Hello,

We live in Namibia, Africa and have a three year old bull terrier male. We have a big yard and no children and our bull terrier has been our child for the past three years. He truly is spoilt rotten and not used to other dogs at all. He is kind hearted and treats people and children well. He is very boisterous and always wants to play. My partner and I both work during the day, so our dog, Koevoet is alone for most of the time. We play with him often and take him for walks but recently I began feeling extremely sorry for him when I leave for work in the mornings. I therefore thought it a good idea to get him a friend. We got the little puppy Bull Terrier female over the weekend and she is two months and three weeks old. We tried to introduce the two to each other, but things has not gone as well as we hoped. In the beginning they did the sniff thing and the he tried to bite her. Sometimes it looks OK and seems as if they want to engage in play. We tried introducing them again several times thereafter but each time ended in Koevoet violently grabbing and growling at her, she even bled a little on her "elbow" the one time. She is now obviously afraid of him and runs every time she sees him and he then pursues. She is so adorable and also well mannered. My heart is broken as I really don't want to give her away, but also wouldn't want to see her seriously injured or killed. Koevoet is a very big dog, abnormally so for a bull terrier - he weighs 40kg and she is still but only a puppy and stands no chance against him. I guess he could have easily killed her if he wanted to, but was just standing over her or holding her in his mouth while growling and showing vicious behavior. We have taken her to friends for now who have two jack russels and she is very happy there. I would like her to stay with us though. After she left yesterday, he also acted very strangely, he usually stays inside the house while we are there, but last night he went outside to lay in his wooden box and when we would go him, he would turn his head away. He did the same thing when we showed the puppy to him earlier that day. I guess he might be jealous and protective, but we are actually doing this for him at the end of the day. Koevoet has had no formal training but he is relatively well mannered. I guess I just never expected him to act this way, because I always thought of him as a big baby. He still sits on my lap from time to time and is actually very affectionate. Is there anyway that you can suggest for us to do the introduction differently or to make this work?

Please let me know should you require any further information regarding the dogs or our setup to be able to give us any advise.

Jo-anne, has Koevoet played with other dogs on a regular basis? Did you socialize him with other dogs? Or, has he been primarily with humans, having very little contact with other dogs? This is important information that is needed for me to answer your question effectively.

It is uncommon for a male to attack a female like that. Perhaps he was removed from his litter and mother too soon and didn't have continuing contact with other dogs. Is he neutered? For her to run away shows this is a real problem, and not just play that looks bad. I will wait until you get back with more information and see what Ruby has to say.

Dear Labman and Ruby,

Thank you for your quick response.

Koevoet was bitten very badly by his mother as a puppy and was one of only two of the puppies that survived. For the first year of his life he stayed with other dogs - the two jack russels I mentioned earlier and there where actually no problems there - he just became to playful for them and I don't think he realised how big he actually is. From then on he stayed on his own and primarily came into contact with humans only. He showed the same behavior while we where visiting friends in December - "attacking" their Basset female in the same manner he did Chili (the Bull Terrier puppy) but a bone was at fault and it never really occurred to me that he would act this way again. He has not been neutered.

Thanks
Jo-Anne

Jo-anne, unfortunately it will take a lot of time and effort on your part to see if you can turn Koevoet around. And, that doesn't always guarantee he will. To say his start in life was not ideal is an understatement. Without being able to observe him, it is hard to say this definitively, but it sounds as if your dog was a product of poor breeding just from the info you supplied about his mother. It is rare for a mother to turn on her pups in the way you describe.

There are a number of issues here that do not bode well for your introducing another dog into your home. During his first year, when he became possessive of his bone, when he showed aggression toward the two smaller dogs, he was not properly corrected and trained. You removed him from that situation, instead of working with him and correcting his behavior when he was a manageable size and age. By doing this, it only reinforced the bad behavior. Since he has matured, he has not been around other dogs. Not a good situation on the whole. Dogs are social animals and need consistent training on socialization with other animals and people. Considering he is not neutered, in all likelihood, his aggressiveness has increased with maturity. I don't know what type of training is available to you, and, whether you have the money and time to dedicate to your dog. In any event, I can tell you with certainty that you cannot allow any small animal to be alone with him, especially this puppy. Until you are confident that he can safely be left alone with another animal, you would have to keep the puppy permanently separated from him. Considering his reaction to her, I do believe he will eventually kill her if you don't actively work on his socialization.

My opinion regarding puppies is that they should not be left alone and crated for more than 4 or 5 hours, tops. If you and your husband work long hours, your situation is not an ideal one. A lot of people mistakenly believe that their dog is lonely and would love a playmate. That is not always the case and in your situation, it definitely is not something your dog wants, or should have any time soon. I am afraid that in this instance, unless you can put in the time that I suggested, it is in the puppy's best interest to give her up to someone who can provide a safe environment and the proper training.

I am sorry I cannot be of more help to you than this. Maybe one of my other colleague's here won't agree with me, and may have some other suggestions. But, I cannot stress enough that you should never leave her alone with your male, until his behavior has been completely corrected.

The only thing I would add to Ruby's post is to strongly urge you to neuter him. She has more experience with poorly bred dogs that have been allowed to form bad habits.

I agree labman. As we both know, neutering can greatly reduce aggressive tendencies. It is not always the solution, but it has been known to help in quite a few cases, just as spaying a female does as well. Jo-anne, doing this also avoids uterine cancer later on down the road for the female and of course the obvious, avoiding any unwanted pregnancies. If you were considering mating those two, please, rethink this. You do not want to continue a bloodline where there is a clear case of aggression problems. That can cause some major problems for the folks with children, who would bring one of those puppies into their homes, and would in general, be very irresponsible and unfair to these dogs.

Dear Ruby and Labman,

Thank you very much for your responses. I guess I actually knew what we had to do, but needed confirmation. I visited Chili again tonight and she really seems happy and content with the world where she is. I think it is best to leave her with the people she is with as they are more than happy to keep her and look after her. I will try and find a training instructor and put in the necessary time to try and correct Koevoet's behaviour. I think when you are raised with dogs you think you know them and you know what to do. Nobody around this side of the world that I know ever had formal training with their K9's, but I can now see the benefits and the difference it can make. Thank you oce again for your advise - I truly appreciate it.

You are welcome Jo-anne. I wish I could recommend someone to you but I don't know of anyone in your area. Call whatever vets are around and ask if they have any recommendations for trainers who are experienced in aggression and have been successful in it. Ask anyone you know or see with a dog if they can recommend someone. The best way to find someone reliable is by word of mouth from people who have "been there, done that."

My dog was a rescue. When I realized as she grew that she was a full pitbull, I spent a lot of time and effort properly socializing her with small dogs and children. I did not want her to view anything or anyone as prey. Even though she is a very good natured dog and has never shown those tendencies, to this day, I never leave her alone with small animals or children. She is always supervised. It is my responsibility to keep everyone and everything safe.

Good luck and let us know how you are progressing with this situation.