When your dog starts snapping at my kids and growling at me should I consider putting him down?

Question

My dog has been growling at me and my kids, we love him and we play with him and do things with him and we dont do anything to make him mad or anything but when he is growling at us and snapping at me and the kids what does this mean? I am considering on putting him down for he is getting aggressive. We hade him for a year and he came to us all the way from Virginia. I think he was mistreated by the orignal breeder or owner. He is two now but I think he is older. When we bought him the people said that they kept him in his kennel and not around people much. Any suggestions? He is our main gaurdian but he is becoming a threat to my kids and me. He is by the way a full pure bred Lowrider American Staffordshiire Terrior, in other words a pit bull.

11ms-- I do have a dame for him but he is to short and we were waiting for her to go into her third heat before mating her. she is one years old though. Am considering on waitng till she is 2 years old.

Would he be to old for him to sire by then? That is if I let him live.

hubbys2nd-- we love the breed. We had three othersin the past before the ones I have now. The others were in our earlier years and we had them with our kids and they were fine and they were females. The 1st one was hated by the village and people tried to poison her and they harrased her and when we got to a situation on housing we could not take her to any of the places to live and she was put down for she could not go to anyone else for she was devoted to uus only. the other was during the time I was pregnant and I had two kids and one on the way and we lived three flights up and had no elevator and my hubby was always a way working. It was to hard for me to care for her and adopted her out. the third on died of parvo a year and a half ago. Now we have these two beautiful pits.

Answer 1

Sorry to hear that your dog was mistreated before he joined your family. First, we'll need to sort out why your dog is aggressive as there's a multitude of reasons why they do.

Dogs can become aggressive if they are territorial or dominant. One question - is he sterilised? Entire male dogs are more likely to exhibit dominant behaviour (which may sometime lead to aggression problem) while sterilised ones are less prone to do so.

Now, you'll also need to look at how the dog is being treated at home and find out if you have been subconsciously encouraging such behaviour. Because dogs are pack animals, it is also necessary for the humans living with it establish their "alpha status" (i.e. the leader of the pack). Even things like as getting the dog to wait before it's allowed to eat its dinner, not allowing the dog on the bed/couch, making a dog "work" for its treat (e.g. doing a "down" before it's given a bone) etc. are all subtle ways to tell a dog that you are the leader and he, the follower. As such, obedience training is important as it not only teaches a dog to look upon you as an "alpha" but it also develops the bond between human and dog.

Because you mentioned that the dog may be mistreated previously, it is also possible that the dog's aggression may be fear-induced. It's something like how humans react to past bad experiences. There may be something that is triggering the dog to bite (e.g. a particular object? noise? out of excitement during play? walking pass his foodbowl?) It'll be good if you can isolate the stimulus that causes the growling/snapping.

If he has been brought up in a kennel, chances are he probably is poorly socialised and was not exposed to different things/people since young. A dog that is not well socialised often develop behavioural problems in later life. But this is not to say that these unwanted behaviours cannot be rectified! They can be, if you're willing to take the time and effort.

My advice for you is to engage a dog trainer (or better, a dog behaviourist) to help you find out the cause of your dog's aggression. Many undesirable behaviour can be eliminated by reshaping the dog's behaviour using positive reinforcement (and lots of patience and love).

I have seen an aggressive abandoned rottie (that nearly took half my arm away) transform into a well-behaved dog after 10 months of training. The same dog eventually competed in obedience trials as well - all thanks to his new owner who didn't take the easy way out.

In my opinion, i don't think you should make the decision of putting down your dog so hastily. After all, you did say you and your kids love him. :) Give him a fair chance to change by getting a behaviourist to help him as soon as possible (also to prevent him from getting more and more aggressive).

Good luck.

