mydogroxy

today was by far one of the best days roxy has had as far as modifying her behavior! first we went to the carwash and she sat calmly not 10 feet away from another dog. i didn't even have to distract her with liver treats (which i've been having amazing results with). she watched the dog most of the time, but never made any kind of aggressive gesture. hooray! later on in the day she met a new human and after some initial "who are you?" barking, was on her best behavior. she even tried to charm the woman, walking right up to her and putting her head down on her lap! i am so proud!

[color=red]Personally, just the thought of cropped ears makes my stomach turn. I'm against cropping 100% but docking on the other hand, I believe that it can actually be beneficial[/color] some dogs do have their ears cropped for medical reasons. others have them done for showing purposes, while others mere preference. [color=red] its all over and done with when the dogs are very young[/color] [color=#444444]ear cropping is also generally done when dogs are very young.[/color] [color=red]I know Boxers for example, 20% of undocked Boxers get severe tail injuries later in life and need their tails amputated, it is not only very painful for them but also very traumatic[/color] [color=#444444]wow! what a statistic...you learn something new everyday. but you absolutely cannot deny that the majority of tail docking, like ear cropping is purely cosmetic. one could argue that it is painful and not completely necessary in most cases, but the same could be said about altering.[/color]

i would venture to say that most abpt's today are not gamebred, dogpaddle. but there are some who believe that gameness is an important characteristic of the breed. just like retrieving is to goldens and labs. that is why it is still bred for. those who do breed for gameness DO breed for good temperment, also. dogs who have what would be called poor temperment (ie. human aggression, shyness, fearful) are culled. [color=red]The only reason to have a gamebred dog, as far as I can see, is to have a dog that is "game."[/color] point #1: not all dogs that are gamebred are game. you only know if a dog is game if it is gametested. point #2: roxy is gamebred. the man we bought her from has around 5 dogs, obviously used for fighting in his yard, well taken care of might i add. i do not by any means agree with dogfighting but i did want a gamebred dog. not so i could say she was game or so i could fight her or so i could think i was tough by way of my dog. she is an abpt and i think that gameness is an important trait of the breed, as it has been a part of the breed for a very looong time. ( i do realize that being for gameness and against fighting is a contradiction, and i do struggle with it. )

i just want to add that, altering all of your dogs may help the situation. but you may also find that this fighting may have already done permanent damage to their relationship. they could go back to being the best of friends, but you very well may find yourself with dogs that no longer get along.

well since i'm always on the look for better food, i'll definitely take a second look!

no i haven't tried canidae. i haven't seen it in any of the pet shops i frequent and the ingredients (although good) don't wow me enough to go searching for it.

i'm sure some of you know about my woes with roxy and kibble. we've tried a bunch of foods, none of which had satisfactory results, so we're going back to the wellness. she's not really crazy about the food, so we're going to have to supplement it with tasty stuff. she already gets yogurt and eggs, but i'd like to try other things. any suggestions?

yes, she's off of that kibble and back on the wellness. i'm just going to have to add a little something to make it more appetizing.

rott pretty much hit the proverbial nail on the head.

i don't understand how you can be against dying and ear cropping but think that tail docking is ok. i understand your point about the lack of nervous system and hence no pain (which i never knew :D ) but there is still a permanent change being made to the dog. many people would say that there is very little pain involved in ear cropping also. and there is no pain when dying a dog, so i don't really follow your line of thought. maybe i'm missing out on something or not understanding you properly?

i get what you're saying, but if dog friendliness is a priority for you, then a pit bull is definitely not the dog for you. dog friendliness is not an important trait for pit bulls to have.

i would loooove to switch her over to barf, but her dad is not a big fan of the diet. so kibble it will be.

