Hello all....I have a 7 month old male bullmastiff that we have had since 8 weeks old .......he has been a delight in the house and is so well behaved when walking on a loose slack lead on route to our destination......then, well, all hell can break loose ! If and when he sees another dog or person without a dog his ears go back and  he runs in a bouncy manner, often rolling around when he gets to them to say Hi!.....he has never been aggressive and his exhuburance lasts a minute until he has has a good sniff and then he's bored and settles right down....this has 2 issues ....on the lead he can rip your arm out at 7stone......and off the lead he does not listen.....most dog walkers don't mind but I would like advise on if this is normal at his young age ? It also concerns me about when he runs on the lead and the lunge line is at it's limit it snaps him back.....he is such an excitable little guy and loves to socialise but I really wish he would remain calm when he sees new people......What to do ?

Try training classes.

I am hoping for more hands on experience ideas and historical views....classes are great I agree but nothing compares to experience from other bullie owners....

All I can say it is perfectly normal.

Imagine your an only child in a house where no-one speaks your language and you don't get to see other children who understand you and can be played with.  You would get over excited too, and watch a playground with kids and you will see many children get that way too ;)

Then you find all the other kids are smaller than you and everyone expects you to act far more grown up than you are because your a big kid (my baby brother was one fo these).

So training, lots of opportunities to socialise so it is no longer a big deal, and growing up over the next two years will do it.

Thank you.....I just read my post back and realised it sounded like I was just keen on hearing from bully owners.....not at all......I would welcome all comments....I hope not to offend !

Very good advice from Brainless.I keep medium sized hounds that are considered strong willed,independent thinkers and to honest very hard work until they mature.Socialisation is the key and makes such a difference.

Yep not much more I can say really, socialization and training classes, give it some time and hard graft and he'll come around, we had a Corso like it once we just spent alot of time training her. I wonder if he isnt seeing enough of other dogs if he is getting that excited when he does see one, nip it in the bud now before he reaches his adult weight in a few months time :).

Sorry to tell you but is it maybe because he is the only dog?  Mine is the exact opposite.  Horizontal would be the best way to describe him!!  In fact, I've been worried about the lack of nonsense but I am waiting for the teenage years to kick in!!
My boy will get all excited when he sees people but I ask everyone to ignore him so he doesn't get his 'reward' of a pat and a sniff.  If you only let him socialise on your say so, he'll soon get bored.  But I would get some dog friends for him to have a run about with.
Sorry, I've read this back and it's like I never let him socialise with people!! I do but only on my terms, not his.lol.

> Sorry to tell you but is it maybe because he is the only dog? 

My Mastiff was just the same and he wasn't an only dog.  :)

Where abouts are you based? I know of a fantastic trainer that has worked wonders with a dog/owner in the class I go to.

I have 3 other dogs and now have a 10wk old puppy ..all the experience in the world is not as good as a excellent training class and socialisation, teaching how to behave with dogs outside the home enviroment. Personally I think you have been lucky that he hasnt come across dogs who are not as accepting of a bouncy pup charging at them to play or not.

Get yourself to a good trainer and I would keep him on a long line until he has learned more acceptable manner or he may come a cropper which is what you dont want .

In the mean time teach him recall I know you said he goes deaf but you need to be more important to him that the 'other dog' , I use real sausages or a good smelly food , keep calling him to you in the home treat and say go play it become a habit as they live in the hope that they will get something nice , I do it even when they are lying quitely in thier bed or running around the garden,I also encourage ball play which they love more exciting than any other dog in the park...  

I do think dogs who wander in the park looking for other dogs or people are rarely played with when they arrive at the park to some people it is seen as a walk not a play time, where as we play games which keep dogs busy and discourages them from making a nuisance of themselves.

Had a really good week this week......he is approaching 8 months and appears to be "getting it"......in the park he was so calm and sat whilst a Labrador was excitable and wanted to play....he kept looking as us as if to say what's the fuss !!......

Then we had a good walk in the busy high street and walked through lots of people....again calm......he had a good sniff at things but again no jumping....a lady stopped us and said how beautiful he was and was amazed when we told her his age....she said her dog was no where near as well behaved .....felt so proud.....

Think his teething has eased a little too as he is not slobbering as much and I wonder if this has also calmed him a little.....

We did extensive research on the breed and knew about the traits of the breed especially the stubbornness.....

