Over protective or aggressive?

[Aeliacostas]

I've made a post about this before but this was when I thought the issue was just an ear infection. My 3 1/2 year old bull mastiff is extremely territorial to the point where no one can go near the fence without him having a melt down. At first i thought that if they let him smell them he would calm down and maybe let them pet him. Well, I was most definitely wrong he nipped at the lady from across the road, of course I had already pre warned her about his behavior.

Today she came over just to talk to me so i grabbed a hold of his collar and made him sit he was fine for about a minute and then started growling and barking again. He then got lose from my grasp because he of course out weighs me. He then proceeded to jump at the fence and i went to grab him once again and he bit me trying to get to her. Im not really sure what to do anymore. He has been well socialized from the get go but it seems like the older he gets the more territorial he gets. He's been to a trainer close by but that really did nothing. Any advice would be great.

 

[musicdeb]

First of all, do not allow anyone to come close to him until you get this behavior modified to the point he will be aloof.

Whenever someone wants to talk to you or greet you, tell them "no look, no touch or no talk" to the dog. No eye contact!

Titan does not like men and if they pass us without talking or looking at us, he is fine. However, if they say "hi" to me, game on for him. I have to be rude to people and not talk to anyone as we are walking at the park.

It's a way of life for me and Titan. He loves everyone in the family and men he knows, but he doesn't like strangers especially men.

I would recommend getting a trainer who will work with a mastiff with positive reinforcement. I tried to find a trainer for Titan but they wanted $3K or wanted to keep him for 6 weeks. One trainer said he would have to hire a behaviorist and another trainer to train Titan. I did not find one trainer who had worked with mastiffs.

 

[fila4me]

sorry Filas here, but I would look for another trainer like Deb advised. Good luck

 

[DennasMom]

How did you react when he bit you?

That was probably a redirection of his frustration at not being able to get to the "stranger" that needed attention... but he should NEVER put his mouth on you in an harmful manner. EVER. You do not appear to have his respect. You should not need to out-weigh him to control him. You need some better tools (commands, habits, etc.).

I'd go back to step one. ASAP.

Get a good trainer to work with you one-on-one. YOU need to learn the tools to manage the dog, and the dog needs to learn that listening to you is in his best interests. That can be done with positive methods, but if he's already pushing limits to the point of biting, you might also need some alternatives to start with, so you can match his energy and intensity levels.

 

[DMikeM]

Mastiff dogs (all dogs) should protect you not hurt you. More training and gain a leadership role with the dog.

 

[musicdeb]

Good point, Tina, he bite the owner due to frustration. I saw that many times at the shelter when the dog wanted to get to another dog but could not get to them, i.e. a fence was between the 2 dogs.

 

[Rugers-Kris]

Our dogs will respect us if we have bonded with them and been consistent with training. They should never bite thier owners...EVER. Totally unacceptable.

As for the barking at the fence, it sounds like he is guarding which isn't a problem except for the fact that you have no control. He is doing what he is supposed to do but needs guidance from you to control himself and learn to assess situations better or at the very least, he should respond to your redirection.

You will have to step up your leadership role and get serious about training and bonding with him and if this is something you are not certain you can do, please seek the help of a professional trainer.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

 

[LizB]

I second the recommendations as above. There is barrier frustration, but this has gotten out of hand and he's feeding on each experience, making it worse.

My own BM would turn and nip at my other dog when there was a loose dog outside our fence and he could not get to him, and my other dog ran up to "help" with the fence fighting. In fact, a dog trainer I know, who also boards dogs on her farm, does not permit anyone to approach the fence of the dog play area because of this very tendency. That said, my BM would not have ever turned to nip at ME or my family under the same circumstances, and, in fact, would stop fence fighting when we would approach.

Back to basics training and consultation with a professional are in order here. I would construct a barrier or use a leash, or otherwise prevent him from being able to rush up to the fence at all. You definitely need to be able to (and be confident that you CAN) control your dog, no matter how much he weighs. My dogs have always outweighed me. It definitely can be done! Good luck, and prompt attention and dedicated full-time training methods can help here.

I always like to add, also, that you need to be sure there's no health issue/ailment going on that could be contributing to a behavior problem. These big fellas don't show pain like smaller dogs and sometimes there can be something going on that we don't know about.