[Jenna09]

Hi,

My boyfriend was thinking of getting another dog as a playmate for his current male boston terrier jack russel mix. We thought it would be a good idea to go to our local shelter and see what dogs they had. Many of the dogs were colour-coded as "red level" which meant they had severe dog aggression, fear aggression towards strangers, food/toy possessiveness, etc. He found one dog that was rated as "yellow level" because she had mild dog aggression and pulls hard on the leash. She is a pitbull mix weighing in around 50lbs and is 3 years old. My question is, can a dog with "mild dog aggression" get over it? According to the shelter staff to detemine if they have dog aggression or not they tie the dog being evaluated onto a bar in a small room and bring in another dog and see how the dogs react towards each other. I am not sure if this type of testing would mean she would react the same way in a home environment or to all dogs? Being in a shelter is stressful enough especially being around very unbalanced dogs...she did not react to the dogs lunging and barking at everything that moved in the cages beside her. They also do not let the dogs socialize with each other and she has been caged since August 2007. I just want to know if we should abandon the idea of adopting her because she could be a danger to any of the well-behaved/well-balanced dogs that she would have contact with either at his house, friends homes or his parents homes....1 boston terrier mix male (25lbs), 2 shih tzus male and female (12-17lbs), 1 chihuahua mix female (tough as nails 6lbs), 2 boxers male and female (50-72lbs), 2 rotweillers male and female (110-120lbs), 1 golden retriever female (70lbs), and possibly other friends dogs that come over that are trained and very dog social.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as we have never adopted a dog from a shelter before.
Thanks
Jenna

[Annamarie]

I would keep looking for a dog that was friendly with other dogs.

[Shastar]

It is very stressful for a dog in a shelter but also they do the tests to get a good idea on what the temperament and such is like. Also if the said she had mild aggression in a stressful environment what would happen when she was more comfortable. She could either not have the aggression or it could get worse... just my opinion.

I have a couple questions for you, do you want to find out if her aggression would happen to get worse with the little dog that lives with you now? Do you know how to properly stop a dog attack if she did attack your dog? Do you have the money for a trip to the emergency vets if an attack did happen?

I am not saying not to adopt her but if there is a question about your safety or your dogs safety I think I would look at a different dog.

I do love pitties.

I also think with proper training a lot of dogs can be helped but I also think a professional would be your best bet.

Again this is only my opinion.