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I want to ask a question. Not 100% sure this is the right thread for it, but I couldn't really find a better place. Anyway, my father just bought a new Pit bull/boxer mix puppy. It's around 6 months old I think at this point. It seems really well behaved, but I've heard a lot of horror stories about pit bulls suddenly snapping and mauling somebody, even though they behaved perfectly well for the rest of their lives. So what I want to know is, is there a decent chance of this happening to my dad's dog? Is it safe to have kids around it when I go visit him? Are the violent impulses of a pit balanced out by a boxer, or no? Basically I'm just constantly on edge around this dog thinking it could explode and go after someone without any provocation, but I'm not sure if my fears are founded. Additionally, he says the dog is being trained, but I don't know if those kind of behavioral issues can ever be trained out. Am I overreacting and the dog is fine if it acts fine?
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Nov 23, 2017 05:34
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poverty goat posted:I have a second hand dog. She's extremely cool and smart and trainable but I'm pretty sure I know why she ended up back at the pound: We have a Great Dane, so there's virtually nothing we can do to prevent that, other than never leave any bread out on the counter. The kitchen area (open plan condo) is a no-go zone and she knows it and we can leave steaks, etc out, but bread of any kind will be stolen the moment we leave the house.
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Nov 24, 2017 01:39
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Isaacs Alter Ego posted:I want to ask a question. Not 100% sure this is the right thread for it, but I couldn't really find a better place. Pit bulls don't have "violent impulses" by nature. Bad owners raise bad dogs.
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Dec 5, 2017 05:40
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Winter Rose posted:Pit bulls don't have "violent impulses" by nature. Bad owners raise bad dogs. thank you.
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Dec 5, 2017 14:26
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Surprised it’s been this long without more responses. Ok, I’ll be that guy. I’m not gonna get into a back and forth about it but: Yes, bad owners raise bad behaving dogs. That said, they selective bred that aggression trait for what, 100+ years? Yes a good owner and training definitely helps but I think it’s fair to say they’re a bit more predisposed to it by nature compared to other dogs. That’s not to say you should be on edge 24/7, dogs sense that poo poo anyways. I mean you never hear “he was a sweetheart he’s never done that before or shown any aggression” after a pit kills someone in regards to other breeds doing it, but I digress
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Dec 6, 2017 00:13
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 dog racism sucks
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Dec 6, 2017 00:23
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Nostalgia4Dogges posted:
If you want to go nature over nurture then pits should never be attacking people. They were specifically bred to be the exact opposite of human aggressive. Traditionally you'd separate fighting dogs with your hands.
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Dec 6, 2017 00:50
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It's reasonable to be concerned about dog-dog aggression, particularly same-sex dog aggression developing around the age of sexual maturity, in breeds that were developed for dog fighting. It is also reasonable to be concerned about any interaction between dogs and young children, particularly bigger dogs who could easily hurt a child. Use some common sense. This would be the advice for a full pit or a full boxer, or for that matter a lab or a golden: Teach the kid to ignore the dog and the dog to ignore the kid, and you'll be good unless there are other warning signs.
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Dec 6, 2017 01:50
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Probably not a bad idea to do things kids would do if only to see how he reacts, if not desensitize him a bit. Taking food/treat/toy away, grabbing their tail/paw, doing that while they are eating, etc. Good habit to get in with any dog really. Some dogs just have certain tics. Six months is young so abuse and the associated behavior is much less likely. Just be vigilant and use common sense. Dogs feed off your energy, so being real tense or nervous around the dog isn't going to help.
Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Dec 6, 2017 |
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Dec 6, 2017 01:56
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Nostalgia4Dogges posted:Probably not a bad idea to do things kids would do if only to see how he reacts, if not desensitize him a bit. Taking food/treat/toy away, grabbing their tail/paw, doing that while they are eating, etc. Really a good habit to get in for any dog really. Just be vigilant and use common sense really. Don't do this if you don't know what you're doing. It is very easy to increase resource guarding (particularly by messing with them while they're eating) and a pain in the rear end to fix it. It's more effective to keep your kid away from a dog he doesn't live with while they're eating.