[color=red]However, I 'do' say dog fighting is wrong, I do 'not' say that breeding a fighting bitch is wrong, ONLY if the bitch is not human/dog aggressive. NOTE: Just because a dog has never biten a human, doesn't mean it wont. [/color] aonir: there is a HUGE difference between human aggression and dog aggression. a pit bull that exhibits human aggression is unstable, whereas most pit bulls will be dog aggressive to some degree or another. breeding a pit that is dog aggressive is not wrong at all. and just to throw my two cents in on this whole hmmm thing...i do not agree with dog fighting in the least. i think it is a shame that people still find this acceptable. in my opinion gameness not only applies to dog fighting and could very well be tested in other areas (weight pull for example). BUT you'd better believe that i would take one of hmmm's pups over some byb's ANYDAY. gamebred dogs are notoriously stable animals, never exhibiting human aggression and make lovely pets.

i guess i should reply to this since i was definitely one of the harsher respondents. it is completely understandable that people make mistakes and learn as they go. but it is unacceptable for a person to own two, sexually mature, unaltered dogs with no means to provide medical care. it is also more of an issue for me because the dogs in question are pit bulls (my own dog is an abpt). there are literally thousands of pit bulls in shelters, dying everyday because of irresponsible "breeders." these kinds of breeding practices are the reason we hear about so many unstable pit bulls attacking people. so in my eyes, this kind of crap, DIRECTLY effects me. when i walk down the street with roxy and people cross to avoid her or when i take her to a local ice cream shop am publicly berated for choosing to own a pit bull, it is because of the negative image people like her are creating for pit bulls. it's fine to make mistakes, but no ok for people to be totally irresponsible. and it's even worse when others make excuses for and support people like that.

well it was only a temporary thing, while we were waiting to get her new food. which by the way made her brake out in little bumps all over! i've got a lemon of a dog, hahaha.

you should definitely talk to your neighbors straightaway. the dog may just have serious fence aggression with strangers (my apbt will bark at strangers through the fence). if the dog is stable and friendly, meeting him would most likely eliminate this behavior. however, it may just be that the dog is people aggressive or protective of his property, in which case you would be wise to ask the neighbors to keep the dogs secure and/or get yourself a new fence! good luck.

woohoo...what a looker! he reminds me a lot of my roxy except she's a rednose and has freckles on the white part of her muzzle.

well if you have used manic panic on dogs and had no problems with it, then i see no problem with it. i thought that it might have been too harsh for dogs, but i guess not! :D people take things too seriously sometimes. i wouldn't personally dye my dogs hair, BUT she does have a spiked collar and a spiked harness and i'm sure some people wouldn't agree with the image that evokes when worn by a pit bull. to each his own, as long as no harm is done to the dog.

the hair dye used on the dog was definitely manic panic. it could be seen in one of the shots and is for humans, not dogs.

i have to agree here. roxy and i play tug all the time, sometimes she wins, sometimes i win. for a while she had some dominance issues, but she absolutely knows who's boss. i don't see any harm in it.

another food i'd heard great things about is nature's variety. they make a premade barf too, but their kibble is to die for (so i've heard).

courtnek pretty much covered it, but i wanted to add that you should never reprimand your pup for submission urination. it's not something they do on purpose or can help. roxy used to do this everytime my boyfriend would come home and greet her. she still does it every once and a while, but now it's more out of excitement, than her being submissive. good luck!

brad, i have female pit (almost 10 months) with very similar problems. she is very wary of strangers and downright fearful of children. although there's no way of really knowing, we're 99% sure that she was mistreated during the first 3 months of her life (before we got her). she's improved in some aspects but gotten worse in others (with children for example). the other day, she absolutely fell in love with one of our friends, who she had never met before. it is still a very uphill battle with her and we've been looking into professional help for her. i have learned a few things since we've had her though, so here's a few tips: 1. let your pup approach strangers before allowing them to touch him. roxy is much more accepting of strangers she's "approved" rather than any old joe who runs up trying to pet her. 2. let him progress at his own pace. going too fast or too slow will only hold up the process. 3. when he acts appropriately, give TONS of praise. 4. when introducing to strangers to your pup, give them one of his favorite treats to offer him. if these strange people are giving them yumyums, they can't be all bad, right? good luck with your pup!

in the never ending search for a kibble roxy will do well on AND like, we special ordered abady allstar from a local feed store. we ran out of her normal food yesterday, but can't pick up the abady until tomorrow. so guess what she got?!?! BARF!! she absolutely loved it. i fed her cubed beef muscle meat, mashed veggies (carrots, peas, and spinach), some tuna, and plain yogurt. and she has a nice rmb to chew on later. if only her dad would be more open to the idea of barf...sigh. at least she'll get a special treat for a few days.

ohh, dr. fosters has some bee-utiful doggie beds! not to mention personalized bowls to die for!