Two questions

[RealPitBull]

Jan 25, 2012 18:24:55 GMT -5 michele5611 said:

It is obvious that you love all your animals and only want the best for them and want to be sure you keep them all safe by evidence of your own question.  Please consider that many of the members here have owned the breed for years. Some members are trainers, work with rescues, and shelters and have a huge amount of hands on experience. There are also a lot of members on here that manage multi dog and multi pit bull households successfully and harmoniously by responsibly managing all animals. That means separating when no one is around to supervise. It also means never ever underestimating our own animals.  Socializing Ziggy is very important and that can be done with your current animals in a supervised setting.  Ultimatly the decision is your but I highly reccomend that the dogs have their own crates. Believe me it is the best for you and them.  I hope you take what others are saying as advice and realize it is coming from a place of knowledge and at the end of the day wanting to help you create a safe and healthy environment for your animals.

x10

Pleasssssssssse get each dog a separate crate. Crating dogs together can lead to disaster. I'd hate for you to figure out it's time to separate them by coming home to a dead dog.

[adoptapitbull]

I have 3 male Pits who right now are on Crate and Rotate. All of them used to cuddle and spoon in the same crate, in bed, on the couch, everywhere. All it takes is one fight. Sometimes they are OK after it, other times they can't stand the look of the other dog without losing it.

At 12 weeks, yeah, your puppy might love everything it meets. At 12 months, possibly not. At 24-36 months, he may decide that all other animals are something to fight with. Or, he may never have a fight in his whole life.

You, me, all of us here, no one knows how it'll turn out. But what we can all speak from is our experience because all of us have had many, many Pit Bulls to learn from.

[fureverywhere]

I think that's an important point that you have to learn your dogs personality and try to safeguard for the unexpected sometimes. Dogs like humans can be complicated sometimes. Ophie shares eating and playtime and sleeps happily with our cats-but she's also killed several strays.
She is gentle and patient with small dogs and puppies...wonderful, wonderful with puppies. But with dogs her size and larger she'll sound like she's going to rip their throats out...would she??? I don't want to find out...It's safe to just try to err on the side of caution

[irosstm]

I'm trying to build them up to no crate all the time, also if I'm sitting in the living room with them can they be ot and play? I'm home all day, and if I walk outta the room I should crate them.. Thanks for all the help guys, also if anyone knows a crate schedule for my situation that'd be cool

[loverocksalot]

Keep them used to using the crate. I am home all day too. But I do have to go out for things. I regret not using the crate on a regular schedule. I only have the one dog but now if I want to add a dog or have to babysit moms dog. My dog whines in the crate where he used to love it. I would have a nap time during the day where they take a nap in their own crate while you are getting things done. Lets say 2pm for example. House clean while they nap. Play relaxing music for them. It will be routine. Then if you have to go out they will be fine in a crate while out. I do therapy with Rocky now and lectures at my library. He wont stay in his crate without carrying on. I have my lecture in about 2 weeks and I slacked off so now I have only 2 weeks to re crate train him. Weather or not he will be calm in there in a different environment I wont know until 2 weeks but had I kept up with crating him daily I would not have this problem.

[irosstm]

What if they nap on the couch some too?

[RealPitBull]

Jan 26, 2012 10:01:56 GMT -5 irosstm said:

What if they nap on the couch some too?

You're on the right track! The thing we emphasize is "supervision". It's the "just in case" factor. If something were to happen, i.e. a snark, a scuffle, which could potentially lead to a full-blown fight, you'd be there to stop it before it got bad.

I think pretty much everyone on this forum with more than one animal allows shared couch time. There are actually cute a few funny pictures of dogs sharing chairs, and couches, and beds, etc.

The point is to crate when you aren't there to watch. When you feel like you cannot provide adequate supervision. This is a personal/individual thing. It's what you're comfortable with, what risk you are willing to take, etc.

Leaving dogs in one room when you are moving to another for a few is probably not a big deal. Leaving for more than a few, going to a completely different part of the house, going outside, taking a shower....these are all situations where I personally go into "separate the dogs" mode.