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Dec 6, 2017 02:02
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yeah kids are generally good listeners and absolutely won't do something you tell them not to do how could you leave your child unsupervised? Monster! I mean yeah in a perfect world, but let's be real here. You cannot realistically supervise a dog & kid literally 24/7. Maybe my "advice" was a bit ignorant or naive but surely someone could be an adult and research more about the matter. I'm not saying snatch treats/toys from the dog real quick and shady like, inciting his guard.
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Dec 6, 2017 02:06
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I have often heard 'common sense' desensitization techniques that would 100% take a mild tendency towards resource guarding and inflate it to a huge problem. If you are working on desensitization, every step needs to be accompanied by higher value rewards. You never test the dog by messing with it while it's eating, you randomly drop steak in their bowl when you approach them while they're eating and build slowly from there. These are things that are nice to do, but a management strategy like 'always feed the dog in a closed crate' has a higher ROI.
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Dec 6, 2017 02:44
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so far in my experience with rescue/abuse pits, yeah they can be aggressive especially regarding food, preferred places and toys. Keep in mind my experience with them has almost always been when they have been the victims of moderate to severe abuse. The one i have that was very very young either managed not to get abused, or it was just so fleeting that it never stuck. That one is about the most devoted and lovey dog ever and has never been a problem with any other animals (I have 7) or people and children. the older one was a really battered up puppy mill victim, but she has had several years of rehabilitation and other than keeping a closer eye on her over the other ones, has really not been a problem. I just hate to say a dog is bad just for what they are, its not like they can help that.
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Dec 6, 2017 15:25
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I've moved into an apartment in August and thought my dog adjusted well from living with my parents to my apt but today I just got a notice that there have been repeated complaints about him barking during the day. The dog is not much of a barker unless he's super excited because there's a strange new person (mailman). Usually when he gets barked at he just shrugs at other dogs. I need to fix this issue asap and I have no idea how loud he is because I'm not home. I was told to turn on a radio so that he's used to human voices and looking back in the archives there seems to be credible evidence that it can help. I have no idea if this has been going on for weeks or if it was just one week where he went bonkers because I didn't walk him enough or he was super angry because there was constant movement in the halls because of Bell guys moving about. My question is plan B backup plan. I know all about positive reinforcement and everything so I have no idea how humane or effective those automatic shock collars are: https://www.amazon.ca/T-AIM-Guarant...=barking+collar Anyone got opinions? I'm desperate here because I need a fast fix and I can't be home to fix it. I don't think giving him a Kong during the day is the solution because his trigger is 'stranger people near the door when I am not home'. He only barks sometimes when I'm at home and people walk in the hallway. He will react when someone knocks on my door.
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Dec 6, 2017 23:09
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Xtanstic posted:I've moved into an apartment in August and thought my dog adjusted well from living with my parents to my apt but today I just got a notice that there have been repeated complaints about him barking during the day. The dog is not much of a barker unless he's super excited because there's a strange new person (mailman). Usually when he gets barked at he just shrugs at other dogs. I need to fix this issue asap and I have no idea how loud he is because I'm not home. My immediate reaction is, can you put a sign on your front door that says "DO NOT KNOCK I AM NOT HOME"? In case there are like, roving Mormon Missionaries trying to find out if you're there.
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Dec 6, 2017 23:24
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First I'd set up a webcam or recorder or something to see what the problem actually is so you can deal with it effectively. Also consider giving your neighbors a note saying you weren't aware this was an issue but you're working on it and you appreciate their patience (bribery in the form of baked goods might help). If he's being hyper-alert to people in the hallway can you shut him in a back room with some white noise going? Try setting up scenarios to counter-condition noise in the hallway? It's hard to suggest things when you don't know what the trigger is.
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Dec 7, 2017 00:39
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My dog is triggered by voices of people he can hear but not see so the radio was actually pretty upsetting for him so lately we've been putting on classical music for him when he's home alone and the signs of trouble have gone down since we started doing that. Maybe that could help in some way!
