bad behavior/aggression with Boston Bull Terrier

Question
When anyone comes to our home whether they are familiar or not to our dog, he will not stop barking and jumping.  If it is a stranger, the barking is serious and people get scared.  Once they are in the house he is fine and will play ball with them and be normal but once they go to leave, I have to hold him or he will grab them by the pant leg and it is aggressive.  It is causing so much tension and anxiety in our home. The dog just turned one year old and so far I have tried commands, ultrasonic sound, locking him in kennel but nothing is working. I also had him neutered on the advise of our vet.  Can you help me.  Family coming home on holiday soon and I am at a loss as to what to do here.  Thank you in advance for any help.

Answer
Greetings, and thank you for contacting All Experts.
It sounds like your dog is acting out of territorial aggression but it may difficult to say without watching if he is acting out of fear or dominance. The fact he is doing it mostly when the visitors are leaving is over all a coward way to attack, since the person is turning its back to him. Many fearful dogs have this approach and if they do bite, it is usually a series of quick nervous bites, versus holding on to a leg and not letting go as some more confident dogs would do.

I perfectly understand your concerns about this especially with family coming to your home soon. I would recommend a dog behaviorist coming to your home to assess your dog and offer the most appropriate treatment plan. For me, not seeing his behavior and his body postures, it is difficult to determine the best way to treat this, but I can only make some assumptions and you can try some behavior modification programs out. I would also have his thyroid levels tested just to rule medical problems out.

First of all, toss away the ultrasonic sound collar as it can make problems worse. By delivering the ultrasonic sound you are only telling the dog that the presence of people in your home brings bad things,and it will only reinforce his need to send them away.

Most territorial dogs have problems in two precise instances: people entering the house and people leaving the house. As mentioned previously attacking when people are leaving it is more a coward approach as the dog attacks from behind, whereas attacking when a guest is entering is more of a frontal approach that requires more courage. However, regardless of acting out of fear or dominance-or perhaps I should say assertiveness- the attack is a bit manipulative as the dog feels that it must be in charge of who comes and goes, while only you should be in charge of this.

However as mentioned previously, only a dog behaviorist can assess the situation best so the dog's body language can be observed. If your dog is acting out of fear, to ''send the visitors away'' and feel good about it since it works -(note your guests leave in a hurry when your dog does this)- he needs a certain behavior program.

But there are other chances and explanations for his behavior. He may be a bit of pushy dog, that feels the need to control everybody and therefore attacks to simply make a statement of ''how dare you leave without my permission?'' In this case the body language will be different. Another hypothesis is that your dog is acting out of herding instinct, he sees the person leaving as a sign he is leaving the flock, and therefore feels the need to intervene to put this person back into place. Here again, the dog feels in control. This latter though does not fit the picture in a breed like yours that is not a herding breed.

So far it sounds like you have only used methods to ''stop the behavior'' and have not resorted to methods to put your dog up for success, by offering alternate behaviors. If obedience commands have not worked, it very likely sounds like your dog was too aroused to obey them. Locking in the kennel obviously will not go to the root of the problem.

I am going to give a few different approaches to give a try, to possibly eradicate this behavior, but unfortunately, there are no guarantees he will not go back to his antics, therefore you must try your best to manage him safely to avoid anybody from getting hurt. In order to accomplish this, you need to have your dog safely leashed and possibly wearing a basket muzzle. You will also need several volunteers, people your dog does not know to well. The goal of this behavior program is to offer your dog an alternative behavior and put him up for success.

Start by investing in the tastiest treats you dog knows. These are 100 dollar treats, treats your dog would die for, examples are slices of hot dogs, freeze dried liver, steak, boneless, skin less chicken,oven cooked chicken livers..Keep small bits of these treats handy by putting them in a fanny pack or treat pouch that goes around your waist.

Now work on this exercise: make a sound with your mouth, anything, a whistle, a smacking noise, just not words. Place a treat at your eye level and as soon as your dog looks at you, give the treat. Repeat-repeat-repeat. The sequel is as such: you make sound with your mouth with treat at eye level/dog makes eye contact/you give treat. Do it 10-15 times until your dog gets a hang of it. Timing is of the essence:the second your dog looks at you the treat is delivered.

