Dogs splitting up and aggressiveness towards other dogss

Question
I have two pittbull puppies One is mine and another one is my older friends, unfortunatley he's thinking of selling his puppy away. They are around 5 to 6 months old, and have been together for about 4 months they are very attached to eachother. Just today my friend toke his dog to walk for a few hours and all the dogs do is be depressed during that time. When my friend came back we noticed that the dogs did not want to play or eat. What should I do and should I be worried?

Another question is my older friends pittbull is very good with people, but not so good with other dogs, What should my friend do to change his ways?

Thank You

Answer
Hi Saul,

You said the dogs were acting depressed, and didn't want to play or eat after going on a walk that was a few hours long.  It might be that the dogs were really, REALLY tired out, after such a long walk! Have they perked up since then?

You only need to be concerned if the dogs continue to act depressed, or lethargic, and won't eat or drink. If that's the case, you need to have the dogs examined by a veterinarian. Be sure to tell the vet how quickly this condition seemed to come on.

You can help your dog to be better with other dogs. It will take some time, and patience on your part, but it certainly can be done. For starters, neutering male dogs will not solve all problems, but will help prevent dominance aggression and inter-male fighting, particularly when done before the pup reaches sexual maturity. At 5-6 months old this is the time to neuter your dog, if it's a male.

You can read about training your dog here:

http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/dog-to-dog-aggression.html

http://www.k9aggression.com/Aggression-Treatment/management.html

An aggression problem will not go away by itself.  If you've never had an aggressive dog, just reading about how to train your dog out of the problem may not be a very effective way if fixing this problem. As a Pitbull owner, you have a special responsibility to make sure your dog is a good neighbor to all.  Working with an animal behavior specialist or enrolling in an obedience class would get you the best results, quicker than doing this on your own. Ask your vet to refer you to a dog trainer, or a class.

Best of luck,
Patti