasoning to be. However it's deeply flawed. Pack theory is outdated and proven to be damaging to dogs. A very quick google will reveal all.

It's based on captive wolf pack behaviour. Is that what you want to create in your home? An aggression based dynamic?

Respect the animal as a member of the family, treat it as so.

tiredblondie

Mine gets fed first in the morning and gets fed at the same time as us in the evening (if not first, depending on what i'm making!)
I couldn't sit there and watch her hungry watching me eating (she's still a little mooch but that's not something that ever bothered me!)
I couldn't imagine thinking of her being a "subservient to the humans", she's part of the family and has always and will always be treated like the princess that she deserves to be treated as!

cocker5

Doop wrote: »

It lets the dog know hes not the leader of the pack and is subservient to the humans who live there.

Completely out dated thinking here .. dogs don’t think like that at all... please do some research

charlietheminxx

For the dinner time issue- have you considered trying a lickimat? You can either mash wet food or dry food softened with warm water into them and it takes the dog a while to eat it. We give our girl her evening food on one of these while we have dinner so she’s busy and not making sad puppy eyes at us from her bed! She’s a bin of a staffie cross and it keeps her busy for at least 10 minutes. Could be a good way to break the barking habit!

deadlybuzzman

As far as the nipping goes, when my dog was young she used to nip and as she was a bull breed I was terrified of that getting out of hand as she got older.
After a bit of research one theory I read was that I a pup nips a litter mate too hard the offending pup learns not to do it again as the bitten dog will go away and not play with them.
So based on that when I got nipped I'd turn my back and ignore her until she calmed down and it worked.

makeandcreate

First off - Congrats on a Bully - but they do like to be Boss. I rehomed mine at 2 - he's now nearer 8 and still tries to bully me. Ignoring him and putting him outside works to an extent and he is a lot calmer than he used to be but every so often despite being neutered he goes nuts and tears the arm off a sofa - he also sucks the end of cushions and then one day you come home and he's eviscerated it - usually when we've been busy and not home much.
I think it goes with the territory of an EBT - you can socialise them, walk them, mine is great with kids and other dogs but he gets too easily wound up when playing, usually instigated by male friends who then wonder why he's trying to take a chunk out of their sleeves.
He will try and figure out who is most likely to give in to him - he doesn't bother my oldest daughter as she is not a dog lover but he'd bark in front of me when i am eating, as I had got into the bad habit of sharing my lunch with him when I was home, so he now associates me eating with him eating.
I have had other large dog breeds before and a bully really is a stubborn jackass but so entertaining.
Just be consistent and firm. He will get there eventually.

sillysmiles

For the food thing, I always feed my dog around the same time every evening regardless of whether we have eaten or not. As others have said the subservient to humans thing is rubbish. He isn't thinking like that. He is thinking you are eating and he wants some.
Have you trained him to go to his bed/corner/mat/crate on command?
Personally I would start by feeding him and then when he is begging/barking - you get up and place him back on his spot. Every. Single.Time until he learns that, that is where he has to be to while you are eating. It takes time and repetition and consistency but it is possible.

loveisdivine

sillysmiles wrote: »

For the food thing, I always feed my dog around the same time every evening regardless of whether we have eaten or not. As others have said the subservient to humans thing is rubbish. He isn't thinking like that. He is thinking you are eating and he wants some.
Have you trained him to go to his bed/corner/mat/crate on command?
Personally I would start by feeding him and then when he is begging/barking - you get up and place him back on his spot. Every. Single.Time until he learns that, that is where he has to be to while you are eating. It takes time and repetition and consistency but it is possible.

I agree, but make sure to feed the dog before returning him to his spot. It would be cruel IMO, to try and force a hungry dog to sit away from the food.

Neilw

Thanks for all the replies, we have started feeding him at the same time as we eat and has helped a lot. He still has some outbursts but we can live with that.

Will move on to the nipping, he does it to get attention so will try the ignoring when he next does it.