[Arn't Pitbulls Cute]

I have a 4yr old male pitbull and about a yr ago him and my male mutt(almost 2yrs old) got into a fight my male was prtecting me cause my mutt growled me for making him get off the couch and they got into more fights sense then but not all over him growling at me they would just walk past each other and start fighting. At first he didn't hurt him just scared him but he has put a hole or 2 in him before they finally calmed down and got along for awhile. I also have a 1yr old female pit they both love her to death and never tried to hurt her in anyway no matter what she did to them and i don't believe they started fighting just cause of her being in the house but my male pit ran off a couple days back and came back home a couple of hours later all ragged looking and for no reason today attacked my female pit for just walking past him . I love him to death but i can't handle worrying if when i come home one day i might be one dog short (my female pit is small she is the same size as my mutt and alot of pits are way taller than she is) so i'm real worried for her i would like some advice on what i should do i've been told i should get rid of him but i can't bring myself to do it but i'm trying to find a way so he can stay.Do any of ya'll have any advice on what i should do and i don't have money to take him to a trainer.

 

[CaLi 2 B.C.]

There are so many things that could entice them to fight some males just dont do well with others.Or other things could impact them like a female in heat,fighting for food ect.any thing else you can think of that may be going on?the more details the better.

 

[CaLi 2 B.C.]

Also i look at it like this.. if they fight once its bound to happen again.

 

[bahamutt99]

You own an American PIT Bull Terrier, a breed bred to fight other dogs. It comes with the territory. Don't leave your dogs unsupervised together, and practice a rotation lifestyle. (One or two dogs hanging out with you at a time, not all running together.)

 

[Carriana]

Pit bulls are inherently dog aggressive. You can't train it out of them, if they are starting to display DA signs there isn't a lot you can do but certainly getting rid of your dog for displaying traits that are known to be pit bull traits should only be a last resort. Look into the crate and rotate method, several owners on this site use this with great success.

How did your male run off for several hours? Did he get out of the yard or do you let your dogs roam the neighborhood? Please do some research on a breed before you decide to fill your house up with them.

 

[angelbaby]

crate train and then crate and rotate with the ones that have issues with eachother , never crate 2 dogs together and never leave any dogs alone together unsupervised. Try and prevent anything from happening is best you can do , majority of incidents that happen we can look back and go well if I did this or did that it coulda stopped that , goal is to think like that right now.

 

[aus_staffy]

You own an American PIT Bull Terrier, a breed bred to fight other dogs. It comes with the territory. Don't leave your dogs unsupervised together, and practice a rotation lifestyle. (One or two dogs hanging out with you at a time, not all running together.)

^Yep.

Pit bulls are inherently dog aggressive. You can't train it out of them, if they are starting to display DA signs there isn't a lot you can do but certainly getting rid of your dog for displaying traits that are known to be pit bull traits should only be a last resort. Look into the crate and rotate method, several owners on this site use this with great success.

How did your male run off for several hours? Did he get out of the yard or do you let your dogs roam the neighborhood? Please do some research on a breed before you decide to fill your house up with them.

^And yep. I'm also wondering how your dog managed to run away.

 

[9361]

I agree with the crate and rotate. But I am concerned the dog growled when you took him off the couch. It sounds like a dominance issue. You should seek out an obedience trainer for that issue. Growling at a human is not ok

 

[ThaLadyPit]

First question I have is: Are all your dogs intact (not spayed/neutered)? If so, this could be part of the problem. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that spaying/neutering will stop the natural behavior of this breed, but it can help in situations with multi-sex, multi-dog homes, in my opinion.

Second question: How did your dog "disappear" for several hours? First rule of thumb here, and with any breed of dog, is to be a responsible owner. We don't preach about responsibility just because of the breed. There are so many things that can go wrong with any breed of dog being unsupervised and allowed to roam free that it's truly hard to list them all.

Third question: How much research did you do on the breed before even bringing one home? Education is key, not just in this breed, but in any breed, so that you know if you're prepared for the responsibilities and the possibilities of unpredictability.

