Is There A Chance?

[l.michelle]

Basically, my mother's friend has a medium sized poodle, and one of her daughters brought home a pit bull that was having difficulties socailizing with people and other animals. They live on a farm property, so they kept the pit bull in a large fenced in area. On Wednesday of this week it was very hot outside, so she asked to bring him in, her mother said fine, and put a gate at the bottom of the staircase leading to the bedrooms, one at the top of the staircase, and put the poodle dog up there.

The pit bull crashed through both gates and attacked the poodle. $800 later, the poodle will be fine, but the pit bull caught it by the back of the neck and is quite still traumatized by it. The daughter wants to continue to try to get training for the pit bull, but what is the probablility that it will work? This dog has been in training the past 5 or 6 months before doing this. I am just wondering, as I have never had a pit bull and don't know how difficult they are to train and if he can be 'fixed' meaning he won't attack the dog anymore?

Disclaimer: Please no one see this as a thread against pit bulls. I believe that any dog can attack and be dangerous to people, I am not advocating that pit bulls be put down, I think that it pretty much depends on how you raise any dog how they will behave. So please, no thinking I am against pit bulls

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[merry78]

the short answer is yes, with patience and persistence, the pit bulls' attitude can improve......it's lack of sociability probably stems from fear and/or a feeling that it is his responsibility to protect the pack/territory.
i would recommend research into the methods of Jan Fennell, Patricia McConnell, and Karen Pryor for more info (all positive, pain free, psychology based training methods).
Training, and attitude/environment adjustment on yours and the dogs part can take you a long way.
Don't lose hope, be patient and consistent, and keep us updated!
al the best, merry.

 

[dane261]

if its an true american pit bull no you wont get it to be safe with other dogs its in it blood to fight as you have said its had problems with people and other pets i know alot of people that had them before they got them put down we never trusted one when we were by ourselves but any dog can be like that


please note i aint picking on pit bulls just givin my advice


cheers dane

 

[rdd1952]

Im sure that it can be rehabilitated but it ill take much time and effort, probably more than she will be able to devote to it. There are a hot of behavioral traits that it would have to relearn and that takes time. I don't agree that it's in their blood to fight. It probably is in their breeding to be aggressive but if a pit bull is raised properly, it can be a good pet. I know naughtygirlrlw has a pit bull that she kept in the house with a rabbit (see thread about Ra here). If it has been exposed to fighting such as the ones seized in the Michael Vick situation, then most likely, it can't be turned back into a trusted pet.