[gundos]

Hello-

I rescued a female pit bull around 2 months ago from an animal shelter. she is approx 1.5 years old. She is so wonderful/loving/calm. She is an attention whore. She loves every person she meets and wants to be around people at all times. Before I adopted her, I was totally aware of the fact that pit bulls are naturally dog aggressive. I never leave her unsupervised around dogs but I just get confused because she LOVES DOGS. I live in a city so we constantly see dogs on walks, and she always greets them by laying down or rolling over (showing total submission) and then gets up and sniffs them politely. The other day (while both dogs were on leash walking) she was greeting a smaller breed dog and this dog growled and tried to bite her in the face and Bailey (my pit) just backed away and didn't retaliate at all. My question is--do all pits eventually turn dog aggressive? or are there some that are totally friendly with dogs their whole lives? Our good friends have another female pit who is 4 years old and we let them play (supervised) and they did great, they were totally loving on one another and not playing rough or aggressive at all. Every time Bailey sees a dog while walking she gets totally excited and wants to say hello.

Thanks!

[Mark_NyB]

Some mixes never become dog aggressive. Some are DA only toward strange dogs, some only males, some only females. There's no definite amount of aggression to expect in any dog except to just be aware that no matter what amount of time has passed where the dog has been dog friendly, any dog can "turn on" at any time.

For example, my 8 y/o was almost 5 years old when he started showing signs of dog aggression. It's not all black and white.

[lopaayd]

I would like to know the answer to that myself.

However, if you are going by age, my Trigger boy didn't turn on until he was around 2 years of age, it can vary.

I'm glad you are supervising her around other dogs....because you can NEVER trust a pitbull not to fight.

[dgdhgjjgj]

I like what everybody else has said. Its really random from what Ive seen and heard. Some only have DA towards certain dogs, or towards males only etc etc. You can never know! But no, not every single pit bull is going to turn DA.

[Beauseaccerce]

Your dog is still a puppy, and it is NORMAL for a pit bull puppy to be very dog social/friendly. This is confusing for new owners because it is actually more common for a young pit bull to love other dogs than to want to fight them.

Do not allow this to lull you into a false sense of security as it does so many inexperienced owners. As others have said, she still has plenty of time to "turn on", and there are many degrees of dog aggression. Some dogs are only dog selective, meaning they only aggress at certain individual dogs, or types of dogs, or only males, or only females, or only white dogs, or only dogs that wegh exactly 52 pounds, or whatever.

There are DA dogs that only aggress under certain circumstances like when food is present, or when out on a walk.

There are some dogs that are so DA they will try to kill any dog they see at any time, and some that are cold and wouldn't aggress even if attacked, and everything in between.

[cefunonge]

My boy, Jet, is dog selective and even then he's got to be excited for any aggression to manifest. He lives with our female border collie mix and our male great dane puppy with no issues so far. I don't usually take him to visit one of my friends though as he tends to get REALLY wound up around her American bulldog mix. They start off being friendly but within 30 seconds you can see that it is escalating to what will be a fight (and they BOTH think of it as "play"). As long as we keep them separate they're fine.

In the end it's just a matter of knowing your dog and being really knowledgeable about dog body language. That way you can tell when something is starting to escalate and stop it before it starts.

[andrekuper]

Keep in mind "dog aggressive" or "dog friendly" do not mean either one will or won't get in a fight. My two females are 2 and 7 and so far they are pretty good with strange dogs, especially small ones and puppies, that doesn't mean they won't or can't start a fight or get into one given the opportunity. I personally don't think fighting over a resource or because they are too amped up is truly dog aggression, yes you can end up with dogs that need to be kept apart due to a fight but not really the same thing as two dogs who hate each other just because. My 3 would all scrap over a bone or stick or whatever, but only the male is actually dog aggressive cannot be around a strange dog safely but he still likes the girls although it was a long battle to get him to accept #3. He turned on at 2 btw and liked other dogs fine before that.

[Mereebirl]

Some mixes never become dog aggressive. Some are DA only toward strange dogs, some only males, some only females. There's no definite amount of aggression to expect in any dog except to just be aware that no matter what amount of time has passed where the dog has been dog friendly, any dog can "turn on" at any time.

