[gusecrync]

Nice dog. My feeling is the Gotti dogs or whatever you want to call them are meant to look like oversized pitbulls, but are in fact mixed with large breed dogs, probably mastiff of some kind. Since the crossings they've refined the dogs into more "pitbull" looks. Now, by crossing in mastiffs (this is an assumption but most other bulldog breeds are more territorial and prone to guarding behavior) you have in fact instilled this guarding instinct into the dogs. This is not really a problem in itself as long as the owner knows what they have and take steps to ensure the dog is safe around people. This always includes socialization at an early age and continuing through adulthood. I cannot recommend taking him through a serious obedience course highly enough. I can almost guarantee a good trainer will be able to neutralize his wacky behavior to some degree, maybe even well enough no one will ever notice unless there is actually a threat to you.

Mind you, this theory is assuming the person you got the dog from was telling you the truth and was not lied to by the breeder of his dog. The female looks well enough like a normal apbt to make me think she probably is. The fact that the dog you pictured is so massively built and the head shape looks nothing like a "real" pitbull terrier makes me question the truth behind the Gotti line statement. People like to throw out names like they know what they're talking about, everybody knows this and once you learn a little bit you'll be able to spot the bullshit a mile away.

The dog aggression is going to be much harder to "train out" than the human aggression tendencies. Probably the best you're going to get is a semi reliable leave it command. If another dog is seriously challenging him all bets are off and you better be able to physically restrain him. This means you have to be on your guard all the time and make it your job to keep him out of trouble. The fact he didn't have a mark on him against the Bull terrier doesn't surprise me much. One of my old dogs completely rolled up and curred out a shar pei mix that outweighed her by about 25 pounds or so. It was an accident and was my fault basically, but to see someone's badass guard dog turn tail in terror after one solid bite from a wiry little dog is impressive, lol. Anyway, expect it, plan for it and do whatever you need to in order to mitigate the risk of an encounter. I think he looks cool, at least you don't have to worry about anybody fucking with you if you're walking him, lol. Good luck and get him into that obedience asap, he could make a super good dog.