" A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

Just to clarify, I have no issues culling dogs that truely can't cope with life and will lash out at people due to being shy/nervy/unstable, etc or are just miserable existing. I don't see it as ''if the situation becomes more than *I* can handle'' as I can handle some pretty difficult dogs, but judge the situation more by ''if life becomes too much for the dog to handle.'' I wasn't suggesting some inept newbie go out and save some cowering, growly, snakey, unstable dog. :rolleyes: I have 20 years experience in the breed and have had over 200 dogs come through my house, the vast majority of them dogs OTHER people couldn't handle, so I think I'm reasonabley capable of judging a dog and making calls on what is suitable to feed or cull. As well, I no longer place dogs with ANYONE so the buck stops here with each and every dog that comes through my hands so no worry with anything coming out of my home that may be too much for someone else to handle.

To add......... neither of my kids are allowed near ANY of the dogs when they are on their chain spots as it doesn't just take a shy or nervy dog to injure them with the chain. A high drive, confindent dog can just as likely be a problem in that regard. All it takes if for a neighbours cat to prance though the yard and a small child, or adult for that matter, could be injured with a chain.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

Very good points. I think alot of people automatically equate ''shy'' to ''fear aggressive'' and they are not always one in the same. As well, dogs go through ''fear stages'' while maturing and alot of people can mistake that as a dog developing a shy or fearful temperment when really, it's just a normal developemental stage they will out grow. Shy, nervy or even fearful dogs don't always choose fight when confronted. Many will, when flight is not an option, choose freeze or appease instead of fight, and to me, THAT is what makes all the difference between culling and not. As long as the dog doesn't choose to aggress to a human, and his quality of life is good, dispite it's issues, I'll continue to work with a dog.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

i dont know if you guys remember my story, i got a dog shipped to me and got a call from breeder telling me the dog was dropped in his crate by the forklift. he told me to let him know if i had any problems with the pup. when i got the dog home from the airport (pup was 12 weeks old) it was a wreck!! you couldnt even stand up without it taking off. this lasted for weeks. i slept on the floor.. hell i did everything on the floor to socialize, after using my other dog to mellow him out and use it as comfort we started socializing out side of the house. little by littel it got better


a year later.. dog is not confident, i have seen it run away from someone trying to pet him. I can not stand a bulldog that is not Confident around people. He has also gone straight up to people and jumped right in there lap, he is a very aloof dog. One heck of a working dog though ill give him that

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

hes still very young, give him time

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

oh he is geting the time, he is not and will not be going anywhere only 14 months old now.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

That's awesome, I hope he keeps improving for you!

like you said you spent lots of time workin on the problem, makes a better bond in the end, and you said he is a hard worker too!

I hate airport shipping but sometimes you have to do it!:rolleyes:

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

i had a bad experience shippin a dog couple years ago. crate got dropped and busted open so the dog was a little tramatized. Bucks right, it sux, but it has to be done

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

Boris when i went out west no problems as far as i know! but i got off the plane and waited for about 5 mins. (now I'm sweating' it) and this big hanger door opens for the Big Luggage and 2 guys throw Boris on to the in his airport crate, on to the conveyor which is headed right toward me, then the poor dog couldn't wait to be let out (in calgary), started howling, So i let him out and he must of made 4 piss breaks before leaviing the the airport, looked good on the.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

I have an extremely boistrous pit in all situations always wanting to be involved in anything going, till i take him to the vet, he is fine till i lift him onto the stainless steel table, he then goes limp, puts his head between his paws and gets the shivers is this normal in them or is he sensing something with the dogie dock?:confused:

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

Alot of dogs pancake on that tall cold slippery table with strange sights sounds and smells

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

Lot of good points on this thread.I have one here that won't ever go any where but she won't be culled because she is comfortable with family and most with dog sense and she is a hard worker.She has come along way but not as far as I hoped.I think where it gets trickey is if someone dosen't know the background on their dog and they are left to wonder is this genetic or tramatic.The genetic being more difficult and perhaps dangerous.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

the smell could make anyone ill, i think!, sickness and death smell , is my guess. always wondered that too?:rolleyes::confused:

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

I had one bitch that would die on the spot if you looked at her wrong. I'd call her name and she would just duck her head and walk over like she was going to get the beating of her life. Other times shewould duck her head, think aboutit and just go the opposite direction. I never raised a hand to her but she was a real pill.

Outside she turned into a different animal, loved being worked and getting in a hard workout. But if I tried putting her on the chain she would literally just freeze and not move at all.

Unfortunately she was put down by AC at 1.5years, jumped through the living room window while I was out and killed a neighbors cat.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

Rokai (rip sweetie), my apbt mix was a rescued dog from a very abusive home.
went to live with his first owner that would grab his neck and back skinn, throw it to the ceilling and let it fall right back when he peed or bite to hard... second owner was the same situation, starving the dog and beating him up.

got him home at 6 months old and he was what some people would call "fear agressive"... I tend to call him shy and fearfull, but not really agressive...
he would growl and bark, but NEVER has he once showed teeth or try to lunge/bite someone...
there were a few morons that still tried to approach while he was growling and he just cowered behind me lol...

