[Irongut99]

Our pack consists of 11 yr old female rottie, 6 yr old male rottie and a 18 month female pit.
The play outside together, wrestle in the house (the pit usually gets it started). Stay home alone during the day loose, no issues.

The big issue seems when the pitbull feels "dis-advantaged" for example I picked her up to check her feet. She immediatly enters the red zone and wants to take on all coming canines (not humans), this has happend with increasing frequency of late. In fact the other day we put a sweater on the pit as it was super cold outside, she went right after the Rotties. I able to break them up with verbal commands, and hold her down on her back till she relaxes. I'm just worried with the increasing severity and frequecy of these fights. We stopped letting the pitt lead us out the door or up stairs. Is there anything else I should be doing??

Thanks

 

[dixieland]

The other thing you should be doing is not letting them play together.This breed is DA (dog agressive).You cannot train that out of them.Some it may happen to later on in life then others,but it will happen one day.The last thing you want is for them to all be playing and have a fight break out.It would be hard enough getting 2 dogs apart,I can only imagine getting 3 seperated.
And please do not leave them alone together unsupervised.You could come home to a dead dog.They could get into and have nobody there to break it up.

 

[aimee235]

You should get at least one crate for the apbt to be in while you are not home. The last thing you are going to want to come home to is one or more dead dogs....If you are dead set on letting them play together at least only let them while there are 3 or more adults home. That way you can brake up a fight when it happens. The best thing would be not to let them play together and rotate there outside and family time with the apbt. There is no way to train out the dog aggression although if you stop them being together loose now you may be able to train your dogs to go on onleash walks together without fights.

 

[Blue_Nose_Bella]

Sounds like crating and rotating is going to be apart of your life adding a pit into the home. 18 months is an age where DA can show up. I would never leave them home together unattended due to the facts that were already stated...

 

[ames]

agree with the above. Seems like it might be time to stop letting them interact before you have a huge vet bill or a dead dog.

 

[Irongut99]

Wow...

It seems to me too be more insecurity in the pit than a desire to fight?? However I'm not an expert. We have had her since she was 10 weeks old in the house with the rotties. She has interacted with other dogs with no issue.

Thanks for the advice. We have a create so I'll start to use it. She likes being in there anyways.

 

[Blue_Nose_Bella]

Wow...

It seems to me too be more insecurity in the pit than a desire to fight?? However I'm not an expert. We have had her since she was 10 weeks old in the house with the rotties. She has interacted with other dogs with no issue.

Thanks for the advice. We have a create so I'll start to use it. She likes being in there anyways.

Live by the "never trust a pit NOT to fight" and you will be alright a crate is your best tool to prevent issues

 

[angelbaby]

She really is in that typical age range where DA can kick in, Typically you see it when there hormones start to kick in they say age 1 year to 2 years is typical { can be anytime realy but this is a common time frame}. I have had dogs live fine no issues for over a year together and then BAM it changes one day. Anything can trigger it too could be food , treats, toys , attention from you or just you being around and jealousy between them. best bet is to avoid trigger objects if they are together and heavily supervise when together although in my home it just isnt worth it. We have had $2000 vet bills for something that took all of 30 seconds so the risk is not worth trying to have them together we just crate and roatate and its works just fine. If you have a fenced secure yard or dog run you can even do one outside the others inside and switch it works great for us and then they arent in a crate very often either. As long as you make time for each dog you wont have any issue, make sure they get alot of excercise and play time when its there turn out and you wont even hear them when they are int he crate mine go in and sleep until its switch time again.Hopefully this is the worst you see from her but if prepared for a full out DA dog then you have no worrys down the line. I always prepare for the worst case.

 

[Kingsgurl]

Our pack consists of 11 yr old female rottie, 6 yr old male rottie and a 18 month female pit.
The play outside together, wrestle in the house (the pit usually gets it started). Stay home alone during the day loose, no issues.

The big issue seems when the pitbull feels "dis-advantaged" for example I picked her up to check her feet. She immediatly enters the red zone and wants to take on all coming canines (not humans), this has happend with increasing frequency of late. In fact the other day we put a sweater on the pit as it was super cold outside, she went right after the Rotties. I able to break them up with verbal commands, and hold her down on her back till she relaxes. I'm just worried with the increasing severity and frequecy of these fights. We stopped letting the pitt lead us out the door or up stairs. Is there anything else I should be doing??

