Can anyone help with advice.My year old neutered male is snapping and growling
when asked to do something he doesnt want to and has developed a habit of flipping on his back when you take hold of his collar.We are not novice mastiff owners, we have had them for years but this hasnt happened before - he also barks constantly - where am I going wrong???

I know nothing about DDB ..but it does sound like it could be a teenage thing rather than a breed specific thing .....we have some other DDB owners on board I am sure they will offer advice :)

we have a male of 15 month's who went through this,as you will know bordeaux's can be quite a dominate breed,and you normally find as they start maturing,as with a lot of other breed's they will start to challenge you and other dog's in the household,try not to let him intimidate you,i know this may be a little hard as at 12 month's he will be quite a size already.if you find he is intimidating you try and find a good obedience class this will teach him some manner's and give you a bit more confidence in handling him.
we found just being firm helped greatly,and once he new we would not back down to him and we where the top dog's he soon settled back down.good luck i hope you resolve this situation soon:)

Thanks for your reply.Can you tell me how you find your boy generally?As I said we owned bullmastiffs for 13 years but never found any dominence problems at all.Do you think it is a breed thing?.I researched into the breed for years before we got him but in all honesty he is nothing like (temperment )that was described.Do you have kids?

Do not have knowledge of the breed but when a dog is castrated before maturity it is possible that the dog will remain in the junior stage longer than you may expect. It is important that you get control of the dog before he becomes too big to control.

I have a 12 month old bitch and a 6 month old dogue, but have had Tibetan Mastiff's for nearly 20 years before,Britney started to want to dominate from the age of about 8 month if she got something she wanted she would guard it and if we went to take it from her she would grumble, or if people came she would have to be the first to have any attention from them, when we tried to get her to come in the house when she did not want to if we got hold of her collar she would flip on her back.We alway's made sure that she was fed last, it treats were given she got her's last, when people came my husband would take friends straight through to great the dog's but Britney was held back while the other dogs were greeted to try and show her that she was last in the pack if she grumbled when we took bones and things of her she was told not very firmly and if she carried on she was taken to her kennel and made it clear to her that it was because of her of what she ahd done telling her she was a naughty girl in a tone that she knew that we disaproved of what she had done, she has now grown out of this behavior and she now know's that the Newfoundland bitch is top dog

Hi traciejane,
bordeaux"s are known to be quite dominate,but i would'nt say any more than any other breed,we have never had a problem with our bitch,you can do absolutely anything with her,with no problem's,i honestly think some dog's behaviour's can stem back to when there still with there litter mate's.when i pick a puppy from a litter i tend not to go for the puppy that seem's to be boss,and neither do i go for the shrinking violet sat in the corner.also when i have a litter of my own i tend to leave mum with pup's until there atleast 10 weeks old ,to teach them some manner's,as i personally think some people try to take mum away far to early,then its up to the new owners or me to take over as mum,and keep on with the learning process,i'm not saying i dont have fun and games with my pup's ,i do,but i never let a puppy jump up at me ,you have to remember these dog's can weigh atleast 100lb's when fully grow,and would knock you to the ground with ease,when i feed my pup's even from the weaning stage i have my hand's in the dish,and if they ever have treat's i learn them from a early age that if i want it back i can,i always stress to new owners to carry on doing these thing's with there puppy's,as i have said there going to grow into a big powerful dog,that you must have control of at all times.
as with our 15 month old male we did have problem's but we did'nt get him from a puppy he was 11month's old when he came to live with us,so we practically had to start from the beginning as he did show all the sign's your dog is displaying.
we have three children,and the only real problem we had with him and the kid's was that he mouthed alot,and the little one did think he was trying to bite her,but once he learn't he was'nt allowed to do this everything was fine.don't give up on your dog he just need's to learn his place in the family,a few thing's you could do with him is when you feed him let him watch you prepare his food but just before you give it to him,pretend to eat from his bowl first,as the leader alway's eats first and he get's what's left,when you walk through a door/gateway you must go through first ,never let him through before you,try these couple of thing's first and see how you get on,you do sound as if your quite lost at what to do to over come this,but you will get there in the end,to many people give up on there pet's and end up rehoming them,feel free to e-mail me and we can exchange telephone number's and maybe have a chat:)
joanne

Keep him on a leash in the house. Since he goes to snap you can give a correction at a safe distance and can enforce it with out getting snapped at. I would also do alot of obedience as well, if he growl/snap make him sit, lay down ect and continue for about 2 min. Does it again make him do it for 5 min. Always vary your time. It does sound like he is trying to say where he stands then the other way around. If you have children get them to make him sit, if he doesn't You make him sit and the child treat/praise him. This way he also learns that he is under the children and they are boss to him.

ttfn :)

Have you tried rewarding him for doing it right? If for example you want to move him, do you approach him happily and with confidence?

