Pittie Lover in Cali

[Petey's Mommy]

Hi, my name is Laura and my husband and I live in the Southern California desert. We never started out looking to adopt a dog. All 4 of our dogs found us and we just couldn't turn them away...

Dodger (our oldest) - a 9 year old lab/pit mix is a 95lb. monster of a sweetheart to everyone except our red-nosed pit. Someone abandoned him in the bed of my husband's truck at a truck stop. Less than 5 pounds and not likely to live, he put his paws around our hearts and opened us up to becoming puppy parents.

Petey (Mommy's boy) - a 4 year old red-nosed pit is a 65lb. short, stocky ball of muscle. Found him wandering around the neighborhood at 4 months of age - scarred, glass in his feet, half-starved but eager to cuddle/love. After a lot of time/$$$ at the vet he's healthy as an ox.

Kujo/Buddy (the brothers) - 3 year old taco terriers (jack russell/chihuahua mix) that just love both the "big dogs" (giving them kisses and cleaning eye boogies whenever they see them) and are spoiled rotten lap dogs.

I am here because I need the support of other pittie lovers. My two big guys would just as soon kill each other if given the chance and my house is a series of baby gates, crates and in/out lines to the backyard several times each day. It breaks my heart and I've considered finding a home for one of them but Dodger is old and set in his ways - we had him since he was so teeny tiny... and Petey is very special needs - we would have to find a special person to love him. I just don't know that I could let either of them go without a 100% guarantee that they would be OK.

That's my story... sad but true. I look forward to reading other stories and seeing how everyone else deals with issues like this. Thank you for making a place for pittie owners to come, share, cry and complain.

[mi16reisen]

I don't know if this suggestion would fly because it's a very personal choice, but have you thought about kenneling one of the bigger boys? The weather in SoCal is punt drastic enough to cause health problems but some people I know have kennels. It worked well for them in this kind of situation.

Have you also tried walking them as a pack before?


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[Petey's Mommy]

Hi - thank you for the suggestions. We did consider kenneling but if they even see each other they try to tear down gates/crates or whatever to get at each other and bite through the metal barriers.

We used to walk them as a pack before the first incident. We know now that we handled it wrong when it happened by not getting them back together right away. 20/20 hindsight. Now there's "beef" between them - if one hears the other bark they both go nuts like they want to kill each other. I have considered custom muzzles for each with my husband walking one and me walking the other, but I honestly don't know if I could ever try it without precautions like that again.

I think I'm kind of here to look for success stories for situations like mine.

[Tannerg]

where n socal you from?

[Tannerg]

I would crate and rotate

[Petey's Mommy]

Originally Posted by Tannerg

I would crate and rotate

That's exactly what we do. It just frustrates everyone in the household, but we all understand and appreciate the importance of it. Still, sometimes it feels like we live in a prison... and I hate partitioning my time with them.

We are out in the Coachella Valley, Palm Springs area.

[Tannerg]

Originally Posted by Petey's Mommy

That's exactly what we do. It just frustrates everyone in the household, but we all understand and appreciate the importance of it. Still, sometimes it feels like we live in a prison... and I hate partitioning my time with them.

We are out in the Coachella Valley, Palm Springs area.

nice ive done some work out that way im over here n Elsinore