Your puppy from Rocky Mountain Rawhide is from the finest breeding stock and environment possible. Many years of research and three decades of experience have gone into creating the best possible family dog. But, how your puppy grows up and how he is treated and taught is also a large part of who he is to become. Being intrinsically stubborn does not make him an easy dog to train. Although your OEB puppy will be a harder dog to train, stubbornness should not be looked upon as a problem, because, stubborn dogs, once trained, will stubbornly do as they have been trained. Unlike the Border Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs who are so easily trained at first, (but tend to fall apart when their compulsions to repeat behaviors are interfered with), a stubborn dog easily improvises when something he needs to do is interrupted by some sort of obstacle or set back. Your Olde English Bulldogge will not, once trained, give up on what he sees as his responsibilities simply because the going gets tough. Example: Levi is the American Bulldog uncle to all of our Olde English Bulldogge puppies. Levi, from the very beginning, has had the job of bringing in the newspaper in the mornings. (Until the carrier insisted on leaving it across the street, which he is not supposed to cross). It is a job he took very seriously. Levi knows that if you remove the newspaper from the plastic wrap, you will lose most of it to the wind. Therefore, he does not remove it from the wrap. One night we had a series of weather events that caused the plastic wrap that the newspaper was in to become frozen to an old tree stump it was lying on. I had placed the old stump out by the road to prop open the gate to our driveway. Levi, not wishing to tear the plastic wrap, simply dragged the stump, newspaper frozen to it, all the way to the house. His neck was sore for several days, but by golly, that newspaper was delivered! This is stubbornness in action.

How you channel your new puppy’s stubbornness, energy, and enthusiasm, will greatly affect how he is to behave as an adult dog. Starting early in puppy kindergarten classes, dog day care, and then adult dog obedience classes is the best way possible to end up with a wonderful family dog. Although fairly quiet as adult dogs, Olde English Bulldogge puppies sometime appear to have been born with extra batteries and no “off” switch. This is normal. At about twelve to fourteen months, it’s as if someone finally flipped the switch and they quiet down, energy wise, almost over night. Expect this. Put the effort into teaching your puppy when he is young. You will one day wake up to an incredibly wonderful dog. A dog who is good with all children, friendly toward strangers when not protecting his property, and behaves himself in the house. A perfect family dog. Since Olde English Bulldogges generally live til the age of 12 to 15 years, putting in the energy early in order to ensure proper behavior later is a sound investment of your time.

We recommend training your OEB using a chain or pinch collar as opposed to the head halters so popular today. Head halters (Haltis, Gentle Leaders) are great inventions for dogs with enough muzzle length to keep them on the dog’s head. Your Bulldogge has such a short muzzle that the head halter may fall off. If it doesn’t, it could damage your dog’s eyes, as they are so close to his nose. Chain and pinch collars, when used properly, are much better at getting your dog’s attention than a regular snap-on collar in an obedience class. Treats, also, are fine to use with your Bulldogge. Just make sure he learns to take the treat gently, not grabbing it out of your hand. Most puppy classes for young puppies have a “puppy play time” at some point either before or after the class. Your OEB puppy should be allowed to play with similar sized and bigger puppies, but not small or toy breeds. His enthusiasm and tendency to be a “bully” when a youngster could traumatize a small or timid puppy. Your OEB puppy will be one of the bounciest, most boisterous puppies in the class, make sure his enthusiasm for playing doesn’t terrorize someone’s timid or small breed pup. Let adult dogs and older puppies show your OEB “who’s boss”. The saying, “He’s being a bully” comes from the bulldog’s tendency to push their limits with other dogs. Let the older ones teach him (safely, of course) that he can’t get away with “being a bully”. If your OEB pup pins another puppy and growls in his face, although normal behavior, discourage it by yanking him away and admonishing his “bully” ness. By constantly admonishing bullying behaviors and encouraging playful behaviors, your OEB puppy will learn that being a bully isn’t much fun but playing nicely with others is. Use the same methods when at home with the cats. Bulldogges love to chase cats, if you let them. Don’t let them. Admonish them with sharp words and the very handy squirt bottle. A good, full, squirt bottle filled with plain water is one of the most effective tools you will have in training your OEB puppy. Use it to discourage behaviors you see as undesirable. Chasing the cat, climbing on the furniture, jumping on people entering the house. It works very well without hurting your puppy.

Your OEB puppy will be very easy to housebreak. From the time he was three weeks old, and just beginning to become aware of his surroundings, he was given a choice. He can potty in his blankets and have to live in it for a few hours, or, he can move away a few feet and relieve himself in an area specially designed for that purpose. By giving puppies a choice from the very beginning, they learn cleanliness as early as physically possible. Puppies really do not want to live in filth, but, if raised on dirt, wire, or newspapers, and forced to live in their own excrement, they simply become used to it. Can those puppies become housebroken later on? Yes, usually. However, it’s a lot quicker and cleaner to start the housebreaking early by giving them that choice. We recommend the use of a crate and a puppy play pen when you can’t directly supervise your puppy. Do not give him free run of the house or he will choose one area he sees as suitable and begin to use it as a bathroom. By keeping him confined in your immediate area, you will notice when he starts his circling to relieve himself. You can then take him outside to do this and praise him lavishly for his accomplishment. Consistency is the key to success.

Your female OEB should be spayed prior to her first heat cycle which could occur as early as six months. Your male OEB can be neutered as early as eight months but you may wish to hold off as long as possible in order for the testosterone produced bigger head and chest to develop. Neutering a male OEB early will not create the behavioral problems that doing so causes in an American Bulldog, but it will cause your male OEB to look more feminine. However, if your male OEB starts lifting his leg in the house (a male hormone produced behavior) or starts picking fights with other male dogs, immediate neutering will put an end to it quickly. Neuter him as soon as you see these behaviors and they won’t become hard to stop habits.

Give your Olde English Bulldogge puppy plenty of toys to play with. They need the activity of chewing and “play killing” in order to work off excess energy. If you don’t give them suitable things to play with, they will decide on their own what is suitable. Believe me, you don’t want them making those decisions on their own! Young puppies, and your wallet, can benefit from the stuffed animals usually found in abundance at the Salvation Army and other thrift stores. Usually costing under one dollar, they make great play toys for young puppies. Two things to be careful of: one, make sure that the puppy is too young to tear the “stuffy” apart and possibly swallow harmful objects like plastic eyes, noses, etc. And, two, wash the stuffies in the laundry when you get them home and before you give them to your puppy. We accidently gave a new litter ring worm {a fungus) because we failed to wash the toys first. If the toys are sturdy enough for a bulldogge, washing them shouldn’t hurt them.

OEB puppies, when given plenty of toys, crate trained, and obedience trained early, are a wonderful addition to the family. They aren’t destructive, rarely bark unless there is something actually worth barking at, and they housebreak quickly. They are, in my opinion, a truly wonderful and unique family dog. Enjoy.