What to do with an aggressive pit bull?
If your pit bull is aggressive with other dogs or towards people, it is vital that you do not ignore this behavior or put off treatment for later. If you do not consult the situation immediately, it may be too late to control the situation effectively: aggressiveness is a serious behavioral problem that must be treated promptly. In fact, it should be addressed from the first moment you notice any signs, even if they are slight.
In fact, it is important to start training your dog from when it is a puppy. All puppies, especially pit bull puppies need to be trained adequately in socialization and proper management. We suggest always using positive reinforcement, as this from of training has proved to be very successful.
Does your pitbull spend a lot of time alone?
Are pit bulls bad? Absolutely not! In spite of their bad reputation, the pit bull is a very sociable dog and relishes time spent with its family. They do not usually deal very well with loneliness and can develop behavior problems if they spend too much time alone or are ignored by their guardians. In general, a healthy adult dog should not spend more than 6 or 8 hours a day alone.
If you want your pit bull to maintain a balanced temperament, remember to reserve time to play with it, share leisure time and exercise with your best friend.
Dog nutrition is a key aspect to ensure good health and balanced behavior. A diet deficient and poor in essential nutrients may reflected negatively in the behavior of our dogs. In addition, the dogs must have a complete and balanced diet in order to develop their physical, cognitive, emotional and social capabilities.
We recommend that you seek the guidance of a veterinarian to ensure that your pit bulls diet is of high quality and meets its basic nutritional requirements.
While a dog’s genetics may predispose it to behave in certain ways, genetics do not exist in a vacuum. Rather, behavior develops through a complex interaction between environment and genetics. This is an especially important consideration when we look at an individual dog versus a breed. Many diverse and sometimes subtle factors influence the development of behavior, including, but not limited to, early nutrition, stress levels experienced by the mother during pregnancy, and even temperature in the womb. And when it comes to influencing the behavior of an individual dog, factors such as housing conditions and the history of social interactions play pivotal roles in behavioral development. The factors that feed into the expression of behavior are so inextricably intertwined that it’s usually impossible to point to any one specific influence that accounts for a dog becoming aggressive. This is why there is such variation in behavior between individual dogs, even when they are of the same breed and bred for the same purpose. Because of the impact of experience, the pit bull specifically bred for generations to be aggressive may not fight with dogs and the Labrador retriever bred to be a service dog may be aggressive toward people.
Dog breeds are characterized by certain physical and behavioral traits. Each breed was developed to perform a specific job, whether that job is hunting rabbits, retrieving downed birds, herding livestock or sitting on people’s laps. When developing a breed, breeders selected only those dogs that performed their job best to produce the next generation.
Physical abilities and behavior are both important facets of any breed. A well-bred dog should have both the physical attributes necessary to perform its job and the behavioral tendencies needed to learn it. It’s not surprising that individuals of a specific breed tend to look and behave somewhat similarly. Pointers are more likely than Poodles to point, and sheepdogs are more likely than lapdogs to herd. However, while a dog’s genetics may predispose it to perform certain behaviors, tremendous behavioral variation exists among individuals of the same breed or breed type. It’s also important to note that some dog breeds are now bred for entirely different jobs than those for which they were originally developed. For example, certain strains of Golden Retrievers are now being bred as service dogs, a far cry from their original job of retrieving downed birds.
Laws that ban particular breeds of dogs do not achieve these aims and instead create the illusion, but not the reality, of enhanced public safety. Notably, there are no statewide laws that discriminate based on dog breed, and 18 states have taken the proactive step of expressly banning laws that single out particular breeds for disparate legal treatment. Even the White House has weighed in against laws that target specific breeds. In a a statement issued in 2013, President Obama said “[w]e don’t support breed-specific legislation—research shows that bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources. And the simple fact is that dogs of any breed can become dangerous when they’re intentionally or unintentionally raised to be aggressive.”
The reality is that dogs of many breeds can be selectively bred or trained to develop aggressive traits. Therefore the responsible ownership of any dog requires a commitment to proper socialization, humane training and conscientious supervision. Despite our best efforts, there will always be dogs of various breeds that are simply too dangerous to live safely in society. We can effectively address the danger posed by these dogs by supporting the passage and vigorous enforcement of laws that focus, not on breed, but on people’s responsibility for their dogs’ behavior, including measures that hold owners of all breeds accountable for properly housing, supervising and controlling their dogs. Breed neutral “dangerous dog” laws, “leash laws” that prohibit dogs from running loose off their owners’ property, and “anti chaining” laws can control the behavior of individual dogs and individual owners and thereby help reduce the risk of harm to people and other animals.
At what age do pitbulls become aggressive?
The Pit Bull is a purpose-bred dog. Historically, Pit Bulls were bred as a hunting dog of large game. Later, the Pit Bull served as a farm dog and butcher’s tool for taking down bulls for slaughter. Later still, the dog was bred to fight other dogs for money and entertainment. This purpose-breeding has given the Pit Bull behavior attributes that may not be desirable to all prospective owners.
The Pit Bull is strong, intelligent, and has been bred for a willingness to “test their mettle” against larger animals and other dogs. It is not uncommon for Pit Bulls to not get along with other dogs; especially dogs of the same sex and dogs that are not neutered or spayed. This by far is not always the case with this breed, but the predisposition for varying levels of dog-aggressive behavior is very much there. It is important for the potential owner of a Pit Bull to be realistic with their expectations of their new dog, and to be prepared to have a wonderful family dog that may not be able to socialize with other dogs. This is especially true of someone that is adopting or buying a puppy.
A benefit to adopting a young adult or full grown Pit Bull is that their behavior is more fixed and reliable. Contrary to what many well-intentioned but incorrectly informed new owners think, a Pit Bull’s behavior is not influenced only by how you raise them.