# 16 month old puppy behavior



## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

I have a 16 month old puppy bull terrier xolo mix. I got him at five months old from a women who didnt want him anymore. I dont no any background info ecxept he came with lots of issues and I can deffenetelly tell he was abused. Now he is 16 months and doing much better however just in the past two weeks he has been constantlly mounting and play fighting but getting to aggressive that I have to break them up with my 5 year old hound mix Jordi which is the dominant dog and will put any dog including Charlie in there place imediatelly if they hump or show any aggression. Both dogs are well socialized and go to the dog park daily. Charlie is a very domintating dog aswell but Jordi has always put Charlie in his place and Charlie backs off. Lately the two of them are constantelly mounting and fighting but play. Is 16 months a stage Im missing. Charlie seems to be geting very aggressive towards Jordi, is he just testing him or should I be worried. Charlie has always been fearless when it comes to other dogs and tends to pick on weak or nervous dogs. He use to grab and shake dogs when they were running fast and I mean hanging on even with dogs twice his size. He is only 48Ib and he use to grab and hold onto my moms 70Ib dog while being dragged this scrared the heck out of me the first time I saw it but I kicked that in the butt fast. Know he seems to be going backwards in training. Lately he has been more aggressive with my moms lab aswell. I dont understand the sudden attitude change. As far as Charlies training with me he has been doing great.


----------



## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

Has he been fixed?


----------



## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

this mounting behvior needs to stop NOW i hate to say it but this type of play should not have ever been aloowed in the first place nor should having you other dog have to be the one to discipline this one. i personalyl would keep a elad on your bt mix AT ALL TIMES bt are pushy dogs seems like alot of bully breeds are. i personally dont know what you are comfortable with doing some people dont like my methods and thats ok if you dont feel comfortable with what im going to suggest perhapes someone else can give you a good PR method but if i were you i would keep a lead on him and everytime he attempted to dominate i would give that elad a good firm jerk and say "NO" once he stops you can praise him again this is jsut me if you dont feel comfortable doing this wait around for someone else to give another suggestion good luck


----------



## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

Charlie is fixed. I let my dogs play and sometimes they mount which is a natural behavior to test the hiarchy and thats fine to a certain degree but now it has gotten out of hand. This is only my seconed dog but I work with dogs every day as a dog groomer and have seen many dogs with behavioral problems but none like Charlie. I aswell as my boss and family wonder if he has a brain disability or injury. I dont no if this is possible but many of his behaviors are not consistant and are unusual. Every night since I have got him at 5 months I turn out the light in the living room before I am in the bedroom he racing to his bed cowerding shaking and lays in his bed doing this. It took me 3 months for him not to pee in his bed. All you had to do is talk or make eye contact and he would urinate all over himself. Now he runs to his bed at night cowards but no shaking or peeing but wates till I say ok and he gets up on the bed and falls asleep fine. I usually wouldnt let the dogs on the bed but honestly after a year of this it has been mentally exausting for me aswell. He gets off the bed on command. Every morning he gets up pushes his body against all the walls and spins circles sometimes to the point he falls over. On our walks he wears a back pack sometimes and wears a prong collar. He is not food modivated when he is on a walk everything gets him extremely excited even a leaf blowing. He goes on the tredmill goes for 2hr walk a day with my other dog. He pulls and you give him his command easy and slight jerk to the side and he cowards and then pulls more. Charlie cant walk straight on a leash if he tried. We are talking over a year of training on leash skills and he really just doesnt get it. His other issue is jumping up he doesnt jump on me hardly anymore but jumps on people when excited and you can knee him or turn your back he doesnt even seem to understand the correction. Charlie aswell walks and pees alover himself when hese ouside he wont take time to stop. He use to pee everytime he got excited or he was nervous which was a daily basis but now finally he doesnt do anymore. Lots of progress in some areas but he seems to show very inconsistant behavior like he has seen my family on weekends since I got him and he is great then sometimes out of the blue he will start growling like he is scared to death for no aparent reason. Its hard to explain in writing but is it really possible to have a dog with a mental problem. 
Im not saying I think he is stupid because I dont and he is very stubborn and stron willed but still am not sure thats all it is. This sudden aggression towards other dogs again seems odd aswell considering he has been socialized around other dogs since I have had him. He gets tons of excercise and I do correct him but something just doesnt seem right or to click. I am making no excuses as far as my part goes I will continue the training and understand there is no quick fix and Im always learning and will never give up I just want to no if what people are telling me is true as far as there could be a brain problem I cant fix.


