Maddy went crazy!!!!!

I hope you didn't perceive my question as suggesting this. It just didn't make sense to me. I would think the privacy act would come into play somewhere. And as I'm sure you know - you can't always trust web content. Thanks for the interesting statistics though. I wouldn't have thought baseball/softball would be a cause of so many injuries. Wow.

 

No problem spencerpits I probably heard a town somwehre had done this and assumed it was nationwide

which leads into this interesting aritlce which talks about perception
http://www.thedogplace.com/library/articles156.htm


here is an excerpt

For the average person anything with prick ears and blue eyes automatically becomes a "husky," yet many breeds can have blue eyes, and many more have prick ears. Any smooth coated brown dog, medium sized, and muscular becomes a "pit bull" yet upon examination many have been found to be purebred Boxers. Any tall dog becomes a Great Dane, fuzzy or hairy and it’s a Chow Chow. If it’s black and tan and heavy it’s a Rottweiler, etc. See the problem with this? The average person cannot tell the difference between an Alaskan Malamute, a Siberian Husky, and an Akita.


honeybear

 

I can definitely see where the problem is. I, for one, don't think I would be able to tell the difference between an Akita, Husky or Malamute. So I can understand why people could misidentify an attacking dog as a pit bull - especially with all the media hype making people associate dog bites/attacks with pit bulls. It would be nice if political leaders would realize that misidentification of offending dogs as pit bulls is a common occurance - even by AC personnel. Then maybe they'd start to understand one of the many reasons BSL doesn't work.

 

This is MaddyMom's only other post. It is from her post called:

Doorbell or knocking on door sends her into a frenzy.

It would seem that some warning signs were not picked up on then. Hind sight is 20/20...

 

This is a prime example of why people should really research the breed they are interested in. If she had done this, she would have known to expect dog aggression. Or, maybe she's like my hubby and just unrealistic. Some people think that they can make *their* dog not be aggressive. If you don't like the way the dog is, and you're just going to try to change it, why get that breed???? Of course, this story still seems a little fishy. I dunno.

 

Waiting on post from Maddy's Mom...........

 

I didn't see your post until after I posted mine, I was still writing. About her son being bit, I don't think it matters. I had a dog that bit a child, she went to the dr got it cleaned and bandaged, the doctor did report it. Had to call me to varify the bite took place in my home, was my dog and what breed it was. No one came by and took my dog, the Dr didn't call AC or the cops and neither did the parents, so some one would have had to notify them. Had this parent wanted to in my case then they could have, but it seems voluntary to me. Maddy's mom story doesn't really make a lot of sense. I wonder why she's never responded after everyone's post trying to help advice on what to do. Seems awefully strange.

 

I think Sam is right on.

 

"I wonder why she's never responded after everyone's post trying to help advice on what to do. Seems awefully strange."

truepits, , I wonder this too, I cant believe how many posters come here asking for help only never to appear again.

honeybear

 

I'm pretty sure by this time now, it was another troll.

If someone comes here for REAL help, they return. I find it now hard to believe she cared enough to seek help. Obviously it was an attempt to get a heated argument started. "OH NO! My precious Poopsie attacked for no reason! Help me!"

 

True. What did you do with the dog that bit the child?

 

Released it to the care/foster home of a behaviorlist and trainer.

 

sounds to me like this was a case of disciplinary inactivity. i have 3 pits and a chihuahua and without fail there is a moment when the growing or adult pit decided they wanted what the small dog had or decided it was time to establish dominance. this is the moment for which you have to be prepared. immediately stop the dogs and severely punish the apbt with swats to the nose or flanks and use your strongest voice to let the dog know what they did was wrong and entirely unacceptable ( not damaging blows mind you, just enough to hurt their feelings). it doesn't matter if the smaller dog started the incident or not, your apbt MUST KNOW that violence towards other animals is strictly prohibited in particular small animals. in all of my dogs i have seen this happen ( usually at about 2-6 months old) and applied those actions and never have they even considered any aggresive behavior towards are small dog or others or cats. i know a few of you probably won't agree with the idea of corporal punishment but it works, and with my 6 lb chihuahua's AND my beautiful pits life hanging in the balance i think its worth it. in addition thats the only time i've ever had to use actual physical punishment on my dogs. if you monitor them closely ( whish every pit owner should..it more than a privilege , its a responsibility) words and a good tug on the leash and some positive reinforcement should be all you need.

 

This may work for your dogs and puppies that you raised but if one acquires an APBT from rescue or for foster that is an adult and does have issues it would be best to NOT rely on corporal punishment to do nothing more than heighten anxiety and mood and aggression... Some pits are different than others and often times the dogs will listen to a shout and respond to punishment...however....in the throws of an angry and violent altercation between two pits are two same size aggressive dogs...this likely will not have an effect and should not be on the list of "things to do to break up a fight"

FIRST don't let the dogs play with toys when together...even supervised... Second...from a young age establish dominance and obedience so that when you see that tail start to stand up...or when you see the look in the eye before hackles and even growls come out you need to stop it by re-directing it etc... If that's not possible always have a breaking stick handy and learn how to use it and how to break up a full blown fight... NEVER under any circumstances trust that your bulldog will not fight....

