i have a 41/2 month old bull mastiv that  has some major behavoral probs and every method of training i have tride has back fired . He dos'nt like the din trainig it has made it worse . He is biting my face and growling i cant get him to house break. Can any one help me?

I suggest you get in touch with a reputable trainer/behaviourist so that they can observe you.

Get in touch with the APDT who will have a member in your area.

Are you in the UK or the US?

Out of interest (perhaps it's me being a bit slow!) what is din training? :)

Lindsay
X

mastiffs are pack dogs like wolfs or any wilde dog .din training is the same a s cage training you train them to go to there cage when they miss behave .as far as the house breaking goes .i have tride puting him in my back yard free to run around ive tride catching him sniffing and staying out side with him tell he goes .ive tride what is recomended for a bull mastiff which is taking them out for no moor then 10 minns after meals when they sniff and after waking and nothing has worked .the closest i have got so far is leting him out in the back yard with our other dog who is older and alowing them to play and him to observ the way she goes out to potty .

Most of the poster on here do not use cage training in this way, infact we tend to reserve our cages for places of safety when the puppy is to be left alone, at night or for short spells in the day or as aids to house training.  I'm not saying what you are doing, putting your puppy in the cage when it is naughty, is wrong, in a way it is no different really in us giving ours time out and removing to another room but you are denying yourself the opportunity to use the cage in a more constructive way as described above as the two methods cannot be mixed.

hi,
    The only thing i can suggest(which was recomended by my breeder and worked!) was when your pup bit you or was becoming dominant,when he did this, grab hold of the scruff of his neck,pin the pup to the floor and sternley,in a deep voice,say NO.(not too aggressively as to really hurt the pup,but just like his mother would have done if a pup in the litter was getting abit too big for his boots)
I only needed to do this twice,and immediately the roles changed and he became more controlled and submissive(i must say though this was when he was 8-10 weeks old not 18 weeks,dont know if it will work now but you can only try!!!!)
H our bully is now 12 months old tomorrow :) and he is the most wonderful,calm,well balanced,friendly lad you could ever meet!!!
This is only my personnal experience but hope it may be of help to you.

                                                 sam

I understand there is a problem with several things including housetraining, so how about if the original poster gives more information?

I personally would not agree with confrontational training; esp. in a dog as big as a mastiff. The owner probably just doesn't understand how to "reach" her dog and needs help to do so :)

As for dominance, take a look at www.dog-dominance.co.uk for more info; I don't agree now that dogs are ever dominant, at least not in the way that most people think (ie dog pulls onlead it's dominant, dog empties bin it's dominant, dog growls it's trying to take over).

Lindsay
x

I agree Lindsay, I used to be quite confrontational in my training of my Doberman when he was younger - and it did no good at all.  What it did do was remove his trust in me, creating a more challenging dog that preferred to ignore me, a very independant animal.

Now I am very calm, quietly spoken with him and my other dog, and it has done wonders - he responds much, much better, and his agility has improved 100% - he even chooses me over horse poo.  I don't try to "dominate" him either - I for one certainly do not believe that dogs are aching to take us over.  I share my food with him, he sleeps on the couch (and on me half the time!), I don't eat first - and he is a wonderful dog.  All it took was me being calm and patient.

Maynerdsowner, I would try a calm approach and see how it goes - it may take a while to take effect, but it will help.  Be consistent of course, and very, very patient - when you say punishment, how have you been punishing him?  Any physical (or shouting) punishment will likely have the opposite effect to what you want, making the dog do nothing you want - if I so much as raise my voice to my other dog, she will freeze, and respons to absolutely nothing I say.  She is the poster dog for anti-punishment!!  Keep at it with the housetraining - personally I would take pup into the garden by himself, so he can't get distracted by the other dog playing.  I had to do this with a chi pup not so long ago (my sister's), as he would just play when my dogs were out - but he toileted fairly quickly by himself.  I wouldn't put a time limit on it either for now - maybe later, but at the moment I would wait till he goes then praise a lot, however long it takes - within reason, of course!!  JMO :)

thank you for the hellp ill give that a try. i also found a web site that tells you how to deal with mastiffs behavural problems. bull mastiffs in perticular and i realized i have been going about the traing and punishment of my dog all wrong but. thnx for the tip and ill test it out and seee how it goes.

Hi - i have a 1yr old bully and wud very much appreciate the link to the site you have found........

Lyndsay i think she means 'DEN' training?? :) As in the den being the crate!