Can he be "fixed"? (VERY LONG)

[Kaybie's Mom]

Kaybie's buddy Tyson (aprx 1 year old unneutered male pitbull) has a few aggression issues. Let me clarify, when he is at his own home, he is wonderful.....greets everyone, including strangers coming into the home with a wagging tail and will flip over and let them rub his belly. My friend almost wishes he was more protective of the house LOL. He's GREAT with kids as she has a 6 year old and a 5 month old and there have been zero issues with them. The 6 year old can take food or toys or bones right out of Tyson's mouth with no problems. The problem comes when he is at my house. When it's just me, he's the great dog that I've always known since he was a 8 week old little puppy. He's been coming to my house for playdates on and off since he was about 3 months old. During the times he's been at my house, I've had a different friend's kids over to play and he was fine with them, even rode in the car with the kids and Kaybie and was fine. Then that day, my BF came up the driveway (Tyson had never met him). Kaybie and Tyson were in the fenced in yard (we were all in the driveway outside the fence). Tyson came to the fence snarling and growling and barking at my BF. It was more than a warning bark, he was vicious. I'd never seen him like that. I blew it off and figured he was just protecting the yard. Then about a month or so later, Tyson was staying the night at my house while my friend was out of town. My BF came over that evening and Kaybie went running to the door to greet him and Tyson followed. I held on to Tyson's collar just so he wouldn't fly out the door (he's not trained very well). Well as soon as my BF walked in the house, Tyson turned into a vicious beast. I held him by the collar and had to use all my strength not to let him get to my BF as he snarled and tried to lunge at him. I am 100% certain that if I had not been holding his collar, Tyson would have attacked him. It really freaked me out because he's such a sweet dog but then turned into a maniac. I put Tyson in Kaybie's crate and we closed the door to let him calm down. He barked continuously in the crate. So I went in the room alone and he was instant wiggles and tail wags and licked me through the crate. Then my BF came in the room very calmly and Tyson went back into attack mode and was even lunging inside the crate. We tried tons of things to see if Tyson would be nice to my BF while still in the crate. With how he was acting, it wouldn't have been safe to let him out of the crate. My BF got one of his favorite toys and tried to show it to him, talked nicely to him, talked firmly to him, etc.......nothing calmed him down..........eventually I had to put him in the enclosed back porch to make him settle down and he finally fell asleep. I was thinking maybe it was just something about my BF that Tyson didn't like, but then the next day, my mom came by.......my mom is scared of pitbulls just because.......Tyson was in the backyard and she went up to the fence and got on his level (with me there also) and was talking very nicely to him just like I do. He wagged his tail when he looked at me, but then looked at her and gave her a low deep warning bark. Then he'd look back at me and he was wagging his tail. I was seriously bummed because my mom is terrified of him even more now and will not come in my house when he's there unless I put him in the backyard. I honestly can't say I blame her with how he acted. I told my friend about these instances and she was shocked to say the least.......said she's never seen him act like what I described. Then a month or so later, she called me and told me that a different friend was watching Tyson for an afternoon for her and someone came by their house and he did exactly what I described with how he acted with my BF, but not quite so severly. She is blown away and neither of us really know what to do with how he's acting. When he's home, he's a sweetheart.....when he's with me at my house and no one comes over, he's a sweetheart. I've already talked to her about getting him neutered and I think I'm close to winning that battle because she wants to do it but her husband doesn't. She also knows 100% that he needs formal training but she just doesn't have time and her DH isn't being very great right now (they might separate). She works full time 3rd shift and goes to school full time during the day and is raising a 6 year old and a 5 month old at the same time. Needless to say, she's overwhelmed. Her DH brought Tyson home as an 8 week old puppy without even telling her and now he won't help in taking care of Tyson. My friend loves Tyson to death and would break her heart to let him go, but I fear it may come to that eventually because she is so overwhelmed. I have considered keeping Tyson myself as I love him and him and Kaybie are such buddies, but with these issues, I can't bring him into my home on a permanent basis. Please tell me if these things are fixable and how to go about it. I'm going to tell my friend that I will take Tyson to training classes but since he's not with me full time, I doubt they will do much good with no one having time to spend training him during the week. I'm at such a loss. Any advice is welcome (even if it's not what I want to hear).

