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Guest Anonymous

This is the first time i've ever written on a board so forgive me if i make any mistakes. Recently i've noticed alot of you guys making off hand comments about bad stories you have heard concerning family pets suddenly turning on children in the home. Since i have never heard of any of these stories i'd like to be filled in. I have a 2.5 yr old girl and a 1 yr pit i received from a friend that was rescued from the local shelter. I know better than to leave them alone, even if Lecter (dog) is the sweetest baby i've ever owned. But truth be told morbid curiosity has the best of me concerning this topic.
Second question i have is there anyway to make your dog love all parties in the home the same? My husband is starting to notice that "our" dog is really "my" dog. and i think he's getting jealous.

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Well said mei mei although I think one more thing you could do is as your child gets older educate her to be compassionate and to know the warning signs with body language ect so any future encounters with other dogs as well as your own will make her safe as well after all you only get one shot at it :lol:

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[quote name='bullygirl29532']Recently i've noticed alot of you guys making off hand comments about bad stories you have heard concerning family pets suddenly turning on children in the home.
.................................................................................................. Second question i have is there anyway to make your dog love all parties in the home the same? My husband is starting to notice that "our" dog is really "my" dog. and i think he's getting jealous.[/quote]
Keep in mind that dogs don't just "turn" on family members... they will and [i]do[/i] give signs of their displeasure with the situation. The problem is though, that many owners don't pay close enough attention to notice the signs the dogs are giving, and sometimes the signs are very subtle. They can be as simple as a growl, snap, or even a strange look, but it's up to you to learn to read your dog and act upon her signals. I found this interesting... some dogs show dominance by leaning their necks/heads over another dog's neck/back/head, and a hug from a person can "set off" dogs that consider themselves dominant, or who are not used to the motion. I know it probably doesn't apply to your situation, but I just found it interesting, and it demonstrates the differences in "language" between us and them. I posted my experiences with my aunt's baby and her dogs in another thread, I think this the link for it if you don't feel like looking for it [url]http://forum.dogomania.com/viewtopic.php?t=2264[/url] .
As for her liking you more than your husband, it may just be her personal preference, and nothing will change it. There are some things you can try that might help...
Let everyone (even your daughter can do this if she can say "sit" or "down") work with her on her obedience. This will reinforce to her that she is lowest in your house "chain of command", and will help to prevent any dominance problems that may occur later, and will allow everyone to establish a working relationship with the dog. Let him feed her on some days, while you feed her on others. Let him take her for walks and playtime, so they can strengthen their bond. Again, these things may not change anything, but they're not bad things to do even if they don't work for that, as they'll help to keep her from getting to be [i]too[/i] much of a "one person" dog.

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in my little family it's Sassy (child) that is the pushy one w/ the dog. She tries to grab his tail or she'll move all her toys and herself into his crate when he leaves it unattended. So i'm well aware of what behavior in her i need to curb, but i've never heard of a family pet mauling a child. Does it happen due to gross negligence ? It would have to happen that way, call me simple but i can't see a beloved animal w/ sound temperment just ripping a person to shredds for no reason.

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It [i]can[/i] happen because of gross negligence. Look at all the pit bull (and other "bad" breed) attacks you hear about on the news... poorly bred, unsocialized, untrained dogs running loose, parents leaving their kids alone with large dog while they run to the store, dogs chained in the backyard guarding the drugs, and kids wanders back there... dog "does it's job". It didn't know any better. It can also be due to ignorance (I suppose that could be considered a form of negligence)... the owners didn't know the pit bull could jump the 4 ft fence, or thought the dog "knew better" than to bite their child just because it jumped on their head, or "there was no warning" because they didn't know enough to se it coming. You're right that no sound dog should rip a person to shreds without a reason, but what constitutes a reason to a dog? For example, if a dog loves to chase and kill deer, cats, birds, and any other "prey", will he/she realize (without any training) that the child running around next door [i]isn't[/i] "prey"? They think differently than we do, and we have to respect it, even if we sometimes don't understand it.

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Could you guys give me some idea about how to improve the relationship w/ my husband and the dog. Lecter is a velcro dog w/ separations anxiety that loves to chew. Jay can not understand this eveytime lecter does something to upset jay he threatens to make him an outside dog. which means dog house and the whole 9, which would kill lecter. he's a major people dog that needs tons of interaction and praise. Really the stuff the dog does isn't that bad in my book, sometimes he knocks stuff over w/ his tail, he chews MY socks (I don't care), moves onto the bed in the middle of the night ( keeps me warm), and countless other doggy quirks. I'm starting to think he's not a dog person like he claimed or that the kinds of dogs he likes have no personality. any ideas would be a great help.

