Dog acceptance

[NH Homesteader]

I won’t adopt any adult dog, regardless of breed.

 

[flowerbug]

I won’t adopt any adult dog, regardless of breed.

i certainly understand that sentiment. we did adopt an adult German Shepherd from one of Mom's co-workers but we didn't know it would chase semis. we'd just finally got the dog to come up and down the stairs at last and he got out one day and ran after a semi and got hit. RIP doggie.

 

[Medicine Woman]

Trouble wasn’t adopted as an adult. She was a puppy when DH got her. I didn’t meet her until she was 3 years old. Basically I am currently just waiting for a few adult dogs to live out the rest of their days. It’s not exactly me who accepted them all. Some will leave with certain DD’s if and when they go off on their own. Trouble is probably permanent and I sometimes wonder if she will outlive her human. We shall see.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Oh I was just replying to the comment about adopting adult pit bulls, it’s not just the breed that makes adopting an adult pit bull difficult!

It’s hard getting dogs to like each other sometimes for sure! Hope you can sort out a way to make it work!

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

I won’t adopt any adult dog, regardless of breed.

^^ This Amen! Thank you!

We have only ever had pit bulls at our house, we are on #3. We raise them, give them great lives, and they reward us with being loveable and loyal companions. Our kids have dreseds them up, led them on leashes around the house, chase them around the house, sit and lay on them and they have been nothing but sweet. We put our first down when she was 16, put her son down 1 week before his 17th bday and have one now that is 9. We had mom and son together and then when we put her down, we gave him a year of being spoiled and got our girl at 8 wks old.

We train them to respect us as we respect them, with some stern tones and lots of love. We start when our kids are young by having them involved in feeding and allowing them to put their hands in their bowls (as we did too) so that they know we aren't a threat. We added a baby kitten last summer at 6 weeks and our girl hasn't never tried to hurt her ever, but allow our dog to be off leash at the property and it is fair game when it comes to rabbits and birds

 

[tortoise]

Even if a pittie lives peacefully with another dog, don't trust them. It's way too common for them to seem totally fine until they get triggered and there's a dog fight. It's not usual for that to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's also not uncommon for it to be constant.

My last pittie was over a decade ago. An amazing dog, except if she had nothing to do around another dog. She would be chilling on her bed, and the other dog chilling on his bed 15 feet away, ignoring each other, relaxed, no eye contact, no toys/bones, no movement or sudden noises happening, and she would launch off the bed and attach the other dog. She ended up euthanized before 3 years old. She was my heart dogs - a phenomenally well-trained dog, hella socialized, raised right from puppyhood. She was my obedience demo dog, trick competition dog, we did dog bite safety demos for preschools and training demos for high school psychology classes. She could perform competition obedience in a dog park, no problem. But leave her alone to her instinct and she was dangerous. I haven't had a pit bull since. Their behavior is predictable for the breed, but different than most other breeds.

 

[Medicine Woman]

My youngest DD has a puppy and we watch Trouble interact with the pup. It’s kinda funny sometimes when it looks like Trouble just slapped her across the room but we make sure she doesn’t get crazy. But we never left them alone together. Now I don’t guess we ever should

 

[Medicine Woman]

The pup and Trouble rough play and I guess they friends cuz no blood and tales wagging but I told the family what the suggestions from everyone point to and no possible contact when we are away. Only time it sounds like a threat is during feeding if Trouble really feels a snack is for her only. I leave DH to the snacks. Thinking some Valerian in her dog food….. I don’t know. Why me?

 

[tortoise]

The pup and Trouble rough play and I guess they friends cuz no blood and tales wagging but I told the family what the suggestions from everyone point to and no possible contact when we are away. Only time it sounds like a threat is during feeding if Trouble really feels a snack is for her only. I leave DH to the snacks. Thinking some Valerian in her dog food….. I don’t know. Why me?

Food resource guarding is a normal and expected (but not acceptable) dog behavior. The aggression is caused by competition for the resource. Puppies start displaying this behavior at to 4 weeks of age.

The main strategies to prevent problems are to feed/treat dogs separately (eliminate competition), and give one dog consistent preferential access to resources (create an expectation that reduces competition).

There is a behavior modification protocol to help with resource guarding between dogs. It's called voluntary sharing.

I deal with this in my house. My older dog has a health problem that causes her to be literally starving, and this caused her to have a new food resource guarding problem with my younger dog. I feed them separately. My older dog eats first in a different room with the door closed. When she is done, then my younger dog eats. They ring a bell when they are done eating. When they have a bone or chew, my older dog gets hers first, then my younger dog. My older dog is allowed to take his bone away - I just give him another one. I also reduce competition for bones by making them available - they can ask for a bone any time using their communication button.