YOu can teach separately the exercise "grab a collar and follow me is fun" - use a tasty titbit as a lure at first, hold it near his nose and lead him a few steps, WITHOUT holding his collar at all, then reward him. After a few days, of 5 minute sessions here and there (don't use boring biscuits, make it a longed for heavenly treat) gently take his collar as you use the lure..... eventually you should be able to use the treat as a reward for him moving with you, rather than as a lure :)

If he doesn't respond to the treat, either it is not good enough, or there is some other factor. If for example you have been cross with him and maybe grabbed his collar, he may be afraid and not want to go with you. Make it happy, fun, wonderful to go with you.

It would be a good idea if he is relatively hungry too ;) If at some stage (collar taking stage) he balks, go back to kindergarten stage, the first stage, and repeat for longer before moving onto the collar stage.

When he is moving with you, start to use a command, changed from any you used before, and say it in a firm but friendly tone. After some time, and I would suggest weeks rather than days, you can reward more with praise and gradually dispense with the treats, but do reward here and there and get other family members to do the same.

When he is more accepting, use his food bowl to train - and lead him by the collar to his food bowl so he associates again that taking by the collar = excellent stuff for Dogue boy :D

HOpefully this will work, and will even work on a bolshy/opportunist sort, but there are so many X factors as you can appreciate, such as environment, relationship with individuals, etc. If not i would recommend a trainer with some behavioural knowledge, and regular fun, worth it for him, training sessions anyway :)

Hth a bit

Lindsay

My partner and I have just bought a bordeaux pup, he's 9 weeks old today. I have read that they can be quite dominant. What I have been doing is putting his food down and then every now and then picking his bowl up and then putting it back down again. The same with his toys, if I want one of them I just take it. He doesn't seem to mind this at all. I go through doorways first and make him get out of my way rather than me move around him. I know he still very much a baby, but I think that if I get him used to these things, we may have less trouble in the future. What do the bordeaux experts think about my approach? I am doing things correctly or should I do things differently?

I totally agree you need to get a dog - any dog, not just a large or giant breed - to accept handling etc, but i honestly would worry about the way you are taking his food bowl. That exercise is understandable but can lead to problems - it may not, but when he reaches his teens he may start to object and I would understand why from his point of view ;)

By all means teach him to be happy with people around his food bowl, but do it by adding food to the empty bowl rather than just taking what he already has.

Please don[t worry too much about dominance, concentrate on good socialsing and training and there will be no dominance. Also you may find useful www.dog-dominance.co.uk

:)

Lindsay

Hi Joanne
What you said made alot of sense.We have had alot of problem with the mouthing, he seemed to have stopped for a while but is at it again!!He knows he shouldnt do it and is almost sheepish but will still try.We have a year old daughter who he adores and is very gentle with but he pushes our three year old around, takes her toys, mouths her.He is also abit over protective with the kids,not too keen on stangers in the house,we socialised him alot and he is fine outside the home,but not too friendly inside.He never does anything but is very watchful of people who come in.

We were having 'stroppy ' behaviour from our castrated male ridgeback (now 15months old) . If we are honest he started to 'change attitude' gradually from about a year - little things which we stupidly didn't pay enough attention to. Anyway we are fortunate enough to attend a brilliant weekly training class ( basically to get out with him, amongst other owners and get acceptable discipline). Our trainer recommended hand feeding him - as it was clear to her he was starting to ignore us and basically show off and not listen. All his food is hand feed ( not put in a bowl) - and he has to earn it. It jackpot rewarding - so if he does something really well he could 'win' half his meal instantly. Have to admit I hate doing it ( and carrying food evrywhere) - particularly as after week one he was starting to look lean! I felt wicked - BUT we have continued and it has worked - he is starting to focus on us more when walking , and listens to commands. The days of 'that look' ( which means get lost) have gone - and we are a happier family for it .