# When u fear ur dog



## lil kountry (Aug 31, 2011)

I have had my girl Jade since she was 5 weeks old. Shes always been very active and hyper. I didnt have any trouble house training or teching her simple commands. She has been a great family pet. I got my male when he was 6 weeks old. They have grown up together and always got a long. We just recently brought in a kitten. They both like the kitten as well. My problem is Jade turned 2 about 4 months ago. Ever since she turned 2 shes acting very bad. She wont follow simple commands that she has been following since she was a puppy. She seems more agressive than ever. When ppl come in my house I have to crate her because she narks and growls so viciously it scares everyone. She growled at my 6 year old the other day for no reason. She still gets along fine with my male and the kitten but shes scaring the heck out of me!! I have never feared any dog and I have owned 4 pits in my lifetime. She hasnt tried to bite anyone but the other day she was playing outside in our yard and one of my daughters friends came in the yard and she growled at her and chased her back out of the fence. This is not normal behavior for her. I hate to even think about putting her down but I cant live with a dog that I fear. When she growled at my daughter it almost caused a big problem because my male got up and I thought he would attach her. Shew I havent ever seen this happen and I have worried myself sick over this. Can anyone please tell me what to do? I am so confused.


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

your right when you said it almost caused a problem its one of the many things that dog fights break out over. At 2 years old she is just maturing and there may be a dominance issue here doesnt sound like she looks at you or your family as the boss , Id really look into a trainer if I were you someone who knows the breed { not a petsmart trainer lol}. At 2 years old you may even see DA { dog aggression or even animal aggression} start to appear more. Not sure what your set up is but if you arent able to supervise or when noone is home I would deff have the dogs crated seperately and away from the kitten , you could come home to a blood bath if you leave the dogs out together or one of them out with the cat. They may get along fine but it takes 2 seconds for fine to go to bad and it has happened to alot of us on here its just in there genetics. Human aggression shouldnt be tolerated so her growling and being aggressive to people should not be tolerated , Id deff have a trainer come help you with her , if you cant fix this problem euthanizing should be the option BEFORE rehomming. { you can talk to performance kennel im sure she will be on here but she knows of some trainers maybe one near you}


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## k8nkane (Jul 9, 2010)

Make sure you also double-check for any medical issues.


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

Have a trainer evaluate her!!! If this is truly HA human aggression you need to put her down. Its sadbut nessisary for the safety of othets especially the children. Talk to lisa and good luck!


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## dixieland (Aug 14, 2009)

I know there are quite a few people that will probably disagree with me here,but the minute she would have growled at my child or another child I would have had her PTS.There is no room in my family for a dog like that.Even if there is something medically wrong with a dog I will not tolerate it acting like that towards my kids.Their safety comes first.And you cannot rehome her and risk her falling into wrong hands and biting someone else.


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## k8nkane (Jul 9, 2010)

dixieland said:


> Even if there is something medically wrong with a dog I will not tolerate it acting like that towards my kids.


I don't understand this viewpoint. And I'm not trying to start anything, just trying to understand. If a dog has something medically wrong with it, that it can't control, then why would you just PTS the dog instead of trying to fix it? There are steps you can take to manage the situation so nothing happens to your kids in the meantime. It's like saying that someone who has seizures should be PTS because they started thrashing around and knocked into someone.


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

k8nkane said:


> I don't understand this viewpoint. And I'm not trying to start anything, just trying to understand. If a dog has something medically wrong with it, that it can't control, then why would you just PTS the dog instead of trying to fix it? There are steps you can take to manage the situation so nothing happens to your kids in the meantime. It's like saying that someone who has seizures should be PTS because they started thrashing around and knocked into someone.


Because only someone with a blatant disregard for there childs saftey would take the risk and endanger there child like that. Imho


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

see im between you 2 , Id want to look into medical issues or training behaviour this sounds like a dog that hasnt had proper boundarys and leadership and is now challenging this, But would I have this dog in the yard or running free with my kid ? NO , the dog would be inthe kennel away from other dogs and other people other then myself. I would work the dog seperatley in order to keep my kids safe. I wouldnt be quick to euthanize in this case especially with the only aggression being some growls , may be different if it was more then that and full out aggression. But I wouldnt have rehomming as an option.


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## pitbullmamanatl (Jun 1, 2010)

k8nkane said:


> I don't understand this viewpoint. And I'm not trying to start anything, just trying to understand. If a dog has something medically wrong with it, that it can't control, then why would you just PTS the dog instead of trying to fix it? There are steps you can take to manage the situation so nothing happens to your kids in the meantime. It's like saying that someone who has seizures should be PTS because they started thrashing around and knocked into someone.





