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Jealous dog

HJones

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Hi,

I have a five year old male American bulldog. He was a rescue and his behaviour was pretty bad when we got him, particularly pulling on the lead and biting the lead/ jumping up when we tried to walk him. With perseverance we've trained him out of this and he's generally good now, until today! Today I came home from a friend's and had been handling her new puppy (four month old female French bulldog). My dog was frantically sniffing me when I got back and jumping up, getting very agitated. I had to change my clothes and have a wash yet still he wouldn't leave me alone. I took him for a walk to distract him and randomly at the furthest point away from home he started nipping at the handle of the lead like he used to, and wrapping his legs around mine/ jumping up. I had to stop each and every time and the walk was a nightmare. He's now extremely clingy and doesn't want to be away from me. He's in another room and batting at the door to get at me which is completely out of character. He's good with dogs (except entire males) out of the house but absolutely won't tolerate any other animals in his house. He normally shows interest if I smell of other dogs but nothing like this. Has anyone experienced this before? Any tips for dealing with it welcome; I hate that he's so anxious but his behaviour is making me feel hostile towards him (he's a big dog so its no joke!). Thanks
 
I've no experience of this but for now, I suggest you let him be in with you if he wants - he's clearly quite uspet and needs to feel as secure as possible, particularly in relation to you. Try not to feel hostile, he's showing you just how much he needs you right now. But I know it's not easy when you have a large dog jumping up and grabbing you...
 
I've no experience of this but for now, I suggest you let him be in with you if he wants - he's clearly quite uspet and needs to feel as secure as possible, particularly in relation to you. Try not to feel hostile, he's showing you just how much he needs you right now. But I know it's not easy when you have a large dog jumping up and grabbing you...

Thanks for your response. You're right, he did eventually calm down when I let him back in with me (although not before frantically licking every inch of my new clean set of clothes!). I just needed to be away from him for a bit as I was angry and he's very perceptive about things like that. It was frustrating to see four years of hard work with training undone by one visit to a puppy but as you say he obviously needs me. I underestimated how insecure he still is as his behaviour now is much better than when we got him. What I wonder now is how I can see my friend and her pup without all the drama when I get home!
 
I had a very similar episode with my previous dog. We were out with lots of friends on a picnic, while our dog stayed at home (he was way too big and wild for picnic tables with food, and a bunch of people). But someone brought in their small dog... Long story short, I ended up spending some time with that small dog, playing with him and even carrying him around, so when we got back - I was most certainly smelling of that dog.
Our boy would not leave me alone. Just like you, I changed clothes, etc.... nothing was helping. I took him out for a long walk, and it was the weirdest walk - nothing existed for him, his nose was glued to me the entire walk.
A day or 2 later this just stopped. Perhaps the scent wore off, or was no longer a novelty... And never happened again for the rest of his life.
 
I wonder what would happen if you and your dog met the friend and puppy on a walk? Then he can get a whiff of the pup in an environment where he's happier with other dogs.

Use your judgement on this, though - you don't want him thinking that the pup is your 'bit on the side' and trying to lay into her. Maybe your friend could lay a trail of rags that she's rubbed against the pup, then you could follow at a distance and let your dog smell them, with you giving him a high-value treat each time.... I'm just making this up as I go along though, and given that he is so sensitive he might still think that there's something suspicious and worrying going on...

Another random thought - my neutered male was once enraptured by a 6-month-old pointer girl who was still some way off her first season. He wouldn't leave her alone, kept trying to mount her, and had to go back on lead - this was very out of character for him. I wonder if your dog isn't so much jealous as getting worked up about a female who is on her way to becoming very eligible?
 
I wonder what would happen if you and your dog met the friend and puppy on a walk? Then he can get a whiff of the pup in an environment where he's happier with other dogs.

Use your judgement on this, though - you don't want him thinking that the pup is your 'bit on the side' and trying to lay into her. Maybe your friend could lay a trail of rags that she's rubbed against the pup, then you could follow at a distance and let your dog smell them, with you giving him a high-value treat each time.... I'm just making this up as I go along though, and given that he is so sensitive he might still think that there's something suspicious and worrying going on...

Another random thought - my neutered male was once enraptured by a 6-month-old pointer girl who was still some way off her first season. He wouldn't leave her alone, kept trying to mount her, and had to go back on lead - this was very out of character for him. I wonder if your dog isn't so much jealous as getting worked up about a female who is on her way to becoming very eligible?


Those are good suggestions- I might actually try and get him used to her scent by leaving around the sweatshirt that I had on when I picked her up, just not wearing it as I can't be doing with that harassment again! Unfortunately, even though he's the greediest dog I've ever had, whenever he's worked up/ excited about anything he doesn't care about food or even his favourite toys so I've never been able to use rewards for training. It'd be great if him and her could meet on the lead outdoors but I'm not sure I'd trust him. He's not very expressive so you don't get much warning of him not liking a dog, no growling or anything. He just snaps and obviously with the size difference that could spell disaster. He normally lets puppies climb all over him (he only dislikes dogs that are a potential threat) but he may make an exception for my "bit on the side" as you say!

Interesting point about her being un-spayed. Obviously she should be miles off her first season being only 4 months but I suppose she could be giving off interesting smells regardless. He's not generally one to go after the girls but he does occasionally get obsessed with the scent of certain dogs when he's out, plus it seems some dogs smell much more interesting than others, as your dog showed! Also, I've handled this pup before, about a month ago and he didn't react anywhere near as strongly as he did this time so maybe she smells more interesting now. Another friend of mine has a dog, a spayed female, who climbs all over me regularly but I don't get more than a quick sniff when I have been at her house. If it were jealousy, I suppose he should be reacting the same way to her.
 
I had a very similar episode with my previous dog. We were out with lots of friends on a picnic, while our dog stayed at home (he was way too big and wild for picnic tables with food, and a bunch of people). But someone brought in their small dog... Long story short, I ended up spending some time with that small dog, playing with him and even carrying him around, so when we got back - I was most certainly smelling of that dog.
Our boy would not leave me alone. Just like you, I changed clothes, etc.... nothing was helping. I took him out for a long walk, and it was the weirdest walk - nothing existed for him, his nose was glued to me the entire walk.
A day or 2 later this just stopped. Perhaps the scent wore off, or was no longer a novelty... And never happened again for the rest of his life.

Your dog sounds like mine- he's lovely but certainly couldn't be trusted at a picnic (he's a bit of nutter)! I'm glad it's not just my dog then- that does sound like very similar behaviour as before he started playing up on his walk he was acting a bit strange and preoccupied, hovering round me which he never normally does and not sniffing everything in sight like he would ordinarily. I've had him four years so I'm surprised I've never experienced this before with him. I must stink of other people's dogs all the time as I regularly make a fuss of dogs/ pups when I'm out without him. Hopefully, like with your dog, it'll be a one off as I see my friend (the owner) quite regularly!!
 
even though he's the greediest dog I've ever had, whenever he's worked up/ excited about anything he doesn't care about food or even his favourite toys
I'm not going to add to the good advice you have been given but this is quite telling. Dogs that are in a high state of arousal or stress won't take treats or toys - it's a little bit like if you are driving and chatting to a passenger, and you come across something that needs your full focus the conversation stops mid sentence iykwim. Something else requires your absolute attention so you switch 100% to that. The key is to intervene before you get to that point, otherwise (sticking with the driving analogy) it's like trying to apply the brakes after you have driven over the cliff edge.
 

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