As was stated in previous posts, the American Pit Bull Terrier's history does consist of fighting, and it's inherently coded into their DNA to be Dog Aggressive (otherwise referred to as DA). DA is NOT gender specific by any means. So, regardless of whether your problem "child" is male or female, they see no difference between your other male and your female, especially once that switch has been flipped, so to speak.

You mentioned that you've been told to get rid of your male but you don't want to do that. That's good (that you don't want to get rid of him), but if you can't afford training, I'm sure there are links on here you can read up on, as well as training books you can purchase, check out from the library, borrow from other people, etc to gain the knowledge you need to do simple training. Unfortunately, DA cannot be trained out of a dog, but you can redirect that aggression, teach the dog to focus on something different during a time of excitement or when he's "turned on".

Of course, crating and rotating is your safest and best option, aside from instilling some extra training into your boy. 30 minutes a day, everyday, is really all it takes to work on training. If you can't get your hands on a book to read about training, please comb through this section (Obedience Training), and read up on every possible training topic you can. Remember to only work on one "trick" at a time with your dog(s), and give them a chance to master one thing before moving on to the next.

Welcome to the pack, by the way, and I hope you enjoy your stay on our yard! We're here to help you out, so please don't hesitate to ask questions or for any advice. Best of luck in your endeavors with your dog, and please keep us posted on your progress.

 

[ThaLadyPit]

I agree with the crate and rotate. But I am concerned the dog growled when you took him off the couch. It sounds like a dominance issue. You should seek out an obedience trainer for that issue. Growling at a human is not ok

Meg, while you're correct on this, the OP was referring to the "mutt" about growling at him, while his problem dog is the APBT. You're absolutely right in suggesting he seek out a trainer; however, he's already mentioned that he can't afford a trainer, so I've suggested he read the entire Training section, or pick up a book at the bookstore, or local library, to help him out a bit. Of course, we could coach him on that here, as well.

Also, the growling when being removed from furniture could have been a reaction to being startled (if said dog was asleep when he removed him from the couch). Let's give him a chance to clarify some things before we offer any further advice.

 

[cgodfrey]

I come to this site when I have issues with my two pitties. I have owned rotties all my life over the past 5 years I have had two pitties and love them very much great breed. So I came here today to read posts about dogs in the same house fighting. First let me say the my male is almost a year older than my female but she's always been more dominate. They've been the best of buds all their lives. Sharing pillows playing with each other, inseparable. Now suddenly last week they start fighting. To the point that I'm breaking them up and he's walking away with a bloody ears I had hoped coming here that I would read that it was possible to get them back to the way they were with enough work. I'm sad to know that's not the case. I will tell you though, they are great with the people in the home and it never occurred to me to get rid of anybody. I guess it will be a crate and rotate life from now on

 

[angelbaby]

yup best bet, I have males who cant be around eachother EVER or its bad , and have had problems with 2 of my other males and we had to crate and rotate. could happen with any dogs male x females , male x male, female x female. my friend has a female she cant be with any other female dog , males ok but no females. my males I can have tehm with females but not males and there are some that are just not ok with other dogs period. You just gotta watch them even the ones I have here that get along we watch them like hawks cause things can change moment by moment. best of luck .

 

[avachiro]

My one year old male is fighting with my two other dogs as well.. I have a 100lb German Shepard who is all alpha. He loved the Pitt immediately. He first began fighting with my old Boxer.. Now he is fighting with them both. I am at my last cry!! I got bit today... swollen bleeding hand. I looked to this sight and found the crate rotate idea.. Im going to try it.. I feel sad that they can't play together anymore.. 3 fights in two days is too much.. If my 17 yr old son hadn't been there... and what is the stick I need to have to keep them apart? I have dropped a chair on them before...I can't imagine getting rid of any of them. I need help .....

