coopercat

I am picking up my 8 week old american bully on Saturday. My husbands side of the family is giving me such grief. Saying it wont get along with my cats or small chihuahua. Any advice on this? They told me the dog will eventually hurt my other animals and when I have kids hurt them too and also might hurt me. I am feeling a little scared now. But I know any breed of dog has its negatives. ANy positive feedback to me on my new little member to my family. Oh my husband is in Baghdad so I am having to train on my own. I am excited about the new puppy and just wish they would leave me alone.

angelbaby

Check out some threads on here Ill post some links in a bit. If buying from a reputable breeder who puts temperment and health 1st you should end up with a very loyal family loving dog who is great with kids and people. Now the breed can be DA { dog aggressive or animal aggressive} its part of there genetics and part of what they were { the APBT} bred for originally. Bullys arent always DA but very much can be and this typically will kick in around 1- 2 years. Socialize your dog with many people and places and work on setting boundarys as early as you can , just alot of hands on work. Im sure if you spend some time reading on here you will learn alot even before you pick up your new pup. If this breed was so aggressive and mean most of us wouldnt own them , alot of us have kids who have grown up with out dogs and never had an accident. { Now if your buying form a breeder who doesnt know what they are doing and doesnt put temperment and health 1st youmay end up with an unstable dog as in any breed}.
check out these links.
Pitbull's and Dog Parks
New puppy owners
Training and Socializing APBT Your Puppy
for the newbs and everyone else

Also I recommend getting a crate and looking into crate trainning right off the bat. When you arent home or to busy to supervise him with your other dog crate him. Just best to prevent any lil fight when you cant be there to seperate if needed. If you use the search at the top of the page you can type in crate training or any other question you need answers for , should come up with anything you need.

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Pit bulls are..... Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man, without his Vices.""

ames

Welcome! You really need a thick skin to own breeds that are considered a pit bull. You might lose friends. You might lose family members from coming over. You also might change everyone's mind with the great dog you will get. That's what happened to most of my friends and family and the ones who didn't even want to meet my boy it's their loss not mine.

Animal or dog aggression is very typical but it is in a lot of breeds not just pit bull type dogs. Just be prepared socialoze as mch as possible with all types of situations, stay away from dog parks. Human aggression is NOT typical at all. BUT your chi has a worse temperament statistically than a bully does. THats who I would watch out for lol.

Don't stress about the haters stick around and learn we all have families and kids around our pups and we are responsible no matter what breed it is. Don't leave your animals alone without someone supervising them. You never know what might happen so don't chance it and if you start by using a crate now there will never be a transition issue if either of your dogs decide they don't really like the other one some day down the line.

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“When you KNOW better you DO better.”
― Maya Angelou

SMiGGs

i argued with my professor during class because he said pitbulls were killer machines lol.

Much respect for being a military wife. If you raise the pup right, and do the things you have planned for it, he/she should be good. Best part of owning a bully is that youll be proving your family members wrong.

Forgot to mention Bullies are supposed to be a bit calmer and not as DA.

coopercat

thank you all so much for your advice and links I appreciate it

Carriana

Ames, you say that like it is a bad thing

Coopercat, getting the pup at 8 weeks he will have plenty of time to learn the ropes and respect your other pets prior to his being much much bigger than them. There is always the chance will the bulldog breeds that they will be dog aggressive but they seem to be more tolerant to smaller breeds like chis when they're raised around them.

My bulldog (petbull, whatever you want to call it) lives with a sheltie mix and 3 cats relatively harmoniously. The cats might swat at him from time to time but he knows not to mess with them. He's 5 and was "raised by cats" as my husband likes to tell people.

You have a better chance getting the puppy this young but again, there is no guarantee. As Angel mentioned, best to crate train from the beginning and never leave the dogs alone and unattended.

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A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. -Josh Billings

"dont worry, she's not gonna bite you.. she's just making you think she is" -cEElint

R.I.P. Brutus: 3/2/00-10/31/10

ames

hahaha it's always good to weed out the bad seeds I hear ya lol

__________________
“When you KNOW better you DO better.”
― Maya Angelou

MamaTank

My mother in law said the same things to me...
and time after time she has had to eat her words. I raised Keira with 3 cats and a 6-7 German Shepherd (RIP baby boy )
We just got a tiny Miniature Poodle puppy and guess what? Keira thinks he's her baby. She is also a "Mommy" to a hamster.
Did I mention the kids? My son is 4 and my daughter is 7. Never had a moment's worry. Just make sure when you have children you teach them to respect the dog, and other pets should always be watched when with the puppy so that you are always alert to any change in temper. Good luck!

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Blue_Nose_Bella

I don't really have much to add other than my girl has small prey drive especially with squirrels lol! She's caught quite a few already. However, her and my cats get along great and my cat loves to rub up on Bella while she is laying down lol! It's pretty cute. Bella is crated while I'm at work or out doing an errand though. Just never leave them unattended and never let your guard down if you see they get along really well as the future progresses because that is when you may come home and find a dead pet.

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~If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough excercise!~

HeavyJeep

Truth - you will never know until time tells.

be careful always! Proper introduction and proper seperation will help tremendously. like.. dont leave them to roam the house together for awhile until you catch a grasp of their relationship.

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Do not go where the path may lead.. Make your own path and leave a trail.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Those that matter dont care, and those that care dont matter..!!



Russian Rednose - Brazilian blue buffalo blood xxxxl double pocket rocket extreme classic standard American Pit Bully Stafford-Terrier with unlockable jaws!! LOL

Vilebeast

For the haters in your family, just print a few of the pictures with our kids and our dogs sleeping together, i freely give you permission to print the one of Zoe and Zeus

Zeus The Am Staff

Outside of that, most advise from the members here will keep you on the straight and narrow if you will.

Give me some time to find the actual post for whats listed next, and dont quote me till then on this.

Also I read a statistic from one of ASPCA's till i find the link again, it was someone like since 1985, 300 kids have been killed by dogs (all dog breeds), which is like 11 a year. but in that time something 20,000 kids have been killed by there parnets like 3 a month.. i need to find that link.

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Spreading the truth one minor post at a time or trying to learn what the truth is.

ThaLadyPit

Everyone has given great advice on this thread. The most important thing to adhere to is not leaving your pets alone together. I can't stress enough to crate train your pup from the time you bring him home, and make it a comfort zone for him, not a punishment. Feed him in there, give him toys in there, and quiet time when he's over-exacerbated by the excitement going on around him. It will make it easier in the long run. You may want to crate train your Chi, as well, to make it easier on both dogs and yourself.

The most important thing to remember in owning these types of dogs, is you can't ever trust them not to fight. While they may not be the aggressor, they most always finish what another dog started. I would learn to read a dog's body language, and understand the early warning signs of aggravation, and discomfort, as well as happiness, submission, dominance, etc. This will better help you understand your dogs, and the situations you place them in.

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You didn't lose your girl, you just lost your turn!

"In this breed, there's no such thing as an expert! The day someone says they're an expert, they need to walk away from the dogs, because someone's going to get hurt. You should be learning something new every day." John Maynard-Circle M Kennels

HappyPuppy

How much research did you do before you purchased your puppy? Your family's comments should not be surprise altho they are incorrect.

cEElint

i'm sorry your family said such things to you.. luckily my family welcomed my dogs w/ open arms.. cant say the same about some friends..

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megz

Just raise your pup to be the best dog ever and prove what a good dog the breed can be and maybe, just maybe, you will be able to change a couple peoples minds. if not ignore them and enjoy your awesome dog

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Trouble always seems to find me.
Then again, i've never been good at hide-n-seek.