I'm worried that the pit bull will hurt or even kill my rat terrier when he gets older. My rat is a female, fixed, and the pit is a male 6 wks that we are going to have fixed. Since the pit is going to grow up around the rat terrier, will it still show signs of aggression? My terrier is slightly aggressive...and is protective of me. This is my boyfriends dog though, who is going to use it as a running buddy. I'm totally freaked at the thought of the pit killing my terrier. Oh and we live in a one bedroom apartment, but the pit will get tons of exercise. Should I be concerned?
2006-12-11 16:41:29 · 17 answers · asked by melaniemia7 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
If they are brought up together I think they would be ok.
If you are so worried about your terrier why on earth did you buy a pit bull, if you don't trust the breed? Secondly, why did you buy your pup when it was only six weeks old? No good breeder would ever sell a pup before 8 weeks, because they are missing out on important socialisation period with their litter mates - such as learning bite inhibition.
Also, in regards to the first answer, I have a 34 kg Siberian husky and a 5 kg Tibetan Spaniel. The spaniel is the boss, she is older and a female, they were raised together so they are fine together.
2006-12-11 16:45:23 · answer #1 · answered by husky87 2 · 3⤊ 3⤋
Everything should be ok. We had a cat and got a 9 month old pit. He had been mistreated when we got him. We had no problems either of them. They warmed up to each other and eventually slept together. The biggest thing w/ a pit is consistency. They are very, very stubborn and bull headed dogs. Start training early and get him use to people, we took ours everywhere. He was a big baby. Just don't expect the rat terrier to warm up too soon it will take sometime. Good Luck....
2006-12-11 17:35:17 · answer #2 · answered by tina_spears72 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why did you get a pit? If your stupid enough to think all pits are automatically agressive, get rid of it now. Hell, Ill take it. And iwhnat the hell are you doing with a 6 week old dog? It still needs its mom... They should never be taken away until at a minimum 8-12 weeks. And if your worried about that then get rid of the dog now, you never should have gotten it if you were worried about that. Pits are a very loving and loyal breed and do fine if brought up right. I would be more concerned about a terrier than a pit any day, anytime, and almost any circumstance.
2006-12-11 18:10:19 · answer #3 · answered by kayross27 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I wouldn't be concerned, but I would be proactive in my attempts to work with both dogs. Since you have a male and a female, the chances of a dog fight are lower, but not unlikely.
The simple solution to keeping a fight from happening as the APBT reaches maturity is to start crate training now and never leaving the two of them unsupervised together.
Please, however, avoid dog parks and off-leash settings at all costs, however, for exercise and be mindful of the fact that you took a puppy before he was ready from his mother. You will need to enroll him (and the rat terrier too!) in obedience classes and possibly growly (dog aggressive) dog classes.
Find a trainer that is experienced with both APBTs and smaller terrier breeds and never leave the two alone (which I have to repeat since a LOT of people have had fights between not APBTs break out when left together unattended).
Oh, and please don't fall for that leader of the pack garbage. Most of those methods have been totally smashed to heck because of better, more advanced training methods.
I do recommend the book Culture Clash when dealing with ANY breed of dog and anything by Ian Dunbar.
While you're at it, join a few APBT forums. They'll be of help too!
www.pitbullforum.com is an absolute favorite of mine! :)
And a side bar, I happen to know a male APBT and a male rat terrier (affectionately know as the terror) who get along famously. However, they are *never* left alone together just incase something sparks an argument between them.
2006-12-11 17:22:36 · answer #4 · answered by ShadowWolf 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
As some others have said, I'd be more concerned for the pitbull than for the rat terrier.
Your boyfriend's pitbull was taken from its litter too young. It has missed some very important socialization training and isn't going to know how to interact politely with other dogs. Hopefully, your rat terrier will want to play with him and teach him a bit. When they play together, don't scold them for little, nondamaging growls and nips. That's part of the game and part of the education for the pitbull. He should learn pretty quickly not to overstep his bounds with the rat terrier if you let them play together. Separate them only if one of them yelps or doesn't seem to want to play anymore but the other is pushing things.
You'll also need to work on bite inhibition with the pitbull. Not because he's a pitbull, but because he's a puppy and needs to learn how hard is too hard. In my opinion, any tooth-to-skin contact is too hard. Pitbulls crave -- no, NEED -- your attention and affection, so training them is easy. If he puts his teeth on you in play, make a loud, sharp noise and stop playing with him immediately. Our dog learned very quickly that way; in fact, she learned so well that my 7 yr old knows to completely avoid my skin but gnaws on my husband all the time because he doesn't mind it.
But do always supervise them. Rat terriers can be very possessive, jealous, aggressive little things and the pit might get hurt! If both dogs are getting plenty of exercise, are supervised and trained, I really l think they'll be okay together.
2006-12-11 18:05:06 · answer #5 · answered by ceci9293 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I hope your Pit will be safe. Rat terriers can be pretty aggressive at times.
Actually, if you are raising them together your Rat will likely get irritated a lot by the puppy that does not know its own strength. With intervention from humans and via playing the Pit will learn to be gentler and not step so hard on the small dog. The Rat may even shun him for a time. I would picture them becoming fast friends and your Rat will be glad to have the back up of your Pit in case anyone ever tries to attack you or your boyfriend. Not to mention your Pit will fiercely protect the Rat once they are bonded in case any one attacks you all and tries to harm the Rat.
2006-12-11 16:50:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Pit bulls are wonderful breeds. As long as the pit grows up with the other dog and starting at 3 months goes thru obedience school the two should be good together.
2006-12-11 16:51:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
I don't think your rat terrier will die of old age. I'm not trying to be funny, either. I have a parrot and a pointer and even though they were raised together I would never trust them alone together cause the dog has a natural tendency to play rough, same as pit bulls have a natural tendency to chase and attack small creatures. And by the way I hope I am wrong but I know for sure don't allow the two together unattended when the pit bull gets bigger.
2006-12-11 16:50:37 · answer #8 · answered by kiss 4 · 3⤊ 4⤋
raise your dogs right and you will not have problems. if the rat terrier is dominant, the pit may submit. our new pit submits to our older lab/border collie mix just fine. get the pit socialized and trained professionally. the more he is used to other dogs, the better he will react to new or different dogs, and not become aggressive when scared.
pay no attention to ignorant anti-pit rhetoric.
2006-12-12 03:24:08 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
the first thing you need to be aware of is pit bulls are classified DANGEROUS BREED and having them in your apartment could be a violation of your lease (in some states they are illegal to have). In addition you have to get special insurance for that breed as well (pending on what state you live in) and since its a female terrier the pit bull will more than likely get aggressive on it . Yes your concerns are warranted but I think you need to be more concerned about your lease right now than your terrier. But keep the two dogs away from each other.
2006-12-11 16:49:31 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