i have a 14 week old bullmastiff pup and have encounted a prob with him, the problem is that after reading on one of the boards that raw marrowbones are good for them i went out and bought 1, before he had the bone he had never shown any aggressive behaviour at all, but my 3yr old son walked past him when he had the bone and he growled,thinking i was hearing things i bent to try to take the bone off him and he went for me very viciously, i took the bone off him and repeated it and got the same result so have'nt gave him a bone since, as i said he had no problems before this and we can touch his food when he's eating without any reaction, it was just with the bone. My wife took him to a puppy class and was told it was not aggresion it was his instinct but were both not so sure, so when he was taken to the vets to be wormed and flea'd i asked the vet and was told it was aggression and needed to be looked at and he gave me the number of an animal behaviorist who i phoned and was told she needed to see the dog,which is going to cost £95 which we are paying, but id like to know if anyone has used one and what are the success rate.

This is an instinctive (although undesirable) behaviour, not aggression. For the very first time your pup has been given a truly splendid, valuable resource (natural food), so of course he wants to guard it. It's what dogs do. If you take the bone from him you have proved to him that he was right to guard it!

What you have to prove to him is that you are no threat - that he isn't going to lose out. With my pups I always give them their bones whilst I hold on to the other end - in effect we are sharing it. Pup gets to gnaw, but on my terms. Just as I always hold the food bowl while pup eats. This way they learn that humans aren't going to remove the food - in fact, quite the opposite - people are the givers of food!

£95  hey thats a good amount to tell you your dog was just guarding his bone  what a rip off wy dont we understand that a dog is going to be more protective of a bone than anything else and the three year old in the dogs eyes is just another puppy

and I would question the wisdom of getting a breed like that with such a small child do people not research into the breed they get before putting children in danger in fact any breed with a three year old

Interesting question as I researched bullmastiffs very carefully, contacting breeders, going to shows and here on champdogs, and I got my bully after continually seeing and being told how good they were with children!!! Even most general dog breed books make a point of the bullmastiffs good reputation with children. My kids love bullies and come to shows with me to meet others and we have never had a hint of a problem.

I think Mattie and Jeangenie have covered the aggression but I will say something about the child. A Bullmastiff is a very large and very strong dog. No child, particularly a 3 year old should ever be unsupervised around any dog but with a dog as big as this one is going to be that is doubly important. I realise there is no mention of the child being unsupervised here but I also feel that it is so important that I should say something.

Regards, John

As Jeangenie says this is an instinctive behaviour. You say that you can touch his food when he's eating without any reaction.  Perhaps that is why he felt the need to keep you and your son away from his bone because you have previously bugged him when he is eating and although he hasn't felt the need to guard his food the bone was way to valuable to share.

If every time you sat down to a plate of steak and chips someone walked past and nicked a chip, you'd probably get fed up eventually but you'd get really angry if they tried to nick your steak.  If however that person offered you more chips or some salad maybe then you would not have a problem with them approaching you. 

You should invest in the book 'Mine! A practical guide to resource guarding' by Jean Donaldson

Also I would never give any dog a bone with a young child about. 

When you do take the bone away do you offer something else in return? This way the dog doesn't lose out either way. I have always had my children dipping their hands in the dogs food, hand feeding, taking toys, human food away from them ect and have never had a problem. The first dogs we had were Cuervo (shepherd/collie) and Taz (wolf/rott 158-162 lbs) they still do it now, we now have Taz and 4 boston's.

Do hope you get it sorted not something you want to go bad...I would give something in return like another bone, a treat or even a toy that only comes out at special play times when you want to take something away. Also teach a command everytime you want something like drop it. Everything my dogs have is mine and they only get it when I say its ok. They don't have toys laying around the house, they only get them when I go out or at night because I had problems with Junior thinking he owned all the toys and Taz wasn't allowed any (when they are safely in their kennels).

My Bullie had a similar attitude to bones when young, though he never growled at me.  He did however attack my then boyfriends dog while he was eating a marrowbone and the dog approached him, i guess he was around 5 months at the time and it really shocked me because i'd never seen him like this - he was up for tearing the old mongrel apart!

From a very young age ie 7 weeks i always fed him holding the bowl like the lady above and would remove it when i wanted too, he learnt that i was in control and i said what he had and when.  The dog lived to the age of 10 and that was the only time he ever showed any agression to anything - he was the most beautiful natured dog.  I had two children the first when he was around two years and he nannied both of them, he was fantastic. 
If he's not agressive any other time i wouldn't worry yet about this becoming a problem, he just needs to learn that you as top dog have the right to take anything from him - anything.  Next time you give hime a bone, i let him know it is there and available - ie show him the bone, but do not let him have it - make him wait until you want to give it to him, then when he has waited patiently, give it to him but hold on to it, let in chew it for a while then take it away, if he lets you without fuss then id give it staight back, praise him and leave him with it, maybe try to remove it again a little later.

Just remember everything he has should be on your terms, you are top dog.
Sharon

I agree with Sally's post. 

Hi

I would be more inclined to believe your trainer in this instance and to follow the advice given above rather than pay out £95 for someone to give you exactly the same information.

It is a natural reaction in a dog or pup to guard it's bone.  Not acceptable but natural.  It might be better if you are still concerned to see if your trainer will give you a private session?

my pup is now 14 months and a giant breed. i first gave him a bone around 10 weeks old and he growled at me when i tryed to take it away.i took it of him to show him that i was pack leader and he only has it if i allowed him.he has never done it since as for big dogs and kids my youngest is 6 and she could take any thing of him with no growling etc.toby is a giant breed that is already bigger than a mastiff and i know he can be trusted with the children.it is normal behaviour of a pup to protect food but it can also be a sign of food dominance which could turn nasty with any size dog and children.he needs to learn his place in the pack this includes under the 3 year old child.i have a behaviourist with toby because he can be stubborn but i paid £195 for his life time and they come back when ever you need them.so £95 for 1 session seems high to me.

Just my opinion but I have always avoided giving my dogs bones for this very reason. Even the most placid of my mums and my own retrievers tended to over react if they had a bone.
  Also, I have a bullmastiff and a three year old who are very attached to each other. If children are raised with dogs and taught to love and respect them there should be no problems. I am suprised to find someone on this board querying having dogs with young children. I am already shocked at the number of children around who are nervous of dogs because they are 'not used to them'. Correctly trained and well treated a dog can be a much loved member of the family, however old the children.

thanks for all your opinions, we had the session with the dog behaviorist today and it went really well and she does not think we have a dominant dog just one who was really into his bone that he really could not bare to part with it, she went through a lot of training technique's with us and is coming back in 2 weeks to see how we are progressing which is included in the price. maybe £95 was quite steep but it was definatly worth it to us as she seen how the dog and my son play together and reassured us so it gave us piece of mind.Regarding the questioning of getting a large breed with a child, i did do a lot of research on bullmastiff's and everything i read was positive with regards to bringing them up with children.