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Old February 19th, 2015, 11:51 PM
LPR LPR is offline
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Unhappy I'm new and need advice!

I have 3 dogs. My husband and I started out with Lyla in November 2012. Lyla was about 1 1/2 yrs old and was being fostered by a friend of ours. She is a Pitbull Weimaraner mix. We then added Prince in April 2013, he was 12 weeks at the time. He's a boxer pit mix. We had one incident between Lyla and Prince over a toy where Prince got bit in his arm. In Feb 2014 we moved from New Orleans to Nashville and got a new dog named romeo when he was 16 weeks. Romeo is a full Pitbull and is not neutered. Since the last incident we had not had an incident until November 2014 where Lyla and Prince got into it while my family was down visiting. This left Lyla badly wounded. We took her to the pet er and it was terrible and very expensive. Since then problems have occurred more and more frequently. Prince has become a more nervous dog. In January 2015, Lyla and Prince got into it again and Romeo jumped in Lyla had a wound reopen and again we took her to the er. Another time shortly after they went at it and Lyla got a puncture wound and Prince got some too but we managed to break it up quicker. This last time was February 16, 2015 and this time my husband and I both got hurt we ended up having to go to the er and I got stitches in my right hand and my husband had puncture wounds on his left hand. This time the fight was between Prince and Romeo while all 3 of them were laying down Prince got startled and in a blink of an eye they went at it. My husband was able to get Lyla out the door and we tried breaking up the fight. Prince got hurt in his eye and had to have surgery on his third eye lid. As we are trying to all heal my husband and I are at a loss financially and emotionally. We don't know how to restore the balance and all three of our dogs are sweet, loving dogs and usually get along. We can't get rid of any of our dogs, they are our babies but we can't continue this way.
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Old February 20th, 2015, 12:35 AM
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Loki Love Loki Love is offline
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Are all the dogs neutered/spayed at this point? If not, start there - although, it may not help at this point, but it certainly wouldn't hurt either.

What kind of training has been done with all 3? Have you considered a behaviourist?

What was done after the very first fight? What steps did you take to ensure (or try to ensure) it wouldn't happen again? What were the circumstances? Was there a toy involved? Food?

While I can empathize and appreciate you may not want to give up any of your dogs, you have to think long and hard then about how you'll make this work. Crate and rotate may be your only option - never having all 3 dogs out together at once.
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Old February 20th, 2015, 01:17 AM
LPR LPR is offline
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@lokilove romeo is not neutered but def getting neutered asap! After the November fight we tried to lay more boundaries and feeding them in order and exercising them more and putting them in their crates at night cause they used to all sleep together... The November fight was prob a mixture of things from new people in the house to lyla going to lick princes bowl while he was licking it which had never happened before... After that Prince sat next to me with his toy the same one they all had and lyla made the ugly face and they got into it so they only got their toys in their crates... After that I think Prince has been nervous since it seems like he's always the target...the next fight they were all eating when my husband comes in the door Prince freaked out barked n ran to the door and lyla ran to him and then a fight broke out and the Romeo got involved android last one was crazy cause everyone was laying down Prince and lyla were a lil on edge cause the wood was popping in the fireplace and romeo was playing on the ground with the end of the blanket when Prince freaked out and Romeo reacted....my hubby got to push lyla out the door so she wouldn't get involved! They have all been different scenarios but one thing I know is Prince is nervous and lyla is the alpha and intense and Romeo is now reacting and is so strong! I am currently looking for a behaviorist but not finding many...
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Old February 20th, 2015, 09:02 AM
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Myka Myka is offline
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It sounds to me like the dogs don't have a real pecking order. They don't respect each other and they don't respect you. It also doesn't sound like you understand their body language, and how to correct them before anything starts. I would start with a behaviorist that has LOTS of experience with the Bully breeds. I also agree that you may need to crate and rotate. I think adding a third dog to an already tumultuous relationship was not a good idea. It is MUCH more difficult to repair a relationship than to make it right the first time.