 

[TossBranAbi]

Not sure if he can be "fixed" but you said he is fine at his house with strangers. I am assuming heis the only dog at his house? Is there anyway you can have Tyson be at home and your BF go over there and see if they can get a long. Also, have you ever separated Tyson and Kaybie and see if he still acts that way. If Tyson is well behaved at home, maybe when he is in the prescence of Kaybie, he feels he has to protect her. That may change after he is neutered.

 

[IluvLucy]

Has your BF spent much time with Tyson? From what you described, it sound like Tyson has accepted you as part of his "family" and was protecting you from what he saw as a threat. I don't have a lot of experience with pits, but with living with my son's AmStaff for the last 5 years I have learned that while she is slow to accept and trust newcomers(human or animal), once she does, she will protect them. Not sure if this is the case with Tyson, but it sounds like it from what you describe. That being said, the neutering is a good idea anyway so it should be done whether or not it helps with the agression or not.

 

[Louie's Mom]

This is an untrained, unneutered male dog and is being watched by females
It sounds like he's guarding "His" females against other people


His owners are being irresponsible pitbull (and dog in general) owners by not training him and then letting him stay at other peoples homes - this is an ignorant and dangerous thing to do.


Just because he acts like a "Sweetheart" doesn't mean he's a good stable dog - no dog is good and stable unless it's well trained

He needs firm training - and it sounds like it's not happening, this is a serious disaster waiting to happen.

It makes me sad because The American Pitbull Terrier is my favorite breed, and it's people like your friend who are making it harder and harder for true lovers of the breed to have our dogs.

Ignorance is deadly :(


Neuter and strict training - if that doesn't happen - then euthanasia, because we don't need another pitbull story in the news :( He's already tried to bite your husband/boyfriend - that's really bad Pitbulls are supposed to be solid human friendly dogs - not man biters.


I hope your friend does the right thing before it's too late - if you don't have time to properly care for a dog -DON'T GET ONE

 

[Kaybie's Mom]

This is an untrained, unneutered male dog and is being watched by females
It sounds like he's guarding "His" females against other people


His owners are being irresponsible pitbull (and dog in general) owners by not training him and then letting him stay at other peoples homes - this is an ignorant and dangerous thing to do.


Just because he acts like a "Sweetheart" doesn't mean he's a good stable dog - no dog is good and stable unless it's well trained

He needs firm training - and it sounds like it's not happening, this is a serious disaster waiting to happen.

It makes me sad because The American Pitbull Terrier is my favorite breed, and it's people like your friend who are making it harder and harder for true lovers of the breed to have our dogs.

Ignorance is deadly :(


Neuter and strict training - if that doesn't happen - then euthanasia, because we don't need another pitbull story in the news :( He's already tried to bite your husband/boyfriend - that's really bad Pitbulls are supposed to be solid human friendly dogs - not man biters.


I hope your friend does the right thing before it's too late - if you don't have time to properly care for a dog -DON'T GET ONE

Wow. I respect your opinion but verbally attacking my friend and calling her ignorant is a little unnecessary. She loves Tyson to death and her lack of time is something she is trying to work on.......there are only so many hours in the day. I understand your position and partly agree but at least I'm trying to get some constructive advice to see if he can be helped before something bad happens. And just to point out, she didn't get the dog......her DH brought him home without even talking to her about it (and like I said, things between them are bad....possibly even separating)......she literally woke up and there was a puppy in the living room. She never would have gone out and got a pup at this time in her life......but her heart is attached and she loves him dearly now.

 

[SILLY6PAK]

I do not think your friend was attacked. Love is not what makes an owner a good informed dog person. Not listening to these VERY serious warning signs would be a HUGE HUGE mistake. First the dog needs neutering ASAP. (why has it not been done?). At one year you are just seeng the tip of his real adult personality and it is not going o be pretty without some MAJOR time put into him. This is the beginnings of a dangerous dog.
P.S. You mentioned she didn't want the puppy but that was a aR ago. If she didn't have the time to PROPERLY socialize him she should have rehomed him, love or not. To love him would have been meeting his needs before this developed. PUT THE DOG FIRST.

