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training a bulldog puppy


Hutch

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So I just got my girlfriend and her kids a bulldog puppy for Christmas, and I'm out of my element. It wouldn't have been my first choice of gift or dog breed, but she really wanted it and we got a good deal. The girlfriend and her kids have never been able to have pets before now, and I've little experience in training puppies. If anyone is familiar with the breed or puppy training in general, any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Remove / hide all christmas presents / decoration from within reach of a puppy standing up and jumping - be even more careful with things like chocolate.

Lots, and lots of socialising, as early as possible; both with other puppies, other adult dogs and as many humans / human children as viable.

Get the puppy to see and accept basically anything that might be spook him/her once grown up - horses, beards, hats, hi-vis jackets, vacuums, pregnant women, loud noises (roadworks, fireworks etc), cars going quickly, cars going slowly etc etc.

Be consistent with commands, and remember that the dog's name is not a command.

Never let the dog doubt who's top dog in the pack; but with dominance, not punishment, not intimidation. You're the source of good things, not bad things; but yours is the word of god.

 

Go to human training classes (usually advertised as puppy classes) to help you get it right to start with; also a great way of socialising the pup.

Put the work in as a puppy, and you'll get 12 years of joy - assume that it'll all just happen naturally, and you're in for 12 years of pain.

 

ETA: I've also heard good things about Spocky's suggestion. I've not got / read that book myself, but its certainly (more or less) the training method I used, and method I made sure our puppy classes used.

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ETA: I've also heard good things about Spocky's suggestion. I've not got / read that book myself, but its certainly (more or less) the training method I used, and method I made sure our puppy classes used.

I'm currently on my fourth dog, and having followed Hasbrouck's method to the word, I now enjoy the daily company of the happiest, most well-adjusted dog I've ever known.

 

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I'm on my 3rd pup now, and 3rd with self-control and reward based training; and have 2 utterly delightful canines, and 1 unruly-ish pup.

All 3 far better than the dogs we had when I was a kid - my parents inspired by Barbara Woodhouse.

 

I mostly use my cousin for advice when needed (actually, just the once now I think about it) - a top international trainer in his own right; albeit in agility rather than basic behaviour, but you need that base in order to do the more advanced - he certainly uses reward based.

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The fact that the puppy is a bulldog really makes no difference at all, if that's something you're worried about. Bulldogs aren't inherently any harder to raise than any other breed, they're just disproportionately raised by dickheads who screw them up and so earn them a bad reputation. I would really suggest finding a local puppy class - they should be able to teach you everything you need to know, as well as answer your questions and give your puppy the (hugely important) opportunity to socialise with other people and dogs in a safe environment. Look for a class which emphasises positive reinforcement methods, e.g. clicker training, rather than anything that involves negative reinforcement, e.g. choke chains or shock collars.

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A year and a half ago, we were given a puppy - that would grow into a 100 lb+ dog.  We had no experience with dogs at all.  The best thing we did was find a puppy class, not only does it cover the basic commands but the trainer also watched the dogs and helped us interpret her body language.  She taught us other basic tips as well, for example how to avoid Maya developing food agression, etc.  After Puppy I class, we also took Puppy II. And then after Maya had some serious health issues, and training was put aside for a month or two, we retook Puppy II.   And eventually took adult obedience classes.  The number one thing she empasized, and gave us homework on was socialization, socialization - we would have homework like take your dog to three new places this week, and we would give reports in class.

We found her through our local Petco - I know it seems funny, but she was and still is very good with us and our Maya.

She also gave us invaluable advice on our vet (we ending up changing vets), food, toys, halter, collars etc.  With her we found out our Maya responds to a combination of verbal and hand movements for commands.  When Maya would not stop jumping on people (and she was about 50 lbs at that point) and the first training suggestions didn't work, she worked with us specifically on that, it took about a month, but Maya hasn't jumped up on someone since then.

Maya loves her.  Whenever I take her into Petco she searches and searches for her "friend" still to this day.

Also, a good vet - is important too.

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It's sounding like puppy classes will also be a must. Started asking around town about a good one. Thanks again for all the input guys. 

And somehow I spolier tagged it. Still trying to figure out the new board. My bad. 

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Just a minor tip, but one that worked really well with my first dog with house-training, assuming you take him out on leash and not just open the door and let him into a fenced yard.  Hang the leash by the door.  My boxer quickly picked up that he could go and paw at the leash when he needed to go out.  I never taught him to paw at the leash, although that's certainly possible too.  He just figured it out on his own.

Not a mind-blowing trick or anything, but it worked well for me.

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It's sounding like puppy classes will also be a must. Started asking around town about a good one. Thanks again for all the input guys. 

Absolutely essential; especially if you're unsure as to what you're doing (and I'd recommend even for those who do).

Just... don't regard them as puppy classes - they're human training classes you take your puppy to.

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Absolutely essential; especially if you're unsure as to what you're doing (and I'd recommend even for those who do).

Just... don't regard them as puppy classes - they're human training classes you take your puppy to.

Good advice. Thanks.

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Lots of bulldogs have trouble moving around, so they're a lot lower maintenance in terms of energy and needing walks/runs, etc. Depends on the breed though.

I don't know about lower maintenance. My aunt's, pretty bloody heavy, bulldog when it's had enough of walking will just lie down wherever it is and won't move. I had to carry the bloody thing back about a mile. I wasn't amused.

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I don't know about lower maintenance. My aunt's, pretty bloody heavy, bulldog when it's had enough of walking will just lie down wherever it is and won't move. I had to carry the bloody thing back about a mile. I wasn't amused.

After only having this one a few days, that doesn't surprise me. On another note, does anyone know if you can upload pictures from a phone, or do I need to load them somewhere on the web first?

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I don't know about lower maintenance. My aunt's, pretty bloody heavy, bulldog when it's had enough of walking will just lie down wherever it is and won't move. I had to carry the bloody thing back about a mile. I wasn't amused.

After only having this one a few days, that doesn't surprise me. On another note, does anyone know if you can upload pictures from a phone, or do I need to load them somewhere on the web first?

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@larry I'm on a new phone, and having a hell of a time figuring out how to upload pictures. When I get a chance, I'll see if I can get it figured out.

 

Yeah, I hear you....  I can't post pics or even post at all from my phone or tablet, but for some reason my ancient computer XP can do it.  I smash them all!

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