My english bulldog

Question
We just got a young male bulldog from the pound and after bringing him home he has nipped at without warning two of our smaller dogs at home. He was with several dogs at the pound in the same cage so we didn't think this would be a problem; what do we do to get them to get along?Our smaller female is not really aggressive she is 10 years old and mellow. and the English bulldog is so lovable with us and our children overly lovable we don't want to have to send him back. please help?

Answer
Dear Cesarafranco,

It's hard to advise on this type of situation without having met the bulldog or your other 2 dogs.  I also don't know the ages, who's neutered and who's not.  Equally important variables include whether food was involved or not, or an animal-based toy (such as rawhide, bone or pigs ear), whether skin was broken and if so, in what way/how many punctures, and exactly what the precipitating situation was.  Some pounds don't do much in the way of screening dogs so it may very well be that this dog was turned in due to issues with other dogs, although you're right:  If he seemed to be living peacefully with other dogs he couldn't be all THAT bad.

Generally I would never advise to just throw a new dog into your household without closely supervising and moderating and expect him to act perfectly.  Again, I don't know how old he is, a fact which could assist in guessing what his history has been.  Bulldogs aren't the easiest breed for socializing either.  

Mainly I'd tell you to supervise all interactions with this dog and your other dogs for at least 2-3 weeks and separate them when you can't closely supervise.  If he's not neutered, do so right away for behavior improvement.  You can use a water squirt bottle to prevent a scuffle from happening - I use these in my dog daycare for that reason -- but beware of using it too much which will render it ineffective and cruel.

My best advice would be to go to the APDT website http://www.apdt.com to find a good trainer in your area to size the new kid up and really get specific on your situation.  I can also help online at my website http://www.dogdaysUSA.com if you submit a detailed behavior question with all the info I've listed above but again, someone meeting him in person is your best bet.

Thanks for writing and good luck,
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com