Advice needed!

[lola1]

Ok, Reeds had some trouble in the past with growling and jumping at 2 different people in an aggressive manner. Weve been managing this ever since.
We saw a behaviorist and she told us how to get him to feel ok with visitors and how we should be asking our visitors to act around him, until he gets comfortable. We haven't had any problems in a long time.
Currently, when people are coming over we put both dogs behind a baby gate for the first ten minutes or so to give them a chance to calm down and be ready to behave. They get so darn excited sometimes!
Anyway, yesterday was a stressful day for the dogs. We had new carpet installed in our house. The installers were there for most of the morning and we were at work. Not an ideal situation. So needless to say when we got home they were insanely crazy and wanted tons of attention.
We were getting things put back in order, and my sister and mother were over. The dogs know them and are fine with them. Out of nowhere I here a huge ruckus, the dogs are barking and I hear my sister yelling at Reed, my stupid a$$ sister had her friend come to my house to pick her up and let her in the house without telling us. Reed reacted badly. He jumped at her and nipped her neck. I say nipped because when I looked at it, it was red from the contact and nothing else. Well apparently when the girl got home she looked closely at it and said she had 6 teeth marks and one of them broke the skin.
Had I known this girl was coming over, that would not have happened. Reed wouldn't have had the opportunity. I'm mad at my sister for doing what she did, and I'm mad that Reed was put in that situation. I'm also upset that Reed reacted as bad as he did.
I am pregnant and due in a few weeks. I'm not worried about the baby, but I am worried that we are going to have alot of visitors in the first few weeks, and besides that being stressful for him, it will be stressful for myself to constantly be on watch to make sure someone doesn't just walk in, or open the door for someone else to walk in.
I just don't know what to do right now.

[adoptapitbull]

I think for his safety and your visitors' safety, maybe place a sign on the door saying something like "Please knock and wait to be let in." That's something people should do regardless. Continue working with him in the meantime, and maybe don't allow him out of his crate when visitors come for a little while until you are more comfortable, and less pregnant No stressing out the pregnant lady! Congrats, by the way, I didn't know you were expecting!

[RealPitBull]

I like the above ^ advice

There's no way around it, keeping a special needs dog is not easy and it can be stressful at times. It becomes a way of life, habitual. I think that's the only way to make it work to the point where it is doable long-term.

Sounds like this was just a bad mishap. You know what went wrong, you know the dogs were already stressed due to the carpet installers being there all day. I'd start thinking now about how you will avoid such things in the future. Make sure at least close family/regular visitors know very clearly what the situation is. Make sure Reed as a nice, safe place to go to when needed (crate). Consider keeping a bowl of dry treats in a place that is accessible to the door so people (even those he knows well) can offer him a treat when they walk in. Err on the side of caution. Better to put Reed away unnecessarily then risk a nip.

[lola1]

Thank you! I already yelled at my sister about it. She knows better, she said she didn't think about it. I made sure she knows now that she has to think about it for everyone's (including Reeds) safety and well being.
We've had discussions in the past of having to euth him and it crossed my mind again after last night. The thing is though is he isn't HA, he's just got some issues that need to be managed.
I will be working with him more over the next few weeks to get him to go to his place when needed.

[adoptapitbull]

I was reading somewhere that 42% of dog owners report that their dog has behavior issues. Aggression was the most common complaint.

Reed is not a bad dog. He just has some anxiety that you have to work with.

Maybe try the desensitization and counter conditioning Mary posted. Show him to view approved visitors as treat dispensers.

[lola1]

I agree! I will definitely work with him to get back to where we had him. I've considered an anxiety med, or something natural to help him. When I got him, the rescue was giving him a Vitamin B12 or B6? daily to help keep him calm. I will call the vet and see what they think. Our vet is awesome, and doesn't hate Pit Bulls, so shes a great source of info. shes also interested in the behavior modification side of things, rather than just euth'ing dogs. I know we can manage him because we've been for 1 1/2 yrs now, yesterday was just a bad situation that I ,unfortunately, couldnt foresee and prevent.