I have two bulldogs, one is 2 years old and the other is now almost a year. They are both bitches and generally get on very well. The two year old has always been a sweet adorable bulldog, well they both are, yet just lately her behaviour has started to change and I am becoming very concerned. She has snapped at a couple of people and has also shown her teeth at another. I am wondering whether anyone has any explanation as to why she might have changed. Should I take her to the vet for a check up.

Hi
Rather new to all this dog stuff but when a dog behaves out of charecter i would always suggest a visit to the vets to rule anything out.
She could be just starting the terrible twos stage. Good luck with her though and i would recommend a vet visit

bulldogs are a breed which are prone to thyroid conditions - which in turn can lead to otherwise unexplained behavioural changes (agression) so a trip to the vets for blood tests (T3,T4,freeT3,freeT4) to discount this or any other medical condition is your first port of call.......

Hi JMO
Yes a visit to the vets is what I would do, unfortunatly the poor old bulldog has more hereditory problems than any other breed, encouraged of course by KC judges giveing unhealthy dogs titles, but they do have many herditory problems as a result, such sweeeties as well.

A visit to the vet is advisable but if she is entire she could be getting moody approaching her season (or after it if she has just had one). Another possibility is if she has got too hot, makes everyone grumpy and we have had some rather warm weather recently (assuming you're in the UK).
Bec

Thankyou all for your advise, she isn-t intact, I am going to get her into the vets tomorrow so hopefully he may be able to shed some light onto the situation. It is all rather strange though as she is the most gentle loveable dog you could ever meet. I think she may be getting a little more confident with things as we rescued her at a year old, she had never lived indoors and was at what I would call a puppy farm, her home for the first year was a shed and we rescued her after they had bred her for the first time, they had left a pup inside her not realising and she nearly died and had to be spade, so she was no use to the breeders anymore. So when we first got her she was nervous of cars, pushbikes everything whereas now she will run up to someone on a pushbike.

i disagree with the the statement that bulldogs are more prone to hereditary disorders than most other breeds. they are just as healthy as the next dog if cared for properly. two bitches together are more prone to fight than a bitch and a dog. bitches are very terriortorial....she may just be having an off day . lol. also after such a bad srart in life it is lovely to hear that she now as a loving home and a companion. they are the most lovable dogs normally...excellent with children.

Hi, well said Tanni why do people have to put the Bulldog breed down all the time, mine run about and play with my Bullmastiffs and my Cane- Corsos and they love coming with me to feed the ponies so they can just run across the fields please stop saying Bulldogs have health problems they have know more than any other breed. jackie :-(

my girl regulary does what we call the wall of death...lol....:d...a couple of circuits round the room walls. she is 2 yrs old now and our boy is 16 months. neither of them have had any health issues so far. our breeder has a bully who as just celebrated his 12th birthday!.

My oldest Hilda also does this she does a few laps of the room running around the table and around the back of the chair then when she has finally had enough runs into a wall to stop herself. The youngest Gladis is also starting to copy her now, so it can at times feel like a whirlwind. Have taken her to the vets and he feels that it just may be Hilda showing her dominance and protecting the house and showing Gladis that she is the boss. Yet before we got Gladis Hilda would lay in her favourite chair on her back and if anyone came into the house she would just open one eye and then go back to sleep if she couldn-t be bothered to see them. Since getting Gladis she has become alot more active and playful. We will just have to wait and see. We live in a very quiet village with a couple of neighbours who absolutely adore the two of them and Hilda has always had free roam of the street and pops in to the neighbours houses as she pleases. Yet if the paper boy or girl come down she has just started to run at them and jump up, I think she just wants someone new to play with but I think that people who don-t have bulldogs don-t understand them very well and think that she is going to go for them. So we have decided to let her have less of a free reign and if she goes outside we will be with her at all times, which she isn-t really liking. She seems to think she owns our cul de sac. Bless.

its such a shame isnt it?. when people ask us *are they vicious?*. reef went for his booster yesterday and was terrified when a small peke bared its teeth at him!.:d. ours love meeting people . my 2 year old grandaughter loves wrestling with them and they are so gentle with her.by the way.....i love your girls names!.:d.