Thanks

Yes. You should be separating them when you are not there to supervise. It's obvious tensions are mounting as she matures. My bet is it isn't all on her and you are missing signals from your other dogs as well. My guess, from your use of terminology, is that you watch a lot of Dog Whisperer shows. If you think she is reacting to being put at a 'disadvantage' with your other dogs, you are only reinforcing that by holding her down..... obviously you aren't going to protect her, she will have to do it herself.
I've never been able to tell that dogs put a lot of stock in being first through doorways or up stairs. None of my dogs will exit a wide open front door because they have been taught not to, but they don't seem to give a crap who goes through a doorway first. I've got dogs I can drop in a down/stay from across the room, who wait to be told when to enter and exit a crate, a door or a car, but they will still light into each other if left to their own devices.... so, I don't leave them to their own devices. I've got the bigger brain, supposedly, so I try to manage their interactions to minimize conflict. That means I watch for the stiff body language, or the sudden stillness... the subtle sink eye or the barely perceptible lip curl, the change in pitch or tone during play. Most of all, they do not interact if I am NOT watching them.

 

[k8nkane]

Holding her on her back won't do anything except make her focus on struggling against YOU. Dogs hate being put on their backs because it's a very vulnerable position for them, a sort of "last resort" position. I wouldn't advise doing that again as it can make dogs defensive and more aggressive against the last thing you want them to be that way towards--you.

Dogs could give a rat's butt if you're out the door before them or not. Their rankings between them and other dogs don't extend the same way to humans--similar, yes, because you are the provider and regulator of all things so you're obviously in charge of them, but making her walk through the door behind you won't reinforce anything except good manners with her not charging out the door.

 

[motocross308]

Holding her on her back won't do anything except make her focus on struggling against YOU. Dogs hate being put on their backs because it's a very vulnerable position for them, a sort of "last resort" position. I wouldn't advise doing that again as it can make dogs defensive and more aggressive against the last thing you want them to be that way towards--you.

Dogs could give a rat's butt if you're out the door before them or not. Their rankings between them and other dogs don't extend the same way to humans--similar, yes, because you are the provider and regulator of all things so you're obviously in charge of them, but making her walk through the door behind you won't reinforce anything except good manners with her not charging out the door.

alpha rolling has been used successfully by alot of trainers . not for this kinda thing but for dominanace issues.

 

[Kingsgurl]

Alpha rolling has also gotten a lot of 'trainers' bitten and/or made problems worse too. They are easiest to use on the middle of the road dogs who probably just figure people are wacked out and go with the flow. Fearful dogs may be pushed to bite in defense or just further retreat, their fears enforced. Certainly not a confidence booster.
Alpha rolling is based on a flawed premise, derived from a study on wolves not even truly a pack, just forced to live in domestication as one. It was originally thought that 'alpha' wolves 'rolled' subordinants as a way of maintaining status. Further studies has shown this to be incorrect. The lower ranking wolves would roll belly up as a sign of appeasement, they were not forced. If a more dominant being 'rolled' them it was with the intent to disembowel. You can see where the fear would come into play then.
The original author of that book, by the way, has written others refuting his original findings, but it appears no one wants to read the sequel... not when deciding that the easiest answer to all dog behavior problems is dominance provides such a neat and simple explanation and gives us license to use force.

Dog poops on the floor? Instead of having to figure out where WE have failed in potty training, chalk it up to 'dominance' and kick their ass. Puppy chews up stuff? Instead of picking our crap up and giving the pup appropriate things to chew on, it's much easier to assume the pup (anthropomorphically, I might add) is doing it to 'spite' us and is 'dominant' I hear dominance used on a daily basis to 'explain' every type of normal dog behavior. "He gets on the couch when I'm not home, He's trying to dominate me' Really??? I just figure he wants a comfortable place to lay down and no one is there to tell him no, but that's just me.

Alpha Dog Theory - Debunking the dominance theory, alpha dog myth, pack leader

 

[k8nkane]

Alpha rolling can be done successfully to a very small percentage of dogs. .5% or so, IMO, that have the right personality and attitude that it becomes necessary--when done by a trainer who KNOWS what the heck they're doing and the risks they're taking. Not a Joe Schmoe on the street or even by most trainers.

I will never, ever recommend alpha rolling as a training tactic to people who post on this forum because 99.9% of the time it's not the correct method to take with their dog and the chances of them doing harm to themselves or their dog is not just likely, but probable. If the harm isn't physical, it'll be mental. And the mental issues you create from unnecessary alpha rolling are harder to fix than the original issue you had. I know this from experience.

 

[performanceknls]

Wow...

It seems to me too be more insecurity in the pit than a desire to fight?? However I'm not an expert. We have had her since she was 10 weeks old in the house with the rotties. She has interacted with other dogs with no issue.

Thanks for the advice. We have a create so I'll start to use it. She likes being in there anyways.

These dogs can get along for many years without a problem then one day those little fights end in a dead dog. Never leave your pit alone when you are gone with other dogs and be ready to perm separate them if you need too. This is a DA breed and those of us who have multiple dogs know peace does not always last forever. I have dogs get along for up to 9 years then have to be separated. It happens all the time and the last thing you want is to come home to a dead dog.