[jesirose]

Hadley randomly growled at a dog today. I'm so worried. She's either a pit or a pit mix, and up until now she'd be great. She always greats dogs by bowing down and licking their face. She did it with this dog, but then she turned back to me. The dog was being pulled away by it's owner, but then got closer and went to sniff Hadley's butt again. Hadley turned and growled very mean like I've never heard her.

I know with pits is pretty inevitable they won't be social, but she's always been so perfect, and she's only 9 mo!

Mostly I'm just venting. I'm sad she's shown just this one sign of aggressiveness.

[Xeph]

....She wasn't showing aggression at all.

She was showing pure annoyance at having her backside being violated. She'd simply had enough.

I wouldn't say it's inevitable they won't be dog friendly either. There are plenty of pits that are.

I know plenty of dogs (mostly bitches) that will do such a thing. They don't appreciate having their butts sniffed once they've turned away. The intact girls seem to be the worst, because if they've gone through a season, have been bred, or are just coming in, they get "paranoid"....waiting for a male to get fresh. They just don't like it.

[dakotajo]

Maybe she just wasn't in the mood for butt sniffing and greeting today or maybe she could sense some energy from the other dog that you couldn't? Yesterday my neighbour came over with her dog to meet face to face with mine since they try to play through the fence and my dog was excited but not as excited as as she usually can be and the other dog gave her a couple of good warning growls to get her to slow down a bit and after they were great and played.

[jesirose]

See I think the other dog must have done something to annoy her, but since she's a pit (or mix) we can't allow any signs of agression at all. This was also at my store.

A manager was standing there with me and he was curious what the dog did to annoy hadley, because she's always been so good.

What should I do in a situation like that?

[zimandtakandgrrandmimi]

I wouldn't stress it too much yet. she is still very young and a growl isn't an indicator she will be a majorly DA dog. if you want, it might make you feel better to start laying down some foundation for useful cues that can help you head off incidents if she should prove to be DA. id do some work specifically on focus in the presence of agitators.

[jesirose]

Maybe it's because I'm a little drunk but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with that information

[zimandtakandgrrandmimi]

focus with MAJOR distractions.

the kind of focus where if a building exploded next to you she would still have her eyes glued on your face.

it usually means setting up some situations with things that have the potential to set her barking or whatnot..the idea is that you could break her attention away from another dog she is aggressing towards.

[jesirose]

We work in the store a lot and she's pretty damn good. She can be in a stay while all the other dogs walk by. Another sniffed her while she was staying and she just stared at me. I mean, this was just unlike her completely. Everyone comments on how she stares at me all day long.

She's never barked at a dog, just a little growl. She occasionally growls when dogs are outside and far off but never in the store when they're close.

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by zimandtakandgrrandmimi

I wouldn't stress it too much yet. she is still very young and a growl isn't an indicator she will be a majorly DA dog. if you want, it might make you feel better to start laying down some foundation for useful cues that can help you head off incidents if she should prove to be DA. id do some work specifically on focus in the presence of agitators.

I read that as alligators. I need sleep.

Anyways, Summer is similar in that if a dog sniffs her back end, she will growl but she has never escalated past that. Summer is not DA so I wouldn't count it as lost just yet and know that that behavior is pretty normal.