 

I think as long as it works for you then thats great, as long as its not abusive. But I woulnd't expect it to work for everyone. My dogs never have a problem with small dogs, well except one and she has problems with cats as well. She has a high prey drive, small dogs, cats, birds, lil fury animals, grasshoppers, leaves. She can hear/see any little thing. But otherwise mine could care less about a Chihuahua or something of that size. If the APBT doesn't start it then its obviously the other dogs fault, yes you should put that dog in its place as the alpha but you still need to do something about the other dog its the cause of the problems.

 

Well, now I suppose this discussion has really started to apply to me...During the past two weeks, I thin Annie has "turned on"..I was crossing my fingers that she's stay friendly to dogs, but, she just turned 11 months old and it's like a light bulb went off. My boyfriend discovered it when I as out of town, and told me that they met a pit on a walk, who the owner said was friendly to other dogs, so they approached and after sniffing each other, Annie growled and they both lunged at each other. They were both securely leashed, so they just simply walked opposite direction and no harm done. I have to say I didn;t believe him when he told me about, I assumed she was doing her usual vocal play. Well yesterday, I had her out at the barn with me, and I saw my friend had her dog out too...Annie hadn't met this dog before..it's some strange mutt, look like golden, corgi mix..yes..it looks as funny as it sounds..but he's about the same height as Annie, so we let them sniff, and after about 3 seconds of sniffing, Annie growled and tried to jump on top of the dog, so I just reacted out of instinct and tep her on the back with my palm flat to get her attention and said Annie sit! as I pulled her back and she did...she sat calmly at my side, but kept her eyes on the other dog. So I started to walk off to where I was going and my friend had to walk beside me for a few feet until their was room enough for her to turn a different direction, her dog kept trying to come towards Annie ,tail wagging ..didn;t look threatening, just excited...Annie was excited, but made no move towards the dog, nor any noise...so was that a good way to handle it? This is my first pit...so i'm not sure how different they are..My German shepherd is dog aggressive as well, but he's ok with some dogs, and usually he won;t attack another dog...he'll simply get vocal and pin them, and walk away so long as they're submissive to him. Is it a dominance issue with pits as well or is it the fighting instinct bred into them? Is it something manageable enough that I can get her to pass a Canine good citizen test eventually? I was prepared for her to be dog agressive, but I guess it is somewhat suprising when my sweet little pup changes so suddenly..I fully prepared to deal with it...but I guess I want to know how far you can train them to supress this behavior..of course she'll never be left alone with another dog...she never has been, but is supervised play an option in some circumstances or is that just asking for it?

 

Supervised play is possible as long as toys aren't involved... Annie sounds like she is just being dominant and would likely only "pin" our Mount the new dog in town... problem arises when said dog decides not to be dominated... Honijade was always getting pushed around by her sister before they had it out over a toy, sister got out while we were playing with HJ and it turned ugly fast...HJ rolled her dominant sister three times before latching onto her throat for dear life...the altercation and parting took all of 2 minutes and only two puncture wounds were inflicted... but ever since then Honijade has been a dominant dog and has gotten more and more pushy and brave about it... She will mount any other dog no matter the size (Riot is even fair game) and will insist on submission... IF said dog does not submit in HER territory she WILL begin vocalizing... To date we haven't had issues with supervision and taking her away from the situation when it escalates...but anymore she is not allowed even supervised play with anyone but Monty, she was raised with him and he's always been the boss and she still conducts herself to respect him...but at times we have to turn it down a notch and put a stop to any play because she gets excited and overzealous... Monty is dog aggressive but has gotten to where I can get him to focus on me...Your best bet is to talk to a trainer in your area...let them know your concerns and see if they will watch and help you through a group OB class...she seems obedient enough of you to be okay meeting other dogs and in a CGC trial... but for supervised play you will need to breech that one dog at a time and very carefully...

Even if your pooch is "hot" or " turned on" she's still your fluffy little puppy baby girl... just not around other dogs. I cried and was depressed for about a week after my girl had her first (and only so far) fight and it was really traumatic... OB is key and keeping your dog out of situations that can escalate faster than you can control her you will likely do just fine with her...

 

I let my girl run sans leash at the dog park all the time, I have to watch as all owners do for potential problems. It seems that with all the dogs there and since its really nobodys territory no one gets too testy. I agree with Sara to say that it is probably a dominance thing more than all out animal aggression. The problem does arrise when she meets another who refuses to be submissive, It would be a problem for my crikett because she has no allusions about being second in line for anything.

 

Don't get me wrong..I still know she's my same little baby that lets me lay on top of her in bed and naps with her head in my lap and carefully spits out fingers if any get stuck in her mouth...I trust her around people more than any other dog i've had..just suprising to see her react to a dog that way since it seems just days ago she was bouncing around annoying dogs instead of challenging them..Well, i feel better about it now..I just want to be able to go out and be as active with her as I have been without being worried that she'll just go after another dog. Once this semester is over I'm enrolling her in an OB class..I just simply haven't has the time for one this semester, but I think I gave her a pretty good start on my own, she just needs some refining..

 

Based on your description the only reason I mentioned classes was for the social aspect... otherwise you could probably get her to pass a CGC all by yourself from what you've said on here! Done a GREAT job!!! Glad you are feeling better...just keep her focused on you if she gets grumpy and you shouldn't have an issue with keeping her out and active... Even My monty who shakes at the site of other dogs can be handled out and about... And Riot at around 120lbs is able to go to dog shows and not cause a HUGE scene...so you're good to go! Just keep her social so she doesnt' forget what to do (pay attention to YOU)..