is my dog aggresive

Question
I recently picked up a 2 yr old male English bulldog from the pound which is neutered in the pound he was in a cage with several other dogs so we didn't think we would have a problem with him. after taking a nip at my 10 yr old little shitzu female we have tried several times me holding the female and my husband holding the bully to let them sniff each other to no avail he tried to nip her what can we do we don't want to take him back how do we get him to stop this?

Answer
Its always a challenge to introduce a new dog or cat to the household.

The bull dog sees the other dogs as a threat. Being in a cage with lots of other dogs ithad to fend for itself, and likely before that while on he street or the previous owner abused it.

You'll need to keep the seperate until the new dog feels at home and safe. Get the new dog a crate where it can sleep, eat, play with a toy undisturbed by anyone. Keep the other dog away from the crate. They need to be fed seperately and not share toys or space for a while. We use a "childrens" gate to seperate house areas as needed. Assuming neither wants or can jump it, they can see each other but not get to each other.

The dog you aleady have is also likely sending off scents that the new dog senses as fear or competition. The sniff test you tried shows this. You can get the dogs to accept the other by getting the scent of one dog on a toy that you then give to the other dog. Get them to potty in the same locations to they get used to eath others scent. Lastly, walk them at the same time, but use two people and alternate who walks whom. It should work out between them in a couple weeks. If the bull dog is still aggressive/dominant then get a local trainer to help with socialization development.  

4pawsu.com has an excellent video called "Calming Signals" that deals with how dogs avoid confrontation and how to bring dogs together over a period of time.

Regards,
Henry Ruwhiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC