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Pit bull guarding owner....

Discussion in 'Dogs - Pit bull breeds specific' started by AC from TO, May 17, 2004.

  1. AC from TO

    AC from TO New Member

    A friend of mine has recently adopted a 2 year old female pitty from my shelter. She came in stray but I do have a limited history on her. Basicly nice dog, no training, breeder....
    She has turned out to be a wonderful pet for them, but now that a couple of weeks have passed and she's settled into her new home she is guarding my friend from anyone outside the house. I've dealt with this in sheppards and Rotts but havn't ever seen it in a pitbull. The neighborhood that they live in is busy and they don't want her grabbing anyone if they get too close. What's the best way to get rid of this??
     
  2. GinaH

    GinaH New Member

    So the dog is showing aggresion towards humans?
    I am assuming that is what you are saying? If that is the case this dog needs to be corrected Immediately! APBT are not naturally human aggressive dogs. Something needs to be done before this dog becomes a real danger. I can not give you any tips on training when it comes to human aggresiveness. All 4 of my dogs would welcome anyone into our home tails a waggin.
     
  3. Sara

    Sara New Member

    Does the dog perceive EVERYONE as a threat or does your friend's actions have anything to do with it?

    How old is the dog? Sounds more like fear biting than anything...sounds like the dog needs more socialization in a favorable environment...treats from strangers etc... BUT if the dog is truly aggressive toward people and corrections don't help the matter... I hate to have to say it but... The dog should be put down or should see a behaviorist etc... Which is pretty costly.
     
  4. AC from TO

    AC from TO New Member

    She is a wonderful friendly dog or she would not have even made it into our adoption room. The first two weeks that she was in the house she had no problems at all. She is a wonderful friendly dog or she would not have made it into our adoption room at all. My friends have breed experience, their dog that they put down last month at 13 years old was a pit bull. The aggression seems to have come once she gained a confidance level in the house and bonded with her new owners. It's like now she's taking responsibility for letting her owners know when she believes someone is a threat. One of the people she growled at was my dad whom she had met many times before, both in and out of her house. He is a close friend of the owner. I'm going over there sometime this week to see exactly what's going on and see what can be done about it. I know that pits don't usually have much of a guard tendancy so I was just going to have them correct it when it happens and have strangers do alot of treating and praise when she behaves. I just thought that if anyone had a similar problems they may have another approach that works to use as a backup. I think that its more of a dominance thing.....dog taking charge and warning to what it believes is a problem when that is the lead dog in the packs job......
     
  5. Sara

    Sara New Member

    Without actually seeing the behavior it's hard to say whether or not it's a dominance thing or a fear/defense thing. I tend to go with the latter because in most cases that seems to be the deal.

    I have an APBT female who is very territorial. She barks like crazy and she will "guard" barking and standing at the door when company comes. She's great with women but to go greet men is a different story. She'll come up to them but she'll growl, or bark at them. She generally doesn't get within' petting distance of the person...but she barks at them with confidence (seems to anyway)... So the dog could be showing more of a fear or defensive response than anything. Especially being that the dog is an APBT...I'm going to still lean towards a certain degree of fear... She's fearfull so she protects herself in HER territory... Generally the fearfull dogs tend to act out even more than the truly aggressive and dominant dogs....they have more confidence so they don't need to put on a good show...

    If you could...if you still feel you need some help...after you visit the dog could you explain in detail the dog's reaction to you, your proximity to the dog, the dog's behavior (hackles, no hackles, ears forward or back...mouth pulled back or loose etc...) because THAT will give more information than relaying that the dog does seem to guard the household and family. Either way the dog should be corrected for the behavior.
     
  6. AC from TO

    AC from TO New Member

    Can a dog just start this fear behavior out of nowhere?? I've never seen a normal dog display things like this out of fear just all of a sudden. This is a dog that was in my care in the shelter for a month and never showed any kind of timid or fear related behavior from the day she came in. She was always sweet, goofy, friendly. She had met my dad on several occasions prior to this and she was typical goofy wiggley kissy little pitty with him and then all of a sudden. I'll know more when I see it for myself, I don't want to be correcting a scared dog. I'll report back with what I see.
     
