Hey all. Could do with some input here. We have two older dogs, 9 and
8 and a half. Doberman x Ridgeback, best guess, and a mixed tri breed
terrier staffi, jack russel/foxy something or other.

Sasha, the Doby x Ridgeback is a real lady of a dog. In 9 years I have
never seen a nasty streak in her. Some what the old lady of the house.
Not a nasty bone in here. Little stiff in the joints but a regular
house dog. You know, the kind that run the house and sleep on the
couch. (We get to sit on the couch sometimes.lol)

BA is kind of a needy dog. Needs reassurance all the time. I often
describe him as suffering from nipple anxiety. He was the 9th pup in a
litter of nine and has been anxious ever since. lol

Anyway, next door to us have just acquired a puppy. Around 2 months
old. Suspect german shepard x doberman, staffi, pit bull, frankly who
the hell knows. Too soon to tell I guess and the owners have no idea.
Anyway, they have had a puppy there before but got rid of the dog as it
was too much of a responsibility. They are not dog people in my view.
The dog kinda takes a low priority in there lives although it's fed and
watered. I have this feeling that the dog will end up with us. The
owners know we like the pup and as I say, there don t have an
appreciation of the Responsibility of owning a dog. I'll tell you why
I say this. Presently the dog in sleeping in the garage, the property
is not fenced at the back and the dog is left pretty much to its own
devices. Sure the family are out in the yard during the day and early
evening, and there are comings and goings, during the day. The puppy
always runs up to me or my partner or the kids here and and honestly,
the dog has a beautiful nature. I have had a play with the puppy,
thrown a small stick and the dog has retrieved this stick. Very
playful. I have put the puppy onto its back to see if it would fight or
resist being put on its back with my hand on its chest, and the puppy
had total faith, very compliant and was happy to remain with my hand on
its chest. Which suggests to me that the puppy would be a beautiful dog
if it was raised right. I suspect this pup would be a beautifully
natured dog.

Question. I am surprised a the reaction of the two that we have now.
Sasha has normally been a mothering type. She seemed agitated when the
pup came into the house. Happy to let it be but when it hopped on to
her chair for a cuddle or a play, she was kinda pissed. Happy to sniff
the pups butt and check him out, but pissed non the less. Tonight, the
puppy got into a tiny hole in our back fence and came trotting up the
deck and into the living room. No problem from my point of view, but BA
was mighty put out. He buggered off and went straight upstairs. Now I
know and fully understand the fact that this puppy is an interloper in
to their living area, but I'm concerned non that less that if we are
offered this pup, then I wonder just how much its going to knock the
noses out of joint of the two present inhabitants of the household. I'm
also concerned that given my assessment of the nature of the pup
(keeping in mind it's two months old) that as it hits adolescents that
it may, if indeed there is pit bull in the parents, that it may turn
nasty to the two I have now. Not to mention the young teenage children
here.

The observant will perhaps note I have concerns about the probability of
pit bull in the dog.

Any thoughts ?

thanks. trog

Troglodyte wrote:
I
know and fully understand the fact that this puppy is an interloper in
to their living area, but I'm concerned non that less that if we are
offered this pup, then I wonder just how much its going to knock the
noses out of joint of the two present inhabitants of the household.

I wouldn't worry about that. Adult dogs normally tolerate a lot of what young
puppies do, and are great for teaching them limits. Any time you change a
dog's environment or routine, you're probably going to have some noses out of
joint initially.

I'm
also concerned that given my assessment of the nature of the pup
(keeping in mind it's two months old) that as it hits adolescents that
it may, if indeed there is pit bull in the parents, that it may turn
nasty to the two I have now. Not to mention the young teenage children
here.

At two months old, you have almost a blank slate there. A whole month to go of
the most crucial socialization age. You expose this little guy to every type
of dog, puppy, and human there is, and his chances of developing aggression are
slight.

That doesn't mean there won't be problems in your pack when he reaches
adolescence. Could come a time when your older dogs no longer afford him
"puppy license" for some of his behaviors, and may seem to turn on him. Or he
may decide to challenge a higher-ranking dog for status. Especially if your
other dogs are male, there could be problems. Unfortunately, none of this can
be predicted and is a risk in any multi-dog house, especially if they're same
sex.

I have three girls (way higher risk of fighting than boys), and I do have to
keep an eye on their interaction. There have been some scary-looking,
scary-sounding scuffles during different development periods, but no blood
drawn. This is pretty normal stuff in a multi-dog household.

The observant will perhaps note I have concerns about the probability of
pit bull in the dog.

Okay, this is a "nature vs. nurture" issue.

At two months old, you have a chance to weigh the scales heavily in the
"nurture" department. Puppies this young are clay. They can be easily molded.

