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Hmm; I never even thought of a subtle look as a possibility. We’d love to go on walks with our neighbor dogs; we just don’t have many dogs that are direct neighbors…we do have one that is a pit bull/mastiff mix–he’s a big boy! 😛 And our dog seems to like him a lot–wants to play with him. I’ll try the treat thing sometime, and hopefully when we see the shepherds again he won’t freak out. 🙂
Yeah, he’s fixed. It was just weird how he kind of snarled like that; has never done that before, and hasn’t since that time. He’s an angel–was just weird. 😛
I know sometimes our dog chews on his feet to get at junk that may be stuck in his nails…or else if his feet are a bit dry. I’m not sure what else may cause something like that–food allergies? It seems dogs can be real sensitive, and allergies can cause a wide range of things. Hope others are able to give their opinions, too…and I hope you find the reason and that his feet get on the mend. 🙂
That’s ridiculous! Our dog is usually never interested in anybody who isn’t interested in him. If people walk the other way or go to the other side of the street, he just keeps prancing along, smiling all the way.
And why don’t people realize that, if you allow a dog to approach you and he/she is wagging their tail, that means they are HAPPY?? Since when did a wagging tail mean hate? Some humans…I know we’ve all made mistakes, but if you’re going to have these opinions, be able to back it up some way. I have not met a single person who has these views who has been able to express to me reasons based on personal experiences; it’s usually “oh, I read on the news” or “I heard it through the grapevine.”
I’m just grateful we have sites, such as these, where we can lift each other up, share stories, and spread good word about this breed. Honestly, this dog is the best animal I’ve ever had; other dogs never allow me to grab things out of their mouth, but I open his jaws and grab things he shouldn’t have in there–brush his teeth–he’s just the sweetest thing, and will continue to be so when we have children.
My husband’s uncle commented on a photo album we had made up on another web page, and basically told us to not have a child during the duration of our dog’s life–that “losing a child will hollow a person out; you’ll never be able to forgive yourself.” After that, my husband and I searched for various websites concerning the pit bull breed–and sent them all to him. And the only reply we received was “hmm, so you used a website (www.pitbullregistry.com, or something like that; had the word ‘pitbull’ in it) that has the word ‘pitbull’ in it; think they’re a little biased.” It was ridiculous–and then he added “if I wanted to info about music, I’d go to http://www.choralsociety (or something similar), DUH.” Ah, I love ignorant people! GOSH
But thank you for your comment. I believe my husband and I are doing all the right things in bringing our pit up. He is being socialized, exercised, has gone through basic obedience classes, and as soon as another opportunity arises, we will enroll him in advanced classes. 🙂
That is a hard one. Did you adopt him from a shelter or rescue area? Did he come from a breeder? My husband and I started feeding our dog food that the shelter normally feeds him (as well as giving lots of nutritional treats for training times)–Purina One (Adult). Many of the ingredients listed (at least top 5) were decent–a meat was number one, need something with fat, grains/rice, etc… He had no problems with these, but when he got sick after getting into something that didn’t sit well with him, we got a few cans of moist food to help regulate his tummy. Natural Balance is a great food that uses all natural ingredients–our dog trainer recommended it. After our first bag of Purina One, we decided it might be nice to try something else, to see if food was the reason he has kept biting at his tail, chewing on a few spots on his legs (he seems to have dry skin in these areas). We are now transitioning him to Eukanuba, and that has always had a decent reputation–have never heard anything bad.
Has your dog ever been tested for allergies? I know if a dog has certain allergies to ingredients–chicken, rice, fish, etc.–that could be a cause of why he’s not eating? I have no idea how animals are tested for allergies, but it could be something to look into.
Other than that, maybe doing a mix of moist and dry. Some dogs will only eat like that; some only kibble, some only organic stuff–guess they can be just like humans who are picky eaters. 😛
We did our research through our volunteering at a shelter (2 months), and during this time, grew more and more attached to O’Shea (as he did to us)…we then read up more and more on pit bulls and what it would mean for us as dog owners to bring him into our house. It’s been the best thing that has happened to us (next to our wedding day, that is, lol). :)I’m really looking forward to hearing your story about how you might come across the dog for you.
I can totally relate. When we first picked up O’Shea from the shelter and brought him home, so many in our neighborhood had that stereotypical view of pit bulls. They would see us walking toward them, and they would either a) walk on the opposite side of the street or b) turn their travel away from us. My husband was on one walk where a family (mom/dad and kids, with a stroller) was going to be approaching, but once seeing them, turned to each other, whispered to the other, and turned around/walked the other way–it was just ridiculous.