The thing I do want to mention is that since you have a small dog, you might be a little extra cautious because a small dog could be taken out pretty quickly by a larger dog.

Again, it's about what YOU feel comfortable with and what you feel is right for YOUR dogs. Risk assessment! All we can do here is advise you that from our collective experiences, we've learned that Pit Bulls and Pit Mixes tend to be tricky to keep around other dogs, should be supervised and separated when no supervision is available, and may be great with other dogs MOST of the time, but can randomly decide to bring it on. And when they bring it on, they BRING IT ON.

A little extra caution can never hurt. Lack of caution can mean a trip to the ER.

[loverocksalot]

They can nap fine outside of crates while being supervised. I am just going from experience like babies take naps in their cribs or beds it helps to have dog take nap in crate so they cant get into trouble while you are busy with other things. And if you keep up with it then it becomes routine and they dont mind it at all they actually will love it. But if you stop like I did now my dog is 6 years old and if I want to bring another dog in he will not be so inclined to spend a couple of hours in his crate. Wish I had just kept up with it. Now I have to re do it all over again.

[maryellen]

2 of mine will nap in one crate,which is fine when i am here.. but when we say separate that is for like mary said, long times you cant watch them...

and you can room/rotate or babygate/rotate, you dont necessarily need crates if they respect baby gates

[mudbelle]

Hello, 3 dog household here and that 3 dog house is kind of against the grain in terms of what most see as a realistic set up for a positive outcome. Now I will say I have worked with animals for 10+ years and I've trained dogs for about 8 years. I have Lily, the 3 lb Chihuahua who is 5 years old - Kona, the 45lb Pit Mix that is 2 years old, and Violet, the 8 month old Pit Mix. I have a Chihuahua and 3 females, I wouldn't recommend that as a start. However, you can live in a house with tiny dogs and large dogs. Lily grew up with a 95lb German Shepherd Dog. All of my females are submissive. I chose Kona with Lily in mind, as I did Violet. With Kona we brought the entire litter (of rescued Pit Bulls, though now we know some to be mixes in the litter) over to my house and I tested each one with her. Kona was the only one that wasn't reacting to her like prey, and who seemed more interested in me. With Violet, I had already looked at a few adults and puppies. When Violet came for the home visit, she reacted about the same as Kona; very little interest in Lily, more in me, Kona and her surroundings. I knew for this to work though, I had to take in to account when choosing a dog - not just what I wanted, but also what was best for Lily.

Small dogs break easy and it only takes one accident for a Chihuahua to be gone in an instant. For it to work in these households you have to have a number of things work for you. You have to have a small dog that isn't dominate and that doesn't have a Napoleon complex. You also have to select dogs that do not have a high prey drive and that are not dominate. When two dogs of the same size dominance check one another - no big deal (I'm just talking a simple dominance check, not a fight, just a tough roll, knock, ect). When a 40lb dog dominance checks a 3 lb dog it's disaster.

You also must be hyper vigilant! Lily's feet do not touch the ground unless I know exactly where Violet is and I have eyes on her. The "Leave it command" is one of the most important in these cases. As soon as Violet so much as looks at Lily she gets a "leave it". They are not, under any circumstances allowed near each other without me right on top of them. If Violet is even the slightest bit too rough, she is corrected (gently, I train my positive re-enforcement only - corrections are sounds and demonstrations - she is learning "easy" and "gentle" as ways to be near Lily). It isn't easy, it's a massive amount of work and for someone who doesn't do training and behavior - it may be better to get some inhome training help.

However, it can be done. Kona is now 2 years old and Lily and her adore each other. Kona will even gently play with Lily, protect her from the cat (yep, the cat! The cat could kill her easily and Kona doesn't want anything near her Lily that isn't moving slow and easy) and the cuddle often. They can be on the floor together with out me worrying. BUT! They are submissive, they do not resource guard and they listen to their commands - without that it could be disaster. AND - as good as Kona is with Lily, I still have to be hyper-aware at all times because the tiniest accident could leave Lily severely injured or worse.