As for the pit bull nature, yes, they are bred to fight other dogs. That does
not mean that every pit bull will fight with other dogs. There are plenty of
well-socialized purebred pits out there who never have a problem with other
dogs.

And there are others that seem to have a switch that blinks on some time in
late adolescence/early adulthood, and they are no longer safe around strange
dogs. But even these dogs tend to get along with the other dogs in their
family pack (though not all - sometimes there's heartbreak).

In a nutshell: The risk of dog-aggression surfacing in adolescence is there in
all dogs, and is elevated with certain breeds (like pit bulls). Heavily
socialization at a young age is the best preventive medicine.

That said, this puppy is a mix. That lowers the risk than if he was a purebred
pit bull from fighting lines. He shows a confident, non-fearful,
non-aggressive temperament around other dogs as a baby. More good stuff.

As for the fear of him developing PEOPLE aggression, there is actually LESS
risk in a pit bull than many other breeds. That's a myth, plain and simple.

---
Family Dog Trainer
"It's A Dog's Life"
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums

Leah wrote:

Troglodyte wrote:
I
know and fully understand the fact that this puppy is an interloper in
to their living area, but I'm concerned non that less that if we are
offered this pup, then I wonder just how much its going to knock the
noses out of joint of the two present inhabitants of the household.

I wouldn't worry about that. Adult dogs normally tolerate a lot of what young
puppies do, and are great for teaching them limits. Any time you change a
dog's environment or routine, you're probably going to have some noses out of
joint initially.

I'm
also concerned that given my assessment of the nature of the pup
(keeping in mind it's two months old) that as it hits adolescents that
it may, if indeed there is pit bull in the parents, that it may turn
nasty to the two I have now. Not to mention the young teenage children
here.

At two months old, you have almost a blank slate there. A whole month to go of
the most crucial socialization age. You expose this little guy to every type
of dog, puppy, and human there is, and his chances of developing aggression are
slight.

That doesn't mean there won't be problems in your pack when he reaches
adolescence. Could come a time when your older dogs no longer afford him
"puppy license" for some of his behaviors, and may seem to turn on him. Or he
may decide to challenge a higher-ranking dog for status. Especially if your
other dogs are male, there could be problems. Unfortunately, none of this can
be predicted and is a risk in any multi-dog house, especially if they're same
sex.

I have three girls (way higher risk of fighting than boys), and I do have to
keep an eye on their interaction. There have been some scary-looking,
scary-sounding scuffles during different development periods, but no blood
drawn. This is pretty normal stuff in a multi-dog household.

The observant will perhaps note I have concerns about the probability of
pit bull in the dog.

Okay, this is a "nature vs. nurture" issue.

At two months old, you have a chance to weigh the scales heavily in the
"nurture" department. Puppies this young are clay. They can be easily molded.

As for the pit bull nature, yes, they are bred to fight other dogs. That does
not mean that every pit bull will fight with other dogs. There are plenty of
well-socialized purebred pits out there who never have a problem with other
dogs.

And there are others that seem to have a switch that blinks on some time in
late adolescence/early adulthood, and they are no longer safe around strange
dogs. But even these dogs tend to get along with the other dogs in their
family pack (though not all - sometimes there's heartbreak).

In a nutshell: The risk of dog-aggression surfacing in adolescence is there in
all dogs, and is elevated with certain breeds (like pit bulls). Heavily
socialization at a young age is the best preventive medicine.

That said, this puppy is a mix. That lowers the risk than if he was a purebred
pit bull from fighting lines. He shows a confident, non-fearful,
non-aggressive temperament around other dogs as a baby. More good stuff.

As for the fear of him developing PEOPLE aggression, there is actually LESS
risk in a pit bull than many other breeds. That's a myth, plain and simple.

---
Family Dog Trainer
"It's A Dog's Life"
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums

Just to comment on the pit bull dog aggression, my friend has a pure bred pit who
is the biggest baby I have ever seen. She is 3 years old and about 80-85 pounds.
They also have a Pomeranian whois is probably about 5 pounds if that. It is so
funny to watch them play. The Pit could have the Pom for lunch if she wanted to,
but the Pom can do anything she wants to that Pit and she doesn't care. The Pit
will be sleeping on floor and the Pom will run over and jump on her head, bit her
on the lip and the other day she grabbed ahold of her ear and just started shaking
and the Pit just lies there. When she has had enough she'll just take her paw and
kind of hold her down as a way of saying "Time to calm down now." I believe that
most of it has to do with how the dog is raised. If they are well socialized as
puppies then there is a lesser chance of them being dog aggressive, not saying that
they never will because I think that it will always be there because of the way
they are bred, but that doesn't mean that it will ever surface. And to comment on
people aggression, I think that also depends on socialization. Just about every
pit I have met (I have also have a Pit mix, who is the daughter of the pit in the
above story) are very friendly and eager to please. I have even met pits who used
to be fought and they were very people friendly, you just couldn't get them around
any other dogs. Just my two cents, the whole fear of pit bulls really gets to me
sometimes.

