Anyone else have a pit mix?

[Anonymous]

The dog needs to be in a home with no children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I do t think I am back tracking. I’m just trying to explain the situation accurately. He’s not a bad dog. He actually has a lot of great qualities. I’ve met way worse dogs. He rarely barks, he’s not clingy, he doesn’t have separation anxiety, we can easily leave him home for 4-6 hours, he’s not destructive in the house, he doesn’t have onerous exercise needs, he doesn’t shed much, he doesn’t beg or jump up in our counters. He doesn’t even come up our stairs. He has utterly *fantastic* recall. He has great bite inhibition. He’s snapped at all of us but very gently with his mouth. He’s never nipped or bitten, he must have been trained about how much pressure to apply by someone else.

The main drawbacks are: he doesn’t like strangers in his house (not a big deal to me personally) but he’s fine with people outdoors at the park or on the street or even in our backyard. And he’s not open for pets and affection 24/7. Now that we‘ve known him for a while, we can usually tell by his body language. You know how sometimes dogs will curl up in a tight ball to sleep? If he’s like that on his bed or “his couch” in his room he might give a very low, soft growl if you approach hand out to pet. But just as often he’ll stretch out and invite tummy scratches. We let him lead and have not had problems since we started doing that. When we leave the house and come home, he’s excited and happy to see everyone and get pets from everyone including the kids. He runs up to them as soon as they get home from school for pets. Then he goes back to doing his thing (he really likes to sit on the couch and look out the window).

He’s a very regimented dog. He likes to eat and do the same things at the same time every day. He likes to play in the evening and will play tug of war with the kids. But he ants to be asleep and left alone by 9 pm. I don’t feel like it’s that hard to respect this boundary?

Does this really sound so bad?

Would it sound less bad if he weren’t half pit?

I’m one of the PPs here who tried to answer your question genuinely, and I will be blunt as a very experienced dog owner (both rescue and purebred): I would never let my kids live this way. Never, ever. Between the snapping, the growling, and the way everyone’s lives are centered on tiptoeing around the dog, no. Your house is not safe for kids. You are teaching your kids that their physical safety is not as important as your dog. What you describe sounds bad to me. I’m sorry, because I can tell you genuinely want to do the right thing, but I have to be honest when answering.

Also, stop letting your kids play tug of war with the dog. It’s a trigger for a lot of dogs.

[Anonymous]

I get that people love their pit bulls, but I see no reason those people couldn’t be happy with another type of dog.

[Anonymous]

We’ve had him 13 months. He’s very bonded to DH and I and let’s us get away with stuff I wouldn’t trust him to tolerate in the boys (like hugging him or spooning him when cuddling). He’s also very tolerant of our 11 year DD.

He’s given the boys more warning growls. So that’s why we read up on dog body language and taught them to approach hand first, turned backwards for a sniff, before reaching out and to scratch his chest, along his ears, or his back instead of patting the top of his head.

I’m making it sound like he doesn’t like or trust them and that’s not true. He is happy to see them in the morning and after school. He’s happy to see them if we come upon them outside on one of his walks. He runs over to actively solicit pets.

I guess the thing with the dog is, it has to be on his terms, especially with the boys. He does have a defined personal space and is not shy to protect his boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dog needs to be in a home with no children. [/quote
They’re teens though. 13 and 15. And often not home anyway

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We adopted a rescue dog about a year ago. We were told that he was a greyhound mix but according to one of those DNA tests, he is ~ 24% pit and the rest is Golden Retriever, Chow Chow, and Chihuahua.

Anyway, I'm just feeling a little unnerved by him because of the news about that horrible pit attack on the two babies.

He's a sweet dog but can be skittish around strangers. For this reason, we require our kids (youngest is 11 and oldest is 15) to be very careful about how they approach him or pet him. They know to gently put their hand out to allow him to sniff first and not to put their hands on top of his head. We're careful about observing his body language and respecting his boundaries if he seems tense, if he's yawning or licking his lips a lot, if he's giving whale eyes, and especially if his tail is tucked. They know not to approach him on his bed and to never bring friends or strangers around him. He's very open and affectionate with me and DH, probably because we feed him. For exercise and boarding, he goes to a specialty daycare and his file is accompanied by a warning that he might bite so I don't worry about that too much. They know how to handle dogs like him and he has warmed up to the staff considerably. Daycare has definitely been helping his socialization issues. But how do we know if he is a ticking time bomb at home?

He doesn't have the typical pit musculature or jaw, does that matter? He has a long narrow snout and long skinny legs (which may be why the shelter thought he was part greyhound).

I'm just a little unnerved by this idea that a loving family dog who has been nothing but perfect for years can suddenly snap and maul two kids and their mom.

I am unnerved about all the considerations and modifications you have had to make.

+1

I can’t believe you make your kids live this way in their own house. My God. Way to teach them where they rank to you.