It is indeed ignorance, but keep on keeping on–fight the good fight, as it were. You have been one to see these animals for what they are–creatures in need of loving care, just like any human being. And look at what happens to humans when they aren’t given love, care, and respect they deserve? If able, obedience classes always help. Ours just graduated (still having some trouble with loose leash walking), but far exceeds all other scales when it comes to listening and obeying. The more you get out, the better, and even if you meet just one person in a day (or maybe week, sometimes) who gets to know more about pit bulls because of the love and care you decided to give, and then share with that person–the better off our world will be. 🙂
I’m a new owner of pits, too, and right from the get-go our number one priority was to socialize our O’Shea with people and other pets in our neighborhood (as long as they were willing). We enrolled him in basic obedience classes, too, covering sit-stay-down-off-heel-leave it. Ours is having some trouble with heel, simply because he has such energy and loves everything he sees–but he’s doing much better. If your dog ever eats something that upsets their stomach, I know you’re supposed to take food away for 24 hours, just so you can make sure it’s the thing he ate that’s upsetting him, not the food. After that, gradually reintroduce food in small increments; sometimes a small mix of soft/moist and kibble works (at least that’s what we did). Also when they are first sick, they should drive small amounts of water (1/2 to a full cup), and if they don’t drink that, at least get ice chips in ’em. I know our pit bull loves ice chips anyway. 🙂
and of course, LOVE EM, LOVE EM, LOVE EM!! I think that’s priority number one (and socialize number two). 🙂 Good luck!
Thanks for the great advice! It’s amazing how well he’s doing when we go on walks (the rabbits and squirrels still excite him a bit, lol). He stops/sits before crossing a street (he’s almost to the point of doing it without being asked), and doesn’t pull as much when approaching new people to meet. At least once or twice a week, we meet someone new in town who meets him and says, “He’s so sweet. Yeah, I know people who have pit bulls, and they are the sweetest dogs I know.” Just makes my heart soar.
More and more when we walk by and people see how well behaved he is: when he sits/stays, and especially while we’re walking and he’s smiling, they smile back. I have to say I couldn’t have wished for a better dog. He adds so much to our lives, and no one will take that from us…no one. 🙂 Thanks again! And yes, the ball is definitely in our court, and we’re here to play!
Thank you so much for your comment! We were thinking a female would be a good companion/friend for him. What would be a good way to introduce a crate to your pet? Our dog, O’Shea, has not been in a crate. We do have a kennel outside, but need to finish building a roof for it. My husband is away for much of the day, Mon-Fri, with work…and once school starts again, I will be away for at least 8 hours teaching, Mon-Fri. Is there any good way to prep a dog for this?
It seems everyday people are more accepting of our dog. Using the Gentle Leader with him while on walks seems to help with his excited spirit. I wish we didn’t have to curb that excitement, but he does pull a bit and rush ahead when he wants to meet new people and pets–when people see a pit bull pulling like that, they think, “Oh, gosh, they’re coming to get me,” or something along those lines. But what they fail to see is his tail is wagging the ENTIRE TIME–and it may just be me, but when I see an animal wagging their tail, it’s a sign of happiness. 🙂 I have heard that people sometimes have to pay more for insurance, if you own a pit, as opposed to a lab or something else.
Keep us updated when you are able to get a pet. 🙂 Hope it all goes well for you!
Hi there! I’m new to this site, too, and a newer owner of a pit bull. My husband and I have had our dog, O’Shea, for a month now, and he’s been the greatest addition to our house. We were first told from the shelter where we adopted him that our town had a pit bull ban (which we knew was incorrect, since we wouldn’t have put him down as an option if we couldn’t get him)…after this comment, we went straight to the source, our city hall, and asked about bans relating to specific breeds of dog. I don’t know much about the insurance thing. As far as food goes, it all depends on the size of the dog. Ours is medium, just under 50 pounds, and we’ve been following the directions on his dog food bag (Purina One: Adult), feeding him about 2 1/4 cups of food a day, altering when he gets extra treats (milk bones, Greenies, etc.).
We’ve received a lot of criticism from family members, as well as some indirect, “silent” words from members of the community. People will see us walking him down the sidewalk, they’ll turn around and walk the other way, simply to avoid walking by us. All we want is to socialize him as much as possible–he’s been taking obedience classes to help with his excitement in meeting new people/animals. He’s been doing awesome–people just need to give him a chance. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I am more than happy to share more about our experience with our pit bull. Best of luck to you!
