Goddard is a large pitbull mix (~90 lbs) that was at our shelter from
late June 2007 to early November. During that period adoptions
essentially stopped, perhaps because the major employer was threatening
to make significant layoffs. Although he has the standard pitbull issues
with other dogs, he is such a strongly people oriented dog that he soon
became a favorite at the shelter. He certainly became a favorite of mine
after I returned from vacation in mid July.

When Goddard first arrived at the shelter he was reported as being two
years old. His dog aggression issues were fairly minor at the start so
I think he was actually younger and still in his late adolescence.
However after two months at the shelter he was clearly having issues
with older male dogs, and an older alpha female at the shelter. His
persistent mounting behavior irritated those dogs, and he would not back
down to their objections. Eventually he got into a bad fight with an
older male who needed stitches afterwards.

In spite of those problems he continued to do well with young females,
particularly the pre-adolescents. His behavior was not as obnoxious with
younger dogs, and they loved his high energy.

One that particularly loved him was his puppy. Our shelter is old and
most of the concrete drains for the kennels have lost the grates
intended to block the passage of small dogs between kennels. In October
a six week old female puppy was found roaming and put in the shelter
while a foster was found. She was put in a kennel near Goddard, and the
next morning was found happily ensconced in his kennel. They were both
delighted. The women volunteers sent out several emails about how
wonderful a job he was doing taking care of her, but after a week a
foster was found and she left the shelter.

In spite of his dog aggression issues Goddard is an excellent people
dog. It is obvious that he loves people, is a quick learner, and a good
companion. He very quickly learned sit, down, and no jump. He was slower
on his leash training, he could show a Malemute how to pull, but
eventually he became an acceptable walker on a prong collar. He is a
great leaner, appreciating physical contact and pets.

In early October the heads of the volunteer organization decided that we
needed to have a mobile adoption because the lack of turnover had
doubled the shelter's population. Almost all of the dogs were to attend
except Goddard, who they thought should not attend because of his dog
aggression issues. I disagreed. I knew I could control him on a leash,
and that as long as he wasn't allowed close to dogs he had already
fought with, he would not start a fight. I was more concerned about a
smaller female that could be aggressive at larger distances. I talked it
over with my daughters and for once they both agreed with me, so we
brought Goddard for a visit to the mobile adoption. When they saw how
good a job he was doing with us he was allowed to stay and was the big
hit at the event. He got to spend more time with his puppy and some of
the younger females, such as the pitbull, Charms. He was well behaved
with all the dogless visitors, and we kept him away from any dogs that
might be a source of trouble.

A couple of weeks later the employer announced how it was dealing with
the needed cutbacks, and adoptions started up again. Goddard was quickly
adopted by a family with two young children and a yard, who apparently
found him to be a great dog. Unfortunately the family recently had to
move to an apartment and Goddard is back at the shelter. As a result a
volunteer sent an email message with photos of Goddard at the mobile
adoption. As a plus for me, the photos included my daughters. I have
posted the photos at my FLICKR site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...7607842202597/

Unfortunately Goddard retains his dog aggression issues. I recently
allowed him to interact with a recently neutered dog friendly female,
that had obviously recently had puppies. Between the effect of her
hormones on his mounting behavior, and her post surgery sensitivity, a
fight ensued. While her thick scruff kept her injuries minor, it was the
first fight I have had to break up where I would have found a breakstick
useful.