I hope this helps! I'd be super happy to answer any questions you may have as well.

[mudbelle]

Oh, they should NEVER, EVER be crated together! Always, always crate them when you are not watching. They are NEVER allowed together unattended, at all, under any circumstance. If Kona so much as got the zoomies, she could easily, kill Lily on accident. We do not ever allow the Chihuahua and the Pits together without me being present.

[loverocksalot]

Im just curious now. My Rocky is a very laid back non dominant male with little to nothing for prey drive. However he likes a good game of chase and of course he cant hold back the zoomies. When he plays with my moms dog who is about 30lbs she is a tough cookie and bosses Rocky around by getting carried away with bitey face. Rocky hates bitey face so he never bites back but Rocky's defense is a body slam. Which I must say you dont see coming until its to late. It took a while for him to do this to her as he seemed to have to figure it out. Do your dogs seem to know they will hurt Lilly? I cant even imagine if Rocky dropped his 70lb body down on a smaller dog. How in the world do you curb that kind of play once out in the yard? We once tried having my friend over with her Yorkie every time that dog went on the ground Rocky chased it. Luckily yorkie was fast and got up in his moms lap. Im not sure what Rocky was thinking but seemed his little tiny bit of prey drive might have kicked in. I was not risking it as he could so easily hurt that dog just by running too fast.

[mudbelle]

Kona knows for sure, but that took her first year of life with me guiding and teaching her. Again, my guys are taught "easy" and "gentle". However, their play is very limited to Kona laying down with Lily and playing, only when I'm right there. I do not let any active play occur around Lily because she could still easily be injured or worse, killed. So, my best advice would be train Rocky to understand that with certain commands play must stop or mellow out. Though once play has elevated too far, it can only be stopped and time allowed for the dogs to calm before playing again.

[RealPitBull]

Great post up there ^ , Allison!

[Carly]

I have four pitbulls and a chihuahua. All ages and both sexes. Never had an issue.
They are supervised 24/7. If I'm inside, so are they.. If they are outside, So am I.
If I leave the house, all are in separate crates. Bedtime too. Feeding is done separate even though my dogs show no food aggression.

I don't worry about a fight. My issue is my pitbulls play rough. And I mean hard and rough. They jump, run, chew, play fight really hard so when it's potty time I let my Chi go potty first and bring her inside usually. Because two of my pits are over 70 pounds and one little play jump on the Chi, can snap her in half. My pitties love to throw their body weight around. They would smash her like a pancake. However, they snuggle all the time together.


All them taking a potty break. This was taken before my Basset Hound passed away. Don't mind the white fuzz. They killed a stuffed toy. And destroyed our deck...



And we got sun today for the first time in a week. Sun Bathing!.. and dirty windows...

[fureverywhere]

Doggie central...adorable pics!!!!!!

[adoptapitbull]

All multi dog households with a Pit or PitX need to be aware of the breed's propensity to stop liking their doggy roommates as they age. At 1-2, they may adore other dogs. By 3-4, it could change. The dogs who once cuddled together in bed now freak out at the sight of one another. Ask me how I know!

That said, supervision and separation could not be more important!

[RealPitBull]

Carly, I love that pic of your guys sunning themselves! Too cute.

And yeah, it's just always something to be aware of, that propensity to get into a fight. Yeah, yeah, we know all dogs get into fights, but there is no debating that when Pit Bulls fight, it can get really ugly really fast. So it's just good to be aware of this. You could have a peaceful household for years, then one day - BOOM.

[lovemybully76]

Carly, your bunch is so cute!

[fureverywhere]

I would follow everybody's advice with safety just in case. We don't seperate a house of cats and the dog because the cats rule. But even with them, what they do to each other sometimes...just cat things like cornering each other with alotta noise and noticible scratches sometimes, but dogs can do so much more damage, err on the side of caution.