In our house the Chihuahua is the boss of the Staffordshire. It can't be any other way because he's so small and she's so big. We adopted the Staff when she was 6 and the Chi was 5. We took three months to introduce them to each other doing the crate and rotate thing, then we had them together for short periods with them muzzled, then longer periods muzzled with short periods unmuzzled. We always corrected the Staff if she didn't move out of the Chi's way. The Staff had to move if the Chi wanted the bed she was on (we had two beds out). We also made sure the Chi wasn't a jerk to her - we corrected him when he got snippy. So the Staff learned we would protect her from him. It took about a year for them to learn to sleep on the same bed.

Now they sleep together all the time. When the Chi is a jerk the Staff looks to us like, "Mom, make him stop." She isn't protective of her food or toys - the Chi can come up and take them from her (though he gets corrected). We feed them side by side now, and even though they are very good, we don't push the envelope, and the Chi goes in the wire crate for meals (they sleep together in there too if the door is left open). All beds are equal turf, the crates are equal turf.

Basically, at first, we created very unequal turf for them. We exaggerated that he was boss and she was submissive, and now it's still the same but we don't have to exaggerate it so much. She has never challenged him aside from holding ground when he's growling and they both get corrected for that. You really can't put it all into typing like this - there is so much more. You really need a behaviorist.

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Squeak - '15/16? - Tabby cat (adopted Nov '18)
Streak - '18 - Black cat (adopted Nov '18)
Peewee - Jan '06 - 6.5 lb Chi (adopted May '09)
--------------------
Roxy - Feb '05 to May '20 AmStaff (adopted Jul '11)
Myka - Nov '98 to Jan '10 - APBT X
Lacy - Sep '92 to Jul '03 - Sheltie
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Old February 21st, 2015, 10:22 AM
LPR LPR is offline
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@myka I appreciate the advice and I am looking for a behaviorist but this only happened one time a year before we brought in the new puppy. I agree it could be the pecking order. I am usually good at watching their body behavior but as of late It has gotten out of control. We are going to trying the muzzle thing as well. I agree I need help though! Thank you
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Old February 21st, 2015, 10:26 AM
LPR LPR is offline
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Right to left lyla, romeo and Prince
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Old February 21st, 2015, 11:43 AM
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Myka Myka is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LPR View Post
@myka I appreciate the advice and I am looking for a behaviorist but this only happened one time a year before we brought in the new puppy. I agree it could be the pecking order. I am usually good at watching their body behavior but as of late It has gotten out of control. We are going to trying the muzzle thing as well. I agree I need help though! Thank you
One time a year is too many. If our Staff EVER had an issue with the Chi, the Chi would be dead. Our dogs have been together for 3 1/2 years now and they still get corrected if either one oversteps their boundaries. Sometimes the Staff will quickly grab the Nylabone when the Chi walks by, and she gets corrected for that. Sometimes the Chi growls when the Staff joins him on the bed, and he gets corrected for that. The training never stops.

