Why is my (american red nosed) pit bull overprotective of me?

Question

My dog has lost his mind. He has gotten so bad my husband cant touch me, even hug me, without the dog barking his head off and acting as though he is going to bite my husband. He is like this with others as well. Someone tapped me on my shoulder and the dog jumped up on the person, barking and growling agressively. The strangest thing, is I have only been with the dog for a year, and my husband has had him for 5. Has anyone else experienced this, or knows how to fix it? Thanks....Princess

Answer 1

Your dog has decided you're it's "Gilrfriend" you need to assert yourself as the boss. Your dog may obey you now, but if you don't assert yourself as the boss, the dog will continue to "own" you nd will get progressively worse.
Good luck.

Answer 2

It's time to head this off now before it gets worse, yes, it can. Can you think of why your dog has become this way, and is it just recently? When the dog gets aggressive towards someone, what are you doing to correct this behavior? What you need is someone strong to come into your home and help you with this. To start off, your husband would have to move closer to you while both sitting on the same couch. When the dog begins his aggressive behavior it's then that immediate correction is needed. Now, I'm not talking any kind of (harmful) correction, but a restraining correction. The dog should be on collar (that won't slip off) and leash, with the 3rd person holding him. This is going to be too long of an explanation for this column. See if you have a trainer/behaviorist in your area. This dog is heading towards the "Red Zone", which is sheer agression. Dogs by natural nature are not agressive in this manner. Something has had to have happend for him to become this way. Perhaps in the beginning of this new stage he was petted for it, or you or someone thought it was "really cool" that he was behaving this way. Please seek help as soon as you are able too, before someone gets hurt and then you have to put him down. I'm being really serious here, and also pro-active for your dog. He did not come by this behavior himself. Please think of what may have started it, and then seek help to have it corrected. I wish you the best.

Answer 3

I once had an elderly lady for a friend. She had a wonderful little dog. A mix of some sort. She had the dog trained well and it behaved very well. Learn here https://tr.im/kZnns

She kept an uncovered candy dish on her coffee table with candy in it. The dog was forbidden to eat the candy. When she was in the room observing the dog he did not even appear to notice the candy. One day while she was in her dinning room she happened to look in a mirror and could see her dog in the living room. He did not know he was being watched. For several minutes he was sitting in front of the candy bowl staring at the candy. Finally he reached in and took one. He placed it on the table and stared at it, he woofed at it. He stared some more, licked his chops and PUT IT BACK in the bowl and walked away. Did he want the candy, oh yeah. Did he eat it? Nope. They can be trained that well but most, I'll admit, are not trained that well. When I was a young boy, maybe 5 years old. We had a german shepherd. He was very well trained also. My mom could leave food unattended on the table, no problem. She would open the oven door and set a pan roast beef or roast chicken on the door to cool. No problem. He would not touch it, watched or not. But butter? Whole other story. You leave a stick of butter anywhere he could reach and it was gone. He was a large shepherd so there were not many places he could not reach. Really, I think the number of dogs trained to the point they will leave food alone when not being supervised is very small indeed.
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Now if we are talking obedience training, not food grubbing, that is a different story. Way back when I was first learning obedience training one of the final exercises was to put our dogs in a down/stay and not only leave the room but leave the building for 15 minutes. The only person that stayed was our trainer, not the owners. Most of the dogs in my class did not break their stay, which would be an automatic fail. I'm happy to report my dog was one of the ones that passed.

Answer 4

My Chihuahua is like this - I consulted a behaviorist - and apparently I have contributed to the problem. The dog is jealous of the relationship it has with you...do not encourage this behavior.

My dog will sit in my lap, and no one can approach me - when he acts like this, I push him on the floor and do not allow him back up. He loses all his power. Here is a link to some articles - a few about aggression. There is an article about overprotectiveness. You may have to work with a behaviorist (not the same as a trainer).

Answer 5

Hi...... I had a Colby pit that was what you could term overly protective......Pits are very loyal as a rule, I don't know how much time you spend with your pit, but it is possible that he has formed a very strong bond with you, and in which case, pits will become fiercely protective.......I would suggest as a safeguard to talk with your vet, and have your pit interviewed by an animal psychologist, for the well-being of the dog, and your family.......my Colby pit did not get aggressive to family members, just to people outside the family, and was fairly easy to correct.....since he is being aggressive to family as well, it may be a fairly well-rooted behavior problem, and outside services of a vet/animal psychologist may be required...... :-)

Answer 6

Pit bulls are very loyal dogs... to their "own" humans. Your baby dog is showing that he does not think your husband is "equal" to him in "Pack Order". In other words, your red-nose thinks HE is YOURS and any other being should not be allowed close to you.
Here are some things you can do to help. If you have not already done so, do some Basic Obedience with your pit bull - they love it! They love pleasing their human...now, have your husband start doing some important things only a human can do for a dog - feed the dog! Have your husband tell the dog to "sit" and then put the dog's food down. By having your husband do a Pack Leader's job, the dog will start to recognise him as another Pack Leader. One approach that I used on a particularly stubborn Pit Bull is the "Nothing in Life is Free" method...the dog must "sit" before anything - before going out, before coming in, before eating, before affection, before play - the dog must "sit" to get the reward...like he has to work!
By teaching your red nose fellow that your husband is of equal status with YOU, your pitty will start to respect him, and when he sees that he pleases YOU when he is nice to your husband, you are on your way to a better relationship.
If you don't know this already, pit bulls are stubborn - but very, very smart, and they are intense in their desire to please their human - they just need to be taught what it is that pleases their human.
Give that red nose boy a little treat for me, will you? Good luck!

Answer 7

First off, did you raise the dog from a puppy? If not you may need to get rid of the dog, I know that it's not that easy, but what if you decide to have children (if not already) and the dog attacks the child?

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Hey,
Your dog is overprotective becuase you are the pack leader in it's eyes. In the wild it would do the same thing to leader of the wild pack.

Wolverine_Clawess_26

Answer 10

Your dog is crazy!! PIt bulls as a breed are very aggressive. You better get rid of it before he/she hurts someone. Don't wait until its too late!! I know it hard to hear, but the truth sometimes hurts.