At some point something wonderful will happen: your dog will look up at you in the eyes automatically when you make the noise in anticipation of the treat. By doing this you have taught your dog to focus on you and that eye contact is a good thing. Practice also from a distance, let your dog sit and move a few steps away, make the noise with your mouth and your dog should come to you for a treat. Now you can apply this exercise successfully for  your behavioral problems and this is how:

Keep your dog on a leash. In order to control him best and avoid him slipping out of your hands from the possible lunging, I recommend a ''sensation harness'' by Soft Touch Concepts with a front attachment. Put a muzzle on that allows him to pant and eat some treats if you feel he may bite.

Now lets try to focus on the barking and jumping when people are coming OVER to your house. Very likely your boy starts barking right when somebody knocks on the door or rings the bell. Have the treats ready and have a volunteer knock on the door or ring the bell. Keep your dog far away from the door at first and work under the threshold. In other words, try to catch him BEFORE he barks or reacts. Every time the door bell rings or every time the knocking noise is made, you make the noise with your mouth, your dog looks up at you and he gets immediately a treat. Repeat until your boy will arrive at a point where he associates the door bell or the door knocking with the treat. You know this happens when he hears the noise and looks up at you anticipating the treat. At this point, congratulations, you have classically conditioned him to love that noise!

Once you have this down, have the visitor ring the bell and you open the door. The visitor will not look at your dog, talk to her or give him any attention he or she will just ignore her. If he starts barking you tell him ''quiet'' followed by a bunch of small treats. A dog cannot bark while it is eating! Repeat this until your dog pairs the presence of the visitor with the treats. You know this happens when every time you open the door he looks at you in anticipation of the treat.

Now work in progress. Have the visitor ring the bell, you open the door and the visitor steps in two steps. The visitor must ignore your dog. If he barks, say ''quiet'' and give him many small treats. Once quiet, have the visitor toss some treats in his direction. Have the visitor repeat this until he is looking at the visitor for treats. Repeat the whole sequel by having the visitor ring the bell, you open the door, if he barks say ''quiet'' followed by the treats, and the visitor takes more steps into the property giving treats. This has taught your dog two things: to be quiet on request and to associate guests with good things. Here is a helpful link outlining a similar behavior modification program:

http://dogtrainer.quickanddirtytips.com/barking-at-door.aspx#

Now lets work with visitors LEAVING the house. Have him, leashed and muzzled if necessary. Have your guests practice leaving the house. Remember you want to work under the threshold, that means before he gets to the point of being aroused and oblivious to your commands.

Start by having three-four guests sitting at the table with you and accompanying them with your dog leashed and muzzled towards the door. As you are walking, make the noise with your mouth and hand treats when your dog looks at you. Now be very quick, right when the person is about to walk out the door, make the noise with your mouth and toss a handful of treats in the opposite direction. Your dog should be too occupied to grab as many treats as possible from the floor to think about chasing the person out. If this works, then upgrade by having the guest get a handful of treats and tossing them in the opposite direction. This should eradicate this behavior if repeated over time.

If your dog does not respond to your noise with your mouth and acts aggressively, you went too fast for his comfort. Try working more but taking baby steps. Like work more on getting him to focus on you when you make the noise with your mouth when the person is about to leave and work on this a lot before moving to the next step, accompanying the person out the door. By making the noise with your mouth and your dog looking up at you, you have gained three wonderful things: your dog has learned to focus on you, your dog has learned an alternate behavior to the barking and lunging and your dog has learned that when visitors leave you are in control of him and great things happen when you take charge.

I would recommend the nothing in life is free behavior program better known as "say please" or "learn to earn" from now on, just to put his mind to work a bit and encourage self-control you can read more about this here;
http://alexadry.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Train-Dogs-Nothing-in-Life-is-Free-Say-P

Please consider that it takes double or triple the time to fix a behavioral problem that has put roots for some time. You need to be extremely consistent. It takes one episode of lunging and barking and you will be back several steps in the program and will need to work more. Make safety your top priority, and if you feel you cannot handle the situation keep him crated when guests come over and consult with a dog behaviorist. I hope this has helped, my very best wishes!

Disclaimer: Please consult with a dog behaviorist if your dog is displaying aggressive behaviors. Only a dog behaviorist may see and assess behaviors and offer the most appropriate behavior modification program tailored for your dog. Use extreme caution and make safety your top priority. By reading this answer you accept this disclaimer and assume full responsibility for your actions.