Answer 2

Every ones covered just about everything except........have you had the vet check him out just to make sure he's not ill or has any other problem. Just a thought....hope you can get him sorted out.
And......have all members of the family been involved in his training? He has to know he's not the Alpha male. Don't give him food off your plate or let him sleep on the bed. When he does his growling.....say "No!" in a deep strong firm voice! Don't yell or hit him....put him in the laundry or toilet immediately, shut the door and ignore him for a while. Dogs are pack animals and want to be a part of it all. Being ignored is a real punishment. After a while, let him out, don't make a fuss just let him out and go about your business.
And last but not least, when he is being good tell him so....even if he's just sitting quietly or comes when called. Praise him with a voice that's slightly higher pitched than your normal voice. Again, it's the tone of your voice that communicates your mood to him.
Good luck.....I love the breed too,my hubby had one and he was amazing! So smart.

Answer 3

Staffies are usually really loving, loyal dogs, but when you do not know its pedigree linage it is hard to pin point the problem. Did you ever see him with his mother? You say he may be older than you were told...lets hope he was never used for fighting...

Perhaps he is not well, dogs cannot tell you when they are sick. I think you should take him to the vet and have him checked over. I would put him down as a last resort. You could always muzzle him around the kids and have him in a run outside.

We had a shephard who started getting "nippy" when my dad went away for work, he was the only male with 6 girls in the house. He actually swam across a river to bite someone 22 stitches the guy got. We had to give him away which was hard, but he still got to live on as a security dog.

I wish I had the answer for you and I really feel for you cause I know you love him dearly, but when given the choice of the dog or your children I think you know what you have to do . Get him checked over by a vet and see if there are any underlying problems.

Good luck

Answer 4

You need to take a real good look at when he is doing it what happen did you put your hand to fast up to him did you stand over him to fast etc next time that he does it just check has he always been like this if not he could have a brain Tumour that can cause aggressive behavior and he will be fine and then in a split second will turn if that is the case you might need to see a vet as the next time that he does it he might take down one of you kids it is soo hard with dogs as they cant tell you what is upsetting them next time he does it just check out why..

Answer 5

some dogs in their blood lines will be that way it doesn't matter how well you treat them. I had a few dalmations who then had 5 pups and we kept one and just loved them and the one after about a year started to get aggressive and protective we did not put him down i gave him up and reported that he would be good for someone who had no kids or trained for a good guard dog. But I would suggest getting rid of that pit bull before it gets worse. You could try training however sounds like it has a very strong blood line for it's aggresiveness comming out like that. Your kids may be sad but will be safe. just a question why would you get a pit bull for a pet with kids? Good Luck

Answer 6

we dont do anything to make him mad or anything"

Theres your problem. You need to be IN CHARGE! Get him into an obedience class, not a furbaby class like they have at Petsmart, but at a real training club where they are able to help you with aggression problems.


Oh ya, BREED your nasty dog. JUST what we need is more nasty dogs!!! Temperment can be genetic, you know. Dogs used at stud tend to get more aggressive and harder to handle.


Red260z - " shut the door and ignore him for a while. Dogs are pack animals"

They are pack animals, but not PREY animals. Most are not afraid to be alone like a horse would be. Time outs generally does not work well for aggression, I am not saying never, but I have watched people do this for weeks with little or no results.

Answer 7

First of all, NEVER breed a dog with a temperament problem. You have no way of knowing for sure if this is an inherited problem or not (it can be).

Secondly, dogs that growl and snap have no place around kids, regardless of breed. There is just too much chance for tragedy. It only takes seconds for a child to be disfigured or killed.

Answer 8

Well first thing - do NOT breed the dog, that the worst idea. Breeding him is not going to make him a happier dog. And if he has aggression in his bloodline (which is possible), why would you want to create a litter of puppies with the same problem??

Secondly - why don't you try getting him neutered, that sometimes helps with aggression.

Answer 9

Pit Bulls are very undetermineable especially if you didn't raise them from a pup. Are you going to wait until he attacks your children and tears them up until you do something about it? I would either give him to the animal shelter or put him down before he hurts somebody. If he attacks a neighbor or child you will be responsible for the damages and may also be sued.

Answer 10

Unless a dog is properly socialised from a young age it's hard to get them to like people. You say he is your guardian...has he been trained to be a guard dog? These sorts of dogs are naturally more inclined to be less on the friendly side & hard to break of habits that you had nothing to do with instilling. I would not leave him alone with your kids at any time but I would possibly see if your local SPCA has training clsses because dogs respond well to training & once he trusts you he will want to do things to please you.