Re: Bite inhibition problem in 21 month old English Bull terrier help required

[Michael D’Abruzzo]

Hi Matt,

Here is a good article about breaking sticks:
Breaking Sticks

To answer your other questions:

How often should this dog be muzzled?
I would only muzzle him when he is interacting with the other dogs. Before that muzzle him at small intervals until he doesnt seems to not mind it. You will have to use your own judgment as to when that time is. Here is a good video that shows the steps done fast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbcJdThGG-A

How much time should I be spending with this dog per day?

Ideally you should spend enough time to bond with the dog, but also make some progress with any training you are doing. You can do this at the same time.

Do’s and dont’s

This is a very broad question so maybe something more specific..? The really major stuff is in the pack structure and establishing relationship section which you say that you already do. So if that is the case and it seems so you are really on a good track.

Bob’s body language

I didnt see anything abnormal with Bob’s body language in any video and he seems pretty secure and “normal” with his interaction with you and the other dogs. Any review on body language you can find here: Dog Body Language

The only issue that I see with Bob is that he skips ahead to a fight mode much faster than your average dog, but this can also be considered “normal” for some of the fighting breeds if it is not carefully selectively bred out.

The plan for this dog is pretty much what we said earlier, that you would need to get him used to a muzzle and then spend time with him and the other dogs with a muzzle on where you can communicate with him if you see tension and diffuse before a fight occurs. This would make sense to him and lesson the chance of a fight if you spend time to bond with him following the proper rules. I wouldnt phase off the muzzle unless it has been a few a months without a fight. Normal defensive stuff would be OK. As a management plan I would NEVER leave Bob unsupervised and alone with other dogs and I would also learn to use and have a breaking stick handy if you phase off the muzzle. I would also definitely neuter him to lower the intensity of the aggression.

Bob will NEVER be a happy go lucky harmless dog park type dog. He will always be a male bull terrier that is intact or neutered late in life with gladiator genetics. Does that mean he has to be put down – NEVER. He would be very easy as a single pet, but will need some special management in a multi-dog household.

If you have any more specific questions let me know.

Thank you for your patience. Remember, everyone that helps out on here are full time trainers so we are not necessarily sitting at the computer all day. Longer and multiple posts with multiple questions can also take longer for us to answer fully in one shot but we will always answer them as quick as we can. I personally like to give thorough answers and not a hasty ones.

Keep us updated.