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I heard that pitbulls are natrually aggresive towards other dogs and cannot be left alone together. Is this true? If so, should I be careful with my two mutts (both have pitbull in them)? Does this mean I can't take them to the dog park? (I heard the #1 golden rule for pitbulls is never trust them not to fight) They havn't shown any sign of aggression towards anyone/thing. Thanks for your help before hand :eek:
 

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I heard that pitbulls are natrually aggresive towards other dogs and cannot be left alone together. Is this true? If so, should I be careful with my two mutts (both have pitbull in them)? Does this mean I can't take them to the dog park? (I heard the #1 golden rule for pitbulls is never trust them not to fight) They havn't shown any sign of aggression towards anyone/thing. Thanks for your help before hand :eek:

Bullcrap.

HOWEVER, if you don't socialize and train them, it will happen eventually, like it would happen with any other dog breed.
 

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It is a good idea to watch for signs of aggression and socialize heavily.
I will say that I wouldn't leave any dogs alone together. It's a recipe for disaster in many cases; no matter what the breed is.
 

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Um, it's NOT bullcrap. At least not completely.

Many pit bulls will go through their entire lives as dog-social dogs. For others, that is not the case; dog aggression can spring up at any time in the dogs life.

Do NOT leave Pit Bulls alone unattended. If a fight breaks out and no one is there to break it up, it could be nasty. Always better to be safe than sorry. I think most people should separate their dogs when alone, especially bully breeds.

I wouldn't take them to the dog park either. If your dog does ANYTHING that can be construed as aggressive, no matter whose fault it is your dog will be blamed by most people. It's a stigma that comes with owning the breed. Not to mention, most dog parks are filthy and filled with out of control dogs.

If you're looking for information about how to keep your pits safe and out of trouble, I suggest reading some of the things posted on BAD RAP's website. http://badrap.org/rescue
 

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Also have to jump in on the NOT bull crap wagon...

Pit Bulls tend to be Dog aggressive, but not all are. My Nubs isn't DA at all, so far. Normally they show signs by the age of 2, but can develop it at any point in their life. Yours may never fight, but they very well could. Even 5 to 10 years down the road they could have a major tiff and never be friends again.

It is true never trust a Pit Bull not to fight. They may never START a fight, but if they get in one, you can be sure they will fight until the end. That is what the breed has been bred for for many many years, what else can you expect? That's why you should never allow your Pit Bulls to be alone together, or ANY dogs left alone together. If they get into a fight, there is a REALLY good chance you'll come home to 1 or 2 dead dogs.

The dog park issue, is the fact that many people take their unsocialized dogs there that are bullies. Now refer to the Pit Bull Fighting part. Get why Dog parks aren't good for Pit Bulls or Pit Mixes? Even if another dog starts a fight with another strange dog and YOUR dog steps in to stop it, and either of the 2 dogs that aren't yours are hurt, YOUR DOG will be blamed. I've seen is soooo many times.

Another good site: http://www.apbt.info/tiki-index.php Everything you wanted to know about Pit Bulls
 

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I heard that pitbulls are natrually aggresive towards other dogs and cannot be left alone together. Is this true? If so, should I be careful with my two mutts (both have pitbull in them)? Does this mean I can't take them to the dog park? (I heard the #1 golden rule for pitbulls is never trust them not to fight) They havn't shown any sign of aggression towards anyone/thing. Thanks for your help before hand :eek:
Not bullcrap at all.

Yes, you should be careful with your two mutts because many pits inherit dog aggression.

No, you should not take your pit mixes to the dog park. Read this:
http://www.badrap.org/rescue/dogpark.cfm
 

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Also have to jump in on the NOT bull crap wagon...

Pit Bulls tend to be Dog aggressive, but not all are. My Nubs isn't DA at all, so far. Normally they show signs by the age of 2, but can develop it at any point in their life. Yours may never fight, but they very well could. Even 5 to 10 years down the road they could have a major tiff and never be friends again.

It is true never trust a Pit Bull not to fight. They may never START a fight, but if they get in one, you can be sure they will fight until the end. That is what the breed has been bred for for many many years, what else can you expect? That's why you should never allow your Pit Bulls to be alone together, or ANY dogs left alone together. If they get into a fight, there is a REALLY good chance you'll come home to 1 or 2 dead dogs.

The dog park issue, is the fact that many people take their unsocialized dogs there that are bullies. Now refer to the Pit Bull Fighting part. Get why Dog parks aren't good for Pit Bulls or Pit Mixes? Even if another dog starts a fight with another strange dog and YOUR dog steps in to stop it, and either of the 2 dogs that aren't yours are hurt, YOUR DOG will be blamed. I've seen is soooo many times.

