I have a 9 almost 10 week old pitbull puppy. She's really a good dog, training really easy. But recently severely aggressive with my other dogs, and is now showing signs of food aggression and they all get fed in separate rooms. Now shes tearing the whole house to shreds, (has 7 toys with the option to go outside whenever), she can't be left alone with the other puppies (both 7 months old). She's getting to the point where if you make her sit and wait for a treat for longer than a good 5 seconds she'll start violently shaking and snapping at your face. I am correcting her with all this and rewarding all the good behavior but nothing seems to be helping, and she's getting worse everyday. I'm not sure what to do anymore, please help!
9 week old puppy, HELP
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This sounds excessive, even for a game-bred puppy, especially if it's directed toward humans. I'd recommend that you look for a certified veterinary behaviorist https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=4709 If you can't have an in-person consult, then maybe a Zoom consultation would work.
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I agree. This sounds like extreme behavior for such a young puppy, and professional intervention is your best bet. Record the behaviors you're most worried about on your phone (if and when it's safe to do so - don't put puppy or older dogs in danger to get footage) so the behaviorist can review them.
In the meantime, make sure the puppy has a secure area she can be in where she can be away from the other dogs and not have access to anything to destroy it. This can be a pen, crate, or puppy-proof room, but in the first two cases make sure the other dogs can't go up to her area and bother her while she's there. What kinds of corrections are you using? If any of this behavior is fear based - and it may be - corrections could be making it worse, and I'd encourage you to keep any training easy, fun, and low-stress. At this age training should mostly be about you building a bond with her and helping her learn how to learn anyway, not doing anything too intense. Until you can get a professional evaluation, preventing her from practicing bad behaviors and keeping her stress down should take priority.
In the meantime, make sure the puppy has a secure area she can be in where she can be away from the other dogs and not have access to anything to destroy it. This can be a pen, crate, or puppy-proof room, but in the first two cases make sure the other dogs can't go up to her area and bother her while she's there. What kinds of corrections are you using? If any of this behavior is fear based - and it may be - corrections could be making it worse, and I'd encourage you to keep any training easy, fun, and low-stress. At this age training should mostly be about you building a bond with her and helping her learn how to learn anyway, not doing anything too intense. Until you can get a professional evaluation, preventing her from practicing bad behaviors and keeping her stress down should take priority.
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I have definitely heard of many situations where Pit Bull litters have to be broken up at 5-6 weeks due to dog aggression between each other. This kind of extreme aggressive reaction toward people over a treat is not normal for any breed of puppy though. Some dogs are born unstable and the pup definitely needs to be assessed by a behaviorist.
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I know that Pit Bull and Pit mix dogs have their fans. However so many of these dogs are from indiscriminate breeding that you never know what you will get.
While this is true of any mixed breed or poorly bred dog, this breed was bred for Dog Aggression. True Dog on dog aggression is a genetic trait. The breed has also been bred, in some cases, to be human aggressive. Human aggression can be "created" through defense drive or it can be genetic. At 9 weeks I venture a guess that it is genetic, but I do not know!
When traits are hard wired they become a management issue more than a training issue. A dog that is truly both dog and human aggressive is a very unstable dog.
We cannot see this dog or how you are handling this dog. You need someone to see all of this in person who will not sugar coat the situation. This advisor cannot be someone who will work through aversive training to suppress these behaviors. That will not be helpful as you go forward because the suppressed behavior will resurface at some point.
The advisor also needs to see your behavior as you may be inadvertently creating am inappropriate response in the dog. They cannot be afraid to tell you IF you need to change something. This is not meant as a criticism.
I wish you much luck in this. Truly.
While this is true of any mixed breed or poorly bred dog, this breed was bred for Dog Aggression. True Dog on dog aggression is a genetic trait. The breed has also been bred, in some cases, to be human aggressive. Human aggression can be "created" through defense drive or it can be genetic. At 9 weeks I venture a guess that it is genetic, but I do not know!
When traits are hard wired they become a management issue more than a training issue. A dog that is truly both dog and human aggressive is a very unstable dog.
We cannot see this dog or how you are handling this dog. You need someone to see all of this in person who will not sugar coat the situation. This advisor cannot be someone who will work through aversive training to suppress these behaviors. That will not be helpful as you go forward because the suppressed behavior will resurface at some point.
The advisor also needs to see your behavior as you may be inadvertently creating am inappropriate response in the dog. They cannot be afraid to tell you IF you need to change something. This is not meant as a criticism.
I wish you much luck in this. Truly.
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