I worked extensively for 3 months with that dog and he went from the growling/barking, tucked tail, shaking and cowering to the most loving dog I ever met in a couple of months!
he never had a single issue with kids... he played with them and even cried to get their attention during walks!

unfortunately, it seems like there was no hope for his seperation anxciety...
tried literally EVERYTHING to pull him back, but nothing worked...
I had him PTS the 9th of october due to his severe SA at only 2 yrs of age
Gauwd do I miss that dog!

I'm not to big on working with truely fear agressive dogs (dogs that really feel they HAVE to fight for their lives, that they HAVE to bite to protect themselfs) waaay to unpredictable... but then again, that's just me, personally...
if you got time/money/patience and space I don't care what you feed, wether it's a manbiter or a fear agressive dog, as long as it keeps away from the public and tonights headlines, I couldn't care less

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

so around when do these "fearful stages" usually last for? my girl is around 1.6 years old at the moment and I do have some issues regarding her "timid" or "fearful" states at times. She has issues mainly towards certain objects or noises. She tends to jump a lot from certain noises and freeze from certain objects. Sure enough if I call her over or stand next to something she is uncomfortable around her tail is usually tucked in. To me she just is not as confident as I would think she would be, since she gives 100% when working. It's mainly during our walks when we encounter these situations, lately she will not stop looking back behind us if there is someone walking behind us or approaching us from behind or there could be know one but if she is unsure with herself for whatever reason she will continue to keep looking behind us as if she knows something is coming after her. Overall she doesn't show much bravery on our walks unless there is a dog in sight or if someone is approaching us from the front, I mean a quick moderate but not an exploding sound can occur and she will have a 2 second panic moment. Once that happens she will slow down greatly but continues to walk. So I can't conclude what exactly is the reason for her being that way and how to build her confidence more without babying or yelling. It really ticks me off when she behaves that way because of course I know there is nothing to be afraid of yet she panics as if there is everything in the world to be afraid of! she has never shown any fear aggression nor has she peed herself whenever she would behave that way. The most she will do is tuck her tail in and swing her ears back all the way and freeze. Thank god she takes her working out as serious as I do because then I would have a crisis, but I can only hope she will grow out of this when she fully matures.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

My Ace was used as a "Bait dog" the people who owned him had no clue what they were doing. Anyway when i brought him home he was afraid of everyone and everything. If he saw another dog he'd start shaking and he'd pee. Now he does much better. He can be around other dogs (when supervised) and loves people.

I wouldn't say he was pathetic though, he was shy and scared as i believe he had every right to be. He probably isn't full bred apbt i really don't understand why his owners used him.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

The second fear stage is usually six to 14 months. Here's a good link on it..

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/DevelopmentalStages.html

I've had two VERY shy dogs that matured out of it with alot of socializing, confidence building, etc... Right now I have two that have weird fear issues. One is five, and a rescue. She is mostly fine, but every once in a while someone or something will freak her out. I think the guy that had her for the last couple years was laying her the boots though as I had her as a foster for a year and she didn't have any of these issues. This guy adopts her, she comes back and now she's submissive urinating, scared when I bend over her sometimes, etc.. She's got drive comin' out her hooha though! lol Hopefully we can get her past her new ''issues''. My two year old mostly has "object fears"... man hole covers, balloons and rarely people. Same deal though. Thankfully neither of them have ever shown aggression over it.

One thing I would suggest, don't try to ''comfort'' her when she's scared. Just ignore it, act like it's no big deal, but really praise her when she shows confidence. Often, if you try to comfort or reassure them, it only makes it worse.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

I see sounds like both of your current dogs pertain at least one of each that my dog can display at times, yeah she mainly will just become spooked or have what I like to call "a two to three second panic attack" and then will move on gradually depending on the situation. I also gave in some thought that she may rely on me a tad more then most dogs therefore she isn't as confident as she should be. That's good her drive is present however! same with my girl regardless of the maybe 40% timid chances, she will always work work work and perform perform perform. That's also good to hear that they have not shown aggression, and thank you for the advice I always knew before hand that that is the completely wrong approach to help dog's with these issues!

Some days I will have better patience then other days but overall I am always willing to go in the right direction to curve away these unnecessary problems.:rolleyes:

Best of luck to you though ZOE!

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

It is extremely difficult to turn a shy dog around, but it is possible. I have a shy Jeep/Redboy and she is very timid around people but is completely different when she see another dog. I have worked with her in desensitizing her fear/shyness towards people for about a year now by introducing new people to her everyday. I take her with me to run errands, pay bills, walks, etc.. It works but I realize that she will never be 100 percent. If you understand this and accept it then you can help your dog overcome it. Good luck if you have a shy one as well.

 

Re: " A shy Pit Bull is a pathetic creature indeed......"

good info. learned alot