[myboyscrazy]

Any advice on an overly protective "PIT" in your house? My baby is a rescue approximately 8 mo.- 1 yr. and goes everywhere with me and does fine, however if someone comes in the house she still has to bark rather loudly for quite a while, took her about 3 weeks to get used to our best friend coming over and he lets her out when I am on a 12 hour shift at the hospital and my husband is on a 24 hr. shift at the fire dept.

[screamin'eagle]

need alot more info. The first question that I have regarding the dogs other actions. Is he/she simply barking, or are there other threat displays? Is he/she lunging, and trying to bite?

[Michele]

Also, is the dog showing teeth?

[myboyscrazy]

No definitely no lunging or baring of teeth, however she does seem to want everyone to know she is in charge. Also here in the last couple of weeks she will also bark at men who approach her after letting them pet her for a moment. It seems to be primarily men she reacts this way with, exception being my mom but she is terrified of her b/c she is a "PIT" and is rather obvious about it. Thanks!

[Michele]

however she does seem to want everyone to know she is in charge

She's not in charge, you are. Go to our Training and Behavior forum. There is a sticky in there with regard to NILIF. Start using this. She needs to know that you are alpha.

[screamin'eagle]

I would start over from scratch with the NILIF method that Michelle suggested. If this doesn't progress quickly with diligent effort on your part it is time to consider a professional trainer (canine behaviorist). If there are still no result, or she gets worse the eventuality is to Put her to Sleep. You have to be very honest about her showing aggression toward people both legally and ethically. If she does progress toward showing more threat response, and eventually bites and hurts someone...you are legally responsible. This is why there is a line that can not be crossed in regards to protective APBTs. While some have this instinct...sound temperment American Pitbull Terriers should be people friendly. If there are cases of abuse in the past this fact rarely changes. I've seen a rescue story on a dog that was abused to the point that someone shove a knife into her head. She showed up at the rescue with a knife lodged in her skull, and was still wagging her tail, and licking the rescue workers.

[PNWPBR]

A dog showing signs like this at this young of age..... usually gets worse.


SE is correct, we get dogs in the rescue all the time, starved, abused, broken and beaten.... they still wag their tails and lick the hands that feed them. Abuse is not something that should change the temperament of a dog and if it has, then that is a serious issue that should be looked into.

Is the dog spayed? Also is it known to be a purebred or possibly a mix?

[myboyscrazy]

Clearly I seem to have implied her behavior to be much worse than it is. She is certainly not falling in the category of needing to be put down, didn't mean for it to come across that way. She knows where she stands as far as her place in the pack and looks to me in response to all of her behaviors. She also plays very well with our 3 small boys, youngest being 3, by no means did I intend to imply that she was in attack mode when she barks. I simply was looking for advice regarding her barking when someone new comes in the house.

[PNWPBR]

If its just barking when someone comes over.... remove the dog from the situation.

Do you have a crate or something/somewhere the dog goes when left alone? When you know a new person is coming over, have the dog in there. Does the barking lessen or does the dog still bark from the crate/room when they hear the doorbell?

Usually when I have a jumper/heavy door barker I have a bowl of treats either on the porch or right inside the door. I instruct all new people coming over where the treats are and give them specific instructions on what to do.

They grab a handful and IGNORE the dog. Ignore the barking, the jumping, whatever the behavior may be and instead focus on you. While engaging in conversation, possibly getting settled on the couch, have the person throw a few treats not TO the dog, but AWAY from themselves. Continue this for 20 minutes, all the while still ignoring the dog and doing whatever business they came over to do.

Stopping the barking is never a quick fix and it is something you will have to work on... regardless with patience you can lessen it.