OP here. I’m sincerely baffled by this so hopefully someone could explain in a non snarky way? I don’t think the kids are “walking on eggshells” around the dog just because we’ve taught them to note his body language and leave him be when he wants space. Or when he’s in his “safe space” on his bed (we don’t use a crate). I also don’t think it’s a bad thing that they’re not allowed to bring their friends around the dog. Who cares? Why is that a big deal? They are still allowed to pet/cuddle/play with the dog when he wants to and they want to, which is often.

They truly love and enjoy the dog. I don’t understand this idea that you all have that we’re putting the dog before them. He’s a rescue dog, he has “special needs” lol. I’m kidding but also not. We don’t know what his history was but he has scars on his body and he was stray at least for a while.

OP You are overly optimistic about this dog. He’s no greyhound. He is pit/chow/ chihuahua: all three of these dogs are aggressive— even the chihuahua. You are putting your dogs needs over everything else and he knows it. For the few times he acts normal is it worth it? I wonder how “heartbreaking “ rejoining this dog will actually be got everyone but you. You are inexperienced and are not heeding the warning signs. What’s going to be heartbreaking is when a guest doesn’t follow the dogs rules and he puts them in their place with a bite.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t read anything that screams “rehome asap” yet. He sounds like a typical rescue who is slow to acclimate and trust. Some dogs take yearS to fully settle in and relax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read anything that screams “rehome asap” yet. He sounds like a typical rescue who is slow to acclimate and trust. Some dogs take yearS to fully settle in and relax.

LOL. The family who lost 2 kids had their beloved pitties for 8 years. I think pit bull owners should be given prison sentence if their pitbull attacks anyone, and death sentence if a life is lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what world does a pit/Chow/golden mix look anything like a greyhound?

Serious question. This description completely strains reality.

OP here. We did a reverse image search on one of his photos once. He looks very much like a Tennessee Treeing Brindle. Or a brindled black mouth mountain cur. He’s brindle colored, long snout, black mouth and lips, floppy ears, long skinny legs. White pouch on his chest. Plus he was underweight by 10-15 pounds when we got him so that might have contributed to the grey hound misperception.

He’s not any of those rare breeds you just described. Trust the DNA test. And for once DCUM is giving you good advice. Dog bites cause lasting memories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read anything that screams “rehome asap” yet. He sounds like a typical rescue who is slow to acclimate and trust. Some dogs take yearS to fully settle in and relax.

All the more reason as to why the dog needs to be rehomed. Not in a home with children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve had him 13 months. He’s very bonded to DH and I and let’s us get away with stuff I wouldn’t trust him to tolerate in the boys (like hugging him or spooning him when cuddling). He’s also very tolerant of our 11 year DD.

He’s given the boys more warning growls. So that’s why we read up on dog body language and taught them to approach hand first, turned backwards for a sniff, before reaching out and to scratch his chest, along his ears, or his back instead of patting the top of his head.

I’m making it sound like he doesn’t like or trust them and that’s not true. He is happy to see them in the morning and after school. He’s happy to see them if we come upon them outside on one of his walks. He runs over to actively solicit pets.

I guess the thing with the dog is, it has to be on his terms, especially with the boys. He does have a defined personal space and is not shy to protect his boundaries.

Lady, you can pop a blood vessel trying to be convincing. The dog should not be in your home, period.

[Anonymous]

WOW that dog is really a problem. The kids have to act a certain way or else with this dog. OP. You are extremely inexperienced with dogs.

[Anonymous]

According to Embark DNA test, our dog is 1/8 pit bull, but 50% golden retriever. The GR part definitely dominates her personality. She's the sweetest, friendliest dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve had him 13 months. He’s very bonded to DH and I and let’s us get away with stuff I wouldn’t trust him to tolerate in the boys (like hugging him or spooning him when cuddling). He’s also very tolerant of our 11 year DD.

He’s given the boys more warning growls. So that’s why we read up on dog body language and taught them to approach hand first, turned backwards for a sniff, before reaching out and to scratch his chest, along his ears, or his back instead of patting the top of his head.

I’m making it sound like he doesn’t like or trust them and that’s not true. He is happy to see them in the morning and after school. He’s happy to see them if we come upon them outside on one of his walks. He runs over to actively solicit pets.

I guess the thing with the dog is, it has to be on his terms, especially with the boys. He does have a defined personal space and is not shy to protect his boundaries.

I see you are dug in on this, but your boys can’t even hug their dog they’ve had more than a year. That is NOT OK.

They have to let him sniff their hands like their first time meeting a new dog. But this is a dog they live with for over a year. It’s NOT OK. This dog does NOT trust them.

Dogs are pack animals and usually don’t have such a large personal space bubble. I worry that someone’s going to maybe trip and fall near the dog and set it off. Or boys roughhousing and the dog gets upset and bites someone. Especially if the dog starts protecting your DD.

My brother had a very similar situation with his German Shepherd, and it did end up biting his nephew (other side). Did significant damage and he had to shoot it. Awful. This dog needs a kid-free home.

[Anonymous]

This thread is really undermining “adopt don’t shop”!

I adopted but as a puppy from a foster litter I knew. She’s an angel.