[KatieBug]

Or in my case a 3 year old pitt bull mix.

As a puppy I babied Angus BIG MISTAKE. I thought that being nice to him and socializing him would help with the whole attack factor. He did good, until he encountered and Old lady yelling and shaking her finger at my nephew. Angus went into protective mode and sent the woman to the ER as a result. He is also extremely scared and nervous about everything. They say dogs take after their owners but is it too late to change his behavior? Or do i have to change mine so he can't tell when I'm nervous or high strung? If anyone has had a problem with their pooch and what I like to call "selective hearing" please help me find a solution. His skittishness must end. He's not a pit bull...he's a puss bull.

 

[Cookies Mom]

I would worry about your dog, skittish and pit bull is a very bad cobo Read the nilf thread. I just wouldn't take him in public. walk him at night and such.

 

[the BIG&thelittle]

get a personal trainer/behaviorest for him asap.
do not trust him around others..fear biters are a real danger.
start NILIF now.

 

[wrknrott]

Two choices.....

Either get professional training help from someone that deals with aggressive behaviors or put the dog down.... either case you must take responsibility as to not cause anyone further to be injured! :?

8)

 

[Crazy-J]

I have noticed that since Magnum came along also he has been "acting out" more. He shows dog on dog aggression to the point where I won't have them in the same home. Magnum has been bit twice by him for doing stupid puppy things. He is very jealous even though we show them equal attention if not more for Angus since we were trying to avoid all of this.

Angus already has to go through behavioral training due to the bighting incident. He really worries me at times and I am now keeping Magnum away from Angus for Magnums safety and that I don't want Magnum picking up any bad habits.

Angus is good in his own environment. Outside that environment he has problems. I agree he needs a trainer and hopefully he will learn to behave properly. Unfortunately he was mistreated by alot of people that formerly lived in that house while Katie wasn't present which is the reason for his skitishness mainly around men.

J

 

[KatieBug]

I don't want to have to put Angus down. In fact when i got a phone call stating he sent someone to the ER I was in tears. As much as I love him, I need a roof over my head and with as crazy and people are with suing, I can't afford a "companion" (who doesn't come when called) to put it all out there. I take full responsiblity for letting Angus get away with things as a puppy and when he cried for something Mommy gave it to him. It turned him rotten. He has no respect for me because of the fact that i babied him instead of disciplining him like I should have. And now i can't undo the past. What is NILIF?

 

[LegendsMami]

NILIF is Nothing In Life Is Free.
http://bulldogbreeds.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=10528

It's a good read and something excellent to try.

 

[RED]

Re: Two choices.....

Either get professional training help from someone that deals with aggressive behaviors or put the dog down.... either case you must take responsibility as to not cause anyone further to be injured! :?

8)

I'm going to have to agree with this also.

 

[KatieBug]

How will I know if NILIF is working for my dog? I am so used to his behavior...maybe Immune is a better word. I didn't even notice it until I read the NILIF thread. That seems to be helpful. However I can't get him into a class for behavior. I was going to enroll both Angus and Magnum so we can fix Angus and prevent Magnum's "aggressive behavior". He seems to have a totally different demeanor than Angus had as a puppy. At any rate, the lady never returned my call on obedience school for Angus. I even stated that I would have him on a shock collar for safety reasons. Do you think that's a good idea?

 

[LegendsMami]

Maybe you can get him in on some one on one classes first before you put him into group. They may even have a class thats 3 wks of private 4 wks of group or something like that.

 

[the BIG&thelittle]

Maybe you can get him in on some one on one classes first before you put him into group. They may even have a class thats 3 wks of private 4 wks of group or something like that.

I agree..get someone to come to your home.
I would not let you attend one of my group classes if you neded a shock coller to control your dog.. the liability would be huge

 

[KatieBug]

I agree..get someone to come to your home.
I would not let you attend one of my group classes if you neded a shock coller to control your dog.. the liability would be huge

I have no idea what a shock collar would do to him. He's never had to experience it. I'm just sick of the skittishness and honestly if it weren't a conern to so many of you bull dog owners, I wouldn't think that it was a big deal. Obviously I have a lot more on my hands than I have time or money for. I may have to give him up for adoption to a family who has the necessary funds to care for him like he needs. I am a full time college student at a private college with bills on top of that. I don't really have too much additional money to have someone come into my home privately. I think that just keeping him inside until he's old and dies isn't the solution either. I'd love to be able to trust him enough to take him running the 4 mile block around the local stone quarry with me. But I can't even do that.

 

[Cookies Mom]

I agree..get someone to come to your home.
I would not let you attend one of my group classes if you neded a shock coller to control your dog.. the liability would be huge

I have no idea what a shock collar would do to him. He's never had to experience it. I'm just sick of the skittishness and honestly if it weren't a conern to so many of you bull dog owners, I wouldn't think that it was a big deal. Obviously I have a lot more on my hands than I have time or money for. I may have to give him up for adoption to a family who has the necessary funds to care for him like he needs. I am a full time college student at a private college with bills on top of that. I don't really have too much additional money to have someone come into my home privately. I think that just keeping him inside until he's old and dies isn't the solution either. I'd love to be able to trust him enough to take him running the 4 mile block around the local stone quarry with me. But I can't even do that.