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Bullygirl sounds like he's jealous my hubby get the same way at times because the dogs wont listen to him when Im around .If you can try to create a bonding situation with hubby and Lector (love the name by the way) Do you walk the dog ? Mabey you could fake an injury and make hubby do it so he gets a taste of the dog responding to him It sounds very much like he needs time alone with the dog to help him bond up (hubby that is ) Encourage him to interact with the dog perhaps even get him to feed him although if hubby knows what you are trying to do he may resist :lol: Good luck anyway and let us know how you go and remember the dog can probably sense the resentment from hubby and dont forget to put yourself in hubbys shoes (dont want a divorce now) how would you feel if the roles were reversed

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You can lead a horse to water....

The first thing question is; Does you husband want to improve his relationship with the dog? If he doesn't, I'm not sure there's much you can do.

If he does want to improve things, there is no substitute for time. I would recommend that your husband spend time alone with the dog. Not sitting in front of the TV time with the dog at this feet, but actually playing and interacting with your dog.

This is an excellent opportunity to do some training as well. Have him grab some treats and practice some basic commands. This has two advantages. It builds the bond between your dog and your husband, and it builds you dog's confidence. Lecter will come to associate your husband with fun and treats.

Building your dog's confidence is probably the #1 thing you can do to help alleviate some of the behaviours you refer to. Separation anxiety, constantly following you around, destructive behaviour - these all arise from poor self confidence.

I speak from experience. My German Shepherd Travis was extremely shy and very poor self-esteem. He was constantly going to my wife for reassurance, and avoiding me as the Alpha-male. He was also destructive when left alone.

With patience, time and love, we were able to build up his self-confidence. This alleviated the issues with his destructive behaviour, as well as making him much more affectionate with me.

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These are all great ideas, i'll give them a try this weekend. But i've never heard of building a dogs confidence. could you give me some leads on how i could go about doing this? Book, websites, any thing would help. We do basic training but he can't even do a stay w/ me out of sight, i'm a liar i take 4 steps away and he breaks a stay command. Thanks for all the helpful feed back.

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Guest Anonymous

I would like to clear up some myths that some people have about the only True bulldog The American Pit Bull Terrier:
1.They do not have locking jaws .They just simply do not want to let go but you don't have to have a key to open them.
2.Their brains will not suddenly swell when they are grow.
3.They will not suddenly turn on their owner or go crazy for no reason.
4.Dog agressive pitbulls are not human agressive pitbullls and just because a dog may attack another animal for no reason that does NOT mean he will suddenly attack a child.
Some true things about the breed are as follows
A. Pitbulls have a very high pain tolerance this means that they can put up with a lot of torment from children unlike a lot of other breed they do not generally snap if someone pulls their ears or steps on their tails.
B.They are usually animal agressive but VERY HUMAN FRIENDLY.
c.They will be blamed for everything whether it is their fault or not.
d.They are very smart and can get out of almost any type of enclosure.
e.If they want something they will keep trying to untill they get it or they die.
f.They normally do not bite people even while fighting(Unolike labs,Shgepherds etc.


Another thing is NO DOG should be left alone with a dog I don't care if it is a chihuahua.Pomeranians have killed childrten in the past so don't pick on a breed.
Also don't believe the media they write what sells whether it is true or not so don't belive everything you read.

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[quote name='eric']Building your dog's confidence is probably the #1 thing you can do to help alleviate some of the behaviours you refer to. Separation anxiety, constantly following you around, destructive behaviour - these all arise from poor self confidence.
[/quote]

Unfortunately, I need to disagree. Just because your pet loves you and wants to be with you does not mean they have poor self esteem or no confindence. Destructive behavior too, usually comes from boredom.

Once again it comes to dominance. Many owners do not understand that their dog needs to understand the owners are alpha. If your dog knows this, their need to please you will help tremendously in training, confidence, self esteem etc. Dogs don't care where they are in the pack, as long as they know what their position is.

If you take the time to train and socialize your dog well, and make sure he knows his place in the pack (Adult humans>small humans>then dogs) you should have nothing to worry about, regardless of breed.

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