Tips to Stop French Bulldog Aggression Towards Other Dogs

For this LA dog training session we went over how to stop French Bulldog aggression towards other dogs to help 4 year-old Bo (pictured here on the right with his roomie Breya).

I started off by going over a markers word and using a hand targeting exercise to help the guardian perfect her timing. This is the first thing I always go over with my clients because it’s the fundamental communication building block needed to modify dog behavior problems, especially when you want to stop dog aggression.

Next week went over some creative exercise tips like cookie in the corner, guess which hand and a few other others. I also recommend recommended the guardian incorporate a snuffle mat as this is a great way to drain energy while a dog eats its meal.

Next we covered dog consent and some tips on how to create a healthy leader follower dynamic. It’s important for dogs to see us acting like an authority figure if we want them to respect us as one or not feel the need to guard us.

We also discussed canine body language. Knowing when a dog is feeling uncomfortable gives us the opportunity to move them away or change the scenario so they don’t have to handle things on their own. This is a really important step if you want to stop French Bulldog aggression of all kinds.

After covering all of these fundamentals, we took Bo out on a walk in his neighborhood to see if we could work on his aggressive dog behavior.

How to Stop French Bulldog Aggression Towards Other Dogs

It took a couple minutes but eventually we were able to run into some dogs. I have found that the most effective way of stopping aggressive dog behavior is to change how a dog feels about whatever it is they are reacting to.

I love using the engage disengage game for this purpose. This is an easy way to stop dog aggression, if you do it right. The most important factor is the human regulating the distance so the dog does not feel the need to react.

We were fortunate enough to run across a friendly and cooperative dog guardian who helped us by practicing walking back-and-forth across the street.

If you have a dog who acts out when it sees other dogs on a walk, you may want to check out the free positive dog training video below.

It was great to see how quickly Beau responded to this exercise. Usually it takes dogs longer before they start disengaging with the other dog.

Shortly after filming the video, we ran into another dog almost by surprise. It’s gonna be really important for the guardian to keep her head on the swivel when practicing. If you want to stop a French Bulldog from acting aggressive, the last thing you need is a dog sneaking up behind you or catching you off guard.

After we shot the video, we were able to practice with a number of other dogs in the neighborhood. There were a couple of times that dogs got a little too close or we misread their energy and Bo acted out. But I would estimate that we got in 50 to 100 positive repetitions versus the two outbursts.

When you’re trying to stop a French Bulldog from acting aggressive two other dogs, I find it helpful to keep score. Dog behavior modification is a Numbers game. Counting the number of positive interactions versus the number of outburst is a great way for us to measure our progress.

Eventually the dog starts to see the other dogs as a positive, provided the human manages the distance so the dog doesn’t react.  Over time this turns into a powerful way to stop French Bulldog aggression because they no longer feel negatively towards other dogs. An important and often overlooked step when you want to stop aggresive dog behavior.

After about an hours worth of practice in the neighborhood, we headed back to Bo’s home. I recommended the guardian practice in shorter sessions in the future. Being a dog behavior expert, I’m able to monitor the dogs and make sure that they’re not getting overwhelmed, but pushing too far or practicing for too long are common mistakes that people make.

Fortunately for Bo he has a really dedicated and skilled owner who is up for the challange. Now that we have sharpened her techniques to stop aggressive dogh behavior using the engage disenage game, she can start systematically practicing at the appropriate distance. It will take time and practice, but I have seen this method work many times. Im looking forward to hearing that these tips help her stop French Bulldog aggression in her dog.

To wrap up this in-home LA dog training session, I pulled out my camera and recorded a roadmap to success summary video to make it easy for Bo’s human to remember everything we covered