DS rescued a Pit Bull-HELP!

[luvtogo12]

DS rescued a Pit Bull from being put to sleep. Of course, he did not ask us first but it is already done. He was told the dog is about 1 year old. She is a cutie, very sweet. She has been here 2 days and I have not heard her bark at all.

OK, problems............she came with fleas. DS gave her 3 flea baths and that seems to have worked.
I am pretty certain this dog was abused. She is afraid of her own shadow. DS took her for a walk last night and every time a car drove by, she would lay down and start shaking. Any time one of DS's friends come over to see her, she shakes like crazy. She has the sadest eyes and really wants a lot of attention. When I finally let her in the house (after the flea baths) she did not even run around checking things out, she stayed at DS's feet. DS and this dog are very attached to each other.

She is not house trained.
We have no history on this dog, we don't even know if she had had any shots or any medical treatment of any kind. We would have to assume she has had no care and we will have to start from the beginning.
I really don't want a dog but honestly, she is growing on me as well. She is so sweet but Pit Bulls do have reputations and that scares me. She has no training and does not understand basic commands. DS noticed some scars on her legs. I have not looked at them because I am a little afraid of her but then again, I am afraid of most dogs.

I dont know what kind of advice I am looking for here but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am not sure if I want to keep her but the sadness in that dogs eyes is weighing heavy on me.

 

[damo]

Get her to obedience training immediately. It will help her self esteem and it will teach her what you expect of her. Of course, she needs to go to the vet first! I would ask the vet what he/she thinks of the dog's temperment before you make any decisions.

 

[luvtogo12]

Get her to obedience training immediately. It will help her self esteem and it will teach her what you expect of her. Of course, she needs to go to the vet first! I would ask the vet what he/she thinks of the dog's temperment before you make any decisions.

Thanks. I think I will call a vet now to see if they can get her in.

 

[marathonmommy]

I wouldn't make sweeping generalizations based on the breed. They get a lot of bad press - most of which isn't fair . . . we rescued a pit bull mix. He has never had an accident in the house in 4 years since being trained. He is a bit weird, but he is my shadow. He prefers me over everyone. He just needs to have boundaries given and enforced b/c he can be very protective of me. He needs to be reminded that he is a dog and low man on the totem poll. We saved his life and he seems to know it.

 

[kellyg403]

We have rescued dogs before and it does sound from your description she is skittish. The best thing to do is go to the vet as the pp suggested and after that look for a trainer. A skittish, fearful dog, regardless of breed, can resort to fear aggression. A much harder, if not almost impossible to correct on your own. Attaching so quickly to your ds is a great thing, but in a fearful dog may have its own consequences as well. We have a dog that we rescued that is lab/something mix. Since the beginning she has been a great dog, she was 6 weeks when we got her, so the abuse was not so ingrained in her. To this day, 4 years later though, she has difficulty in situations where she has "fear" and no matter what we do not trust her around small children her size (she is only about 3 ft high, 40 lbs), small dogs etc. Just something we have never gotten over with her. She also can not be in the house if the vacuum is running, she can't ride in the car etc.

Sounds like your pup has a great new home, just have to work with her. I am not a big believer that its only "pits" or "rotties" that have aggression issues. Any breed of dog depending on the enviornment they were raised in can have issues. Is it more in the bloodline of these dogs, not sure. But, I have a few friends that have pits and they are just about the sweetest dogs ever. And they have never had problems with aggression.

Kelly

 

[N&B'smom]

Oh my gosh, she sounds like such a sweetie. I hate to think of dogs being scared and afraid of everything. Poor little thing. I'm so glad she has a home where people will treat her right and love her.

At least she trusts your DS. How sweet.

Shelby

 

[bekkiz]

Also, start watching the Dog Whisperer, it's on the National Geographic channel. One of the biggest mistakes people who rescue animals make is feeling sorry for the animal, and therefore, the animal becomes the pack leader--owners feel too guilty to discipline and the dogs get away with everything. It is so important to be calm but assertive with the dog when it's in this really unbalenced state. DO NOT coddle or spoil the pup. That will just set you on a path to bad behavior.

If you can arrange it, a professional trainer would be a great investment. If no, do as much reading and watching as possible. And be as consistant as possible.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Awwwww . It's so sweet to hear that you are thinking about keeping this dog.

We adopted our first pit bull by mistake. We picked out an extremely ugly little black puppy with ears that stuck out from the pound, and our vet informed us he was a pit bull! (He's the one in my sig who is sharing his dog bed with our cat, who had him totally intimidated by the way). He turned from a black puppy with one white foot into a brown brindle, which cracked us up. He went over the Rainbow Bridge at the age of 14 1/2, and he was the best-behaved dog we've ever had.

