QuestionHello Melissa,
Thanks for considering my question. I have had pitbulls for over 10 years. My "problem child" is a 4 y/o, 60# female (Kira) who also lives with a 10 y/o, 80# female (Eve), and a 2 y/o, 9# boy Bichon (Sonji). All are crate trained, however all three may sleep in the bed with their respective human parents occasionally.
We had a 2 y/o, 80# female (Layla) but gave her to a family member because she and Kira were getting into rather nasty snarling spats, especially around food time, and Layla was a lot bigger than she, and we wanted to breed her. They would play outside nicely but roughly, as pit bulls do, with running, tugging sticks & coconuts (they love coconuts!), play biting, rarely doing worse than scratching each other with unclipped nails. As we were trying to breed Layla, the vet recommended we keep them apart, as the aggressive and assertive behavior would likely escalate with a successful pregnancy. Kira already had a broken leg from a spat with Layla in the autumn.
Before the fall, however, Kira occasionally growled when we crated her. This seems to be especially severe, with tooth baring, lip curling, etc., especially if we use her crate as a "time out" punishment when we take away her rawhide chew, or if we catch her snarling with another dog. She never seems to have an attitude with Sonji, maybe because he's a boy, and he's so much smaller and different. (You know, he's a major lap dog, always demanding attention.) Layla and Eve are less clingy.
Now after watching Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, I figure we must be not displaying enough calm doggy discipline, and letting her maintain her alpha status. She was the first dog in the house; Eve, the oldest, is a long term guest, but who's only here for several months at a time. When she plays with another group of pitbulls, she always likes to be top dog, and frequently try to mount the males, although they never get into fights. (Our son who is temporarily living with us, also has a bunch of pitbulls-- arghhhh!! (Zelda, Montale, Prada, and another one who I can't remember; son is the one keeping Layla. They all stay in the basement; Eve, Kira, and Sonji live upstairs. It's a big house!)
Any suggestions as to how to make Kira a bit more mellow and compatible with the others, and reduce those snarling episodes with us and the other dogs.
Thanks again!
AnswerFollow Cesar's advice. YOU are the alpha. Also make sure all dogs are fixed, that will help ALOT. You may have to start using crate/rotate. Look it up on www.pbrc.org There is ALOT of good info on that site. Congrats for trying to remedy the situation.