To pawn this unstable dog off on another family is not a good option, and how would you feel if her bit a child? Eather try to fix his problem yourself or put him down, just my thoughts

 

[KatieBug]

To pawn this unstable dog off on another family is not a good option, and how would you feel if her bit a child? Eather try to fix his problem yourself or put him down, just my thoughts[/quote]

I have no intentions on pawning him off. It's very hard for me to make a decision based on an acting out of one time. Then again all it takes is one time to lose everything I have. Or have yet to get. I love my dog and he is a true companion. He would never bite a child. He LOVES children and is protective of ones he doesn't even know. He just knows that if they're little he love them and shakes like Jell-O when he sees them. I would fix his problem if i knew where to start at. It's hard to do when you have no help from anyone. I feel like it's a foreign language.

 

[the BIG&thelittle]

[ He would never bite a child. He LOVES children and is protective of ones he doesn't even know. He just knows that if they're little he love them and shakes like Jell-O when he sees them. .[/quote]

you do NOT know that. he sounds very unstable and is going to bite again, guarenteed.
Keep him AWAY from kids.
the choices are very clear..
put him down
or
find the way to get a trainer.
If you can't do that then step up and put him down.

 

[Cookies Mom]

I'm not saying that you can't work with him, but giving him to someone else isn't a good idia. you know how he is with your kids, in the invierment he is in now! but read up on the nilf system. you might just have to work hard on him.

 

[KatieBug]

I'm not saying that you can't work with him, but giving him to someone else isn't a good idia. you know how he is with your kids, in the invierment he is in now! but read up on the nilf system. you might just have to work hard on him.

I don't have kids. It's just every random person who brings their kids to my mom and dads house that he has to play with. He is fine in his environment for sure. But the thing is that I have called all the local dog trainers and no one has returned my call. It has been about a month and a half that this point and I think that because he has some pit bull in him, they're reluctant to do anything.

 

[pit_bull_lover]

KatieBug, I am so sorry to hear this, I too am in the same situation you are in. The only responses you will get on this forum is PUT IT DOWN or get a trainer (mostly people telling you to put it down).

I have seen two different trainers for my 7 yr old female staffordshire....I could not afford it, they were going to charge me an arm and a leg. I don't have the strength to put her down (many people think I am stupid and insane for that) so I don't bring her in public, I take her on walks very late at night. If I do walk her in the day, I keep her on leash and muzzled....I also leash and muzzle her in the car.

Although you feel Angus may be sweet and good with kids and so on, if he is a nervous dog, as other people are telling you, he is a danger to other people. Get a trainer to evaluate him, and be extra extra cautious with him in public. I don't think you will be able to 'fix' Angus on your own.

 

[Crazy-J]

I'm actually quite disturbed at the response in this thread.

It's very easy to say put him down when it's not your dog. He has been a part of our lives for some time now. Although I had no part in his upbringing as a puppy, he is not a "bad dog that is on the verge of attacking everyone" like he is being portrayed. He is a nervous dog. Define nervous?

Well here is how he is nervous. Unless he is 100% trusting in you you cannot come near his head and even Katie and I have trouble petting him on the head. He doesn't bite, he only pulls away. This is the only thing he is nervous with. He needs his space around his head.

His only other fault I would say would be his very protective demeanor of both kids and other animals. Yes, other animals. Example: Katie's brother was out shooting birds in the front yard. Angus got in between her brother and the tree he was shooting into and was barking as if telling him to stop. Angus also "talks" and he would "talk" to us as if telling us to tell him to stop.

The only aggression he has shown was with this old woman and twice with Magnum when Magnum tried to take food from him and try to be the dominant dog. Angus is the dominant out of the two so Magnum has to be submissive around Angus which unless food is involved is not an issue.

But like I said in his environment Angus is fine. He only acted out in protection of Katies nephew whether it was right or wrong that WAS the reason. He has been more "stubborn" lately when he smells Magnum because he wants to play with Magnum and I won't allow it since Magnum is being trained differently and I will not allow him to be "influenced."

At any rate, I do think he needs a trainer, however this put him down talk is pretty sad. Killing animals because of someones NON PROFESSIONAL and not to mention NON INFORMED recommendations is not only wrong but it's downright inhumane. We all talk about how much we love our animals but then I go through behavioral threads and all I see is put him/her down. You guys need to re evaluate your stand on animal rights. You people are borderline animal cruelty talking. Your no better than the doctors trying to have my mother abort her unborn baby because they "thought" he would be retarded and disfigured. You cannot predict the future nor can you tell by what has been posted whether he would attack someone again or even another animal. Until you meet the dog in person it's not your call.

When someone asks for advice on the situation they are not asking to hear "kill your dog." They are looking for a solution to a problem. If you can't solve it, then I suggest you state that if anything at all. The way I feel is that if your only suggestion is to put it down, then I wouldn't take your advice in the first place.

Now if you have usefull coments such as the type of trainer we should look into or the type of training plan we should look into then so be it. If you think putting a perfectly good dog down is the answer when you don't even know the situation, then I'd rather you keep your opinions to yourself and we will stick to coments from people who a re slightly more humane and care a bit more about their animals.

Thanks for all those who posted.

J

 

[Cookies Mom]

I'm actually quite disturbed at the response in this thread.

It's very easy to say put him down when it's not your dog. He has been a part of our lives for some time now. Although I had no part in his upbringing as a puppy, he is not a "bad dog that is on the verge of attacking everyone" like he is being portrayed. He is a nervous dog. Define nervous?


J

Why would you be disturbed at the thought of putting down a skittish dog instead of giving it to another person. What I have read it's get help for him if you keep him, but don't just give him to someone else. put him down if you can't handle the problem yourself. there are enough BSL's If a pit bull is skittish has bitten an old lady,already and you don't trust him yourself thenyou can't just give him away. that is irresposable don't you think. If you think he's a problem get all the training books you can find,
read up on the Nothing for free method. if you cann't or won't put the time and effert into him then by all meens put him down!