 

[Xena's Owner]

I am worried that my situation is the same:
I have a one year old pure-bred pit-bull female who I have raised from 7 weeks – her name is Xena. She is smart, focused, serious and so friendly to every person she encounters that we had to adopt another dog last August to be our guard. The adopted dog’s name is Samson - he is a mixed dog of about 2 years old with obvious German Shepherd lineage who had no training at all when we adopted him. His mild mannered, cuddly and submissive with us, but weary of any strangers.
Samson and Xena have always played and wrestled and done some very physical play fighting but it never amounted to much. When she was little, Samson used to let her beat him up but since she has gotten bigger he prefers to hold his own and they would usually take turns dominating during play.
However, the last months have been different. What started off as rare altercations mostly involving meat at feeding time became more frequent scuffles triggered by seemingly random events. They have had one very big bad fight that took three adults to separate them and they are often on the verge of a fight and so need constant supervision.
It is clear that our little pit-bull is the one that mostly starts the fights. We know about dog aggression tendency’s in pit-bulls and want to curtail this in our dog before it becomes a problem we cannot address.
Any real advice on what we should do to get Xena to stop being aggressive would be so welcome. Please feel free to ask follow up questions to get more information. Is there nothing that can be done to "break" Xena of her aggression?

 

[BCdogs]

I am worried that my situation is the same:

I have a one year old pure-bred pit-bull female who I have raised from 7 weeks - her name is Xena. She is smart, focused, serious and so friendly to every person she encounters that we had to adopt another dog last August to be our guard. The adopted dog's name is Samson - he is a mixed dog of about 2 years old with obvious German Shepherd lineage who had no training at all when we adopted him. His mild mannered, cuddly and submissive with us, but weary of any strangers.

Samson and Xena have always played and wrestled and done some very physical play fighting but it never amounted to much. When she was little, Samson used to let her beat him up but since she has gotten bigger he prefers to hold his own and they would usually take turns dominating during play.

However, the last months have been different. What started off as rare altercations mostly involving meat at feeding time became more frequent scuffles triggered by seemingly random events. They have had one very big bad fight that took three adults to separate them and they are often on the verge of a fight and so need constant supervision.

It is clear that our little pit-bull is the one that mostly starts the fights. We know about dog aggression tendency's in pit-bulls and want to curtail this in our dog before it becomes a problem we cannot address.

Any real advice on what we should do to get Xena to stop being aggressive would be so welcome. Please feel free to ask follow up questions to get more information. Is there nothing that can be done to "break" Xena of her aggression?

Unfortunately there's no way to "break" a Pit Bull of DA tendencies. It's a deeply ingrained genetic trait. The only thing you can do is manage it by keeping the dogs separate when any triggers are around, or completely separate if they fight over nothing.

 

[TeamCourter]

I am worried that my situation is the same:

I have a one year old pure-bred pit-bull female who I have raised from 7 weeks - her name is Xena. She is smart, focused, serious and so friendly to every person she encounters that we had to adopt another dog last August to be our guard. The adopted dog's name is Samson - he is a mixed dog of about 2 years old with obvious German Shepherd lineage who had no training at all when we adopted him. His mild mannered, cuddly and submissive with us, but weary of any strangers.

Samson and Xena have always played and wrestled and done some very physical play fighting but it never amounted to much. When she was little, Samson used to let her beat him up but since she has gotten bigger he prefers to hold his own and they would usually take turns dominating during play.

However, the last months have been different. What started off as rare altercations mostly involving meat at feeding time became more frequent scuffles triggered by seemingly random events. They have had one very big bad fight that took three adults to separate them and they are often on the verge of a fight and so need constant supervision.

It is clear that our little pit-bull is the one that mostly starts the fights. We know about dog aggression tendency's in pit-bulls and want to curtail this in our dog before it becomes a problem we cannot address.

Any real advice on what we should do to get Xena to stop being aggressive would be so welcome. Please feel free to ask follow up questions to get more information. Is there nothing that can be done to "break" Xena of her aggression?

The only thing you can really do is supervise them very closely when they are together. If you can not step in and stop any behavior that will lead to a fight before the fight actually happens, then they will need to be separated at all times. Make sure not to have any toys or bones down when they are around each other, and feed them separately. Basically make sure they have absolutely nothing to fight over, or they will.

