my rot-stiff is now eight months old and a fantastic dog.however,he seems to be getting nastier and nastier over his food and i am becoming extremely wary of him.can anyone offer me advice before he has my foot off?

Is he just possessive over his food? What kind of training do you give him?

I don't have any experience of these breeds but I am sure someone will be along soon who has :)

Hi,
Guest, please join, as then we can ask you more questions/you can ask us more as well.

For starters though, HOW do you feed your dog?

Here are my hints for what they are worth.

Feed your dog twice, if not three times a day. This wil make food FAR less important to him than if he is fed once a day, as he will not get as hungry.

What are you feeding him? Some foods are far too high in proteins, (and in my opinion nasty chemicals, antioxidants, flavourings, etc), this can increase aggression in some dogs (just like certain foods can make some kids hyperactive).

If you are feeding dry dog food, then can i suggest that you stop using a dog bowl on the floor.
Instead, hand feed your dog a few pieces of kibble at a time, it will be much easier to do this if you are feeding three seperate meals.

After a few days of this, when he is accepting that he only gets food when you are around, then u can make moves back towards feeding from a bowl.
Do NOT put all his food in the bowl in one go. Sit on the floor (you are much less threatening sat down, rather than towering over him) and drop a piece of food into his bowl, one at a time.
Keep this up for at least a week, maybe longer, and when he is reliable with YOU, then you can carefully move on, starting with hand feeding again, with other family members.

What ever you do, DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE YOUR DOGS FOOD BOWL, EVEN IF IT IS TO PUT MORE FOOD IN!!!!!!!!!!! please remember that, so so so many people get told to do this to 'show the dog who is boss', it doesnt do that at all, all it tells your dog is that you are a mean person who is competing with him for food, and the dog must defend his food from you at all costs. Dogs cannot count pieces of kibble!!!!!!!!!

Also, i would steer well away from teaching your dog a 'leave' command, when coupled with food, until he is completely happy around food, and people!

Good luck, please do join and let us know how it goes.

Em

Hi this cross is known to be a bad cross the two breeds do not mix well and only a fool would cross a BULLMASTIFF & ROTTI so be very careful how you deal with your dog (get some training sorted out with a professional trainer. The Bullmastiff and the Rotti are both wonderful breeds but not when mixed.

It is probably more likely that the sort of person that would deliberately cross these breeds was probaly not seeking to maximise the best and most positive traits of both breeds, more likely the reverse, which is why such crosses are often very iffy. Not because of the breeds used, but the individuals of the breed used are likely to have been chosen for their sharpness/power!

Brainless? What made a person with obviously such a common sense approach to dogs choose such a nickname. I wish I was as brainless ;)

Anyhow Guest, what was previously said is probably sadly correct. The type of person who chooses to cross two such breeds, would not only of chosen the breeds, but individuals from that breed for their gameness/speed of reaction rather than any positive aspects of their character.

Can I ask what made you buy such a cross breed. This is not meant to be critical just an enquiry as to your choice of dog, I have Staffords and in the past English Bulls too and as breeds they are used to cross to but I am fascinated as to hy you would buy a cross rather than the pure bred version. As these crosses are not far from the purebreds in price, judging from adverts in the free paper etc.

Karen