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Bullmastiff dog aggression

janfree

Member
I had a terrible experience today. I let my doodle and Bully out to run in the yard (my bully is two). The yard is totally fenced and the dogs are completely contained. It has a 6 foot chain link fence and two large car gates. They bark and growl when other dogs go by. My bully is much calmer than my doodle and he just kind of follows her on her rampages around the perimeter of the property.

Today a woman had her tiny little dog on an extended leash. He was a cute little thing and very spunky. I heard the commotion and went outside just in time to see the little guy get under my fence. My bully grabbed him by the neck, shook him and broke his neck. It took 5 seconds.

It was absolutely heart breaking. The woman was in shock. She wanted to take him to the vet for help but it was useless. He was just hanging off his leash. I got a towel for her little baby and drove her to the vet for cremation. She didn't blame me, she blamed herself but my heart goes out to her.

I know I can't blame my bully as the dog did come onto his property, but I'm concerned about taking him on walks now. There are a lot of dogs on leash in my neighbourhood so I always run into someone and he's always fine. He's always been well behaved and is very mellow on the leash. And he doesn't seem to have a problem with people. He ridiculously friendly, slobber and all. I don't take him to off leash dog parks as my breeder said it was not a good idea once he becomes full grown.

Is this dog aggression normal?
 

DDSK

Well-Known Member
How horribly sad, I know how you feel.
I had two retrievers get out once and they killed a neighbors dog.
 

Hector

Well-Known Member
It may have been territorial aggression or maybe prey driven. At least it was a quick death. Your dog definitely knows how to kill.
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
OH NO!
What an awful thing for you and the little dog's owner. :(
So glad the dog's owner is not blaming your BM! Sometimes bad things just happen quickly, and we humans are too slow to stop them.

I wouldn't make this one event the end of everything for your BM, though... was the little dog seen as a playtoy? prey? a threat? hard to say.

I'd go out and challenge him around other dogs (on a good sturdy leash in a controlled area), big and small, and see if this was more a confrontation at his property with a little yipper (who may have been giving off 'impolite' signals) than any signal that your guy has any underlying issues. Try not to anticipate any bad reactions... just observe and be ready to redirect as needed. My guess is that he does not have a problem out in public, and just didn't react well to a "barking squirrel" that ran into his mouth.
 

Th0r

Well-Known Member
Territorial or not, that is lethal aggresion and may be a sign of things to come. Small dogs always get a pass with bigger dogs except if the bigger dog is dog aggressive!
Not sure where you can go from here. If they are genetically dog aggressive, it's hard to train out of it as opposed to a dog that has been trained to be aggressive.

Sent from my SM-G920W8
 

angelbears

Well-Known Member
It is very sad and I'm very sorry for the little dog. Thank god it was in your fenced backyard or you and your dogs would have been blamed. As I said I'm just sick that a little dog had to lose it's life but people have got to learn that no matter how cute or how small it is, it can't be allowed to run upon things.

I'm sure most will disagree with me but I would never trust him with small "prey like" animals again. He has proven he knows what to do with it and is very efficient in doing so.
 

MWNORWOOD

Active Member
My BM went with us to the mother-in-law's last September and spent the whole time in the house with my wife, mom-in-law and her dog a tiny yorkie-poo. The yorkie had been aggressive towards Banner (my BM) since we got there. This wasn't their first meeting and banner never showed any aggression no matter how much he growled and snarled at her. So, I had to leave but warned them that just because banner isn't reacting to growls doesn't mean she won't react to anything else and to pay attention to them. Well, what happened? Mother-in-law decided to introduce a new toy and her yorkie poo became possessive and aggressive. Banner walked up on him from behind and he spun around and bit her in the face. She grabbed ahold of him between the stomach and hip and punctured his stomach and cut him pretty bad on his leg. She just grabbed and held on while he flung himself about. Called the vet but it was no use. The event took place on a friday late, yorkie-poo passed Sunday morning. Now my wife thinks Banner might be mean and aggressive towards another dog. But totally not the case. We got our new mastiffX Stark a few months later and they are besties. We still walk with other dogs around. She doesn't seem to care what another dog is doing if there is no perceived aggression in the other dog. If she senses that she gets pissed.

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Lisa P

Well-Known Member
I am so sorry this happened! We have a guy that walks his 3 jack Russell's off leash in the Cemetery behind us and they challenge my dog every time! I am just waiting for one of them to stick their head through the fence! I try to get mine in before he sees them coming.
Just my opinion but your dog was protecting his property ,the other dog had no business coming under your fence,I am so happy that the other owner is not blaming your dog,as tragic as it is it was totally her fault for letting her dog get so close,who does that? Let's go see the giant worked up dogs???
I know you feel terrible about it,I would too but it doesn't automatically mean he is dog agressive,just protective in that situation
 

SG1

Well-Known Member
You ask if this behavior is normal. Let's just say it is not unusual. Ur dog is 2-0, just be careful around dogs that are not apart of Ur pack.

