March 03, 2024

My young French Bulldog is marking on all the dog beds and she's trying to be alpha with my other 2 dogs. I need some advice!

Full Question:
Hi Cindy,
I have three dogs and my nine month old French Bulldog is marking on all the dog beds. She’s doing great with potty training and their beds is the only place she pees so I know she’s trying to be Alpha. She does other things to prove she’s Alpha like cutting the other dogs off at the water bowl and snapping at them when they walk by. She also doesn’t understand polite play, she ignores the other dogs cues when they don’t want to play anymore. I intervene when I see it happening but I’m not always able to catch it. Taking away the dog beds isn’t fair to the other two so I need some advice. Thank you so much!
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
I wouldn't allow a dog that is marking in the house and creating issues between the other dogs to have free range of my home. We raise all of our puppies with a lot of management so we can prevent all of these problems from happening in the first place. Many French Bulldogs are tough little dogs and their play style and pushy personalities may not be enjoyed by other dogs. I have found that managing interactions between all of our dogs during the formative months (and maybe longer) is the key to a more harmonious household.

Some dogs simply do not mesh well for play but can be taught there is a time and place for interacting with others. We have 4 dogs and our youngest dog is 17 months old. In the last month, we can finally allow her some off-leash play with our older dogs, until recently she simply didn't respect cues from the others and created a lot of stress in the home. Training and leashed interactions as well as some maturity has allowed us to integrate her into our family group of dogs. Most people don't have the patience to take this time to protect the older dogs and train the youngest addition to the family but we have learned that you have to look at the dynamics of the dogs in front of you and do what's best for the group, even if it's inconvenient for us or not what we had hoped for or expected.

I'd suggest you take a look at our free course on management course at this link https://university.leerburg.com/Catalog/viewCourse/cid/14

I'll link some other resources below.
User Response:
My dogs and I can’t thank you enough, everything you said makes so much sense and is already working! I watched your free videos and realize I have read a lot of bad advice online and need to take more of your courses. Where do you recommend I begin, there are so many good ones!! Thank you for getting us on the right track and on our way to a happier home, you have a customer for life! I tell every dog owner I know about how life changing your help has become.
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
I'd start with the course Living With Your Puppy first and then the rest in any order you wish.

Happy new year, I wish you the best with your dogs.

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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