English Bulldog Training Problems

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krd6106
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:44 pm

English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by krd6106 »

Our 15 week old English Bulldog (Hampton) is a sweetheart. Minus the fact that he poops and pees in his crate...still. I don't know if it's the food he is on or what. He usually goes poop 2-3 in the morning and 1-2 times at night. Every once in a while, he decides to go in his crate during the day, too. Granted, he is in there about 7 hours due to our work schedules...but he is okay most of the time. He also has a lot of issues with biting our hands and feet/ankles. Does anyone have any advice at all? It would be greatly appreciated!!!!
ladybug1802
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Location: Surrey

Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by ladybug1802 »

Your 15 week old puppy is left alone in his crate for 7 hours a day? This is WAY too long!!!! Its too long for an adult dog and DEFINITELY too long for a puppy! What have you done in order to toilet/potty train him...can you tell us how you have done it? And to be honest, its hardly surprising he needs to go to the toilet if he is alone for 7 hours....he needs to be taken out every hour or so...at least every couple of hours. He doesnt 'decide' to go in his crate....he has no choice BUT to go in his crate.
Labsrule
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Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 5:01 pm

Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by Labsrule »

Oh dear, poor puppy. If you are leaving him in a crate for 7 hours a day, how do you manage his feeding routines? It is hardly surprising he wees and poos in his crate, he is far too young to be able to hold himself; it is like expecting a 6 month old baby to be clean, it just won't happen. Your puppy needs to be taken outside every hour and fed 3/4 times a day. If you are not able to do this find a family member/friend or pay a dog sitter to attend to his needs. Puppies, like young children need constant attention and education, he will not grow up to be a well rounded, well trained dog if you continue to treat him like this, sorry but it is true, he will have behaviour issues that will be very hard to deal with once he has grown.

Please do get some help so that he is not shut in a crate for 7 hours, it is cruel and unfair on him.
tinytwo
Posts: 241
Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:22 am
Location: Central California

Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by tinytwo »

Agreed! At 15 weeks, he's a baby! His bladder and bowels won't be in his full physical control until he's about 6 months old, give or take, and even then, it's still a long time to have to hold it!

The suggestion of a friend/neighbor/family member coming over halfway through the day is great, if you can't come home halfway through the day yourself. Or, there's doggy daycare.....
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Mattie
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Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by Mattie »

krd6106 wrote:Our 15 week old English Bulldog (Hampton) is a sweetheart. Minus the fact that he poops and pees in his crate...still. I don't know if it's the food he is on or what. He usually goes poop 2-3 in the morning and 1-2 times at night. Every once in a while, he decides to go in his crate during the day, too. Granted, he is in there about 7 hours due to our work schedules...but he is okay most of the time. He also has a lot of issues with biting our hands and feet/ankles. Does anyone have any advice at all? It would be greatly appreciated!!!!
If you go to viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1981 it will tell you the various stages your pup will be going through until he is an adult dog. At 15 weeks old he is still a baby and like human babies can't hold his pee and poo for any length of time. At his age he should still be having a minimum of 3 meals a day as well because his digestive system can only cope with little and often.

It is recommended that adult dogs shouldn't be in a crate longer than 4 hours during the day, during the night when everyone is asleep dogs do need to be in a crate longer, this is why it is better to have your dog sleeping in your bedroom over night when young.

By having him crated for7 hours during the day you are teaching him it is ok to toilet in his crate, you really need to train him to toilet outside not inside. Is there anyone who can come in during the day to take him out for you? He really does need this.

Can you give us a run down of his normal day please? Including what he is fed on, what time is he fed, how much exercise, what type of exercise, what training are you doing with him and how long. etc. Please give as much information as you can so we can give you better advice especially with the puppy biting.
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krd6106
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Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:44 pm

Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by krd6106 »

Yes, I know that 7 hours is an extremely long time for him to be in there. We do allow him to sleep with us, though, so he is actually not crated at night...only for those 7 hours during the day. He is fed twice a day (that's what our vet recommended) and we give him NutriScience large breed puppy food. He gets about 3/4 cup at each serving so 1.5 cups a day. He's fed at 6am and around 5 or 6 pm. We take him out multiple times during the morning and in the evening when we are home. He gets walked for about 20-30 minutes a few times a week. We also have/are training him to sit, down, stand, and working on come. We do limit these sessions to 5-10 minutes (that's what I've read to do). He has many toys that we play with, too. Please don't think that we are horrible people...we just work and it makes it difficult. Yes, we have looked into having someone come by to let him out and play, it's just a little nerveracking.
ladybug1802
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Location: Surrey

Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by ladybug1802 »

I understand that you both work, and most of us on here work too, and it is a major consideration before getting a dog, especially a puppy. I am lucky as Dylan goes to a friend who is a dog walker or my parents when i am at work.....i dont even like leaving him for 4 hours in the day as he likes company and I dont think its fair. But I know other people who have dogs who always make sure they go home at lunch tiime, or have a dog walker go in during the day to walk the dog. I really feel strongly that this is somerhing you need to change as 7 hours is far far too long to leave your puppy and it will cause problems of some kind. The boredom will cause behavioural problems, he wont learn to toilet outside and he wont be socialised enough. It is great that you have looked into it, as it means you are aware its a problem....thats more than a lot of people do! So I really encourage you to take this further.
emmabeth
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Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by emmabeth »

I have to agree with the others here, 7 hours a day is FAR too long and you really have to change this asap. You are really going to struggle to housetrain him in under 12 months if you carry on doing that and it is unbelievably unfair to leave a dog crated in with his own mess for several hours a day.