If the new member of Ur pack is a male u will have to watch them carefully for as long as u have them. Not so much if it is a female, usually.
 

AR-HICK

Well-Known Member
Bullmastiff's are dog aggressive, but can be socialized to not be that way. The socialization can never stop and you must be on your toes at all times when introducing your dog to another or out in public. A dog in our yard does gets a full on I"M WATCHING YOU treatment! The least bit of attitude from the intruder will result going from WATCH to ATTACK mode in a split second deserved or not. So far this has only been corrections for me, but a very small dog it would not be pretty.

Now it is a question what do you want from your dog? I seriously doubt if you can do enough training to remove the PROTECT mode from your BM. It was his yard and a intruder came in. I would recommend training and socialization to keep this from happening outside of your yard. According to my trainer 3 year old dogs are the biggest problem so with that being said it may be a good time for training. As for what happened I am sorry, but you need to be very careful in the future. Here is a story my trainer told me.

Norman a BM escaped and was running thru the neighborhood. When he comes upon a woman walking a small dog. The small dog goes nuts barking at Norman and he runs up and shakes the small dog to death(5 seconds or less). The woman tried to get Norman euthanized and it took my trainer and many other character witnesses to stop that from happening. Norman was protecting the woman from the crazy little dog or so my trainer seems to think, but she had given her crazy to the little dog and it was just a extension of her crazy (my opinion, we have all met these people). I don't know what it cost Norman's owner for legal expenses, but it was not a good situation and Norman had to be rehomed to another town as part of his agreement. Norman didn't have the best owner in the world, but it was just a bad situation and almost cost Norman his life.

I told you that story as a warning, not to say that you are a bad owner. Bully's are great dogs and I wouldn't trade mine for a 1000 little dogs! There is a whole different set of rules that apply to owning a big dog and we must be responsible large dog owners and I am so glad that the small dog owner was understanding about what happened.
 

karennj

Well-Known Member
Probably just territorial aggression but honestly I would not chance that happening off your property and would keep out of dog parks or any off leash situation. I would also not allow my dog to meet unknown dogs on leash if that had happened. You now know that your dog is able to kill and can do so in seconds. I would reinforce the bottom of the fence if possible and put up warning signs.
 

dusky21

Active Member
This is an interesting thread as we are experiencing similar problems. Our BM is at 14 months and loves other dogs outside of our yard. We take her to the dog park once or twice a week and she plays great with other dogs, and has never showed any aggression. Unfortunately we rent and share a fence with our neighbors, they have a large lab and a small yorkie or something. We are extremely careful and supervise when we let the dog out in the backyard, however, our neighbors are not. Numerous times we will be out with the dogs and they let their dogs out. Immediately their yorkie goes to the fence in attack mode, which triggers our BM and our pitbull mix to the fence and it is an all out brawl - luckily separated by the fence. However, the gaps in the fence are large enough for a snout to fit through and b/c we rent I am not allowed to change it. Anyways, we have warned the neighbor and they really anger me b/c they are too lazy to look out their window before letting the dogs out. I am worried that if the yorkie slips through the fence that will be the end, the pitbull has already bit her on the snout once and our neighbors still don't seem to care. Thus far they are always first to apologize and admit fault, however, it scares me to think of what could happen if my dogs end up killing theirs.
 

Kpax

Member
It's hard to offer opinion on this situation without offending anyone. If it were me I would never trust the dog again, and once trust is lost we all know that leads to an unhealthy relationship. It is very sad indeed.
 

dpenning

Well-Known Member
Since you are renting could you do something temporary? I used this company and put the screen btween me and my neighbor's dogs. Fence Windscreen, Privacy Screen & Construction Tarp Products - Fence Screen
It worked quite well, the air goes through it but it would't hurt to use a soldering iron to put a few little scoop cutouts to allow for better wind tolerance if you live somewhere really windy.
This is an interesting thread as we are experiencing similar problems. Our BM is at 14 months and loves other dogs outside of our yard. We take her to the dog park once or twice a week and she plays great with other dogs, and has never showed any aggression. Unfortunately we rent and share a fence with our neighbors, they have a large lab and a small yorkie or something. We are extremely careful and supervise when we let the dog out in the backyard, however, our neighbors are not. Numerous times we will be out with the dogs and they let their dogs out. Immediately their yorkie goes to the fence in attack mode, which triggers our BM and our pitbull mix to the fence and it is an all out brawl - luckily separated by the fence. However, the gaps in the fence are large enough for a snout to fit through and b/c we rent I am not allowed to change it. Anyways, we have warned the neighbor and they really anger me b/c they are too lazy to look out their window before letting the dogs out. I am worried that if the yorkie slips through the fence that will be the end, the pitbull has already bit her on the snout once and our neighbors still don't seem to care. Thus far they are always first to apologize and admit fault, however, it scares me to think of what could happen if my dogs end up killing theirs.
 

dusky21

Active Member
That is a gread idea! I never thought about that, and with it being as cheap as it is, that could be a fix for under $50. Thanks for the suggestion!
Since you are renting could you do something temporary? I used this company and put the screen btween me and my neighbor's dogs. Fence Windscreen, Privacy Screen & Construction Tarp Products - Fence Screen
It worked quite well, the air goes through it but it would't hurt to use a soldering iron to put a few little scoop cutouts to allow for better wind tolerance if you live somewhere really windy.
 

