American bulldog

Question
I have a male American Bulldog and a female Boxer. They are 6 and 5 months old.
We had a female boxer for 10 years before she passed. We decided to get two dogs so they could play together. They play wonderful with on another. The problem I am having is my American Bulldog does not like adult strangers. If an adult stranger walks up to pet him, he growls at them and tucks his tail. I do sit down beside him and pet his back and tell him that the person is ok, or I will touch the strangers arm and let him know it ok and that he is not going to hurt anyone, but he does not want anything to do with them. So when he growls I push him down on his side in the submissive mode and make him lay there hoping that the person will stick around long enough to still try and pet him but most of the time they loose interest and move on. How do I stop this aggression?


Answer
Hi Robert
Be very careful doing an alpha role unless you are a VERY experienced owner/trainer.
Your dog is feeling threatened and could easily escalate into a fear biter. He doesn't feel confident in himself or in you as a leader. It happens sometimes, sometimes they're born with these feelings. The two breeds that you have are notorious for problems such as these. This is not unfortunately something that can be handled simply. Please read and study the following website, and get your dogs enrolled in obedience classes asap.http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/alpha.htm If he's not already neutered I STRONGLY urge you to do so as soon as you can. Walk him at least twice a day. make sure they are WALKS where he burns energy and gets a real workout.
good luck and let me know how it goes
Diane