[Argurnenoni]

Hello everyone,

I am considering adopting a 16 month year old pit bull. It sounds like most people here think they are great dogs, but the hype still scares me a bit. We have 2 cats and an 8-year old. Here is the dog we are considering:
Adoptable American Staffordshire Terrier: Diesel: Petfinder

Some questions:

Even though he is not dog aggressive now, is there a possibility he will become dog aggressive? Even if we continue to socialize him with other dogs?

They do not know how he will do with cats, but the prior owner thinks he'd be playful but won't harm them. Is this too much of a risk? They will not let us foster him to test out how it goes first.

Last, at what age would you let a child walk a pitbull on a leash? Never? Even with training?

Thanks for all your help, and if you have kids and pits please feel free to share your stories to put me at ease.

Thank you!

[CarmenSanches]

Even though he is not dog aggressive now, is there a possibility he will become dog aggressive? Even if we continue to socialize him with other dogs?
Yes it's possible

They do not know how he will do with cats, but the prior owner thinks he'd be playful but won't harm them. Is this too much of a risk? They will not let us foster him to test out how it goes first.
That depends on you, most apbts i met have a high prey drive, but all of mine have been fine with MY cats, other cats outside..not so much
Last, at what age would you let a child walk a pitbull on a leash? Never? Even with training?I let Amber walk Ace, she is 6 but im right there with her. It depends on the kid. When i was 10 i walked a rottie and an apbt by myself

Thanks for all your help, and if you have kids and pits please feel free to share your stories to put me at ea

[mXr8icOB]

yes it can happen, yes it can also go after cats, and i have no idea on the age.

this breed isnt for everyone, you cant be freaked out about the dog you need to know how to train and raise it, you have to deal with BSL, people hating you, people screaming and cussing you out, landlords not accepting your dogs, dog not being able to go everywhere like some non drive breeds, etc.

---------- Post added at 10:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 PM ----------

and why is the dog listed as an AmStaff AND a staffy bull? lol two different breeds

[CarmenSanches]

mm found some pics of Amber walking Ace..

[SweetCaroline]

Hello everyone,

I am considering adopting a 16 month year old pit bull. It sounds like most people here think they are great dogs, but the hype still scares me a bit. We have 2 cats and an 8-year old. Here is the dog we are considering:
Adoptable American Staffordshire Terrier: Diesel: Petfinder

Some questions:

Even though he is not dog aggressive now, is there a possibility he will become dog aggressive? Even if we continue to socialize him with other dogs?

yes, even non pitbull type dogs are known for some dog aggression. Especially same sex aggression. There are different ways you can prevent this through thorough training, setting your dog up to succeed with only POSITIVE experiences and keeping them short enough that they can have success but take them away before they feel the need to dominate the other dog or play goes on to long that it becomes rough and turns into a fight.
With ANY dog I recommend separation without supervision. If you have another dog I highly recommend you practice this.
I also recommend you do lots of reading, research, and don't be afraid to ask questions throughout your dogs life. Don't be afraid to be the leader of your dog. These dogs are not some big scary alien dog who is hard to deal with, simply treat this dog as you would any other. Dont let the hype get to you. Train your dog, be responsible, be assertive and get respect from your dog and you will be successful.

They do not know how he will do with cats, but the prior owner thinks he'd be playful but won't harm them. Is this too much of a risk? They will not let us foster him to test out how it goes first.

If you can, go to the shelter or wherever he is, with your cat in a carrier. Bring it into a visiting room and see how he responds to your cat. Your main concern is your cat running from him and him chasing. That would kick in his prey drive causing him to chase and if he catches the cat it could get ugly. If you have big lazy cats who care about nothing you're probably ok but take introductions slowly anyways. if you have a fiesty cat who will fight back you also might be ok because those cats "demand" respect.

Last, at what age would you let a child walk a pitbull on a leash? Never? Even with training?

with supervision and a well trained dog who does not drag the child, whenever the child is comfortable with it as long as I am right there with them. That way if for some reason the dog wanted to lunge at something I am right there to grab the leash if need be. i would recommend you get a good leash mannered dog before allowing the child to walk it. it also helps to teach your kid some handling skills as well so they know how to use the leash when things happen. I've had a 10 year old walk my dogs on a leash before and he took to learning how to give corrections and make them sit at cross walks really well. The dogs were respecting him in no time since they are well trained with me and it was just learning it also has to happen with little kids.

Thanks for all your help, and if you have kids and pits please feel free to share your stories to put me at ease.

Thank you!

I don't have kids. but my dogs are well socialized with kids and family always comes over.
here are some shots of Nina.
She ADORES children

Age 2


EAR KISSES!

age 5














and last but not least! If you do decide to go with this one or another pitbull! I wish you the best of luck and have fun!

