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Messages - momtomax

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Behavior, Housebreaking, Obedience / I need some help please

« on: March 21, 2008, 01:24:50 am »

I have a Mastiff and in the past two days I've seen some ugly behavior. First he snapped at a neighborhood kid. It was competly unprovoced. i was outside with the kids and a neighborhood kid was over as well. Max was fine the kid went to pet his head and he snaped at her. She junped back and went about her business. I imdeatly took him inside and put him in his crate. She didn't realize what had happened but I did. Then tonight I took Max out for a walk, he did great, until the very end. Two teenagers were out on the street, I felt him tense up. I saw the kids and made him sit. They went to walk by (giving a good distance) Max pulled me down and drugg me across the sidewalk. He has NEVER done this. I now have a bloody knee and there are two terefied teenagers. I don't know what to do. I love my dog but if I can not control him then I feel as though I need to get rid of him. I do not want to do the latter which is why I'm looking for some help. What am I doing wrong and how can I correct it? When do I just say that's it, I can't control himt anymore?
Please advise...

Old English Mastiff Pictures / Re: Lion into Lamb Pictures

« on: March 13, 2008, 05:28:16 pm »

Great slide show. I remeber when Max was that little. It goes too fast. Before long he'll be taking up the entire couch so be ready

Old English Mastiff Discussions / Re: Mastiff behavior issue

« on: March 13, 2008, 05:15:39 pm »

Thank you all very much for the advise. I'm going to try the treat thing and see how that works. I just want Max to relax around other people. I try to get him to sit calmly when people approach us on walks but he inevidabley will jump at them and I have a hard time holding him back which makes it look like I can't control my dog. I just want to be able to take him out more to Pet friendly places (Home Depot, Lowes, Pet Smart) but right now I'm not comfortable with his behavior. I've come accross a few Neo's at Pet friendly places and they were calm and indiffrent. With the owners permission he allowed my kids to pet him, he wasn't overly excited but very well behaved. That's how I'd like Max to be. We'll keep working on the walks and see how it goes. Thank you all again. I'm really enjoying BPO and reading a lot of the posts.

Old English Mastiff Discussions / Mastiff behavior issue

« on: March 12, 2008, 01:12:54 pm »

Hi I'm new to the board and I have a question about my 2 year old Mastiff Max. A little history on Max. We got Max when he was 6 weeks old a few weeks latter we found out we were pregnant with out 3rd child. He was socialized a lot during his first nine months and we went through basic obedience training. Unfortunatly after we had the baby we didn't get him out as much. He's a wonderfully behaved dog with all three of my children. He puts up with a lot from my five year old (lots of rough housing) and from my curious 15 month old poking and pulling at him. Not once has ever shown any type of aggresion towards my kids, not even a growl. He is a wonderful family pet. He has a large fenced in back yard which he does spend a lot time in and he is also in the house with us as well. The problem I'm having with him is stranger anxiety. While out on walks he'll lunge at others walking by (I always have him on a short leash)but I know it frightens people. Since he is a big beautiful dog a lot of people show intrest in wanting to pet him but I have a hard time keeping him from jumping at them. He doesn't growl but he has barked a few times while on walks at other people and I feel him tense up when he sees someone else even children. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get him to relax around strangers. At this point I'm not worried about him bitting anyone but he could really hurt someone esspecially a child if he jumps on them and knocks them down, he weighs 175 lbs. Any advise would be very much appreciated. I'm just worried that as he continues to mature he's going to get more protective and anxious around strangers.
Thank you,
Mom to Max