Hello all, I'm new here and so glad I found this group

    • Bronze

    Hello all, I'm new here and so glad I found this group

    I have two American Bulldogs, 1 male and 1 female. They're 4 and 3 respectively. They're not getting along and I have them completely seperated from each other. Waiting to get enough money saved up to have Vet Behaviorlist come and evaluate them. They've been seperated for 4 months now but had them seperated for 5 months previously. I'm looking forward to everyone's feedback, critique, thoughts on my dogs and what I may have done wrong or what I can do to get them back together as I want us to sleep together once again.
    • Gold Top Dog

    Welcome!  I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with your dogs.  I am not very familiar with the breed but I recall reading here and there that some lines have a tendency toward dog-dog aggression.  It's really impossible to offer much insight or advice based on what little you've told us.  A vet behaviorist is going to be your best option, IMO.  Keeping them separated in the meantime is best for everyone. 

    You can start another thread in the Behavior section and you may get some responses and advice about your dogs but internet advice can be good and it can be bad so save up quickly so you can have the behaviorist do an evaluation.  Good luck, I know it's not an easy situation.

    • Bronze

    First of all, I'd like to thank you for the warm welcome. I appreciate it.

    Second, I'm at my wits end and now that there's a storm coming to Florida, I'm dying because I would have to get the two of them into the same room so that we could all be together to weather this storm. Hopefully it won't hit us and I can continue to keep them seperated.

    I bought muzzles today to try it again but one doesn't fit all that well so I have to get a smaller size for my male and my female's fits perfectly but they both absolutely hate it and keep trying to get it off. I bought a new one out that has received high ratings so hopefully I get the right size for him and they won't be able to get them off this time. The last time I bought the nylon ones and they got them off within 2 minutes and it cost me 1K in vet bills.

    I will figure out how to post on the Behavior section. I really appreciate the recommendation.

    Have a wonderful day.

    • Gold Top Dog

    This is advice is too late but introducing a muzzle should be slow and always done using positive reinforcement.  Here's a video of Jean Donaldson introducing her chow to a gentle leader.  Not the same piece of equipment you need but the methods are the same.  http://abrionline.org/videos.php   Lots of other good videos and articles on this site.

    Basket muzzles are best and I've always had to order them online.  My dogs (two that I've conditioned to wear a muzzle) were fast to train using treats.  You might be able to start over if you do the conditioning in a different room than last time and use super yummy treats when the dog is very hungry.  I don't know if you'll have any success but it's worth a try.

     In your situation, if you have to hunker down for the hurricane, you might put one dog in a crate in the bathroom and keep the other with you. I hope you don't have to deal with any really bad weather. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    Welcome, sorry that you are having trouble.  I hope you can get some good input.  Sounds like a difficult situation and one I am not able to help with.  Stick around and good luck.  

    • Bronze

    Thank you as well for welcoming me to the forum. I'm excited and hopefully will learn a few things here.
    I had never had dogs in my life and when I got these two, I thought that I was doing all the right things but have now found out that I made a lot of mistakes and have come to the conclusion that in all honesty, I'm at fault for what's going on.
    Hopefully the behaviorlist can help as I don't want to have to rehome her.
    Again, thank you for welcoming me and showing support.

    Rose, Kilo and Chloe.