You would be amazed at how many show bulldogs completely lack confidence and the "It factor" in the ring. The top winning all breed dogs have to have confidence and show power to win. You will not see a group winning dog that lacks confidence. They must be able to "Show" their stuff.

Ester is totally confident in the ring and is so fun to show. she gets very excited when we are wheeling to the ring.

Even MacKenzie was confident in the ring although he had a little anxiety. Cleo was not!

I think that most rescues are pretty scared when they get rehomed..or even go into rescue. Max was no different when he came here..I have never seen that scared of a dog in my life. now he was beaten everyday in his old home...so that might have had alot to do with him. he was not a fear biter or showed any agreession but he sure was scared.
he has been a pleasure to watch change. you would never believe that he is the same dog he was a year and half ago. the vet is even surprised at how calm he turned out to be..considering.

it is the amount of time you put into his classes too that help to make him very confident.
actually My pug that I rescued Max..a year and half ago..he was extremely timid and scared of his own shadow..he has come soo far now. he is very very happy and confidence shines now too. I want to get him on the therapy program here this spring. I put tons and tons of work with max being a rescue. he blossomed big time.. when Max first came here..you could take him nowhere...but NOW he is the first one out the door.lol.

Nothing bothers Rosco, he loves everyone and everything. Pugsley I can't tell if he is confident or not. He loves going to the vet, car rides, walks and such. He is aggressive with some dogs on walks and not others, and on halloween my husband put on a mask to go outside and hand out candy, and Pugsley barked at him and peed himself..lol

Piper, she is a witch but confident enough I think. I think she tries to compensate for her disability with her attitude..lol.

Miranda and the SB gang in Toronto.
The spina bifida babies,

Pugsley

Piper and Rosco
And always Chance

And Matilda

disablities in dog bother us far more then the dog itself.
they adapt fine.
with Gus he was born deaf and never had any hearing...so he adjusted to it.
that is great that Stella just took off and continues to play although she is blind.
my blind and deaf boston caught a mouse a mouse at 17 years old. NO idea how she did that..she was a trooper. miss her but she sure did not let anything bother her either.

come to work with me every day and meet people and other dogs their very confident....wilson i have had since he was 12 weeks....charlie was a rescue i adopted....he was about 4 months and very scared of people...now he is hell on wheels....i have him in rally and agility training and he is the class clown.....

he was playing with all the adult bulldogs at the breeders home when I went and picked him up. he showed no fear with the larger bulldogs. was having a blast chasing them and such too.
Gus jumped in my son lap on his own that first day too..he was wound for sound. very active puppy.
I can not say that I have seen any fear in Gus about anything. he is just happy go lucky all the time.
the vet said that he is why she picked him for the study. because of his personality and so on.
also likely made it easier to teach him signs with his conifdence as well.

She can occasionally be timid, but pretty rarely.

Since her blindness, she amazes me with how she just barrels along at full speed. If I don't watch her, she'll crash right into things - but she still keeps going. I thought she might be a bit more tentative with her walking, but nope.

some dogs and people alike are born more able to grow into their confidence. Different personalities evolve more into different levels of confidence. Even if they're raise the exact same way. Such as kids. My sister and i were raised the same, but are two completely different people, just by nature our personalities look at life differently and adapt to it differently. I think confidence is born into everyone, some just cant seem to bring it out and show it for what it is like others can.


that being said. My boy is a confident fella! not cocky, but confident, certainly not pushy and alpha, hes very mellow. but he struts his stuff and doesn't usually question much

according to the vet dogs are not born confident they learn confidence. she feels that when she first met Gus till not he has really gotten far more conifident..she feels that ia due to the amount of time that i have put into Gus in training him and such.
but on the other side Bella gets the same amount of training and attention that Gus gets but she is not the same no matter what..such a different pesonality.
Gus could easily move into a HOUSE and be a happy and well adjusted..
Bella would run and hide and go back home..
the is the one reason I take Bella with me all the time when I leave to go somewhere. she does not do well on her own at all...

I really do not understand how 2 bulldogs..brough up the exact same...can be soo different..lol.
Bella went to obedience class to help out her self confidence. the best thing that happened with obedience was to get her to come out of her shell a bit .she will now initiate play...something she never did before obedience.
she just does not have that I GET THIS...attitude that Gus has. he walks with his head held high all the time, and so on.
you can really see the confidence in Gus ..without a doubt..

wander what other ways are out there to improve Bellas confidence level??

I feel like my girl Roxie is a very confident dog. However I also have the opposite end of the spectrum... I have Deanie, Newton and Butter who are by far not confident and they need a little extra esteem boost!

Roxie looks wonderful in the ring! She is a very confident show girl!


Kelly and The Carverbullies
www.carverbulls.com

you can see the confidence in some of the show dogs for sure.
I can see that being a major factor in a winning bulldog
thanks for your reply

but if you bring a plastic bag or something new in the house she will have a heart attack... Sugar does watch me alot and lets nothing get in her way...especially
if she wants a snack...Griff is confident and laid back mellow fellow

hugs

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