 

[eric082973]

I wish I researched on the apbt breed before it was too late. My mom had a pit bull/ bull mastiff, Jack Russell, and a rat terrior. She got her pit at 4 weeks old and she was so so adorable. She absolutely loved mom's rat terrior and they done everything together. One day the pit turned on the Jack Russell and unfortunately he passed away from it, but no problems with the rat terrior for a while.
Sadly she turned on the rat terrior and was going to kill him as well just the other day. It took 3 of us to separate them and next thing you knew the rat terrior got away from her for a second and then she went after him again after she freed herself from us.
That was the last straw for my mom and wanted her put down. She, Bailey, was only 7 months old. I tried calling the vet, no one available, humane society and no answer, tried finding a rescuer and no one will take her near us. Mom was scared, so was I, that she may turn on them. I felt their was no choice but to take her out back and put her down myself.
I realized now that was the worst decision I've ever made for I know she loved my mom to no end, but all the adrenaline got the best of us and took her life. Mom still feels I done the right thing, I can't stop thinking I was so wrong. I miss her so much and have cried over her for 3 days now. My visit that horrible day was for mother's day, so wrong.

 

[ames]

I wish I researched on the apbt breed before it was too late. My mom had a pit bull/ bull mastiff, Jack Russell, and a rat terrior. She got her pit at 4 weeks old and she was so so adorable. She absolutely loved mom's rat terrior and they done everything together. One day the pit turned on the Jack Russell and unfortunately he passed away from it, but no problems with the rat terrior for a while.
Sadly she turned on the rat terrior and was going to kill him as well just the other day. It took 3 of us to separate them and next thing you knew the rat terrior got away from her for a second and then she went after him again after she freed herself from us.
That was the last straw for my mom and wanted her put down. She, Bailey, was only 7 months old. I tried calling the vet, no one available, humane society and no answer, tried finding a rescuer and no one will take her near us. Mom was scared, so was I, that she may turn on them. I felt their was no choice but to take her out back and put her down myself.
I realized now that was the worst decision I've ever made for I know she loved my mom to no end, but all the adrenaline got the best of us and took her life. Mom still feels I done the right thing, I can't stop thinking I was so wrong. I miss her so much and have cried over her for 3 days now. My visit that horrible day was for mother's day, so wrong.

Yeah that sucks that so many dogs lost their lives because you didn't research. I hate when dogs are killed for acting like a dog. Really makes me sad and depressed as well.

 

[BCdogs]

I wish I researched on the apbt breed before it was too late. My mom had a pit bull/ bull mastiff, Jack Russell, and a rat terrior. She got her pit at 4 weeks old and she was so so adorable. She absolutely loved mom's rat terrior and they done everything together. One day the pit turned on the Jack Russell and unfortunately he passed away from it, but no problems with the rat terrior for a while.
Sadly she turned on the rat terrior and was going to kill him as well just the other day. It took 3 of us to separate them and next thing you knew the rat terrior got away from her for a second and then she went after him again after she freed herself from us.
That was the last straw for my mom and wanted her put down. She, Bailey, was only 7 months old. I tried calling the vet, no one available, humane society and no answer, tried finding a rescuer and no one will take her near us. Mom was scared, so was I, that she may turn on them. I felt their was no choice but to take her out back and put her down myself.
I realized now that was the worst decision I've ever made for I know she loved my mom to no end, but all the adrenaline got the best of us and took her life. Mom still feels I done the right thing, I can't stop thinking I was so wrong. I miss her so much and have cried over her for 3 days now. My visit that horrible day was for mother's day, so wrong.

That is absolutely horrible! The dog was just acting how she was created to act. Please do your research before getting another dog of any breed, different breeds have different characteristics and had you known that, you would have known that this is normal behaviour for a high prey drive bull breed dog. None of those dogs should have lost their lives. RIP.

 

[samshine98]

dog aggression

I have 3 American bullies. One of my females is about 4 years old and my other female and male are both 2 years old. The 2 year old's are from the same litter and have been raised together since I bought them. Out of nowhere my male decided to attack my female 2 year old over their new wet dog food. They have gotten into little fights over bones and balls before so I dont let them have those while they are together. He bit a nice chunk out of her face and I separated them until the next day. Today (the next day after their fight) my female was excited to see him and non-stopped wagged her tail, but my male was wagging his tail at first and then he stopped and got into an aggressive stance. He tried to attack her. Now I have seen him this way before with another male for the male dominance but never with his blood sister who he's grown up with. He has no issues with the 4 year old female still. I'm in desperate need of help on how to fix this. I am crate rotating but I can't come home every day to switch them. Please help me!!!!