Sinnister

Well-Known Member
I'm not very experienced with this breed as my BM is 2 years old as well. But the situation you describe sounds understandable to me. Sad? Very. But the dog was on your property.

I would not punish your dog for acting like the breed tends to. If the dog is fine on walks (on leash) there is no reason to overreact. Mistrust? Why? The other dog came on to your property. With a BM it could go either way in that case. For the other dog it went badly. Not your fault.

And to be honest,I do blame the other owner. Don't let your dog go into another persons yard. Its really not hard to prevent that from happening if your dog is on leash.
 

janfree

Member
Thanks for all of your wonderful support. I realize my bully was just doing what he was genetically programmed to do. But I also realize that I must always be diligent out in public, especially around other dogs. I have put out signs and reinforced the bottom of the fence, but the gate is a weak spot for other dogs. Mine are too big to get under it. Hitch is a lovely dog around people and his biggest problem is trying to climb on top of them and lick them to death. He does listen well though and calms down as soon as he realizes it is a friend not foe. He is much calmer than my doodle and people fall in love with him very quickly. Just one look into those intelligent, loving eyes is enough for me. I work very hard at training my dogs and socializing them. They have never been subjected to negative punishment. If I come home to some kind of mess I just look at them and say "really?" They are instantly mortified at their behaviour (of course, being creatures that live in the moment, that doesn't last).

Last, but not least, I was approached by animal control about a week after it happened. The woman wasn't quite as humble as she was originally. They checked the fence and gates and told me that I had done nothing against any bylaws.

Strangely, a female pit bull lives next door and using a bench she jumped over the fence into our yard. Hitch had a great time with her but he was only a year at the time.

Anyway, I love my dogs and I'm not going to get rid of them. I just have to be more careful. Thank you again for all of your wonderful advice. This is a great forum. And for the people who were kind of negative, I appreciated your voice as well. We always need to see both sides of the story.
 

Rugers-Kris

Well-Known Member
I'm way late on this thread and am very glad that you decided not to judge your dog harshly. Your dog was not in the wrong nor were you and this incident does not mean you have a dog aggressive dog. People have a tendency to overreact when something like this happens. I'm sorry for what happened to the little dog but that is the fault of his owner. Neither one of my boys are dog aggressive at all. Ruger (EM) will fight in the situation where another dog attacks him but he has zero aggression towards other dogs. I walk them both without issue and they don't react at all to dogs behind fences or on leashes that act crazy and bark and growl at them. They know are dogs and can play without a problem. Having said that, if a stranger dog came into the yard (especially threatening) it would be over quickly for sure. The other dog came into his yard unexpectedly and he did what he believed he needed to. I'm sure mine isn't the popular opinion but it is what it is.

There is no reason to mistrust your dog. Should you keep an eye on him? Sure! But we should all be doing that regardless.

Someone in this thread said that little dogs always get a pass with bigger dogs unless the bigger dog is dog aggressive and that is simply not true. Most times PUPPIES will get a pass but not necessarily a small dog. Dogs tend to know that puppies are babies but the can't be expected to be challenged by a smaller dog and not react.

The only other thing is prey drive. Which for most means all small animals and critters are considered prey and will be killed but reading your story and how he reacts out walking and such, it doesn't sound like the case to me.

Also, I wouldn't worry about the new pup being make as someone else suggested. If you are training your dogs and teaching them what is and is not acceptable there shouldn't be an issue just because they are both makes even if you BM killed what he believed was a threat.

Good luck to you.


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Sinnister

Well-Known Member
There is no reason to mistrust your dog. Should you keep an eye on him? Sure! But we should all be doing that regardless.

Someone in this thread said that little dogs always get a pass with bigger dogs unless the bigger dog is dog aggressive and that is simply not true. Most times PUPPIES will get a pass but not necessarily a small dog. Dogs tend to know that puppies are babies but the can't be expected to be challenged by a smaller dog and not react.

The only other thing is prey drive. Which for most means all small animals and critters are considered prey and will be killed but reading your story and how he reacts out walking and such, it doesn't sound like the case to me.

Also, I wouldn't worry about the new pup being make as someone else suggested. If you are training your dogs and teaching them what is and is not acceptable there shouldn't be an issue just because they are both makes even if you BM killed what he believed was a threat.

Good luck to you.


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This x100

It's not about size it's about age. A pup gets a pass not a small pushy intruder.