Hello, I've just come across this site and would really appreciate any advice about my fourteen month old male french bulldog.  Over the last couple of months he has become more and more dominant (snapping at us if we touch his bed, if we push him away, even occasionally while we are stroking him!). Monsieur thinks he's the boss.  Yesterday he wouldn't get out of the car and I was actually scared to force him out.  As he is deaf, training has been haphazard to say the least (my fault, I know).  As a puppy (until his first birthday) he was the calmest, most biddable chap.  My vet recommended castration , but when I finally called to make an appointment, I was stunned when he said I should go straight for euthanasia (dominance coupled with deafness = dangerous dog).  I am not even considering euthanasia at this point, just hoping that the castration has some effect.  Does anyone have any experience of my situation? Any advice would be greatly  appreciated.  Thank you.

Hi - I doubt if he's being dominant (true dominance is very rare) - I would say he's just behaving like a stroppy teenager! ;) However his deafness doesn't help matters because he'll be more easily startled and be more reactive than a hearing dog. I suggest you put a houseline on him so that when you want him out of the car or off the furniture you can make him do it without having to put your hands near him. If you're not afraid of being bitten you won't be displaying fearful body language so he'll be more amenable.

I suggest you contact a trainer who specialises in training deaf dogs and put in some hard work with him, or you may yet have to make a very difficult decision.

Alison,

I agree you should try to find a trainer who specialises in deaf dogs.  Whereabouts are you based?  Maybe someone will know of one.

http://www.barry.eaton.clara.net/training.htm

http://www.deafk9.com/

He sounds like a very defensive dog, not a dominant one.

Given he is now scaring you, i assume he is 'winning' ie his reaction, snapping/growling is getting him what he wants which i suspect is to be left alone.

Go and find a trainer who specialises in deaf dogs. They will teach you how to communicate with him, how to set boundarys and rules which should put an end to these problems.

With the ability to communicate wtih him and proper rules as to what he can and cannot do, what is expected of him,  you stand a chance of making him a happy confident dog, which he currently doesnt sound at all!

(BTW, a dominant dog is a dog who is confident with the role of 'boss', a confident boss does not NEED to re-affirm his position by snapping or growling!!!)

Em

Thank you very much for all your messages, which are much appreciated.  I agree that training is the way forward - I live in France, and am going to try to find a trainer who has experience with deaf dogs.  In the meantime, he is being punished when he snaps - a spray from my children's water pistol which he hates.  I think it's having an effect...I'm also being a lot firmer with him.   We all love him dearly and 99% of the time he is adorable.  Does anyone know if castration is likely to make a difference?

Thanks onetwothree for the k9 site -I've just checked it out and it's going to be very helpful...

Be careful of subduing an unwanted behaviour with punishment - it may diminish that behaviour, but you may find another unwanted behaviour coming out in stead :(

I'd suggest that because he is deaf and has received little training :) he's just not sure and defensive, and as others have already said, may be learning to control things a bit. I am surprised at your vet, presumably he has no real knowledge of the dog and is not a behaviourist, yet he recommends pts. You may be able to exchange a few emails with Barry, at one of the websites given, he is very helpful :)

Lindsay
x

Alison, I think it might be a good idea not to use the water pistol and to try to find a trainer who works with reward-based methods and not punishment.

Given that you have a deaf dog which has received little training and is probably snapping partly out of fear and a lack of understanding (ie - he doesn't know if you are a threat or not because he's deaf) I don't think the way to form a trusting bond with him is to punish him. 

Try to offer him treats when you see behaviour you like.  Try to develop a hand signal which means 'you're right' or 'praise' (like a thumbs up) and combine that with giving him treats or meal-times.

Finally you might want to try clicker training - with a torch.  This is routinely used to clicker train deaf animals - see this link:

http://www.myaussies.com/clicker.html

Training Deaf Dogs

you can also get books on training deaf dogs :D

if you do a search on this forum there is loads of info on where to look for help and books :D

Hope this helps
Good Luck
Dill

Dont do the water spray thing.. it might stop him snapping, its not going to make him stop FEELING like he wants to snap!

We shouldnt anthropomorphise.... but.

Put yourself in his shoes. You are deaf, you are small, and you live with a big group of.. err.. elephants. You dont know the rules, you cant communicate and they push you around and pick you up and plonk you in different places youve never been before.

You get hurt one day, someone grabs your shirt collar and tweeks your hair hard at the same time, by accident, but you react by turning round and yelling loudly and trying to thump the elephant. The elephant backs off.

You use this method because finally, they at least understand when you dont want to be pushed about. Its the ONLY message you can convey.

And then they start spraying you with water whenever you try to communicate.

I realise, we are humans not elephants, he is a dog not a person... but in the above situation, you wouldnt be feeling particularly happy or confident all the time would you, and certainly not relaxed.

You need a method to remove him from a situation wtihout getting snapped at, so put a trailing lead on his collar, one without a loop at the end so it cant get caught on anything, and use that to keep outo f the way of snapping, so you dont back down, to remove him from where ever without being confrontational.

It wouldnt do any harm to read up on clicker training (i realise you cant use a clicker), get to understand the basics of positive reward based training and think how you can apply it to the dog.

I would start off with rewarding him for looking at you, perhaps you could use something with a light on it that you can light up (kids torch?) instead of the click. Then put that on a cue.

It IS very possible to train deaf dogs and train them well! You just need to think your way round it. Once a dog learns that making eye contact with you is rewarding, he will be able to learn lots of other things, using hand signals rather than voice commands, and he will start to look to you for instruction!

Em

Thank you everyone for your advice.  I have put away the water pistol....As everyone has probably guessed, I am pretty much a beginner when it comes to training dogs - growing up we  had dopey mongrels, and like a fool I thought all dogs were like that. ...

Thanks again

Alison