Aireal said:


> Because only someone with a blatant disregard for there childs saftey would take the risk and endanger there child like that. Imho


What Aireal and Dixie said.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

As Dosia matured and turned 2 he became more DA, and we had to do a lot more to keep up his training but he has never once acted aggressive to us, our son, or friends coming to the house. If there is something wrong with the dog mentally, or if it is truly HA sadly being PTS is the best thing for every one involved. If the dog is HA then as Dixie said re homing the dog would be irresponsible, as it could hurt someone else or their children. Go to a professional trainer and have the dog evaluated, then you can take the next step to either PTS or do some serious training.


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## APBT4LYFE (Jun 19, 2011)

I dont understand why everyone is talking about rehoming putting the dog down or what not, before you even think of any thing like that what you should do is get a behaviorist over and see whats up. That will ultimately determine the outcome of your next decision. Meanwhile you need to correct your dog when ever it growls or barks etc..Make sure your dog see you as the Alpha in the home.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

We are all saying PTS if the dog is truly HA. HA is not a trait in this breed and is most often the result of bad breeding. Knowing how strong and powerful this breed is it would be the best this to PTS if the dog is truly HA. Rehoming the dog just pawns the problem off on someone else, it doesn't fix it.


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## k8nkane (Jul 9, 2010)

*Never correct for growling.* Growling is valuable communication. It's a warning the dog is uncomfortable/anxious/whatever and you need to back off. If you correct for growling, it will stop growling, and go straight to biting.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

k8nkane said:


> *Never correct for growling.* Growling is valuable communication. It's a warning the dog is uncomfortable/anxious/whatever and you need to back off. If you correct for growling, it will stop growling, and go straight to biting.


I'm gunna have to disagree here. I would never let the dog growl at my child, not correcting is making it ok for the dog to continue this behavior and that is wrong.


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## k8nkane (Jul 9, 2010)

The dog growls, you know something is going on and can immediately fix the situation.

If the dog growls and you keep correcting, it will stop growling, yes. But the next time it feels the urge to growl to express how uncomfortable it is, it will remember being corrected for it and, to avoid the correction, won't growl. So you don't know how uncomfortable the dog is becoming. Eventually, you push it too far and the dog finally snaps and bites.

Yes, pits are not bred to bite. But they're also dogs, and if you take away one valuable communication like growling, what else do they have to communicate and express their point? It's either growling or biting, and I, for one, would rather have them growl than have them feel like they have to resort to biting because they were punished for growling.


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## k8nkane (Jul 9, 2010)

Also, correcting the dog for growling isn't fixing the real issue of why it growled. You're just telling the dog that if it growls, it will be corrected/punished. The point is to figure out why the dog felt the need to growl, not to tell mask the problem by telling it it can't growl.


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## dixieland (Aug 14, 2009)

k8nkane said:


> I don't understand this viewpoint. And I'm not trying to start anything, just trying to understand. If a dog has something medically wrong with it, that it can't control, then why would you just PTS the dog instead of trying to fix it? There are steps you can take to manage the situation so nothing happens to your kids in the meantime. It's like saying that someone who has seizures should be PTS because they started thrashing around and knocked into someone.


You cannot even compare the two.
There are too many good animals that need good homes than to waste time on an unstable dog,and hope it doesn't happen again.IMHO there is no reason whatsoever for a dog to growl at child,especially if the child does nothing to warrant such behaviour.And you not only need to consider what happens to your dog,but everybody else's should something happen.The last thing this breed needs is more unstable dogs running around,


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

IMO correcting the dog for aggression towards the child was the right thing. If she didn't then the dog might have bit. There is a huge difference between a dog that growls at noises and a dog that growls at it's family.


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## dixieland (Aug 14, 2009)

kg420 said:


> IMO correcting the dog for aggression towards the child was the right thing. If she didn't then the dog might have bit. There is a huge difference between a dog that growls at noises and a dog that growls at it's family.


I agree.There would have been a whole lot of correcting if it had been me.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

Exactly. I can see not correcting a dog that growls at noises or at the door, but when the dog is showing aggression and growling at it's family members and kids, that is in no way ok and that behavior needs to be corrected and stopped.


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## k8nkane (Jul 9, 2010)

We will have to agree to disagree, then. I clearly believe something different based on what I've seen, and the same with you guys. That's the way it is sometimes.


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

kg420 said:


> Exactly. I can see not correcting a dog that growls at noises or at the door, but when the dog is showing aggression and growling at it's family members and kids, that is in no way ok and that behavior needs to be corrected and stopped.


:goodpost:


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

dixieland said:


> You cannot even compare the two.
> There are too many good animals that need good homes than to waste time on an unstable dog,and hope it doesn't happen again.IMHO there is no reason whatsoever for a dog to growl at child,especially if the child does nothing to warrant such behaviour.And you not only need to consider what happens to your dog,but everybody else's should something happen.The last thing this breed needs is more unstable dogs running around,


110% agree :goodpost: :goodpost: :goodpost:



kg420 said:


> IMO correcting the dog for aggression towards the child was the right thing. If she didn't then the dog might have bit. There is a huge difference between a dog that growls at noises and a dog that growls at it's family.