Another good site: http://www.apbt.info/tiki-index.php Everything you wanted to know about Pit Bulls
I agree with DM....DA is not a certainty but its definitely a possibility with PBs...better safe then sorry....I would not leave them alone together ....and while the dog park might not be the best place to take your pups...you can still have play dates w/other known dogs...or go to small meet up groups to socialize you dogs:)
 

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Yeah I agree with the not bullcrap people. Not all pit bulls are DA and your dogs are mixes so they may be even less likely to be DA, but they may not. It's better to be safe than sorry, imo. YOu don't want to walk into the aftermath of a serious fight.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Pit bulls have been bred a long time to fight. The idea that you have to train them to fight gets a lot of people in trouble, I think.

It's not just pit bulls that I think these rules apply to, there are plenty of other breeds that exhibit a lot dog aggression or were bred for fighting purposes.
 

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I agree with No Bullcrap. Any unsocialized dog may fight. But you have to be extra careful to over-socialize bully breeds, because even if they play, their play might escalate unintentionally.

My 8 year old retriever rescue grew up with a Pit next door, and they played fine, because they never escalated. But one day the Pit got loose and some unsocialized Goldens tried to attack it while they were on leash. His response was instructive - The Pit stood his ground and ... the only way I can described it is that he "smiled" . It wasn't a growl or a snarl, more of a "come'on boys, let's have some fun." It was scarier than a snarl... and this was the same dog that, a few days ago, was playing on the ground with my dog on top, play biting his throat and ears.

I'm fairly confident that this Pit, which I trust completely, would have caused a lot of damage on the playground, if those Goldens had been off leash. So don't leave the Pits together unsupervised - even if they usually play... and try to continue to socialize them with many other dogs.

Suggestion: If your PitBull ever locks down on another dog (their jaws don't "lock", but they won't let go), there is a nerve on the inside of their thigh, on the line where the leg joins the belly. If you push hard with a couple of fingers, most dogs (any dog breed) will let go. It doesn't hurt the dog, but is more of a surprise.... However, in order to do this, you are putting your face in biting range, so don't do it on a strange dog, and hold the dog's head, so that when he lets go, he can't bite you instead.... Agina, only on your dog, and only if you know that he won't bite you under these circumstances... Be careful - for emergency use only....

I use this method with retrievers to get them to drop a ball... and there seem to be no bad reactions to this approach. I did suggest this to a PitBull owner in the dog park during an escalated session, and it work with no repurcussions.
 

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Discussion Starter · #10 ·
Was it stupid of me to have adopted two pit mixes (i'm not even positive one is even 1/2 pit)?
 

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Was it stupid of me to have adopted two pit mixes (i'm not even positive one is even 1/2 pit)?
Not even. Many of the members on here have more then one Pit bull, and one member on here is a American Pit Bull breeder and I can't even begin to tell you how many she has. I myself am starting to look into a second dog, and am pretty sure it will be another Pit Bull (or pit mix).

Even with Mix breeds, you need to be aware of what you got yourself into. When I adopted Nubs, I had NO CLUE when it came to Pit bulls. I knew some, but not as much as I thought. What makes the difference between an "ok" owner and a "great" owner is what you learn about your breed that you chose and what you do with it.

I read EVERYTHING online I could about Pit bulls, BSLs (Breed specific Legislation), Dog aggression, Pit bull history, and so forth. To date, I haven't had any issue with my Pit Bull at all. He is the perfect dog, better then I ever could have thought. But I have read up on how to break apart a dog fight, how to read my dog's body language, and have learned how to stay away from trouble.

You have Pit MIXES which is different, but you never know when genetics will creep up.

As for keeping dogs apart when your not around, this should be with every breed of dog, not just Pit Bulls. The thing with Pit bulls though, if they start to fight and no one is there to break it apart, who knows what will happen.
 

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darkmoon I just wonder why you say that all breed of dogs should not be left in the home unsupervised, does this enclude min-schnauzers, and most of the toy breeds/ I just ask this, because the worst thing that could happen with my dog, is a surprised poop, and not know who did it(which has never happened). I know some dogs will chew electical wires etc, But I am positive there are alot of people on this forume that let there dogs have run of the house when away for only a few hours and have never had proplem like myself. BTW, I have speaker wire that cost me over $750 each, that would be a costly damage. :)
Your responce regarding PB, was excellant, in my humble opinion. Bob
 
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