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Dec 7, 2017 01:23
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Engineer Lenk posted:I have often heard 'common sense' desensitization techniques that would 100% take a mild tendency towards resource guarding and inflate it to a huge problem. To be fair my main reasoning was just to gauge the dogs aggression/triggers (if any). In anticipation for being around a child. Y'know, those creatures that like to harass dogs sometimes. Xtanstic posted:I've moved into an apartment in August and thought my dog adjusted well from living with my parents to my apt but today I just got a notice that there have been repeated complaints about him barking during the day. The dog is not much of a barker unless he's super excited because there's a strange new person (mailman). Usually when he gets barked at he just shrugs at other dogs. I need to fix this issue asap and I have no idea how loud he is because I'm not home. *total uneducated info to follow* ooof, yeah. Talk about stressful. I hated knowing my dog was at home barking. As already said, you often have no idea until someone tells you. You still don't know for sure he's simply barking at people by the door or what. Their behavior changes if you are gone. Try to record it if possible. Bark collars aren't the inhumane torture devices they are made at to be when used right. I checked and it looks like the one you linked does two warning beeps before it shocks. See if you cannot find one that vibrates with the warning beeps as well. You can often set them to vibrate or beep only, the amount of warnings before a shock, strength of shock, etc. Definitely want to monitor your dog with them though before left alone with a collar on because it can REALLY freak them out at first. What's the breed? (I ask because of energy levels) What is your morning routine? How much exercise does the dog get? If the dog isn't getting exercise I'd wager to guess that's an contributing factor. This isn't to call you out but a lot of people have their dog sit around doing nothing (say, 6 PM to 6 AM) then let them out to pee in the morning then crate them for another 8 hours on top of the already 12 of being sedentary and wonder why they're chewing poo poo up & barking. Radio is at least worth trying while you are home I'd think, see if anything bad happens. That said, with the amount of TV/video games most of us play, yeah, I'm surprised a dog would be spooked by voices on the radio but who knows the factors, acoustics, etc. Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Dec 7, 2017 |
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Dec 7, 2017 01:48
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Right now I'm crossing my fingers that the radio turns out to be a miracle fix or maybe last week I slacked and didn't walk him enough so more exercise will do the job. I'm trying to contact the building admin but I'm getting the runaround. I wish I had more information to narrow down when this has been happening or if it's been constant. I'm gonna grab a webcam and see about setting up a laptop to record and see when my dog gets barky. I'm a bit more level-headed now I was just super frazzled earlier tonight when I came home from work and am immediately greeted by an angry letter from my admin. Like geez if you had maybe given me a heads-up way earlier I could have taken steps to deal with this. 
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Dec 7, 2017 05:55
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Xtanstic posted:I'm a bit more level-headed now I was just super frazzled earlier tonight when I came home from work and am immediately greeted by an angry letter from my admin. Like geez if you had maybe given me a heads-up way earlier I could have taken steps to deal with this. Ugh, the worst feeling. Maybe let them (and the other tenants) know that you're aware of the problem and trying to fix it? And that they should let you know, sooner rather than later, if it happens again because more specific information might help figuring out what's wrong. I had a similar problem. Now when I leave my dog alone put her in the living room and close the door. She has access to the kitchen from there – and her bowl, her bed, the couch. But she can't get to the front door. Apparently this makes her feel less anxious. Not sure why. She can definitely still hear people in the hall outside. Maybe it's something about strange people being somewhere out there, instead of being literally on the other side of the door. Maybe it's because she doesn't actually see me leave the apartment.
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Dec 7, 2017 17:10
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I've got a five year old shelter dog that I've had for about 9 months now. He's got some reactivity issues especially around other dogs, but we've been working hard and making great progress. My biggest issue right now is that he has this weird thing about people's hands around his mouth. He doesn't mind me or other people he knows, but if a stranger's hand gets too close he'll snap and growl at it. I've been really diligent about asking people to please stick to petting his back or leave him alone, but I'd like to try and address this issue if possible. Any suggestions would be awesome!
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Dec 7, 2017 20:36
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Painful Dart Bomb posted:I've got a five year old shelter dog that I've had for about 9 months now. He's got some reactivity issues especially around other dogs, but we've been working hard and making great progress. Don't let strangers pet your dog. Head pets being reserved for family and close friends is the rough dog analogue of a person who doesn't like hugging strangers. The more it happens, the quicker he'll be to snap and the stronger the reaction. If he snapped at you, I would recommend desensitization, but since this is restricted to strangers it's very difficult to set up the scenario to train it out. I'm on the fence with recommending teaching a strong nose touch to hand with a partner (other person hold their hand out, you cue and then the dog returns to you for a treat). This can help shy or less confident dogs learn to interact with unfamiliar people, but could be a liability since your dog has already snapped at hands.
