I'm a little worried. A couple days ago I was holding my puppy and she wanted down and I guess I didn't respond fast enough and she growled at me and acted like she wanted to bite me. Then today my neice came by and we was outside and she was holding the puppy and again she must have wanted down and she growled at my neice and acted like she wanted to bite her.....OMG I don't want her to be like that. I have been told since I've had her that where she has bulldog in her she has to have some fighting in her blood. She is my baby and I love her so much. I've only had her 5 weeks and shes a part of me already. Even my husband loves her and hes the man that swore he'd never like having her in the house. She is so smart. DO I HAVE SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT...or am I getting scared for nothing?

never let a child pick up the dog! a child is beneath the dog until there about 12 years old. what age is shae? within the 16th week the will try out their boundry's. be shure that you are the dominant one. do this in a positive note. don't let her sit on the same couch as what you sit. don't let het sleep on your bed. be shure you leave a room before she does. don't feed her before you have eaten. don't feed her while you are eating. don't play with her when she wants to but you must invite her to come and play with you. you dicide when the game is over. don't do the pulling games. they will inforce her dominance! these things will insure your dominance without going into conflict with your pup. if you insist on picking her up do that for a second and praise her for the right behavior with something yummie. if this goes well you can hold her longer. you don't have to panick these behaviors are seen in a lot of puppys. if you guide your dog the right way your puppy will become a lovely behaved dog!

I have 3 kids and Ozzy has never gotten on any of them for picking him up except for my youngest...he sees her as a playmate and has bitten her foot on occasion. My sister showed me a trick to help them stop bad behavior and that is to firmly flip them on their backs and hold them down...it works for Ozzy and he is 7 months...children should be able to pick up the dog with no problems in my eyes...I mean thats why we got Ozzy young...so he would grow up with the kids and be used to them.

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Chantal = Ozzy's Mom

puppies want to chew bite...bark..growl, but when it gets to that point where you are getting worried then I think you need to show her whos the boss. Tell her NO firmly..(which im sure you've already done) and try not to let her get her way when she does do that behavior. If you do then she knows that she can get her way by biting and growling. Just a firm no....and consistency should do the trick. good luck

Hi,
We are in the process of deciding on whether or not to get a boston. However we do have a 7 year old bullmastiff. When she was a puppy she did the same thing you are mentioning. Now may I say that the past 6 years have been awesome. She doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body. She is very sweet and gentle and kind to all dogs and people (kids especially).... when she was a pup I noticed the growling thing and worried but I just made sure she knew who was boss and that the growling was not to be tolerated.
Good luck.
Rachel

Update on Shae and the growling, biting thingy. I figured out what was going on and put a stop to it fast. My husband was playing with her with a fly flap.
He was playing with her by hitting the floor on each side of her and she was jumping at it and growling and grabbing at it and when she got it she would bite it. SO NEEDLESS TO SAY THAT DON'T HAPPEN ANYMORE. Now even if she growls the least bit I say NO really firm and she stops. And i'm happy to say she has now learned to sit on command. I'm using the treats, but am trying to stop using them now. She's just my little baby furball. Thank you for all yours help.