I am sorry to hear about this situation, but it sounds like you are not backing off of getting your pet out and about in the community, especially if only you and your husband can walk them at this point. That is the first step, to getting the dog out more for people to actually SEE that the dog is not “vicious,” as more often than not people think of pits. If you are able to help at least one person see how kind and loving your dog is, that is one more person on the “pits” side. 🙂 If you find it within yourself, I’d approach these neighbors and others who speak like this against your pet–I don’t know that I’d bring my pit along at the first meeting. But I know when I first just TOLD people that we were adopting a pit, esp. some at school (my co-workers) were like WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? I said, “Okay, first thing, not adopting BECAUSE he’s a pit, but because he was the MOST BEHAVED out of all the dogs we walked at the shelter.” And there will be some people whose minds you will NEVER change, which is unfortunate. They will never know the love a pit can give. That is their loss, not yours.

I enjoy so much reading about instances where other pits have been “afraid” or “leary” of inanimate objects. Our pit, about 2 1/2-3 years old (we figure closer to 2 1/2), one day while out in the backyard with my husband and I, began to grown and have hair stand on end. We couldn’t for the life of us figure out what was wrong. We then had noticed how the wind has knocked down the upright laundry basket we had outside (just had clothes hung up, left the basket standing there). He knows what the basket looks like standing up, but if it’s on its side, he’s not sure how to feel about that. SO…to make the story short, if something is out of place (the garbage can, a pillow or two, a fan is knocked over, the laundry basket isn’t standing up, etc.), O’Shea notices and will sound an alarm for us. THANK GOD FOR PITBULLS! 🙂 🙂

I am so sorry to hear about this situation. I do have to ask, in lieu of the first incident, what was done following that to counteract the behavior? And when the animal control officer came to the door (she was at the door, correct?), and your daughter went out of the door…had your daughter been taught to know how to best handle the dogs? Especially when “strangers” are at the door, keeping the dogs sitting/staying until they were signaled all was well? I know our pit is extremely protective, since being in our newer house. He doesn’t like the door bell or people knocking much, but I immediately make him sit/stay until I answer the door and/or the person is invited inside.

I have heard, sometimes, where, as you described, your dog had shown no aggression whatsoever before these incidences. But then, when reaching a certain age, usually around 2 or 3 years old, the adult mentality begins to shine, sometimes being overly protective. I am not an expert by any means, but seeing as how there had been two incidences, and although you describe them as “nips” and not “bites,” do what you can with the animal behaviorist, but be prepared to receive other judgment. I will be thinking of you!

If your dog is a big chewer like ours is, the one thing that has stood up to his habits is a beef bone–no other kind (not a ham bone), but a beef bone that may have marrow on the inside. We did away with rawhides, as he would chew and chew and chew until they were soft, then eat them! With the beef bones, he does not break them (unless it’s a “fake” beef bone–he has broken them in half, and we then take away and throw away). Otherwise, toys with layers (and maybe squeakers) on the inside? We found a toy (forget the name) that had like four layers of stitching, and squeakers in the middle. Wanted to purchase but it was $20, just for this one toy! Oh well..I guess we have a small price to pay for a toy that may last awhile longer, instead of getting cheaper ones that last about 10 minutes! Good luck to you!

When we first got our pit a year ago, he had on a simple flat, nylon collar. Seemed to work, but I think the material in the collar created a skin reaction–that or a combination of the material in the collar and the food he had been eating regularly at the shelter…so we moved to a different collar. From there we began leading with a regular leash, that had a traffic handle also–seemed to be okay, until he saw other dogs or squirrels/rabbits. He was just too excited!

We were recommended to try the Gentle Leader, which we did…but at first had a heck of a time figuring out how it best fit our pup. There are some with snaps and others without–we had the one without–made fitting take more time. After a few times with it, O’Shea realized he couldn’t tug like he used to…and yes would throw fits, but walked decently well–always used treats as reinforcers.

After some time, we got a hold of a harness, that has seemed to work real well for him. Yes, he still gets excited when meeting other dogs, but we always try to make him sit/wait, and if he does well, we give lots of praise (but should probably carry more treats from time to time with us, to keep things consistent). I’d like to get him back to using the Gentle Leader, as it has worked…but as it has been stated before, each dog is different

Initially, after reading the initial comment on this thread, my emotions took over. I am, by nature, a woman–we are born to be emotional beings, and I am true to that, right down to the ‘t.’

However, when it came to adopting our pit, it was all about how we connected with him on ALL levels. We took the time to research the breed, to decide if it was indeed the best for us. We knew it’d be a challenge in the beginning, simply because pitbulls are known for their stubborn nature and strength. HOWEVER, this was not going to stop us from weighing the pros and cons of owning a pit. Our community has no ban on pits, but rather “vicious” animals. We took walks with him weekly for two months straight before we decided he was right for us–my husband’s in construction and I am a music teacher. We took him out into our community immediately, to get him acquainted with any and all who may meet him someday.

We’ve owned other dogs in our families–labs, husky mixes, retrievers…none have been so obedient, intelligent, and lovable as our pitbull. I sympathize with the loss of your pet–BELIEVE me, if something (dog or not) had killed a pet of mine, I’d be devastated, and would want justice. But we’re taking steps in our family to ensure the safety of all around us, including that of our pitbull, O’Shea. We’d be doing him a HUGE dis-service if we didn’t train him, and continue this training throughout his life.