Jennifer wrote:

Leah wrote:


Troglodyte wrote:
I
know and fully understand the fact that this puppy is an interloper in
to their living area, but I'm concerned non that less that if we are
offered this pup, then I wonder just how much its going to knock the
noses out of joint of the two present inhabitants of the household.

I wouldn't worry about that. Adult dogs normally tolerate a lot of what young
puppies do, and are great for teaching them limits. Any time you change a
dog's environment or routine, you're probably going to have some noses out of
joint initially.

I'm

also concerned that given my assessment of the nature of the pup
(keeping in mind it's two months old) that as it hits adolescents that
it may, if indeed there is pit bull in the parents, that it may turn
nasty to the two I have now. Not to mention the young teenage children
here.

At two months old, you have almost a blank slate there. A whole month to go of
the most crucial socialization age. You expose this little guy to every type
of dog, puppy, and human there is, and his chances of developing aggression are
slight.

That doesn't mean there won't be problems in your pack when he reaches
adolescence. Could come a time when your older dogs no longer afford him
"puppy license" for some of his behaviors, and may seem to turn on him. Or he
may decide to challenge a higher-ranking dog for status. Especially if your
other dogs are male, there could be problems. Unfortunately, none of this can
be predicted and is a risk in any multi-dog house, especially if they're same
sex.

I have three girls (way higher risk of fighting than boys), and I do have to
keep an eye on their interaction. There have been some scary-looking,
scary-sounding scuffles during different development periods, but no blood
drawn. This is pretty normal stuff in a multi-dog household.


The observant will perhaps note I have concerns about the probability of
pit bull in the dog.

Okay, this is a "nature vs. nurture" issue.

At two months old, you have a chance to weigh the scales heavily in the
"nurture" department. Puppies this young are clay. They can be easily molded.

As for the pit bull nature, yes, they are bred to fight other dogs. That does
not mean that every pit bull will fight with other dogs. There are plenty of
well-socialized purebred pits out there who never have a problem with other
dogs.

And there are others that seem to have a switch that blinks on some time in
late adolescence/early adulthood, and they are no longer safe around strange
dogs. But even these dogs tend to get along with the other dogs in their
family pack (though not all - sometimes there's heartbreak).

In a nutshell: The risk of dog-aggression surfacing in adolescence is there in
all dogs, and is elevated with certain breeds (like pit bulls). Heavily
socialization at a young age is the best preventive medicine.

That said, this puppy is a mix. That lowers the risk than if he was a purebred
pit bull from fighting lines. He shows a confident, non-fearful,
non-aggressive temperament around other dogs as a baby. More good stuff.

As for the fear of him developing PEOPLE aggression, there is actually LESS
risk in a pit bull than many other breeds. That's a myth, plain and simple.

---
Family Dog Trainer
"It's A Dog's Life"
http://hometown.aol.com/dfrntdrums/m...age/index.html
Get Healthy, Build Your Immune System, Lose Weight
http://www.re-vita.net/dfrntdrums


Just to comment on the pit bull dog aggression, my friend has a pure bred pit who
is the biggest baby I have ever seen. She is 3 years old and about 80-85 pounds.
They also have a Pomeranian whois is probably about 5 pounds if that. It is so
funny to watch them play. The Pit could have the Pom for lunch if she wanted to,
but the Pom can do anything she wants to that Pit and she doesn't care. The Pit
will be sleeping on floor and the Pom will run over and jump on her head, bit her
on the lip and the other day she grabbed ahold of her ear and just started shaking
and the Pit just lies there. When she has had enough she'll just take her paw and
kind of hold her down as a way of saying "Time to calm down now." I believe that
most of it has to do with how the dog is raised. If they are well socialized as
puppies then there is a lesser chance of them being dog aggressive, not saying that
they never will because I think that it will always be there because of the way
they are bred, but that doesn't mean that it will ever surface. And to comment on
people aggression, I think that also depends on socialization. Just about every
pit I have met (I have also have a Pit mix, who is the daughter of the pit in the
above story) are very friendly and eager to please. I have even met pits who used
to be fought and they were very people friendly, you just couldn't get them around
any other dogs. Just my two cents, the whole fear of pit bulls really gets to me
sometimes.




If you check the site out again, I ahve added a coupole more pics of
sasha and BA. It may help. cheers