[screamin'eagle]

Originally Posted by PNWPBR Usually when I have a jumper/heavy door barker I have a bowl of treats either on the porch or right inside the door. I instruct all new people coming over where the treats are and give them specific instructions on what to do. They grab a handful and IGNORE the dog. Ignore the barking, the jumping, whatever the behavior may be and instead focus on you. While engaging in conversation, possibly getting settled on the couch, have the person throw a few treats not TO the dog, but AWAY from themselves. Continue this for 20 minutes, all the while still ignoring the dog and doing whatever business they came over to do. Stopping the barking is never a quick fix and it is something you will have to work on... regardless with patience you can lessen it.

This is a good suggestion for a mild case of what you described. I guess the dog is more excited than anything when guests come over after you further explained. That suggestion I quoted should work with time and patience, and desensitization will also help. For example, keep her at a distance where she is not excited by visitors, and gradually bring her closer each session. Both of these suggestions require your visitors cooperation though. A this method would be to teach her to "speak" and "be quiet" on command. Speaking on command usually decreases unwanted barking...good luck!

[fearlessknight]

Originally Posted by myboyscrazy No definitely no lunging or baring of teeth, however she does seem to want everyone to know she is in charge. Also here in the last couple of weeks she will also bark at men who approach her after letting them pet her for a moment. It seems to be primarily men she reacts this way with, exception being my mom but she is terrified of her b/c she is a "PIT" and is rather obvious about it. Thanks!

What in the world is this SUPPOSED to mean?

[myboyscrazy]

Meaning my mom judges her based upon her breed and the damage done in the media and not by her behavior and personality.

[monkeys23]

She may have a bad history with men if she is a rescue and barks because she is nervous. You never know what her past might have been.

When I had Sparky after taking him from an awful abusive situation he did bark loudly like that once when my landlord came into the backyard unexpectedly. You could tell he was freaked out by the tone of his bark, but after a lot of sniffing was his waggly self. Most people would have been unnerved by his bark (it kinda freaked me out because he had never ever done anything like that before), but my landlord is excellent with dogs and just talked to him and let him sniff, etc. until he figured out it was all good.

NILIF and the suggestions PNWPBR and others have given you should help her. NILIF is really good for helping a dog feel more secure. Good luck.

[CoolHandJean]

Originally Posted by myboyscrazy Meaning my mom judges her based upon her breed and the damage done in the media and not by her behavior and personality.

My Mom is afraid of most dogs, but I have taught her a lot of what I learned, and now if someone bad talks an APBT, my Mom stands up for them. She always reports back to me to let me know about it...My sister on the other hand tells me "If I want to think they are vicious, I can," which to me seems like she wants to remain ignorant. We had a huge fight about it, but destroy our relationship just wasn't worth it, plus she never had the chance to met my dogs.

[DryCreek]

I have a couple of questions about your dogs "posture" during the barking episodes.

What do her ears do.... lay back on her head, straight up and perky etc.

What does her tail do...wag low, wag high, straight out etc

What is her body posture...straight and tall, scruched down in front, leaning backwards a bit etc

Basically what I'm trying to do is picture your dog during an event to see if she's being fearful, forward or excited.

Being a rescue, you will not know what some triggers may be for her behavior. I've worked with a dog that was fine with everyone except bearded men in baseball caps. The owners had "sent it away" for training. (guess what the trainer looked like )

The first step to helping your dog is to understand how she is reacting (fearful, aggressive etc) then to what (seems to be men ).

The NILIF program suggested will help you stop the unwanted behavior but you also need to understand what the problem is so you can work on removing the trigger by slowly desensitizing her to it with the positive reinforcement program.

[myboyscrazy]

Nanners ears always stand straight up, we joke that she is part bat, her ears are HUGE, always the first thing anyone comments on. As far as her stance goes she does not seem to be showing strong aggression, her tail is wagging and hackles are not raised, some men she does fine with and others she doesn't but she looks to me every couple of seconds regardless of her reaction to different people. She is a perfect happy goofball at home and she may just be the kind of dog that does not require anyone outside of her pack. Either way I will continue to take her with me, leashed of course, and she does love her car rides, however as far as her becoming a social butterfly it may just not be who she is.