We also had 2 new people at our home and again he was calm......do feel we have turned a corner....

He is a little (well 45 kgs) of little gem......

> on the lead he can rip your arm out at 7stone

HALTI!!!! (or your chosen stye of head-collar) :) Honeslty, I don't think I would have coped without one! It really is amazing how much control a head-harness will give.

Buster was about 7 months old when I really started to think I could not handle him :( I had put in LOADS of work with general lead walking and he was great...Untill there were distractions :( At that age, he got loads more out-going and suddenly wanted to jump on everything - people, other dogs. He just wanted to play, but he had NO self-control and would pull, lunge and even jump inthe air, turning a full360 degrees, before landing - REPEATEDLY
With the halti, I could physically keep hold of him without worrying about being knocked over/limbs broken/letting go, so my mind was free to focus on teaching, rather than 'damage limitation'!

I always use a seperate lead on the halti, only a small light-weight one, for 2 reasons:
1) safety, they can back out of/flick out of a halti if they put enough force into doing so, using a seperate lead means you still have hold of them on the normal lead attatched to the collar.
2) 'Steering'. You can keep hold of (HUGE) pup via the normal lead with one hand and GENTLY use the other hand to steer the face toward you (helps break focus form distractions and get it back on you). I also find it handy for steering slobbery-chops away from passer-bys thighs!

PEOPLE
problem - Buster wanted to greet most people he saw, especially women and if somebody said "hiya" - that was it, he thought they were talking to him so would drag me to see them, mostly on his back legs (his head nearly level with my face ).  Once at them he would jump around playfully with no self-controll.
What I did
Keep vigilant, spot people before pup does. When person approaching, get pups attention BEFORE he sees them/gets excited. Keep pup calm by giving commands and praising/treating for doing commands. I always use 'wait' as Buster knows that means "be still, do nothing & you will get rewarded".  Tell apraoching people that want to greet, to NOT touch pup untill he is calm and if pup gets excited to step back. I would get Buster to sit side-on, so his side was facing the person - less exciting/threatening for pup and easier to get pups attantion on you (you have halti, you can steer him to look at you :) ).
Buster is 4 years old now and whenever he greets somebody new, I still get him to stand side-on to them. In fact he does it himself now. I always have him on my right, holding the lead in right hand, treats come from left hand, so he knows when greting somebody that he must step his front to my left for a treat and person can stroke his side.

I aways have instructed people to stroke Busters back NOT his head/shoulders (once he knows somebody very well that rule doesn't apply).

OTHER DOGS
problem
Extreme excitement and wanting to play, resulting in me being pulled all over the place. (see first part of post for details!)
What I did
The halti helped loads here (see first part of post for deatails!). Same as above, in being vigilant and spotting dogs BEFORE Buster did. As soon as we saw another dog heading our way, I would get Buster off the pathway (so no need to worry if I lost control and he was spining in circles- he couldn't knock anyone over!) and stand still. I found that by keeping moving forward would only add to the excitement. So, stand still, get pups attention (same as for people - rewards/praise for following commmands, eg. 'wait'). Keep praising pup for being calm. WARN other dog-walker that pup is friendly but will jump aournd (or whatever your pups favourite loony-stunt is!). Allow other dog to appraoch you pup, not the other way around (huge, excitable pups can be worrying for other dogs), as long as pup is behaving let themgreet, if he gets OTT, move him back.

I've not let Buster loose other than a long-line. His long-lineis attatched to a chest harness to prevent the whip-lash tyoe neck injuries.

Buster got used ot having to 'wait' (stand still) when he spotted other dogs, pretty quickly, but even when he was out on his long-line I would pop him on the short lead for greeting other dogs.

From your latest posts it sounds like you are doing great :-D I hope you don't mind the veeery long ramble! I know what it feels like to have a huge, powerfull pup that is hard to physically control, hopefully my waffle may make you feel a bit more like you are not on your own :) or you may even find something usefull in my waffle!! :)

Keep calm, confidant and try to think ahead. You'll get there, your boy is still a baby. Buster is appraoching 4 years old now, he weighs about 14 stone, he can still get excited when meeting dogs, but I can hold him easily in one hand without loosing my balance or needing to put any effort in and whats more - he will listen to me (mostly)! Never thought I'd be able to do that!
I'll say good luck, but it looks like you don't need luck, you're doing great allready :)