For example, my 8 y/o was almost 5 years old when he started showing signs of dog aggression. It's not all black and white.

this.

[Edwardthe_third]

It depends on the dog(s). None of mine have ever showed an ounce of DA toward each other, or strange dogs. They have all been attacked at some point by my friends GSD (no, they don't get to play together anymore), and none ever did anything to defend themselves.

Could that change? Sure.

[ImapFidaarram]

Yes, some dogs never become DA... but you never stop watching them. My dog never appeared DA until she was 18 months and tried to scrap with another dog.. but that was over a bone, but later it was over nothing. Today she lives pretty comfortably with my male dog... and they have never had any serious fights. Mostly because Jr is so apt to be submissive to her and she likes that. That being said I always keep an eye on them. Also there were pit dogs back in the day that were CH fighting dogs who could still be around other dogs just fine... they always say DA is not equivalent to gameness.

[casinobonusa]

Everyone has had great responses!

I personally have a 6 year old bitch who is STILL incredibly dog friendly and playful. On the other hand, I have a 2 year old bitch who started trying to eat dogs when out on walks at 8 months old (she's actually more prey driven than anything.. she's very sweet and submissive once she gets to know a dog, but her first instinct is to eat anything that is non-human and moves lol). So, it definitely varies and you can't predict what your dog will be like... you just need to remain vigilant ALL the time, which it sounds like you're doing quite well!

[janeloveslifenow]

Gypsy was seven years old when she died, and she was never DA. The two times she was involved in a fight, it was the other dog who started it. She didn't LIKE strange dogs, but she wouldn't want to kill them either.

[phinno13]

Rosie is 7 yrs old and likes MOST dogs. There are 2 dogs she's not thrilled with, but as long as they don't get in her face, she's fine around them. If they get in her face, she'll growl at them, and that's as far as it goes.
She does try to avoid very hyper, in your face type dogs. But everyone else, she's fine with. I compete in agility with her, so she's around a lot of dog.

Nick is 5, he is selective. He gets along great with Rosie & Frankie and likes one of my moms dogs. He's only met the younger one once. But he doesn't get along with other dogs. I do take him places but am very careful to avoid getting to close to other dogs. He's fine on walks, but I don't let him get real close to others.

Frankie is just 9 months and so far she loves everyone she meets. The first time she meets a dog, big or small, she is totally submissive, on her back, peeing etc. The second time she meets them, it's PLAY TIME!!
The only dog she's growled at is Nick, and that's when he laid on top of her in the car....can't blame her for that, I would have growled too. LOL

[DoctorTDent]

I have two males and two females. The females are Pit Bulls. One male is an American Bulldog and one is a Basset. They all get along very well, but the girls are selectively DA.

My oldest, who will be 4 next month, decided she didn't like other dogs when she was around 2. She is fine with my dogs, but hates strange dogs.

My youngest, just turned 1 week ago, is great with my other dogs but she only gets along with very young puppies outside of home and wants to kill any other dogs she sees.

So, yeah, it varies and it is on us owners to always supervise, always separate when we cannot supervise and always be aware.

[fiettariaps]

Brennan is only a year and a half old, but he was attacked in the face by a dog and didn't do anything to fight back (it wasn't a bad attack, but I was mad). Oh, and the only dog he's met that he hasn't liked was a Saint Bernard, don't know if it was the size or what, but other than that, he usually loves every dog he meets.

It could change though, I've got myself prepared for it if it does.

I don't think every Pit Bull becomes dog aggressive though.

[Figelac]

Boomer is almost three years old and so far he loves other dogs. I am aware that that could change, but for now gender, size means nothing to him and he likes them all.

[Flerdourdyged]

Well Goren is a bit over 3 and he is reactive till he warms up to other dogs but doesn't have to warm up to puppies, he loves puppies but it takes him a good walk with another dog or at least 3 or 4 meetings (like OB classes) to get to know a dog enough to be calm enough to even approach the other dog, sex has nothing to do with if he will get along or not but it does play a factor into how long it takes for him to warm up, females its faster than males.

[SarSerceSaice]

Hope for the best, plan for the worst.