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Dec 7, 2017 23:30
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Engineer Lenk posted:Don't let strangers pet your dog. Head pets being reserved for family and close friends is the rough dog analogue of a person who doesn't like hugging strangers. The more it happens, the quicker he'll be to snap and the stronger the reaction. Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. If someone asks I always tell them no, but half the time their hands are in there before I can even say anything. In the future I'll have to just be more vigilant I guess.
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Dec 8, 2017 21:44
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Painful Dart Bomb posted:Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. If someone asks I always tell them no, but half the time their hands are in there before I can even say anything. In the future I'll have to just be more vigilant I guess. I can only assume that people are doing this while you're stopped. If so, you can teach your dog to sit by your side or behind you when you stop, so close to you that people would be invading your personal space to pet him. That will make it much less likely for adults and older children to feel entitled to pet him without asking.
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Dec 8, 2017 22:49
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Painful Dart Bomb posted:Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. If someone asks I always tell them no, but half the time their hands are in there before I can even say anything. In the future I'll have to just be more vigilant I guess. You can get signs to put on your leash/harness that will say "No Pet" or "In Training", etc, which should make it clear that people need to ask first.
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Dec 8, 2017 23:03
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ImplicitAssembler posted:You can get signs to put on your leash/harness that will say "No Pet" or "In Training", etc, which should make it clear that people need to ask first. A basket muzzle is even clearer, and has the added benefit of making it impossible for him to make contact with his teeth.
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Dec 8, 2017 23:08
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Winter Rose posted:Pit bulls don't have "violent impulses" by nature. Bad owners raise bad dogs. all dogs have violent impulses by nature poverty goat fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Dec 11, 2017 |
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Dec 11, 2017 03:35
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Had some great success teaching my dog not to pull on the leash today! According to the shelter he was tied outside for a large portion of his 1+yr life and so he has lots of bad leash/yard habits. I’ve been running with him using a Gentle Leader but he still pulls. Made it my New Year’s resolution to work on it and he is so dang smart he is getting it already. The only thing that has worked is holding the treat BEHIND my left leg. No other way has worked, not stopping & sitting, not changing directions, but this worked. I am so happy! Here’s today’s top student: 
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Jan 3, 2018 23:34
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I switched from "he's scared" to "he bites" with my dog after no one listened to me or my T's body language. He's never bitten anyone, he'd just kindly prefer you gently caress off.
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Jan 4, 2018 00:10
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Joburg posted:Had some great success teaching my dog not to pull on the leash today! According to the shelter he was tied outside for a large portion of his 1+yr life and so he has lots of bad leash/yard habits. I’ve been running with him using a Gentle Leader but he still pulls. Made it my New Year’s resolution to work on it and he is so dang smart he is getting it already. The only thing that has worked is holding the treat BEHIND my left leg. No other way has worked, not stopping & sitting, not changing directions, but this worked. I am so happy! That's awesome! My trainer offered the tip of touching the treat to the seam of your pant-leg before treating for good walking position so they can associate with a physical spot and also possibly work out a hand signal for "get in your spot while we're moving."
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Jan 4, 2018 02:08
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Joburg posted:Had some great success teaching my dog not to pull on the leash today! According to the shelter he was tied outside for a large portion of his 1+yr life and so he has lots of bad leash/yard habits. I’ve been running with him using a Gentle Leader but he still pulls. Made it my New Year’s resolution to work on it and he is so dang smart he is getting it already. The only thing that has worked is holding the treat BEHIND my left leg. No other way has worked, not stopping & sitting, not changing directions, but this worked. I am so happy! Great job! It feels so awesome when you finally find something that works. On the topic of students, I took my dog to his first group class and he did amazing. Working on his reactivity has been a long road, but he's made so much progress in the last 6 months. I'm super proud of him.
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Jan 10, 2018 17:42
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Painful Dart Bomb posted:Great job! It feels so awesome when you finally find something that works. The last few practices haven’t been as good  One thing that throws him off is when cars (or those suspicious diesel trucks!) drive by and he acts like a manic, and then forgets we were supposed to be walking nicely. I’ve tried to give him treats or turn away from the trigger but neither has been very successful. What things have you been doing to work on reactivity? And one funny thing is that if we walk or run on a busy road he doesn’t enact to those cars, it’s only on less busy roads.
