[bppstorr]

Hi, Im reading all your articles and need some advice so I can make a decision.

I have a bullmastiff female +2yrs - spayed and got the pitbull puppy who is now called Leo, becasue he prefers that to Spartacus. He is really beautiful and has an excellent personality. I do not know much about pitbulls (my daughter got the dog). I have to make a decision as to keeping him or not. I've spoken to people who run dog training and our local SPCA and they all tell me there is more than a 50% chance that he will attack my bullmastiff when an adult. On the other hand people who have pitbulls tell me they are fine if reared properly. What to do is the question, as I could not deal with it if my bullmastiff (DJ) was seriously hurt in a fight, as she is not aggressive.

I intend taking Leo for training and am considering having him neutered at 6 months. Does this help?? and what are the chances of a fight

This is quite serious for me so PLEASE give me good advice, based on experience.

[WaydayTew]

...More then 50 percent chance o_o. Man! Where do they get their statistics lol!

Pit bulls are prone to dog aggression, they certainly aren't lying there. That being said, there are PLENTY of people here, there, and everywhere who not only own other dogs along with their pit bull, but MULTIPLE pit bulls in the same household. Fights happen, it's a fact of life when dealing with this breed (most breeds actually), but that doesn't mean they have to happen, and it doesn't mean they're inevitable. It's just a possibility.

Now that you know you have a potentially dog aggressive animal, the thing to do is learn how to manage that. If your pit bull puppy isn't neutered yet, do it now. Neutering doesn't stop dog aggression from happening, but if you neuter a male dog before sexual maturity, you DO lower the chances. My male was neutered at 5 months and he has yet to show any dog aggression at the age of 3.

The fact that your other dog is a female is only bonus points for you. DA is less likely to occur in a male/female household (same sex households can happen, but it just means more work for the people involved). Start crate training your new pup. You will have to keep them separated whenever you cannot supervise, you can NEVER trust a pit bull not to fight, no matter how soft he is. Make sure to tire him out everyday, the more tired they are, the less likely they want to pick a fight with anything! Also keep any high value objects or treats out of reach and reserved for crate time or times when they are in separate rooms(kongs, chews, toys). Feeding them in the crate, or feeding them in separate rooms is a good idea too as food is often the stimulus that sparks an attack.

Badrap has a nice article on multi-dogging, I would read it. http://www.badrap.org/rescue/multidogs.cfm

My experience with multi-dogging has been a good one. It is a LOT of work, because you have to be able to read your dog like a book and always keep potential problem situations in mind, but it's well worth it in my opinion. My dog has lived with intact/neutered males, intact/neutered females, AND puppies. The better you get at managing your dogs, the better off you'll be. Hope some of that helps! Good luck.

[bppstorr]

Thanks Peachtea, I found your response informative and liked the article you suggested. I will definitely look at introducing these rules etc My Pup (Leo) is only 15 weeks now, but I will check when is the earliest I can have him neutered.

Regards

[JohnImamadviser]

Thanks Peachtea, I found your response informative and liked the article you suggested. I will definitely look at introducing these rules etc My Pup (Leo) is only 15 weeks now, but I will check when is the earliest I can have him neutered.

Regards

I work at a low-cost spay/neuter clinic, and we neuter puppies as young as 8 weeks. The younger they are, the faster they heal! Usually by the next day you can barely even tell they have had surgery, they recover so quickly!

[Triiooman]

Welcome to the forum

How a dog will turn it depends on both genetics and environment. You can socialize your dog completely, and they may still turn out dog aggressive if that's what their genetics say. On the other hand, you can have a dog that is completely under socialized but is friendly with other dogs (usually after a fearful introduction). And everything inbetween!

I have always had multiple dogs, including multiple pit bulls and mixes. I have had fights. All my fights were between two bitches.. I have been lucky to have VERY mellow males.

If you decide to keep this puppy, you have to be prepared to keep the dogs separated if you can't supervise and to possibly keep them separate ALL the time if they decide they hate each other. Male/female combos are the best, like peachtea said. I also believe that having one mellow dog IS helpful... some dogs will attack and kill another dog, but some dogs will attack another dog and if that dog doesn't fight back they aren't so inclined to do it again because they didn't get a rise out of them. Of course there is nothing scientific behind that at all... that's just been my observation with the dogs I've lived with. All dogs are different and there are no guarantees!

What do you know about the puppy? Given your situation, I would be inclined to say you can make it work... but since you don't know about pit bulls I would suggest doing A LOT of research. Bad Rap is an AWESOME site, and you might want to also check out www.pbrc.net which has a ton of info.

Get the pup neutered as soon as you can, enroll him in classes, keep him exercised (as a pup, this won't take much and you don't want to overdo it)... All you can do is do everything right on your part and hope the genetics agree

[bestworkother]

Welcome and great advice above!

As a multi-dog owner myself, I just wanted to chime in and add that you can live happily ever after with more than one.

We have two APBTs (one female, one male, both neutered) and a mostly Rottn female (also neutered).

The male is very mellow, the females are more intense.

They get along very well; nonetheless, all three are seperated (crated), when we are not there to supervise for even five minutes. This rule is set in concrete here, as is feeding them separately, to avoid food fights.

Keep us posted!

[bppstorr]

Thanks Guys for all your help. My puppy is about +15 weeks and very intelligent. I've already taught him to sit and wait for his food, while I feed the BM first. (she eats outside and he in the kitchen) He gets it right about 90% of the time, except when I take too long. Currently they do everything together, sleeping, playing, staying together while I'm at work, and thy have a great relationship, it also helps that my BM is trained as he learns alot from her, but I will change this as he matures. I live in Cape Town SA, and the weather is remarkably crap here at the moment, so keeping them separate is a challenge. I'll keep you all up to date with the progress, Thanks Again

[gkruCRi1]

I have an english mastiff and a 6 month old red nose and they are fine together but i do have to keep an eye on the mastiff when they have bones because she wants to take my puppys and keep hers at the same time