----------



## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

The spinning he does might be that ocd stuff that some bull terriers do, I know some dogs do ok with meds, a lot of bully breeds mature into not being so great with other dogs, it doesn't really matter how well they are socialized, it's just how bull and terriers are and I also wouldn't be letting the mount or hump each other, that's extremely rude behavior, if the play is getting rough and out of hand I would just put an end to it, it might not be forever but better to nip it in the bud and train the dogs to be calm around each other than have it escalate to a fight. Two of my dogs went through a stage where play just got far too rough and unfriendly for my liking so I didn't let them wrestle and play together for several months, now they are fine playing again. I also wouldn't be taking him to the dog park with that behavior, he should never have been allowed to be picking on other dogs or grabbing them like you describe. Sounds like he's got some issues, do you have a trainer? My male pit bull used to excite or submissive pee and he still does very rarely if someone new comes over, he just can't calm himself down for anything and will jump on them as well, we just either put him up if people come over or leave him gated in the kitchen until he calms and then take him out on leash but it's been 3 years and he still does it so I doubt he's going to change at this point, giving him something to do helps quite a bit, we give him a favorite chew and that will keep him occupied enough to behave. Do you have any pics of him, I'm curious what that mix would look like.


----------



## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

No I dont have a trainer and its not finantially a option and the trainers in my area I wouldnt reccomend to anyone. Going to the dog park is the best thing that ever happened to him. Before I started taking him to the park he was aggressive to most dogs. The first time I see any signs of aggression in the park I put him on his side and make him stay and he behaves. We were going to the park daily but now only get to go once a week due to day light change. This might be part of it aswell hese not geting to play and socialize with dogs as much. My dogs play wrestle rough even when they are good its the only way they do play. Its hard I want them to play together but not let Charlie escelate. I will put a stop to it for now altogether I as you said.


----------



## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I would enlist the help of a professional behaviorist.

Dog parks- Stay out of there with a dog that isn't behaved, socialize him in more controlled manners. (play dates etc)

Training- BT's in general don't do very well with positive punishment, ESPECIALLY with a dog that is abused, or skiddish. It will just shut down, pee on itself and you create a fearful dog, Stay away from lead jerking,choke/prong/E collars, or squirting it in the face with water. If you want to use a squirt bottle squirt them on the rear to remove his attention from something else.

Humping- Fill a small coffee can with pennies, and give it a good shake when the humping starts if it doesn't startle him and cause him to stop remove one dog from the equation for a small amount of time, you can also keep him on a lead so that you have control at all times. (no jerking on it required)

Spinning- Can be a very ocd behavior, use the penny can for this as well. now.. don't misunderstand, BT's spin when excited or overstimulated... i don't allow really more than 3 spins before i'll stop it with mine, usually when he gets a new toy, or a new food etc he'll spin once, stop, spin again, stop... etc But never allow your dog to just spin until it cannot stand up or gets dizzy.

I don't think the dog is retarded... since it's a BT mix it could carry a lot of their traits, such as being bull headed, stubborn etc. They aren't stupid, they just don't care to please you. And to get them to the point that they want to is a long road. Whether or not your dog is retarded is really something that would be hard to figure out. have you seen a vet or a specialist about him yet?

here is a video of how normal crazy BT's play... they climb all over each other, as if they were trying to "dominate" each other... but it's just their "style" which is why they are so much better in pairs because they can quickly overwhelm a smaller or even larger dog with this type of play.

Most of all, SEE A TRAINER with this dog. these are all just ideas, in the meantime that might help.


----------



## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

I dont use harsh pinishment and would never use pennies or water. These two bull terriers are just playing normal, mine grab each other and play much rougher but not hurting each other, Charlie always growls when he plays but like I said he has escelated to geting way to aggressive I am going to take your advice and stop the rough play before it escalates. I have to use a prong anything else and he just chokes himself and gags. Atleast with the prong we have made some progress and he doesnt pull constantlly but when excited. I didnt think he was really retarted either Im just sick of other people thinking he was. If he was retarted he wouldnt learn all of the tricks I have taught him and he knows sit, come,laydown,off,easy,stay exc. Loud sounds cause him to pee nervous thats why I wouldnt use that method with pennies with him as he is a fearful dog to begin with. When I correct him I give him the touch like Ceasar Millian and when he is really bad I will put him on his side and make him stay but not pin him. I dont scream or get loud. I do use a firm voice. He knows when hese bad. I think he is smart just stubborn. He knows how to climb up practically anything and can open locks.


----------



## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

sorry but you really shouldnt be putting him on his side imo sounds mostly like its not doing anything but teaching him to just not move when you tell him to not move your not really teaching him anything a dog being submissive will lie down for you with a look not if you have to wrestle it to the ground usually by the time youve wrestled them down they have forgoten what caused you to this to them in the first place if you want to teach your dog to come over and show his tummy for a rub be my guest but leave the alpha rolling to cesar millan. if your physically having to put him on his side your doing it wrong any ways

seeing as how you dont want to use harsh punishment why not use distraction?
everytime they begin to play rough take some treats and re-direct there attention to you do this everytime they begin to get too rough call them over and ask them to sit,lie down,shake, go thru a whole rotine and treat them go for about 10-15 mintues that way they donot get into the habit of playing rough.


----------

