SOA , Wake SOA , Food dominance Uzzy 1.6 y/old male

Uzzythebrindlebully

Hello guyz, i have been reading through the forum and googling as much as i can and trying to get as much info as i can get, but i feel like i would like to actually, explain the situation and seek for opinions from others who have lived similar situations or even the same with a bully ,

this is Uzzy, 1 year and a half old, weighing nearly 30kgs. Brindle and white gorgeous

Since young he was always dominant about food(regular grain food) not biscuit rewards or bones/meat or anything different just regular dry grain food. When he was a puppy if he was eating we(me and my wife) could not touch him he would growl and try to bite investing a few times. with time and persistance getting him used and hand feeding that passed by and he does not do it anymore with his grain food. But when it comes to a bone or a piece of meat or even a can of dog food that i pour into his tin and mix it with its dry grain food. i can not touch him or get near him he will growl and invest. i started to tell him off or punish him sending him to bed. The exact way he behaves is: he growls and the second after,he has his ears back and tail in between his legs, kind of submissive. Its kind of like he understands he should not do it, but cant control it. He started taking the bone/meat to far away from us so he could eat and not "interact" with us.. Im not sure how to handle it or sort it, punishing him? ignoring him ? not giving any to him unless a reward ? dont know not sure, read so many things, ive read the worst is to punish. and bullies dont handle punishments well and rather prefer a rewarding system.. whats your thoughts ? Help please.

Other episodes. SOA on wake up ?

Uzzy always slept with us in our bedroom next to our bed on the floor on his blankets. But recently he started sleeping in the kitchen in his blankets. He has a daytime place and night time place. In daytime while me and my wife go to work, he stays in the pateo/backyard and has his Dog Shed which we put his blankets inside and he obvsly naps there. At night time he stays in the kitchen because its cold so we bring in his blankets and lay them on the floor.
Recently . this has happened about 3 or 4 times now, The first time i didnt even understand what happened and thought it was me "hearing Things"..
I woke up walk in the kitchen, Uzzy is a real lazy bones. so hes lying in his bed all cuddled up he opens his eyes and yawnns, and i go to pet him and say something nice, he growls to me once and i step back and i say "Uzy whats up boy its me " and he gets up and straight away ears back tail inbetween his legs and comes towards me submissive? i dunno... i ignored him and pretended he wasnt even there and did my food etc changed clothes and left to work.
this happened 1 or 2 more times and i started to ignore him completely, and his behaviour was the same as the first time..

Today this morning. same thing, i woke up got inside the kitchen, but this time i did not pet him. i let him get up , he came towards me i was standing by the counter facing back to him. i ignored again. then i went to open the kitchens door so he could go outside for pee and poo. (He has been potty trained) when hes outside i spoke to him nice and said his name and i pet him and he growled once. well i snapped and i shouted NO uzzy NO , go to your bed go pointing his shed outside he went the whole way, walking forward but growling. and still while in there he was growling. i closed the gate and went inside, and not knowing what to do. i left him there during the rest of the morning so i could think what to do, and to be honest i have no idea...

Im not scared of my dog and i do not show fear towards him, and i find him pretty submissive to me, respectful in all other ways, at any other hour of the day, he is actually quite obedient, for a bully and he is very sweet and loving dog. he is quite territorial inside the car per example, no one can come near to the car when we are out for walkies. out for walkies on the lead he pulls but hes getting better with time.. on the loose he is very obedient. much more than at home or on the lead.

These episodes have only happened with me. My wife always wakes up later than i do. and usually who feeds him is me, apart from lunch time is my wife. and she just puts the grain in the tin and he eats. we both work and i dont usually lunch at home so thats why she feeds him at lunch

Uzzy always had food 3 times a day. morning lunch and dinner.

Uzzy stays about 4hours alone in the morning and 4/5 hours alone in the afternoon. he has a shed for shade and cover. and about other 10square meter outside for pees and whatever he wants to do.


I find him also a very anxious dog and looks stressed sometimes. He tends since young to go around after his own tail. when he is ignored he runs after his tail barks and sometimes starts to itch his neck (nervous itch?? ) ...

This basically is everything i can remember and that i can describe about this bully.. Any ideas Sugestions guyz please help us here

Uzzythebrindlebully

PS: Uzzy is not neutered. He is all natural and never had a female.
He tends to be freindly with other dogs, but sometimes agressive to some other dogs depending on their approach and/or the owners posture aswell.. it has happened the owner being aprehensive and pulling the lead on their dog and uzzy invests at that moment..
with other animals he is predator and territorial, (cats birds, insects lol , )

BulliesofNC

Sounds like he has some serious dominant issues. It could very well be a genetic flaw with him. I dedicate to Rescue for the state of NC and have come across a few Bull Terriers with ill temperament like you've described. It's as if they are in a trance and not thinking correctly because most of the time they are lovable and playful. However, when they are in their mood they can become very nasty and dangerous. It only takes one bad day for this type of dog to cause unprovoked injury to a person. It's like having a loaded gun. Many dogs with the same unpredictable temperament are put down due to causing serious injury to their owner, neighbor, friend, or visitor.

It's obvious he has way too much pent up energy and a lot of that may be due to prolonged inactivity during the day. OCD issues normally initiate from stress and anxiety. Too much crate time or even boxed up in a small kennel run without activity and attention can cause stress. Tail chasing is a common OCD issue from stress and lack of exerted energy during the day. I'm confident if you bumped up his physical activity during the day you'd see a big change in his behavior.

I would also recommend you speaking to your Vet so they can analyze Uzzy.

Uzzythebrindlebully

thank you for your feedback do appreciate alot, i have read a few of your articles.
i am deffo going to try and spend more of his energy on outdoor on loose walkies and get some more toys for his kennel time perhaps?
Uzzy in the last few days had no episode, however in the morning i do not pet him even when he approaches me, i just walk around normally ignoring him. i am managing to get to know his "trance mode" his eyes are kind of half shut and his ears are back and he walks around and approaches me but his tail never wiggles...
i will be starting tomorrow taking him to the woods for some exercise.. will see how it goes and will post in a few days if theres any updates in a positive way, or on a negative hopefully not, no more soa's

Uzzythebrindlebully

oh there is another question i would like your opinion or your experience. about furniture and sitting spots. i sit on one side of the table on a chair in the kitchen its my usual side, two chairs i sit on both, one for food one to be on the laptop.. he tends to come and sit on the chair next to me. and when im not sitting there, he pulls the chair away and sits on it... when i tell him off, and tell him to go down hes just stubborn and looks upset and cute, never growled.. should i not let him up at any time? could that escalate into so called " furniture dominance" ? he also tries to hump quite alot, i forgot to mention.. its more when hes happy and wants to play i guess. cuz as soon as i grab a toy he stops...theres time i just calm him down untill he stops or send him to bed...

thannks in advance!!

BulliesofNC

It honestly sounds like he has a lot of pent up energy. The exercise will do him a lot of good. I don't allow my bullies on the furniture. They have their doggy beds and a nice custom made crate that they can retreat to for rest and relaxation.