I like wire crates better than plastic crates because the dogs feel less separated from each other. They can be beside each other and can contact each other (licking, sniffing) without actually being together. This is good for training. We also made use of baby gates when we were introducing them.
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Ella - Jun '20 - Reg AmStaff
Squeak - '15/16? - Tabby cat (adopted Nov '18)
Streak - '18 - Black cat (adopted Nov '18)
Peewee - Jan '06 - 6.5 lb Chi (adopted May '09)
--------------------
Roxy - Feb '05 to May '20 AmStaff (adopted Jul '11)
Myka - Nov '98 to Jan '10 - APBT X
Lacy - Sep '92 to Jul '03 - Sheltie
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Old February 21st, 2015, 04:19 PM
LPR LPR is offline
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@myka I meant it happened once a year before we got the last dog and we thought we had resolved the issue. I agree it is once too many! I am supposed to protect them and that's why I'm seeking advice from other dog owners until I find someone who can help. But I'm not having success in Nashville. I will keep searching but this breed is not well accepted or understood. I spoke to a couple trainers and asked them for referrals and they said they would call and never did and I emailed a lead I found and haven't heard back.
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Old February 21st, 2015, 08:31 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Romeo looks like he could be quite the lover.
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  #10  
Old February 21st, 2015, 09:39 PM
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Myka Myka is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LPR View Post
@myka I meant it happened once a year before we got the last dog and we thought we had resolved the issue. I agree it is once too many! I am supposed to protect them and that's why I'm seeking advice from other dog owners until I find someone who can help. But I'm not having success in Nashville. I will keep searching but this breed is not well accepted or understood. I spoke to a couple trainers and asked them for referrals and they said they would call and never did and I emailed a lead I found and haven't heard back.
Just keep trying. Don't settle. I'm not sure what you have in the US, but we have Kijiji and Craig's list for nation-wide free classifieds. If you have something like that you could post an ad without details. Like, "looking for a dog trainer with Bully breed experience". If you post up "looking for behaviorist for pit bulls" you're going to get hate mail. Sad but true...

You're going to have a tough time though, you're working with dogs that have been bred for many generations to dislike other dogs.
__________________
Ella - Jun '20 - Reg AmStaff
Squeak - '15/16? - Tabby cat (adopted Nov '18)
Streak - '18 - Black cat (adopted Nov '18)
Peewee - Jan '06 - 6.5 lb Chi (adopted May '09)
--------------------
Roxy - Feb '05 to May '20 AmStaff (adopted Jul '11)
Myka - Nov '98 to Jan '10 - APBT X
Lacy - Sep '92 to Jul '03 - Sheltie
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  #11  
Old February 22nd, 2015, 10:03 AM
2dogs&acat 2dogs&acat is offline
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This is the same procedure we used when introducing our 2.4 pound puppy to our 81 pound dog, it was about 3 months before we felt comfortable letting them interact freely. The puppy is now 15 pounds and fearless around the big dog who is extremely tolerant to her crazy hyper ways. They will both eat out of each others bowls and play together really well but the big dog, being much lazier will let her know when he is not to be bugged so he can nap. I agree, just crate and rotate and find a experienced trainer, good luck.
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Old February 22nd, 2015, 12:19 PM
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Reg Reg is offline
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Hello LPR:

I've been following your problems with your doggies. Being a cat family, I can't offer any suggestions on my own, but I happened to be reading the Animal Wellness magazine that I subscribe to, and there was an article in the Feb/March edition on Training you Dog by Victoria Stillwell. She recommends a web site for "locating qualified trainers in your area", and I thought it could be of value to you to have a look at the web site.

I am also enclosing the Animal Wellness magazine site. Hopefully this might aid in the finding of a qualified trainer for you.

https://positively.com/dog-training/...vspdt-trainer/

http://ww.animalwellnessmagazine.com/
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Old February 23rd, 2015, 04:10 PM
LPR LPR is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reg View Post
Hello LPR:

I've been following your problems with your doggies. Being a cat family, I can't offer any suggestions on my own, but I happened to be reading the Animal Wellness magazine that I subscribe to, and there was an article in the Feb/March edition on Training you Dog by Victoria Stillwell. She recommends a web site for "locating qualified trainers in your area", and I thought it could be of value to you to have a look at the web site.

I am also enclosing the Animal Wellness magazine site. Hopefully this might aid in the finding of a qualified trainer for you.

https://positively.com/dog-training/...vspdt-trainer/

http://ww.animalwellnessmagazine.com/
b

Thank u so much!
I found this really good teleseminar by Jim Burwell that made me realize what I have and have not done...
http://www.petiquettedog.com/?attachment_id=13024
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Old February 24th, 2015, 02:00 PM
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Reg Reg is offline
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Glad that we could be of assistance. We're all hoping for a happy conclusion - please keep us informed of your progress.
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