:goodpost:


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## ames (Jun 6, 2010)

It also seems that the growls could be related to protection of territory. The situations described like the back yard and a stranger something in the fenced yard. The pup could have been protecting the child that lives their from the intruder. I would not put the dog down unless a trainer made the suggestion after evaluating the dog. Good luck!


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## Xiahko (Feb 24, 2010)

IMO no one should EVER be scared of their dog. If there is no training or medical issue involved here(she's spayed correct?)
I would put her down.


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## BlueBabies (Jul 15, 2011)

i have had this exact same issue. only mine didn't growl at my daugther ( he wouldn't be here today if he had) he growled at me and my boyfriend. and he's about to turn 2 also. i'm really starting to think they may have hit the terrible 2's. 

I've seen where some of you have posted about correcting growling. how do you do that. when mine growled at me i put him outside and away from us. i didn't want to do anything that would make him want to go further than growling. how do you correcting growling without the risk of being bitten?


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## lil kountry (Aug 31, 2011)

I understand some of your concerns. My dog has been trained. Both of my dogs are fixed. I dont understand. My daughterhave been taught how to treat animals as well. Jade always barked to let me know someone was coming but never growled at anyone. The day she ran the other little girl out of the fence was also the day she growled at my 6 year old. Im not stupid. I never leave my dogs alone together or with the kitten. She still gets along fine with both of them. Now my problem is I dont let her out when anyone is here. Shes sad and I am too. Thanks for all the advice I am going to have her checked and evaluated. If there is nothing else I can do I will have her put down. This has got to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.


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## Aireal (Jul 2, 2010)

lil kountry said:


> I understand some of your concerns. My dog has been trained. Both of my dogs are fixed. I dont understand. My daughterhave been taught how to treat animals as well. Jade always barked to let me know someone was coming but never growled at anyone. The day she ran the other little girl out of the fence was also the day she growled at my 6 year old. Im not stupid. I never leave my dogs alone together or with the kitten. She still gets along fine with both of them. Now my problem is I dont let her out when anyone is here. Shes sad and I am too. Thanks for all the advice I am going to have her checked and evaluated. If there is nothing else I can do I will have her put down. This has got to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.


Glad to see your taking this seriously and level headed, good luck to you and your pup I hope it was a fluke!!!


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## EL CUCO (Jul 25, 2011)

Hmmmm...to growl or not to growl?

Both arguments can be made but at the end...my common sense tells me DO NOT ALLOW GROWLING.

The dog will find other ways to communicate that it will not get corrected for...its not like the dog is having a convo thru a growl.

A growl usually is a warning followed by aggressive behavior. Which is why it needs to be corrected before it gets worst.

I think it can be corrected thru hard work, and lots of attention....unless it has been trained to be that way since puppy hood...like a lot of guard dogs are.


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## dday (Oct 5, 2010)

dixieland said:


> I know there are quite a few people that will probably disagree with me here,but the minute she would have growled at my child or another child I would have had her PTS.There is no room in my family for a dog like that.Even if there is something medically wrong with a dog I will not tolerate it acting like that towards my kids.Their safety comes first.And you cannot rehome her and risk her falling into wrong hands and biting someone else.


I for one, do not disagree with you. I agree with you 100%
If one of my dogs EVER growled at one of my children, that would be the last time. I hate to sound harsh, but! You can NOT take a chance when it comes to your children, ever!
If it was just you, and your husband, then you may want to risk it. Not with a child. And don't ever let a strange child around her ever again. If she bit a child you would never forgive yourself. That's my 2 cents.


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## aus_staffy (Nov 10, 2009)

I'm going to have to agree with the "no second chance" crew on this one. If a dog did what the OP describes at my house it would be PTS.

As for the growling well there are growls and growls. Roxy is a growler naturally. She growls when she's excited and happy and it's part of her vocalisation. However, she has a different growl where she bares teeth and she only does this when she's barking at something outside the house or over the fence. If she did that one to a family member she would be PTS. I have seen her do it to *one* human and that guy was a stranger who had tagged along with my friend to a BBQ I was having. I didn't like him the instant I met him and neither did Roxy.


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## motocross308 (Oct 5, 2010)

It seems to be testing the pack order to me .
The fact that it scares you is compounding the trouble and places the dog ahead of you .


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## lil kountry (Aug 31, 2011)

It didnt scare me until I thought she would bite my daughter. I think something is wrong with her. We are going to the vet tomorrow and to the trainer that trained her to begin with. I am not taking chances with my daughter. Since this happened she is not allowed around my kids. I posted this to see if anyone had any ideas as to what could be going on with her. I will not just put her to sleep without knowing if there is something wrong with her.


