Agressive to other dogs!?

Question

I have an 8 month old whippet/pitbull cross. We adopted her about a month ago and have just noticed some strange behaviour with no patterns. When we first got her she met a dog and they played daily for two weeks. One day, after two weeks of playing she was on a lead and her friend wasn't. She kept trying to get her friend to play and he wouldn't, so she got really aggressive really fast and attacked him. We couldn't have her around him after that.
A few days later she was brought to a friends house with the nicest pitbull ever! She took one look and attacked her as well.
It has been 2 weeks, and she has been decent around dogs, but she went to a friends who had another dog visiting as well. She was a pitbull cross. My dog sat beside her calmy for about 5 minutes, then bit the dogs neck and wouldn't let go. She was finally pulled off and left the other dog whimpering.

How can I get her to get along with dogs? Why does she get aggressive only on an irregualr basis?

She was a rescue. We got her just over a month ago, and in her previous home she was raised by a 12 year old girl (that should speak a lot about her training when we got her...)

I would NEVER give her back. She has been spayed. I am looking for a way to help her. I will not give up this easily.

Answer 1

I'm recommending a behaviorist as soon as you possibly can get one, and also have a look at the site below. I hope that she's giving you signals before these attacks - you can learn to recognise them and re-direct her before she blows up. Good luck.

Answer 2

I would definitely call a few trainers/behaviorists that are used to dog aggression. It sounds like something you shouldn't handle alone.

You may always need to manage this dog around other dogs. I have a dog aggressive dog, and I have gotten her to the point of walking by other dogs/being near other dogs without a problem.
She's signed up for her canine good citizen class/test.

BUT I will never be able to have her off leash anywhere by another dog. Not ever. She goes to hotels, marinas, loves trails, camping, and can go around town wonderfully.

A dog aggressive dog can still be wonderful. They just need more management and control on your part.

Answer 3

In the absence of an obvious "alpha" (be it another dog or a human), dogs will take on the role themselves to fill the gap. It sounds to us like your dog takes a little while to look for leadership in other dogs and people around her, and when she doesn't see it, she take the dominant role herself.

Your dog needs some socialization overseen by a trainer skilled in aggressive dogs, but your dog also needs you to be a strong, consistent, dominant leader. You need to work closely with a trainer to learn how to take on this role without being abusive or frightening to your dog. Once your dog accepts you as its "alpha" it won't have to "prove" itself anymore by attacking other dogs.

Answer 4

How is she health wise? I know that as a breed, pitbulls tend to develop tumors in the head and it causes irregular behavior and in pitbulls it is mostly aggression. Normally they get these tumors when they are older but in some cases they can be born with them. And as the tumor grows it puts pressure in the head causing pain which leads to the aggression. My aunt breeds pitbulls. Very sweet dogs, I hope you can figure out what is up with your pup. If you know that she is fine healthwise than check into behavior training at petsmart or petco. Good luck! let us know how it turns out.

Answer 5

Now you know why she was a rescue...Call where you got her, some dogs never change.Take her back.Has she been nuetered? That sometimes will help, but she has got the taste of blood and that is not good for a pit....You need to call and let them know, you may be able to take her back.....

Answer 6

Maybe contact a dog trainer :( Was she a rescue?