Dog acceptance

[Medicine Woman]

Okay so DH already had a dog before we got married 4 years ago….Trouble is an 8 year old Pit Bull.
I had a few dogs but Trouble seriously hurt one so she literally had her own house until Ida ripped my house apart.
My oldest daughter wants me to take my dogs back. A Boxer that belongs to my HDD, she is 11….a Jack Russell Mix that usually looks like the Shaggy DA…an 8 year old fixed male, and possibly a Yorkie mix… another fixed male.
So anyway the concern is Trouble. For now we will do our best to keep all dogs away from her. I just bought a medium crate for the two smaller dogs currently in the house.
Tips for convincing crazy not to eat her new friends. Please and thank you.

 

[tortoise]

Crate and rotate! You can't change her breed tendencies, but you can keep your family safe by keeping them separate. Keep 2 barriers between Trouble at the other dogs at all times, such as her kennel and close the door to the room the kennel is in. Rotate dogs so Trouble still gets nearly as much attention as usual. Keep in mind that she will need more exercise and mental stimulation with this arrangement since it limits how much she is moving throughout the day.

Then start training Trouble to prepare for inevitable accidents. A rock-solid recall, as in getting her to the point you can get her attention away from anything (including going after another dog). You can get this extreme reliable recall using rewards. (you'll get a faster responses to your cue by using rewards than punishment, especially in an off-leash situation). I can share youtube links if you're interested.

I love pitties, but they can be a pain to live with in a multiple-pet family. Sounds like Trouble is worth it 🥰

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Agree with all of the above. I had an LGD that wanted to retire so we moved her into the back yard with our English Shepherd. They got along great for months then had one fight. After that we kept them separated for months - they were only in the yard together if we were with them to supervise. During all those times they simply ignored each other. The first time they were left together, after months of no aggression, they had a fight to the death. LGD killed our English Shepherd. It devastated us - not only were we heartbroken over the death there were guilt feelings to make it all worse. I would hate for that to happen to anyone else. So, crate, separate and never leave them alone together. You mentioned how strong she is. They are strong and fast - so maybe a muzzle for introductions? Nobody loves them but if it saves a dogs life ...

 

[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.

 

[baymule]

At the risk of bringing pit bull fans howling down my neck, I don't like them and wouldn't have one. I've met some nice pit bulls, but I still wouldn't have one.

Build her a pen with wire bottom and top.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I am a huge fan of pits but so many have just been bred to be aggressive, and it’s hard to fight that tendency. I would definitely try to keep them separate with baby gates, etc, and introduce face to face in very controlled environments, one on one. Reward her for ignoring them if she’s super reactive. There are lots of YouTube videos on introducing reactive dogs to new dogs.

 

[NH Homesteader]

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

 

[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!

 

[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