[zdlupikkkdi]

Here are my 2 cents:

Even though he is not dog aggressive now, is there a possibility he will become dog aggressive? Even if we continue to socialize him with other dogs?

Yes. Socializing and training will help; but I wouldn't consider it a breed you could turn loose with a couple of dogs, kick back and have a few beers. Interactions with ofther dogs should be supervised. If the dog does become dog aggressive, you can still train the dog to behave on leash in the presence of other dogs - but the training (at least in my experience with my non DA but dog reactive dog)...is on-going and time intensive. It is a committment.

They do not know how he will do with cats, but the prior owner thinks he'd be playful but won't harm them. Is this too much of a risk? They will not let us foster him to test out how it goes first.

I think it's weird they won't give you an opportunity to let the dog meet your cats and see how things go; especially since they really have no idea how the dog will be with cats. Honestly I would look elsewhere for a dog that I could test with my existing animals. That still doesn't mean everything would be peaches and cream...but at least you'd be off to the right start. What happens if you love the dog, and he wants to have your cats for dinner?

Last, at what age would you let a child walk a pitbull on a leash? Never? Even with training?

I would say never. My Mom is 70 and she watches our dog all day while we work and she won't take the dog out on leash, nor would we let her. Our dog walks wonderfully on a leash and has had allot of training and overall is a very well behaved dog. But...you never know. They are strong dogs and it only takes one minute for something to happen. A cat or squirrel that catches their eye, an off leash dog that comes out of no where. Not an issue if you have confidence & strength and know how to handle the situation...not even a blip on the map; but not a responsibility I would give a child (or someone elderly like my Mom who is very fragile...she asks us to open her mayonnaise jars).

Also as a pet peeve; nothing I hate more than when I am walking and trainng my dog reactive dog when along comes some goofball dog being led on a leash by a child who doesn't have proper control of the dog and is not mature enough to read the social signals of the situation (like when I am concentrating on my dog and saying "watch me" and "leave it" and waving treats it in her face and the child allows their dog to meander right into my dog's face; while the parents stand by clueless - makes me crazy. And if my dog were DA vs dog reactive...it could also end badly).

Thanks for all your help, and if you have kids and pits please feel free to share your stories to put me at ease.

Thank you!

I don't have children. But if I did I would never leave a child and any breed of dog unattended for any length of time. I would make sure to teach my children that dogs are dogs. They are living things and need to be treated respectfully and they could possibly under certain circumstances bite...so be respectfuland careful.

[Thifiadardivy]

the dog may not become DA, but you should figure on it and act accordingly... it is not a fault in these dogs to be DA, it is a trait.
no child should be unsupervised with any type of dog...
it is not likely that the dog would hurt a child on purpose, but could do so just playing...
the cat... well you will just have to wait and see, some dogs do just fine with cats... some do not....
and those that do, could hurt the cat playing.. or the cat might object to the play and then a problem results....
if you are not familiar with these dogs and have reservations.. I would pass...

[gettoblaster]

Getting into this breed, you should be prepared to handle a DA dog. There is a definite possibility that he will not become DA but there is also a possibility that he will and as a responsible owner, you should be prepared for that.

If the dog has never lived with cats, I wouldn't expect him to come in and be fine with the cat. He may not want to eat the cat, but even if he is playful it can be a lot of work teaching him to be gentle. A playful dog can easily hurt a cat. I would not let that stop you though. It will be a lot of work, but there are things that you can do to get them use to each other. I adopted a dog that was supposedly good with cats and ended up having to keep them completely separated at all times except for with training for months because he was NOT OK. At first he wanted to eat him, then after a few months he started trying to play but was far too rough and scared the crap out of the cat which only made things worse. There is a sticky in the training section on introducing a dog and cat that is very helpful. Take it slow and be patient.

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 AM ----------

Intro Cat to other cats/dog - Training Behavior

[regfortruegoo]

I like the way Jazzy put it: prevention is key, but its still not a breed you turn loose with a bunch of other dogs and kick back for a few beers. Well said.
Even with non-bully dogs I am careful what kind of dogs mine are exposed to and in what environment. Even the friendliest dog isn't going to like every other dog it meets.