Our second pit bull we adopted on purpose--she's the somewhat forlorn looking dog with the red collar in my sig (that's her rescue picture--a happier picture of her is my avatar). She was obviously abused, but she is a very sweet, gentle, loving, playful dog. We've had her a year and a half and it took her a long, long time to warm up to DH (she's afraid of everything, but especially men) but she is a joy. She adores our 20 year old cat and gets along very well with other dogs.

Please don't believe a thing you read about pitbulls. They are currently a fad dog and are being adopted by bad people. Bad owners cause bad behavior. Toward the beginning of this century, pitbulls were considered great family dogs, and I've seen a picture of Helen Keller with her pitbull. Pitbulls do not deserve the reputation that rednecks and thugs have promoted.

House training is such a pain! Keep her in a confined space at night or when you're away (we always have used a tiled space like a bathroom or kitchen, but lots of people use crates) and take her outside as often as you can, at least every 4 hours at night and every 2 hours while you're awake. When she pees or poops in the house tell her "No" but don't do any swatting. Take her outside immediately and reward her lavishly when she pees or poops outside.

Re: fleas, we are in Florida which I beleive is the flea capital of the world, and what has worked best for us with all our dogs is Sentinel a monthly pill that combines flea and heartworm protection in one pill. Our current dog arrived with fleas (and worms) too, and once we got rid of most of the fleas with flea baths, we started her on Sentinel. She has not had a single flea since about 2 months after we started the Sentinel. Your son could also flea comb her--dogs love it and it's a good bonding activity.

 

[trip]

Does your area have "dangerous dog" ordinances? In our area if you have a pit bull, some of the rules are - you must have at least $100,000 liability insurance, be in a securely fenced yard, be muzzled,harnessed and leashed in public and under control of someone at least 19 years old.

I'm sure there are lots of sweet, well trained pit bulls but they do scare me.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'm assuming that if your son rescued her from being put to sleep that he got her from a local animal shelter. Is this accurate? The reason I ask is many places have made pit bulls illegal, and your only choice will be to put her to sleep or find her a family in another area that does not have this restriction. If you got her from a shelter, they would not adopt her out if she is an illegal breed in her area. If you got her from anywhere else, you definitely need to check on that before you do anything.

 

[Planogirl]

Don't forget that certain breeds might cause your insurance to go up. You might want to be prepared for that.

Good luck! I know that sad dog eyes are hard if not impossible to ignore.

 

[barkley]

i would get a behavioural evaluation-it's generaly a requirement before placement when you get any dog from a rescue group. the behaviourists can reccognize behaviours that could be potentialy problematic or dangerous that you may not. the behaviours can be due to the manner in which the dog was previously treated but they can also be natural behaviours inherant in a particular breed that are exaggerated (and dangerous) due to poor breeding practices.

as someone else suggested-check on local and state ordinances regarding the dog, i'll add that you probably want to check with your homeowner's insurance as well.

 

[eeyoresnr]

PrincessKitty1...with just a few exceptions I could have written your post

OP....Please read the post by PrincessKitty1...it has so many truths in it...
not all Pit Bulls are bad dogs...the owner has much to do with the aweful things you see and hear about them...I'll be the first to admit when I met my now husband and he had a female Pit Bull I was , uh oh, this will never work. I had 2 cats (we now have 4) and what my husband called a "white Benji dog", her name was Cookie (whom I'm sad to say I had to put to sleep 1 month ago today) I was terrified that Dixie (the Pit Bull) would kill or injure my animals... to my surprise she is the kindest sweetest dog I have ever had... her and Cookie became best friends

and as for the cats she not only doesn't bother them, when my daughter brought a kitten home just before Hurrocane Ivan the kitten was only about 4 weeks old and Dixie mothered her to the point that Buttercup thinks Dixie is her mama and still sleeps with her...
we also have a Pit Bull that my daughter brought home (see a trend here)?
this puppy was found behind a building by itself and was only 3 weeks old...he weighed 9 oz...we think a bird of prey had picked him up as he had marks in his head that got infected and had to be drained... we didn't know at the time he was Pit Bull (he looked like a Chihuahua cuz his head was bigger than his body)

take your dog to the vet and get him checked and have his shots... he will come around and it sounds like your son is the best thing that has ever happened to this dog (other than your husband for saving him)

 

[luvtogo12]

Thank you for all the replies. We are still unsure as to what we will be doing. DS has been with her all day teaching her to sit, stay, etc. She almost has the hang of sitting.