Additionally, I have to strongly disagree with your vet that feeding him only twice a day is fine - a puppy of that age needs to eat three or even four times a day.

The easiest way around these problems, although it is still far from ideal, would be to pay someone to come in during the middle of the day, let him out of his crate, feed him, play with him for an hour or so and then put him back. As he grows up and has the ability to wait he can be weaned off being crated for part of the day.

I find a good rule of thumb to work out what is and isnt fair/acceptable to do with a dog, is to think about what you would do with a toddler.

If you wouldn't (or legally couldn't) do something to a 2 year old child, then don't do it to a dog either.

Both the problems are due to the lack of time you have for him - as he grows up he will be able to hold on longer to toilet, but right now some days he cant (and i expect the days he can, he is uncomfortable and bursting to go by the time he gets to, which can cause physical problems!).

THe biting is a normal part of puppy behaviour, it is something he would do in play with his litter mates and other adult dogs - they would respond unfavourably if he bit too hard or was too persistant (by avoiding him) and this constant, consistant reaction to him biting would teach him that certain levels of biting are not acceptable.

Because you are gone for a large portion of the day, firstly his need to play is much greater, and the opportunities for you to either distract him with something else befor ehe does it, and secondly use a time out or some other method of demonstrating that this behaviour wont be rewarded if you miss the chance to distract, are far fewer.

So the end result is it wil take him much much longer to learn not to do these things than if you were home with him full time.

I do appreciate that it is probably quite hard to hear and accept these responses, but there is little point us skirting around the truth here.

We can help you and advise you on the best techniques to use for things such as play biting, but basically you need to give him more time, and/or accept that it is goig to be a long slow process teaching him now to be a nicely behaved adult dog.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
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Mattie
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Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by Mattie »

krd6106 wrote:Please don't think that we are horrible people...we just work and it makes it difficult. Yes, we have looked into having someone come by to let him out and play, it's just a little nerveracking.
We don't think you are horrible people, if you were you wouldn't have come on here and asked for help, you are an owner who doesn't know what to do, that is different. We do say very plainly, if we pussy footed around like many boards you wouldn't really know what was right for your dog or not, I have seen this on other boards and the dog suffered for it. Please believe me when I say we are not having a go at you, we are just replying to your request for help. It does come as a shock to most people because we are so truthful.

Well done for him sleeping with you at night, that will help your pup.

Your vet is wrong on feeding him twice a day, he is still a baby and needs feeding a minimum of 3 times a day. Vets have a lot to learnt at vet school, they don't really get enough training on feeding dogs and often get this part wrong.

For exercise he should get 5 minutes a day for every month of his life, at 15 weeks old he needs 15 to 20 minutes every day not several times a week. Exercise is really important, it helps their bones and muscles grow and develop properly.

Try clicker training with him, this will really help him, you will find out how to at viewtopic.php?f=20&t=513 You are doing well with his training.
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krd6106
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Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:44 pm

Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by krd6106 »

Yes, I hate leaving him in his crate for so long. I hate when we are home on the weekends even putting him in there for an hour or two! I don't know if this is a stretch or not...but could some of the issues be due to separation anxiety? When we are home, he is with us contantly. And if we walk out of a room, he usually follows. Then he goes in his crate and I think he freaks out a little. I've read that to help with this, put him in for shorter time spans then return and to not make a big fuss when you leave or come home. We are also in the process of setting up an outside fence so that he can go out there during the day instead of in his crate...and we are considering setting it up so he can go both inside the house and out into the fenced area since bulldogs are sensitive to heat/cold.
tinytwo
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Re: English Bulldog Training Problems

Post by tinytwo »

In my opinion, I don't think the biting/nipping issues have anything to do with separation anxiety, those are normal puppy play behaviors.

The peeing/pooping in the crate COULD be, in part, due to separation anxiety IF your puppy had separation anxiety. BUT, the real problem here, is as many mentioned, that your puppy is crated too long. And, if he didn't have the potential for separation anxiety on his own, he MIGHT develop it because he's left alone that long...know what I mean? I would get anxious, too, if I was left alone, and wasn't able to take care of myself, for that long, 5 days a week.

As far as him following you on the weekends when you ARE home, yes, he's afraid he'll be left like the other days of the week, so he wants you in his sights.

Having him outside during the day, instead of the crate, still isn't much of a solution, in my opinion, because he is still left alone, it's just that it doesn't matter if he pees and poops outside. He still isn't getting consistent training during those 7 hours, and that's why it will take longer to train him....

But, I think it's great that you are looking for options for your little guy!
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