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Post by ultraman on Nov 2, 2010 22:55:04 GMT -5
Hello. I'm new here. Thanks for having this forum. Now to my question:
Background:
I got a pit bull (blue nose?) puppy from my next door neighbor who could no longer afford to own a dog. My neighbor treated the dog well, and not so well in other ways. For example, he left the dog on a short rope tied to a tree for the entire day, and took the dog in the house at night and had the dog sleep in a crate. My neighbor is a good guy, but differs in thought in what dog ownership means as compared to what my wife and I think dog ownership means. I don't know what I mean to say but this: it broke our hearts to see a dog just tied to a tree all day so my wife and I began taking the dog hiking with us and we grew attached to her. We asked neighbor if we could take the dog from him, he said OK and dog now belongs to us.
A little more background:
The dog (Sashi) has always had a sweet and playful demeanor. Just a wonderful puppy. The dog came to our house and is spoiled off the charts. We had Sashi neutered? Sprayed?, you know, we had the dog fixed. We love the dog and take it with us everywhere, treat it like family. We have two cats and the cats rule the household and Sashi is OK with it.
What happened tonight:
We were playing with Sashi in the front yard and a guy from across the street who I had never met and Sashi had never met (but my wife knew; a good guy who's in high school) came trotting over to say hi and Sashi went ballistic on him. The fur on her back was standing straight up and she charged this kid, violently barking and being aggressive and scaring me, my wife and this poor kid. We got Sashi away and back into the house.
I don't know what happened. Sashi has never acted like this. And she has met strangers before when we go hiking and is just crazy friendly. So can anybody fill me in.
I've always been partial to Collies, never owned a pit before, but I'm growing to love this pit. I understand that pits get a bad rap. I understand that dogs become bad because the owners are bad.
I'm a good owner. I love our dog to death and treat her with love and kindness and respect. I just don't know what happened and I'm worried.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time.
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Post by AmyJo27 on Nov 2, 2010 23:08:38 GMT -5
I am wondering how long did Sashi bark for?! I am also wondering what time of day it was (Day or Night)?
I know I have caught my dogs off guard before (Pit Bulls and non Pit Bull breeds) and they would bark and growl all tough then once they realized that it was only me and not some mean monster they would act almost embarrassed and become wiggle butts-Wagging their tail and licking me.
If this guy just caught her off guard then she just might have been scared and would have calmed herself down when she realized it was just a guy but if this barking was while she was watch him then someone else here may have to give you advice!!! :/
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Post by RealPitBull on Nov 3, 2010 14:33:52 GMT -5
How old is your puppy?
And just to clarify, is your pup's name SashA or SashI? Just so I can use her proper name when I am referring to her ;D
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Post by ultraman on Nov 3, 2010 15:59:40 GMT -5
How old is your puppy? And just to clarify, is your pup's name SashA or SashI? Just so I can use her proper name when I am referring to her ;D Sasha. lol. sorry. the puppy, as best as we know, is approaching 1 year old. this whole thing happened at dusk. |
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Post by loverocksalot on Nov 4, 2010 6:47:30 GMT -5
Hmmm Well from my experience similar happened a couple of times when Rocky was younger and learning the world. But it was through the window when getting dark and my kids were in dark clothing or carrying a black sweatshirt or something like that. But when they got close and he realized it was them he felt like an idiot.
I think if the young man (as long as parents are ok with it) are willing to try distance approach and see how she reacts. By any chance did the kid have have a hoodie sweatshirt on with hood up or a hat? Rocky rarely barks at people, even people approaching the house. But he will bark at those approach the house he knows if they have a hood on or hat and that includes my kids and my husband then when he realizes its them he acts like awe I knew it was you I was just practicing my bark.
Barking at objects was quite funny when he was a pup Although he rarely barked we had to teach him to bark. Once he learned He would bark at new candles and toys, plants out on the deck, new pool floats anything new particularly if it was very dark in color or black. Especially if something gets out on the lawn.
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Post by RealPitBull on Nov 4, 2010 7:58:05 GMT -5
Sounds like your pup has had ZERO socialization (since your neighbors kept her on a chain) and is dealing with some fear-aggression issues. Where are you located? It would be very important to address these behaviors you are seeing, preferably with someone who can work one on one with you. I will tell you flat out: fear aggression in dogs is one of the most difficult behavioral issues to work with and it will most likely end up being a life long management issue, in terms of closely monitoring her environment to set her up to succeed vs. placing her in situations where she is uncomfortable/worried.  Those situations may decrease in number as she undergoes behavior modification, but they will likely never completely be eliminated. For the time being, please make sure to keep her on leash, and do not let people approach her. Be aware of your surroundings so she does not get startled and you can avoid people as needed. Right now OVER-management (caerfully controlling her environment to keep her out of situations that are likely to trigger fear) is better than under-management which could result in problems. |
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Post by loverocksalot on Nov 4, 2010 17:11:00 GMT -5
Mary always has great answers.
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Post by ultraman on Nov 5, 2010 22:03:08 GMT -5
Sounds like your pup has had ZERO socialization (since your neighbors kept her on a chain) and is dealing with some fear-aggression issues. Where are you located? It would be very important to address these behaviors you are seeing, preferably with someone who can work one on one with you. I will tell you flat out: fear aggression in dogs is one of the most difficult behavioral issues to work with and it will most likely end up being a life long management issue, in terms of closely monitoring her environment to set her up to succeed vs. placing her in situations where she is uncomfortable/worried. Those situations may decrease in number as she undergoes behavior modification, but they will likely never completely be eliminated. For the time being, please make sure to keep her on leash, and do not let people approach her. Be aware of your surroundings so she does not get startled and you can avoid people as needed. Right now OVER-management (caerfully controlling her environment to keep her out of situations that are likely to trigger fear) is better than under-management which could result in problems. thank you. will do |
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Post by pitbullpassion on Nov 20, 2010 5:52:51 GMT -5
Sounds like your pup has had ZERO socialization (since your neighbors kept her on a chain) and is dealing with some fear-aggression issues. Where are you located? It would be very important to address these behaviors you are seeing, preferably with someone who can work one on one with you. I will tell you flat out: fear aggression in dogs is one of the most difficult behavioral issues to work with and it will most likely end up being a life long management issue, in terms of closely monitoring her environment to set her up to succeed vs. placing her in situations where she is uncomfortable/worried. Those situations may decrease in number as she undergoes behavior modification, but they will likely never completely be eliminated. For the time being, please make sure to keep her on leash, and do not let people approach her. Be aware of your surroundings so she does not get startled and you can avoid people as needed. Right now OVER-management (caerfully controlling her environment to keep her out of situations that are likely to trigger fear) is better than under-management which could result in problems. This is why I love forums; you get answers to questions you don't wanna ask that also apply to your own situations! LOL! The pit bull in my current avatar, Spiderman, was also kept on a chain as a youngster, was poorly socialized, and also has fear aggression issues. Being in pit bull rescue, it is a bit embarrassing, as he is not a good example of what the breed should be. But what you described is exactly what we do with him -- careful over-management. I do try to take him out and expose him to new things, when it is not going to be threatening to other people or dogs. Doing this has taken a little trial-and-error, admittedly, but now I know his limits. I also walk him on a Gentle Leader now so if something unexpected happens, I have better control over him. Spiderman is ecstatic over people he trusts (watch out for that tongue LOL), but most of these people are those he met while he was recovering from his leg injury he had when we acquired him. Also, a few dog-saavy people have been able to get on his good side with repeated exposure. |
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Those situations may decrease in number as she undergoes behavior modification, but they will likely never completely be eliminated. 
I look forward to learning much here