Just to clarify, DS did not rescue him from the pound. There was a kid in school talking about his dog and that the father was "going to kill her". DS offered to take her. She is "about" a year old and the poor thing did not even have a name. I am a bit angry that the kids mother would just give my DS their dog without speaking with us first. I don't want to return her for obvious reasons and I certainly don't want to take her to the pound. I looked at her legs and she has quite a few scars. She is very thin but has been eating pretty good. I bought her a raw hide bone but she has no idea what to do with it.

The only info DS got was that she is not a pure bred pit bull. My neighbors were just here and agree that she is mixed but we can't figure out what else she is. I assume the Vet can give us some sort of an idea.

I am at such a loss here. A dog was not in my plans right now. I have a small house and with 5 of us there is no room for a dog.

 

[marathonmommy]

You know what they say about the best laid plans . . . sounds like The Big Guy had something else in store for you.

Where in NJ are you? I don't know of many pitbull laws around there . . . I had one when we lived there.

 

[Cindyluwho]

Any breed with the background you mentioned would make me a very nervous. As others have stated, it is essential that you get the dog checked out by both a vet and a behavior specialist ASAP. Any dog can turn deadly on a dime if it has been abused. Also check the laws in your area. My biggest concern is that the former owner's father was going to kill it. WHY?? Did it hurt someone, was it just wetting in the house?
and good luck to you!

 

[marathonmommy]

Any breed with the background you mentioned would make me a very nervous. As others have stated, it is essential that you get the dog checked out by both a vet and a behavior specialist ASAP. Any dog can turn deadly on a dime if it has been abused. Also check the laws in your area. My biggest concern is that the former owner's father was going to kill it. WHY?? Did it hurt someone, was it just wetting in the house?
and good luck to you!

The only answer would be b/c he was trash. Killing it would never be the answer.

 

[CathrynRose]

If the OP is in New Jersey - New Jersey (as well as several other states, including Illinois) have actually outlawed, outlawing. Simply put.... no BSL (breed specific legislation). Unconstitutional.

http://www.understand-a-bull.com/BSL/Locations/USLocations.htm

I get raked over the coals often for saying it, but Pit Bulls are amazing, wonderful, loyal, eager to please, easy to train dogs. Look at how fast the little dude is already grasping 'sit'.

We got Charley at about 17 months. He's now about 2 1/2 and is just truly amazing. He's just a fantastic wonderful dog, whom I can trust around anyone, of any age. He is not food aggressive, human aggressive, dog aggressive - however I cant lie and say I dont check the yard for squirrels each time I let him out. They taunt him from the trees.

Pit Bulls arent big barkers either. They thrive on human companionship (which is why 'bad people' use them to fight. They will do anything their owner wants from sit, stay to 'get 'em' - bad owners abuse that wonderful trait they have)

As a PP mentioned, Helen Keller's service dog was a Pit. Petey from the Little Rascals was a pit - whom BTW, never ever ever bit his handler, nor any of the children he was around day in and day out. This is*not* something that cannot be said for Lassie.

Pit's have a long history in this country of being the 'Lab' of the early 20th Century. Teddy Roosevelt had one. They were called the Nanny dog, as they are so wonderful with children. Stubby was a Pit Bull that went to War for this country and rec'vd a purple heart upon his return. Pit's were used left and right in military propaganda as well as sales ad's, almost exclusively, for years.

Some history to read:

http://www.badrap.org/rescue/breed.cfm (great site to poke around on - (if you happened to catch the Michael Vick case show in Animal Planet - Bad Rap is the people that helped to rescue many of those dogs)

http://denver.yourhub.com/Lakewood/Stories/Pets/General-Pets/Story~47922.aspx

http://www.workingpitbull.com/aboutpits.htm



Check out how high Pit's rate (higher then most 'family' dogs):

http://www.atts.org/stats1.html

http://www.nopitbullbans.com/?page_id=31



And contrary to popular belief, many, many people own and have owned pitbulls, Michael J Fox, Ashley Olson, Rachel Ray, Jessica Biel:

http://pitbullawareness.blogspot.com/2007/12/famous-pit-bull-owners-past-present.html

http://www.trupitbull.com/FamousPeople.html

An of course, myself.

Sounds like he found you... and thats the best pet to have. The ones who come into your life, because that is where they are supposed to be.

 

[CathrynRose]

The only answer would be b/c he was trash. Killing it would never be the answer.

Exactly. Not to mention the fact, if the dog came to you with flea's so bad, it's obvious they were not even providing basic care to the lil' guy.

 

[Cindyluwho]

The only answer would be b/c he was trash. Killing it would never be the answer.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying that it is something she should know before letting the animal have free reign in her home. For example, if it attacked a little neighbor girl, she should know immediately. If it was just that it wasn't housebroken or some other silly thing, then it's no big deal. Does that make sense??