First off, I am very uneducated about pitts as a breed. I grew up around dogs my whole life, my parents were breeders, but I have mostly been around labs, sheepdogs, etc.
My now husband had two pitts already when I moved in. He never gave them the attention and energy they needed and deserved and I nagged him incessantly about that. He is not a bad person, was just uneducated about dogs and their needs and he is a workaholic. He is rarely home. I am not strong enough to handle either dog on its own to walk and they have never been trained to behave on a leash or in public.
Both are males, one year apart in age, both neutered and crate trained. Both sweet dogs, but don't know their own strength kind of energy and we must keep them separated from any guests we have over.
Last summer the boys got into two fights - bad enough that there were injuries involved and I was concerned but they weren't severely hurt. Looking back these were warning signs.
In November, my husband got me the puppy that I've been wanting for years, an English Bulldog female. She is a great dog and the three seemed to get along famously.
In April, the two boys had another fight but this one was beyond violent. I've never seen anything like it before. They were completely tearing each other apart, blood everywhere, and were locked onto each other for 30 minutes. I tried everything I could think of to break them apart without getting too close but failed. They eventually stopped on their own. Both were severely injured (in my opinion, a $600 vet bill and a couple weeks recovery for each of them). At this point I thought we needed to surrender the dogs. I contacted a pitt rescue who sent a trainer to us.
The trainer said that if we were comfortable we could try keeping the dogs. ALthough my female hadn't been in heat ever yet, he thought that was coming and maybe caused the fight. Both boys are neutered but he said it could still have been an issue. He also said they may scuffle in the future but we don't necessarily need to get rid of them because it will never be bad again.
A few months later, our friend brought his two dogs over and it was instantly WWIII. It was a four dog instant fight and luckily the dogs were quickly separated and sustained minor injuries. Our oldest and his oldest were definitely the aggressors in that situation. I had my puppy safe inside during that.
For the past couple of months our oldest has been acting out a lot. He suddenly started jumping up on everybody, barking incessantly, not minding, etc. Then, last week, the two boys got into another awful fight. While the trainer was right - it wasn't as severe as the last time, it was NEARLY. They were both hurt, and took a few days to recover.
My heart is breaking for these boys because they just can't seem to get along. Again, my puppy was inside and they were outside when the fight broke out. A few days later, our oldest went after her while I was standing between them. It terrified me. I smacked him on the head and he backed down but I am so afraid of him now - I have no idea what he is capable of.
I can see all of the mistakes that we have made but my question is if they are reparable? It is not practical for us to keep all three dogs separated all of the time. My husband and I work two jobs each. Its a bad situation. We have cried and kicked ourselves for all of this but we need to know how to move on. Can this type of aggression in the older dog be corrected? I have been asking and reading and everything I"m hearing is that we need to put him down? We have been halfheartedly searching for homes for both of them (my husband can't bear to keep one and not the other) but it seems hard to find a home for the oldest when I feel he can't legitimately go to a household with another dog or children.
Please help with any knowledge you have! We are just devastated at this point and I am EXHAUSTED from keeping all three dogs
separated all week.
Oh, and the oldest is 4 years old and the younger is 3 years old. They never fought until the younger one outgrew the older one in size, a little bit after he turned 1. They are both mixes that my husband got from a rescue.
My now husband had two pitts already when I moved in. He never gave them the attention and energy they needed and deserved and I nagged him incessantly about that. He is not a bad person, was just uneducated about dogs and their needs and he is a workaholic. He is rarely home. I am not strong enough to handle either dog on its own to walk and they have never been trained to behave on a leash or in public.
Both are males, one year apart in age, both neutered and crate trained. Both sweet dogs, but don't know their own strength kind of energy and we must keep them separated from any guests we have over.
Last summer the boys got into two fights - bad enough that there were injuries involved and I was concerned but they weren't severely hurt. Looking back these were warning signs.
In November, my husband got me the puppy that I've been wanting for years, an English Bulldog female. She is a great dog and the three seemed to get along famously.
In April, the two boys had another fight but this one was beyond violent. I've never seen anything like it before. They were completely tearing each other apart, blood everywhere, and were locked onto each other for 30 minutes. I tried everything I could think of to break them apart without getting too close but failed. They eventually stopped on their own. Both were severely injured (in my opinion, a $600 vet bill and a couple weeks recovery for each of them). At this point I thought we needed to surrender the dogs. I contacted a pitt rescue who sent a trainer to us.
The trainer said that if we were comfortable we could try keeping the dogs. ALthough my female hadn't been in heat ever yet, he thought that was coming and maybe caused the fight. Both boys are neutered but he said it could still have been an issue. He also said they may scuffle in the future but we don't necessarily need to get rid of them because it will never be bad again.
A few months later, our friend brought his two dogs over and it was instantly WWIII. It was a four dog instant fight and luckily the dogs were quickly separated and sustained minor injuries. Our oldest and his oldest were definitely the aggressors in that situation. I had my puppy safe inside during that.
For the past couple of months our oldest has been acting out a lot. He suddenly started jumping up on everybody, barking incessantly, not minding, etc. Then, last week, the two boys got into another awful fight. While the trainer was right - it wasn't as severe as the last time, it was NEARLY. They were both hurt, and took a few days to recover.
My heart is breaking for these boys because they just can't seem to get along. Again, my puppy was inside and they were outside when the fight broke out. A few days later, our oldest went after her while I was standing between them. It terrified me. I smacked him on the head and he backed down but I am so afraid of him now - I have no idea what he is capable of.
I can see all of the mistakes that we have made but my question is if they are reparable? It is not practical for us to keep all three dogs separated all of the time. My husband and I work two jobs each. Its a bad situation. We have cried and kicked ourselves for all of this but we need to know how to move on. Can this type of aggression in the older dog be corrected? I have been asking and reading and everything I"m hearing is that we need to put him down? We have been halfheartedly searching for homes for both of them (my husband can't bear to keep one and not the other) but it seems hard to find a home for the oldest when I feel he can't legitimately go to a household with another dog or children.
Please help with any knowledge you have! We are just devastated at this point and I am EXHAUSTED from keeping all three dogs
separated all week.
Oh, and the oldest is 4 years old and the younger is 3 years old. They never fought until the younger one outgrew the older one in size, a little bit after he turned 1. They are both mixes that my husband got from a rescue.