Hilda has now bit someone, someone that comes to the house quite regularly. Do you think we should take her back to the vets or should I contact a behaviourist. Not sure what to do at all, have been so upset and need some advice. This is a total change in character for her and I can-t fathom out the reason for it. Could it be that she thinks she is the boss as she has a free reign of the house, she has her own armchair etc. I really do not know what to do

can u explain exactly what happened?. did she just atack them for no reason?. was she already overexcited when they arrived?. i will contact some bulldog breeders i know and ask them for their opinions.

Thankyou very much Tanni. Yes she attacked them for no reason, she was on the drive and Scott was getting something out of his van, when his friends car pulled up, Scott heard a bark then saw Hilda had hold of his friends leg, she actually bit through his jeans, as soon as Scott shouted her she stopped then ran off. Really don-t know what to do, rang the vets and he said that it is like looking for a needle in a haystack to see if there is something wrong with her medically. You wouldn-t think she had a nasty bone in her body, she really is the most gentlest of dogs normally. Obviously we need to get this sorted as we would hate for her to bite anyone else. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Not condoning a bite at all, but is it possible she thought the friend was an intruder, and was defending her territory, and Scott?

She has become very territorial as of late, the vet has suggested her seeing a behaviourist as he really does not feel that there is anything wrong with her medically, but I have heard such mixed reports about behaviourists. Thing is I am now very nervous about anyone coming to the house, plus I have a five year old nephew who loves Hilda to bits and vice versa, but I am now too scared to let him come up to the house just incase. The thing is she had never shown signs of this behaviour before. It's just come on all of a sudden. I am wondering if we did the right thing by getting another dog, but Gladis has been with us for eight months now.

She has become very territorial as of late, the vet has suggested her seeing a behaviourist as he really does not feel that there is anything wrong with her medically, but I have heard such mixed reports about behaviourists. Thing is I am now very nervous about anyone coming to the house, plus I have a five year old nephew who loves Hilda to bits and vice versa, but I am now too scared to let him come up to the house just incase. The thing is she had never shown signs of this behaviour before. It's just come on all of a sudden. I am wondering if we did the right thing by getting another dog, but Gladis has been with us for eight months now.

At least four people have advised you to take her to the vet for a check up - have you done this? Were blood tests done? If there is a medical problem a responsible behaviourist won't see your dog until it's seen a vet anyway, and most work only on vets referrals.......... If there is a medical problem (such as Thyroid, which I've already said is something Bulldogs are prone to) then it can be far more simple to treat than getting a behaviourist in.

Yes I have taken her to the vets and was even on the phone to the vets last night, he has said that he really doesn-t think there is anything wrong with her medically, he had a look at her the other day and feels that it is a behavioural problem, but has said to take her back into the vets on Saturday just to put our minds at rest

i have spoken to my friend who has been breeding bulldogs for fifty years.she seems to think it is terrortorial behaviour. keep her seperated from gladys as much as possible if you can. bully bitches can take a sudden dislike to each other for no reason at all and all out war is declared. she also seems to be testing you. if she let go as soon as your husband shouted at her she obviously knew she was doing wrong. if you would like to e mail me privately i can put you in touch with other bulldog owners who are a lot more experienced than me.

Hello all, yes of course it is terrortorial she has to prove to be in charge now that another dog has come into the fold nothing wrong with that, except you didnt let her know that she doesnt have to act that way, you must take charge so she can relax tell her off when she starts dont let her have to much freedom on her own she must be watched at all times use your voice to control her. Give her lots of cuddles before you cuddle the other one feed her first open the doors and she must go out before the other dog, when people come put the dogs out of the way and give you visitors a tit bit and when you let her in gently does it and then let them give a tit bit and then leave dogs alone if know good put out again and tell off, it will work but takes time and understanding, hope all goes well regards jackie.