  7. Samsintentions

    Samsintentions New Member

    Could it be that she's got a separation axiety thing going on? Perhaps she remembers her past, and someone came in a took her away from her family? Maybe she thinks that when strangers arrive they are there to take her away? She really loves her family and wants to stay there.

    Just a thought.
     
  8. Meg04

    Meg04 New Member

    When we first got Zoe, she was really shy and she didn't bark much at all. Then as time went on and she got to know us better she started acting protective by barking at strangers or strange noises. She does't growl and NEVER bites, but she will bark at strangers and sit right in front of me while they are in the house (until she gets confortable with them).
     
  9. Sara

    Sara New Member

    There are TONS of things that could have caused this dog to become fearfull...right down to flooring... it would have a lot to do with what kind of nerves she managed to inherit from her parents... Because you don't know her background and the likelihood that she was badly bred makes it even more likely her nerves are bad and she could have gotten fearfull over something as silly as flooring.

    My Hunnyjade was the bravest puppy I've ever seen. One correction on hardwood floors later and she's fearfull of men barely even letting a man pet her. So to answer your question...yes the dog could have all of the sudden become fearfull over a number of things that we as humans etc...would never dream could bother the dog... I mean it could be as simple as some mixed signals or even a physical problem. I just think it's dangerous to assume that she's simply protecting her owners...if she's truly frightened etc... It could become a big liability if the other causes for this behavior are overlooked.
     
  10. Samsintentions

    Samsintentions New Member

    Sara, whats with the flooring??? I didn't quite understand that. kinda got me confuzzled! :lol:
     
  11. Sara

    Sara New Member

    A dog raised on carpet may feel more vulnerable on tile or wood floors... Stuff like that...

    Slippery opposed to being able to get good traction could cause HUGE problems for some dogs with really weak nerves... So...that could be a possible reason for the dog acting out the way he/she is...

    Just saying that a dog is being protective in his/her own home when the dog is acting out in the way described is irresponsible without proper research into the other reasons the dog may be doing this... Flooring was just an example...
     
  12. AC from TO

    AC from TO New Member

    This is a dog that I have known for a month in a shelter environment...lots of different people, floors, carpets, inside, outside....also I know where the dog came from and that she was in a pet home. I think to be called irresponsible because I have assesed a dog that I have known for a month and am asking for different opinions on a soloution from those who know the breed is ludicris. Her behavior is not fear based. This dog even upon arrival to the shelter showed no fear.
     
  13. Sara

    Sara New Member

    I didn't say she was doing this out of fear... I just said there were lots of reasons for her to be acting out in the way you mentioned...

    ANYTHING could be causing this behavior and IMO to automatically seriously assume that it's a protection based behavior is rather irresponsible. I'm not even saying that YOU are irresponsible... I'm just saying that NOT taking the rest of the things into consideration or even seeking the help of a professional and saying that this dog is protecting...is wrong... Assess the situation, find a professional to talk to and check it out and THEN decide what is motivating this dog's behavior...

    Wether or not you actually had contact with the dog or not you still can't make the assessment that this is absolutely not fear based... Like I said...TONS of things could be causing this...not just floors or fear...

    Don't get so defensive...seriously... My comments are strictly trying to be helpfull and your getting all defensive and arguementative... I raised my dog and she had a sudden change in behavior and it's taken me a year to figure out and track down what has caused it...

    Whether the dog came from a pet home is pretty much a moot point... You still don't know how much true socialization the dog had, you don't know what's going on in the home now and you don't know if her parents were fearfull or defensive either... To me...that says you really Don't know any history on the dog...you just have an idea... So I'm giving you more ideas on what her behavior could be... I'm not knocking you or trying to make you angry or defensive...I'm just saying...it could happen that she is being fearfull...of SOMETHING or that she could be in pain or that she could be truly a protective dog (rare but possible)... Most likely in more cases than anything that are similar to this one...the dog is reacting in fear to or of something... That something could be nearly impossible for anyone to put their finger on...so...don't dismiss that possibility for the dog's sake and for this family's sake...

    Just trying to help here...
     

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