Hi. I am new to the site. I recently adopted a 4 year old male Dogue de Bordeaux. He's been with us 1 month. We also have a 1 and a half year old female DDB who is the dominant dog in the house. We've raised her since a pup and she's been given a tremendous amount of socialization and has completed advanced obedience training. She is waiting to complete the CGC. Our new boy, who is controllable on leash, has good house manners and responds to basic obedience but has given us some trouble which is probably just because he's adjusting/testing us. He displayed some territorial behavior within the first week with his food and toys which we quickly responded to with basic discipline - the nothing in life is free approach. Within a week we had him under control in the house.
However, he has on several occasions randomly lunged, growled and snapped at someone in the park where we walk both our dogs regularly. The first person was an old man, the second was a female jogger. The most recent was a young tall man who was at a safe distance and minding his business listening to his headphones. I don’t even think the guy noticed that he did it which I’m glad for because it’s embarrassing. I immediately yanked him away, told him he was a bad boy and made him lay down until he looked up at me and acknowledged me. We walked home and mostly ignored him for the rest of the afternoon. This was toward the end of our walk and there were lots of people that walked by with and without dogs at the same or even closer distance and he didn’t react at all. In fact, he was great on the walk until that moment. I know I didn’t send any anxiety down the leash so I’m a little perplexed.
From what I learned from his foster family and my own observation, it seems he wasn't given a lot of socialization, either with other dogs or on walks. He's great in the house and very tolerant with kids. It's outside that he's unpredictable. For the most part, he behaves beautifully on the walk. When he sees other dogs, particularly small dogs, he's very interested and wants to go toward them although he's easily controlled with the leash. If he gets the chance to meet a dog, he's usually very dominant in his posturing - all puffed up and forward on the leash, towering over the other dog and if I had to say he'd attempt to mount immediately. He's done that with the other dogs he lived with in the foster home for 3 months before he got to us and has been bitten a couple of times. He simply doesn't know how to greet and talk doggie language. So, no dog park for him. If other dogs bark or growl at him, he doesn't respond at all. He's just interested. He and my female get along fantastically, though and for the most part he's a very good boy.
Any insight into this random behavior would be most helpful. We plan on taking him to obedience class in the fall with a trusted dog trainer/behavioralist to continue to train him with the distraction of being around other dogs. In the meantime, we've been taking him on pack walks led by our trainer and he's done great. I'm hopeful he can be trained out of this but I have a strong feeling that the guardian instinct is strong with these breeds and they can never be fully trusted not to attempt to "guard" us when not appropriate or needed. I'm only happy that he's able to be controlled on leash as he's 125 lbs.
However, he has on several occasions randomly lunged, growled and snapped at someone in the park where we walk both our dogs regularly. The first person was an old man, the second was a female jogger. The most recent was a young tall man who was at a safe distance and minding his business listening to his headphones. I don’t even think the guy noticed that he did it which I’m glad for because it’s embarrassing. I immediately yanked him away, told him he was a bad boy and made him lay down until he looked up at me and acknowledged me. We walked home and mostly ignored him for the rest of the afternoon. This was toward the end of our walk and there were lots of people that walked by with and without dogs at the same or even closer distance and he didn’t react at all. In fact, he was great on the walk until that moment. I know I didn’t send any anxiety down the leash so I’m a little perplexed.
From what I learned from his foster family and my own observation, it seems he wasn't given a lot of socialization, either with other dogs or on walks. He's great in the house and very tolerant with kids. It's outside that he's unpredictable. For the most part, he behaves beautifully on the walk. When he sees other dogs, particularly small dogs, he's very interested and wants to go toward them although he's easily controlled with the leash. If he gets the chance to meet a dog, he's usually very dominant in his posturing - all puffed up and forward on the leash, towering over the other dog and if I had to say he'd attempt to mount immediately. He's done that with the other dogs he lived with in the foster home for 3 months before he got to us and has been bitten a couple of times. He simply doesn't know how to greet and talk doggie language. So, no dog park for him. If other dogs bark or growl at him, he doesn't respond at all. He's just interested. He and my female get along fantastically, though and for the most part he's a very good boy.
Any insight into this random behavior would be most helpful. We plan on taking him to obedience class in the fall with a trusted dog trainer/behavioralist to continue to train him with the distraction of being around other dogs. In the meantime, we've been taking him on pack walks led by our trainer and he's done great. I'm hopeful he can be trained out of this but I have a strong feeling that the guardian instinct is strong with these breeds and they can never be fully trusted not to attempt to "guard" us when not appropriate or needed. I'm only happy that he's able to be controlled on leash as he's 125 lbs.