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Jan 10, 2018 17:58
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Joburg posted:The last few practices haven’t been as good Have you tried a prong collar? With my dog I tried gentle leader, no-pull harness and pretty much every positive method I read about and he still pulled like a mother-fucker. When I started seeing a trainer for his reactivity, they immediately switched him to a Starmark collar and within 15 minutes he was loose-leash walking like a champ. We've progressed to an ecollar now and I very rarely have to give him corrections.
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Jan 10, 2018 19:42
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my mom got her dog a Furbo, which is a webcam that texts you if the dog is barking. You can also speak to your dog through it and spit out treats for the dog. it works REALLY well.
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Jan 10, 2018 21:40
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Do you guys have any tips on convincing a dog to focus? When we try to train Apollo we get a comedy routine: he realizes that he's getting treats for obeying, so he starts doing EVERYTHING. He sits, he lies down, he rolls over, he jumps up and down, he offers his paw, he offers his other paw, he offers BOTH paws.... And if I tell him to sit, he'll go "OKAY" and then do the rest of his routine. Or he'll lie down and whine. Or he'll figure it out and sit perfectly. He's really smart, and will sit to have his leash put on and before mealtimes, but if it's for one treat, and then another, he just... stops listening. Help?
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Jan 10, 2018 23:21
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well, this will take some conditioning and doesn't entirely answer your question but my dog knows the word treat because I use it every time I give him one. Anyway, I try to always hold the treat at the tip of my nose before giving it to him, to facilitate focus and eye contact on commands My dog still does the same thing don't get me wrong. He'll go up down shake etc Sequence of events: name, want a treat? he does his little excitement dance command (sit, stay, lay, etc) hold treat at my nose maybe command again "good boy" treat back to my nose treat to dog Something like that The Walrus posted:my mom got her dog a Furbo, which is a webcam that texts you if the dog is barking. You can also speak to your dog through it and spit out treats for the dog. it works REALLY well. I'm sure it depends on the dog but I always wondered if them hearing your voice without your presence/smell would cause more anxiety....? I still need to try a radio for white noise/voices Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Jan 10, 2018 |
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Jan 10, 2018 23:40
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Nostalgia4Dogges posted:
the most important factor of a human actually being there is 'can they give me treats' so it mitigates this issue, at least for Rosie 
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Jan 10, 2018 23:47
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Hopefully gonna be adopting a poor injured, dirty, and neglected stray I found yesterday. She's at the local spca getting all patched up, spayed, and tested for parasites and maladies. She's a smaller Malinois, prob around 2ish. No clue if she has ever been trained or even house broken. I'm guessing at best that she was living in someone's back yard totally neglected. Assuming the likely scenario that nobody claims her in the next few days I will adopt her. I fell in love with her during the brief few hours i spent with her. She seemed to have a relatively gentle temperament, but that may have been from her bleeding injuries. She definitely warmed up to me and was responding to my voice positively by the time I handed her over. I'm ready to give her lotsa much needed love and care. I read the op and it's super informative and helpful. However I'd like an actual physical book to read over to help prepare me. What single book do y'all recommend? I'm interested in combination clicker/verbal training...if that's a thing, if not please advise. I haven't had a dog in drat near 20 years, and they were all socialized adoptees. I'm def a training novice, but I feel confident i can train a dog. Just need a solid tangible starting point.
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Jan 11, 2018 14:09
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StrixNebulosa posted:Do you guys have any tips on convincing a dog to focus? When we try to train Apollo we get a comedy routine: he realizes that he's getting treats for obeying, so he starts doing EVERYTHING. He sits, he lies down, he rolls over, he jumps up and down, he offers his paw, he offers his other paw, he offers BOTH paws.... When my dog behaves like this, then I start spitting out multiple commands in a row, to keep her busy on what I want her to do. While she used to get a treat for one command, it's now five or more, because I'll keep giving commands if she is trying to do more than one thing. Verbal praise between each, to acknowledge she listened and I'm happy. Don't let him see the treat either, he likely saw you grab them or heard his favorite container opening sound, he'll know there is a reward without visual. And if it's a treat that usually is given multiple times, he shouldn't lose focus after one, even if the next isn't visually seen before the command.
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Jan 11, 2018 14:30
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When my dog starts doing tricks I didn't ask him for I say something like "wrong." and turn away. Eventually he realizes that just doing every trick he knows until he gets the treat isn't going to work.
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Jan 11, 2018 16:45
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