[Australe]

Gypsey is a one year old cattle dog pitbull mix. We adopted her from the SPCA when she was 6 months old and she weighs about 40 pounds, I have no knowlage of her life prior to us, she was picked up as a stray. Shes a wonderful dog and has become a daily joy to both me and my husband. She lives in the house with us and all around has pretty good (not perfect)manners. I take her to petsmart about every two weeks to keep her meeting new people and new dogs. She LOVES people and children. But when she meets a new dog she stiffens up a bit and her hair raises down her back. When she goes up to a dog she wags her tail and acts like she wants to play, but she always tries to jump on top of the other dog. Now I know that these are signs of agression. I've never heard her growl at another dog or bark at another dog. It never goes past just a little jumping on the other dog. What REALLY bothers me about her actions is how some people act when they see her bristling. I do not want to hurt the breed, I want a well behaved dog that I can take places and not worry about how Gypsey and I look when she starts "puffing up" at another dog. My father has experience in dealing with K9 training and he showed me the proper use of a prong collar and I have seen amazing results in her not pulling me around. I love to take her with me to the park and pet stores, but I can't ever take the chance on her maybe stepping over the line and getting into a fight, even if her agressive behavior sets another dog off. Even if the pitbull doesn't start a fight it always seems like they end up getting blamed for it. If anyone has any ideas I may be able to try with Gypsey I would be more than happy to give them a go.

[Michele]

She LOVES people and children. But when she meets a new dog she stiffens up a bit and her hair raises down her back. When she goes up to a dog she wags her tail and acts like she wants to play, but she always tries to jump on top of the other dog. Now I know that these are signs of agression. I've never heard her growl at another dog or bark at another dog. It never goes past just a little jumping on the other dog.

She's showing signs of DA (dog aggression) which is normal for this breed. You need to be aware of your dog's body language and take the appropriate action. Another member had said in a different thread that the "wagging of the tail" is one sign of the aggression. If the tail wagging is "stiff", that's one sign. Even if the pit bull doesn't start the fight, they will finish the fight.

[maryellen]

the jumping on the other dogs back is dominance, with that mix you have, you have 2 dominant breeds mixed together.. some dogs are dominant, some are submissive .. when rufus meets a new dog he tries to either put a paw on the other dogs back, jump on the dogs back, or hump the dog.. you can start by when she does this say no jump and pull her away, and get her to sit... work on her commands too, and reward for good behavior...

[maryellen]

the stiff wagging of the tail is also a sign of alertness, as in, i am ready if you want to start, ... some dogs also get excited to see other dogs, and they can bristle as well,, some dogs do it as aggression,and some just get so excited that sometimes in play they will raise their hackles as well...

[MaryC]

Hi Kristin and welcome. Mary Ellen has some great advice. If I could be so bold we have some really good information on our web site about dogs meeting and what to look for. Here is the link that refers to leash reactivity. There are other short little articles as well.
http://www.ourpack.org/aggressreactivity.html

By the way...Gypsey is a doll!

[Zoe]

Off topic but.... this is the first time I've heard of PACK. Cool!

[Australe]

Gypsey does tend to raise her hackles while we play tug-of-war/fetch too... She adores both games, but when we play tug of war when I say out she almost immediately lets go shes not greedy with it because she knows that when she lets go "mom" is gonna throw her toy so she can go chase it. When we first got her the pit bull training book that I had bought said not to allow any rough play or tug of war. But I was advised that tug of war is alright as long as the dog lets go when told to. Because of her raising her hackles during play that was why I wasn't so sure that when she meets a new dog her hackling up was only dog aggression, she does so well playing with dogs that I introduce her to, I am more worried about what people think when they see her doing it. I don't want someone to think shes being mean or is going to try to fight their dog. Its important to me to help people keep a good opinion about pit bulls and Gypsey, like a fine wine, can only get better with age
MaryC: Thanks a million for the link, good information and was exactly what I was looking for. It looks to be a wonderful website that everyone should take a peak at.

[Drgnrdr]

Just wanted to add: FYI
Say Hello, the 3 second rule (Dog to Dog intro): Never let your dog play on leash, to many things can happen ,they can get tangled up, a fight may start or they will think they can just ignore you and go to any dog they want.
First ask the owner if their dog is friendly enough to say hello to your dog.

Cue your dog to sit, if they won't comply, back up a bit to get control of them better, if the proximity to the other dog is too much for them, if they still will not sit, do not let them say hello, tell the other owner thank you but your dog is not listening and your not going to reward your dog for that, maybe some other time. If he does sit go to the next step.

After they sit and your leash is loose, tell your dog, good dog and then "say hello" and let them sniff the nose of the other dog, when they do step forward you need to say something don't tense up or hold your breath, this will cause your dog to think something is wrong, just be upbeat and happy, like say "oh what a cute doggy to say hello too" that is 3 seconds (count in your head), then get your dogs attention (like saying okay let's go, good boy/girl) and do not jerk/pop them away, (most times dogs think this comes from the other dog and that could cause your dog to become leash aggressive), get them away by getting their attention, use a sound or leave it, and your done.

Any longer than 3 seconds and the dogs will try to dominate or go to the private area, which can cause you to get tangled, it is very hard to just find a area for off leash intro's, where dogs can use thier own way of saying hello.
I teach this in my pup class, when dogs are young and still learning.

Also:
Drop it: This tells your dog to take their teeth off of whatever they have gotten a hold of. It is a trade game in the beginning. And will have to be traded for a treat until they start to catch on what it means. Play tug with your dog, when they get a hold of the toy real well put a treat in front of their nose and as their teeth comes off the toy to get the treat then you say the word "drop it". They have to be IN THE ACT of removing their teeth off the object to associate it with the English words "drop it". Eventually all you need is show them a treat when you say drop it and they will give toy up for a treat.
Tug of war has rules to play: (Take it/Drop it game)
You start and stop the game.
You have one toy designated as the tug toy and use that one only for tug game.
If they bite you or teeth go on you at anytime, game ends for the day.
If behavior gets out of control and they start to growl and lunge at you, stop game for the day. If this behavior continues, no tug of war until dog see's you as boss.