Even if he hasn't been around cats you could definitely acclimate him to them, BUT I would absolutely introduce to your cat(s) before any decision is made. When I adopted Lily (anything Siberian and/or GSD is notorious for insane, cat eating prey drive and a lot of shelters/rescues won't adopt those breeds to people with cats period depending on the dog) they let me bring my Missy cat to the shelter in her carrier. We let Lil's sniff around the carrier and needless to say it was good. I was very careful and monitored their interaction carefully for the first few weeks, making sure the cats had an escape route. Lily is weird for the breeds of dog she is... she'd bring home all the stray cats I'd let her... luckily my cats are very cat aggressive which any chance of more cats being added in.
My other dog on the other hand, while being awesome with my particular cats, would definitely try to kill or at the very least chase any other cats besides mine. I've been working pretty hard on her not going completely nutso when she sees a cat loose on the street. She's actually a little scared of my cats if that tells you anything about my beastly cats.

Nope. I would not be comfortable with that. What happens if the dog sees a squirrel and bolts for it? Or if someones loose dog runs up? Or if the dog tries to fence fight dogs you are walking past on the sidewalk? Hell, I have to exert some serious effort to hold her if I allow or there is just far too tempting of a squirrel or duck taunting Lily. She's drivey as hell, but there is nothing quite like bulldog drive... they are even more intense than my little psycho.

I ran into someone letting a child walk a 100+ lb coonhound once and it broke away and ran up to Lily... what if he'd run up to my friend's Rhodie and not my friendly girl who loves the boys? It would have been seriously, seriously ugly to break up. Especially since the parent in question has a sickenly huge herd of small dogs on leashes herself. Not worth the risk for the dog or child IMO.

Adorable dog btw. It would be cool if everything panned out for you guys because he looks pretty awesome!

[brurdefdoro]

It sounds like most people here think they are great dogs, but the hype still scares me a bit.

Thanks for all your help, and if you have kids and pits please feel free to share your stories to put me at ease.

Thank you!

Quick question...

If "the hype still scares" you, and you want people to "put you at ease," why do you want to adopt this particular dog/this breed? What made you decide you wanted to adopt a pit bull?

Some things to consider before adoption ^

I think someone was talking on another thread about rescues adopting out bully breeds and how all bully breeds should be tested to the hilt with whatever: kids, other dogs, etc. I am just curious as to why this rescue will not test this dog with cats and, instead, are willing to take the former owner's word on it?

[N1bNXuDb]

Nothing really to add to your original post, I just want you to be aware that the Prince George's County has breed specific legislation banning 'pit bull breeds'. From your name I'm assuming you got to UMD, which is in PG county, and if you live in the county it would be impossible for you to own a 'pit bull' breed.

[regfortruegoo]

I think all dogs regardless of breed should be tested to the hilt before being placed.

[brurdefdoro]

I think all dogs regardless of breed should be tested to the hilt before being placed.

I concur.

[movlabk]

Kids shouldn't be walking dogs alone unless they can physically restrain them if the need should arise. Even with small dogs, what if a bigger dog comes along? I have even seen some slightly built women walking bigger dogs which they simply can't hold back if they need to. It's an accident waiting to happen. I'm not a small lad, but even I struggle to hold back two worked up dogs so I have no idea how some of these women could do so safely.

[Twelearly]

I think it's great that you are doing research BEFORE adopting

I would say, yes, there is a good chance dog aggression could be come an issue later. All dogs can become cat aggressive, even after years of peacefully coexisting, my advice is to not leave them together unsupervised. I do not recommend allowing a child to hold the leash, there's too much that can go wrong.

http://www.pbrc.net/breedinfo.html
http://www.pbrc.net/multidogs.html
http://www.pbrc.net/training_cat_dog.html
http://www.pbrc.net/toddlers.html

[N1bNXuDb]

Kids shouldn't be walking dogs alone unless they can physically restrain them if the need should arise. Even with small dogs, what if a bigger dog comes along? I have even seen some slightly built women walking bigger dogs which they simply can't hold back if they need to. It's an accident waiting to happen. I'm not a small lad, but even I struggle to hold back two worked up dogs so I have no idea how some of these women could do so safely.

Just to answer your question, I'm 5'1 and weigh 115lb, and I walk big strong dogs for a living lol. I've been working in kennels for 4 years (1.5 of those in a doggie daycare, horrible place). I've pretty much walked every breed imaginable, including human aggressive saint bernards (that tried to attack me while walking them, didn't know at the time they were HA) and german shepherds (that I knew were HA and had a muzzle). I've also broken up fights between great danes, bull mastiffs, and newfoundlands (obviously with help). Don't even get me started about the cats I wrangle . They take more strength than strong dogs.
It's more about experience than physical build.
But to get back to the original point, no, children should not be walking dogs alone.

[Nptxsews]

Kids shouldn't be walking dogs alone unless they can physically restrain them if the need should arise. Even with small dogs, what if a bigger dog comes along? I have even seen some slightly built women walking bigger dogs which they simply can't hold back if they need to. It's an accident waiting to happen. I'm not a small lad, but even I struggle to hold back two worked up dogs so I have no idea how some of these women could do so safely.