 

[Roxy'sNewMom]

Wow. I respect your opinion but verbally attacking my friend and calling her ignorant is a little unnecessary. She loves Tyson to death and her lack of time is something she is trying to work on.......there are only so many hours in the day. I understand your position and partly agree but at least I'm trying to get some constructive advice to see if he can be helped before something bad happens. And just to point out, she didn't get the dog......her DH brought him home without even talking to her about it (and like I said, things between them are bad....possibly even separating)......she literally woke up and there was a puppy in the living room. She never would have gone out and got a pup at this time in her life......but her heart is attached and she loves him dearly now.

I totally agree with you. I felt you were being bashed also.

I would just have her not let other people watch him right now and have him continue to be worked with. I have not dealt with it though. Hope yall keep your heads up.
Shaunna

 

[Kaybie's Mom]

I do not think your friend was attacked. Love is not what makes an owner a good informed dog person. Not listening to these VERY serious warning signs would be a HUGE HUGE mistake. First the dog needs neutering ASAP. (why has it not been done?). At one year you are just seeng the tip of his real adult personality and it is not going o be pretty without some MAJOR time put into him. This is the beginnings of a dangerous dog.

He hasn't been neutered because of her husband's "you're not chopping off my dog's ****s" attitude. She has been arguing with him for a long time over it. At this point, he is basically ignoring the dog so she is thinking of just going ahead and doing it......but her DH can be a pretty "not so nice" person sometimes so she's not sure how to go about it without causing A LOT of drama.

I think maybe I need to clarify. I know I went into detail about how Tyson acted, but what needs to be clarified, is that he has acted like that only ONE time at my house. I know he needs some serious training, but I think talking about euthanizing him (in a previous post) is a bit far fetched. He's great with kids, he lets complete strangers walk into his own house and will greet them with tail wags and licks and flips over for a belly rub. He's not a monster like it seems like a lot of people are thinking. My friend was telling me yesterday that Tyson snuck out of the house past her (this is not a normal occurance....he usually doesn't do that) when she opened the door and she tried catching him and he played the "catch me if you can" game.....she said there happened to be quite a few people out in the neighborhood and he went up to a few people before she could catch him and he was friendly as can be. He's a VERY submissive dog. He flips on his back all the time and even when playing with Kaybie, she's ALWAYS the dominant one. I don't know. I think I made him out to be a monster and I didn't mean to.

 

[Kaybie's Mom]

I totally agree with you. I felt you were being bashed also.

I would just have her not let other people watch him right now and have him continue to be worked with. I have not dealt with it though. Hope yall keep your heads up.
Shaunna

Thanks for the support Shaunna....I appreciate it. Really, I am the only person that watches Tyson for her. She had one friend watch him one time for only a couple hours and that was a one time thing. The thing is that he gets the most training and strictness when he's with me. He has learned a new trick (sit, leave it, etc) every time he's with me.....but has forgotten it by the time I see him again. When they walk him, he yanks them down the street.....with me, it only took me two blocks to have him walking next to or behind me (a neighbor even asked me if I was the Dog Whisperer after he saw how different he was after the second time around the block LOL). I truly think I could make a real difference in his personality, but I'm just not sure what to do. My mom is terrified of him and I have family over a lot, so I can't make her scared to come to my house. I don't know. It sucks because I love Tyson to death and so does Kaybie. I just say his name and she runs around the house looking for him. I know he would be a great brother for her but the issues make me unsure. =(

 

[Roscoesmommy]

What about a behaviorist? Maybe you could offer to pay for a behaviorist (I dont know your financial situation obviously though) to come in and determine what is causing Tyson to get so upset at these certain times and then help your friend train and/or teach her how to train him to avoid these outbursts. I think it is worth a shot to try to help him out. I know that the humane society around here offers a spay/neuter clinic that is cheaper than going to your regular vet, maybe you could suggest that to her if she decides she thinks she can deal with the drama of getting him neutered. I agree that euthanasia is a little harsh at this point.