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## PerfectPit (Aug 2, 2010)

I have to agree. I wouldn't tolerate a dog growling at a child. I believe when it comes to adults that it is a whole different story. Dogs are very intuitive they know when people are "bad". Both my dogs are very loving towards people even strangers except for this one guy. Every time he came around or passed our house they both would growl. A few months ago the neighbors were robbed. Guess who was arrested. Some of their property was found in his house. I believe they were warning him that our house was not the house to mess with. He then chose the neighbors to steal from.


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

You know Marley acted like that with this one guy that was friends with my ex. I'd have to put him in my room whenever he came over or he'd throw a fit. He ended up robbing my ex's mom for all her rent money so he knew this guy was up to something.


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## dixieland (Aug 14, 2009)

dday said:


> I for one, do not disagree with you. I agree with you 100%
> If one of my dogs EVER growled at one of my children, that would be the last time. I hate to sound harsh, but! You can NOT take a chance when it comes to your children, ever!
> If it was just you, and your husband, then you may want to risk it. Not with a child. And don't ever let a strange child around her ever again. If she bit a child you would never forgive yourself. That's my 2 cents.


:goodpost:


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## HeavyJeep (May 7, 2011)

dixieland said:


> :goodpost:


:goodpost::goodpost:

shoot.. a dog of mine growls at a kid of mine with negative intentions or thoughts.. Dirt Nap.. sorry


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## stonerreakinhavok (May 22, 2011)

k8nkane said:


> *Never correct for growling.* Growling is valuable communication. It's a warning the dog is uncomfortable/anxious/whatever and you need to back off. If you correct for growling, it will stop growling, and go straight to biting.


to me thats a double edge sword if you will. yes its a warning but its also a sign of aggression. aggression shouldnt be tolerated especially toward children. but dogs sense bad intentions ashleys little cousin always harrasses animal like bad smackin em hard and pullin ears and tales hella hard like torturing the animals, tini met him one and just didnt like him at all but my niece and nephew play with him and theres never a growl just smiles and waggin tails, if he did growl at em he would been done made that very clear to ashley and she agreed.

on a side note her cousin bought a goat and the little kid that tini didnt like tried to mess with it and the kid got head butted. some people should teach there kids that animals should be respected or they will hurt you just sayin...


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## Black Rabbit (Nov 14, 2009)

^ word!!!


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## Hyde (Aug 30, 2011)

lil kountry said:


> I have had my girl Jade since she was 5 weeks old. Shes always been very active and hyper. I didnt have any trouble house training or teching her simple commands. She has been a great family pet. I got my male when he was 6 weeks old. They have grown up together and always got a long. We just recently brought in a kitten. They both like the kitten as well. My problem is Jade turned 2 about 4 months ago. Ever since she turned 2 shes acting very bad. She wont follow simple commands that she has been following since she was a puppy. She seems more agressive than ever. When ppl come in my house I have to crate her because she narks and growls so viciously it scares everyone. She growled at my 6 year old the other day for no reason. She still gets along fine with my male and the kitten but shes scaring the heck out of me!! I have never feared any dog and I have owned 4 pits in my lifetime. She hasnt tried to bite anyone but the other day she was playing outside in our yard and one of my daughters friends came in the yard and she growled at her and chased her back out of the fence. This is not normal behavior for her. I hate to even think about putting her down but I cant live with a dog that I fear. When she growled at my daughter it almost caused a big problem because my male got up and I thought he would attach her. Shew I havent ever seen this happen and I have worried myself sick over this. Can anyone please tell me what to do? I am so confused.


when i was a kid, a bulldog once growled at me, and my pa saw it. the dog was dead five minutes later. dont know why he growled, and i loved him, but my pa told me if they do it once it the last time they will. with this breed and the bad image already on em, one bite can ruin it for many that dont bite. it not fair to the many good dogs to let one bad apple ruin the whole batch.


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## circlemkennels (Aug 29, 2010)

dixieland said:


> I know there are quite a few people that will probably disagree with me here,but the minute she would have growled at my child or another child I would have had her PTS.There is no room in my family for a dog like that.Even if there is something medically wrong with a dog I will not tolerate it acting like that towards my kids.Their safety comes first.And you cannot rehome her and risk her falling into wrong hands and biting someone else.


:goodpost::goodpost::goodpost: i agree 100% lisa.. the first time a dog growled at one of my kids would be the last time it growled.. i wouldnt ever take that chance of something else happening


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## rob32 (Sep 22, 2010)

i wouldnt just have the dog euthanized or pts, i would blow its damn head off. i dont care if its medical reasons either, dog gets dead, end of story.


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