need help w/ puppy-aggression ????

First I would like to say thanks for all the tail docking advice. It gave us much to "chew on". I am worried about our baby. She is now 9 weeks old and is definitely displaying signs of aggression or -I want to say dominance-but she's so young!! Example-we gave her a rawhide chew which she was enjoying immensely until one of our other dogs walked near her(our two year old pit mix of 65 lbs). She let out some nasty growls for a little girl and proceded to jump up and chase him away ! She will also snarl if other dogs come near her bowl-or whatever bowl she chooses to eat from. We have three other dogs of our own, and two of our fosters who come in the house. I have been running a dog rescue for 14 years and was a vet tech. for 3-but I'm new to the pure Pit Bull world(our others are pit mixed with boston terrier-yes I said boston terrier). Any advice on training would be great. I have heard that training is a little different for these guys.
I would love to post my baby's picture-how do I get pictures on here??[/img]

 

Sounds like food aggression to me not dominance aggression. Feed her away from other dogs. Don't have bowls down until its eating time. Feed them seperately.

 

Exactly what True_Pits said. I have to feed my dogs seperately. Otherwise I'd have mortal combat on my hands at every feeding! A friend of mine who keeps my two youngest pups had to have me keep the 3rd pup who is a month older than the other two. He was very posessive of his bedding and his food. He wouldn't let the other 2 pups eat or get into bed! Just recently, he's started growling at one of my adult females if she even looks at his food. But when they're out of their crates for play time, they are best buds. I'd just feed them seperately, on a schedule, and moniter them closely whenever they're out together. If you're not already, I'd strongly suggest getting her (and him) a crate. Good luck with your new pittie.

 

Just wondering what you heard the 'difference' was in training. The thing is this - a puppy is a puppy, is a puppy. ALL puppies are the same. The only difference I've ever noticed, with teens/adults is, you shouldn't use aggressive type training... et., Koehler, because they are such emotional animals. Not that other breeds aren't, but pit bulls are just 'different'. They wear their heart on their leg.

 

I have 4 pitbulls and 1 pekingese and she's the meanest of them all!
She also has food aggression I can not feed her anywhere near the other dogs she's a little devil at feeding time. All my dogs get along well but are always supervised and crated at night or while Im gone. They also alternate between their kennels outside and in indoors and I have never had a problem with any of them granted 3 of them are still babies.
Good Luck to you.

 

True and Spencer are right on the mark. You're going to have to set a time when it's feeding time and separate them. I had a food agressive dog in the past,(not a pit,) and she was pocessive of her food, toys, and chew bones, also. Make sure when you separate them to eat, that they're ALL finished and ALL the bowls removed or else your pup will more than likely try to take theirs from them. You will probably have to separate her when she has a chew bone, also. Let her have her own space to chew, and then remove the bone from her. I'm just guessing from my past experiences, I had 5 dogs at the time and you said you had at least 5, I'm just wondering if when you have multiple dogs, maybe one feel threatened that their food and things will be taken away by the other dogs.These are my first Pit Bulls, and they share everything. They have had the best temperment of any dogs that I have ever had. I don't think your Pit pup has a dominance issue because Pit puppies usually respect their elders.

 

Well what everyone else said is right. As for toys, i recommend on buying some KONGS :mrgreen: I've got a rule with my dog, and hes learnt it very well, if he wants to play or be "aggressive" and all snarly, he has to have KONG in his big mouth! Hes caught on perfectly, now we had a simple game of not having to worrie about him snapping accidently or perhaps grabbing some unsavoury friends i have...

 

Since the pup is young and displaying food/toy aggression towards the other dogs you also need to keep in mind that it may turn to you if you don't keep on it. (Food/Toy aggression not aggression in general). If you notice your dog NOT being receptive to you taking his/her bowl or toy...you need to get them used to you being around (hold toy to chew, feed out of hand) to get them over it... I feed all my dogs in their crates...I haven't had the issue come up...my two APBT's will eat out of the same bowl... but funny thing...if the bowl is on the counter, or coffee table (or our dinner) my Male is territorial about it and doesn't hesitate to show my female his teeth... He of course gets a scolding (NONE of that type of behavior is allowed) but it is only kept in control that way...not stopped...

Listen to True_Pits...good advice given and a good assessment of the situation...

APBT's are sensitive and it's easy to over correct... The problem people seem to have is that because they're a tough animal owners feel they need to discipline them in a tougher than normal manner.... when in fact they're much softer in that department than most other dogs (Bully's are like that in general).

 

Chickee, I just heard that pitts are very sensitive-which is exactly what several of the posts confirmed. My puppy is nine weeks and has mastered sit,stay,shake,high-5, and speak. She is like puppy Einstein !! I am using some clicker training and she seems to really get it.
I have moved her bowl to the laundry room where she is separate from the others , and she does have a crate-I just haven't been putting her in there (bad mommy!). I know she needs to be in there 'cause she is a pee and poo machine I just HATE to be away from her !! She is my baby!

Thanks!!

 

you've gotten some good advice. My question is out of the pit and boston mix, which breed was the mama? Yikes! That's a pretty big size difference.

 

i stand by click training, i've used it, but not with a cicker, i use my fingers, wider range of clicks if u know what i mean, and i personally beleive pittys are the most sensitive dogs out, although my Old lady has this little white dog thing about the saize of a cat, which is sensitive, like if u call it names, the thng actually buggers off and solks.... :mrgreen:

 

Mama was the Boston . She broke her leash clip when on a walk and ran like the wind. About two hours later when she returned home it was obvious that our little girl was to be an unwed mother. She had seven pups, nearly ruptured her uterus-IT WAS A NIGHTMARE !!!! She had an emergency spay to stop bleeding and a tummy tuck for vanity reasons and once again-good as new !! We ended up keeping two of her babies, the runt and the stand out. They are the loves of our lives and the reson we decided to get a full blooded pit (we waited until one became available from our local animal shelter)

 

I have always heard that from when they are a pup, you should pet them while they eat that way they will be used to people being around while they eat and they won't show aggression.
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That is totally correct. We pet her when she eats, she is never aggressive towards us, only other dogs......

 

Feeding a dog by hand is also a good way to get rid of food aggression or to keep it from happening in a puppy.

 

when we first got Harley the only way she would eat was out of my hand for the first 4 days. She was eating crappy food before, and I think was so used to it she didn't like the healthier stuff. Anyways, I think this helped her combat food aggression with us. Her previous owner said she would sometimes get antsy if you were around her when she ate.