Just to answer your question, I'm 5'1 and weigh 115lb, and I walk big strong dogs for a living lol. I've been working in kennels for 4 years (1.5 of those in a doggie daycare, horrible place). I've pretty much walked every breed imaginable, including human aggressive saint bernards (that tried to attack me while walking them, didn't know at the time they were HA) and german shepherds (that I knew were HA and had a muzzle). I've also broken up fights between great danes, bull mastiffs, and newfoundlands (obviously with help). Don't even get me started about the cats I wrangle . They take more strength than strong dogs.
It's more about experience than physical build.
But to get back to the original point, no, children should not be walking dogs alone.

Same here Lilliana. I'm 5'6 and 110. And I can easily control my Saint Bernard, APBT and Rottweiler, and can walk 2 of them at the same time without any problems (even when a strange dog runs up I can handle the situation). Not to mention the year I spent in a dog daycare wrangling, and walking 3 unruly dogs at a time, as well as breaking up dog fights on a somewhat regular basis.

When I was a kid I walked the family's 90 pound boxer every day without any problems either. But I was also the only person in the family he actually listened to (he would drag my mom for miles at his top speed, which turned into her weight loss secret, holding on for dear life and trying to keep up with the dog). But it's not something I recommend allowing with unsupervised kids.

[xkQCaS4w]

Even though he is not dog aggressive now, is there a possibility he will become dog aggressive? Even if we continue to socialize him with other dogs?
**Everyone else pretty much answered this on. Yes he could become aggressive even with socialization. But even if he does you can teach manners around other dogs so he is managable.

They do not know how he will do with cats, but the prior owner thinks he'd be playful but won't harm them. Is this too much of a risk? They will not let us foster him to test out how it goes first.
**I persoanlly would be leary. If you want to take the chance to have to keep the dog and cats seperated the rest of the time you have them then go for it but if you arent willing to deal with that possibility I would consider a different pup that is known to be good with cats or wiill at least let you do a trial time to see how it goes

Last, at what age would you let a child walk a pitbull on a leash? Never? Even with training?
** I dont plan on letting my son walk my pup on his own for quite some time (my son is 2 though lol). I will teach my son to walk Harley but I will also have a backup leash on him so that I can easily take control without any potential loose of control. And as long as my son follows the rules I have for anyone walking my pup and when he proves he can maintain control of him in any situation then I will allow him to walk him.

Thanks for all your help, and if you have kids and pits please feel free to share your stories to put me at ease.
**I have a 26 month old son and a 15 month old pit bull. I couldnt trust another dog (of any breed) more than I trust my pit bull with my son (though as any responsible mother and dog owner they are never left unsupervised together but if I had to he would be the dog I left my son with). He is such a kind lovable dog.
These are the only 2 shots I have online of my babies together (just like typical kids they rarely cooperate for me to acutally get a cute shot, though I did get one today, its just on my phone still LOL)
My son giving Harley love like he does daily


My boys kickin back watching their daddy workin outside... Harley stayed so still so that he didnt knock my son over.

[movlabk]

I have had dogs which could pull in excess of 4000lbs without breaking a sweat so I have no idea what you're having for breakfast, but give me some! It really sounds to me like you just haven't been in a situation with driven dogs where they have really gone at it. Sometimes there is no calling them off or diverting their attention when provoiced by another...

[zdlupikkkdi]

I have had dogs which could pull in excess of 4000lbs without breaking a sweat so I have no idea what you're having for breakfast, but give me some! It really sounds to me like you just haven't been in a situation with driven dogs where they have really gone at it. Sometimes there is no calling them off or diverting their attention when provoiced by another...

If the dog can pull 4000lbs...it can pull you too. (so says the 105 lb 5 foot and maybe 1 inch woman )

Managing dog isn't all about brute force imo. Training does play a large roll. But training involves being very aware of your environment, knowing your dog, reading your dog's signals and intervening with perfect timing. It requires, imo; a level of maturity and an intellectual capacity...that children have not yet developed.

Another interesting point in dog training and management is...I'm not sure how to define it...confidence...or intention. For example, my 70 year old mother will not walk our dog. She loves the dog to death and watches her all day while we are at owrk...but in most things she lets the dog walk all over her. Except...she's afraid she'll get hurt if the dog jumps on her and she's afraid of rambuncuous dogs. Guess what? That dog has never once jumped on her. All the dog has to do is start getting worked up and my mother magically transforms into Victoria Stillwell. We can't get her to see that or apply those skills to any other situation involving the dog...but it's in her...and if she could use those skills all the time (and learn to open her own mayonnaise jars) then maybe she could take her out on a leash.