how can you make a dog be friends with other dogs without him wanting to fight?

Question

he is part pittbull he is gentle and friendly around people but wants to fight other animals. any help would be great.

Answer 1

He's territorial and any other dogs around, he'll try to dominant to keep his position as alpha male. The sweetest dogs in the world will still do this, it's nature. My mix breed golden retriever/saint bernard is neutered and 4 years old. The sweetest dog I have ever seen in my life. He still will growl and snarl and knock down any dogs around him until they cower to his status, then he's fine. It all depends on how territorial he is that will determine if he'll ever get used to other dogs being around. Keep trying, of course on leashes so you can easily break them up if an actual fight ensues. If it continues after them having time to establish roles, then your dog shouldn't be around dogs. My Mom has a golden retriever female that can be around little dogs and cats but medium size dogs and large or bigger, she immediately loses her mind!

Answer 2

Pit Bulls can be, as you're finding out, can be very unreliable around other animals. I am convinced it's one of the reasons why we hear about them attacking children in the media--they mistake them for other small animals.

Normally I would reccomend that you socialize the dog as much as possible to and with other dogs to get him used to other dogs. However! with pits you really need to be careful--sometimes their natural tendencies just get too much out of hand and they literally cannot help themselves.

I still think socialization is a good bet (dog parks, training classes), but you might invest in a muzzle, or better yet an experienced with aggression trainer; the risk with pit bulls is just too high...!

Answer 3

First off, if he is not neutered, that could be the problem. Unneutered dogs are more aggressive because of the testosterone. This is especially important to do in dogs who can tend to be aggressive. Second, obedience training can help. Not only will he learn to listen better, but this is a great way to socialize your dog in a controlled environment.

Answer 4

You CANNOT make it be friends with other dogs. Your dog is dog aggressive. It is also very obvious that you are not your dog's Pack Leader. If you were, you're dog wouldn't be fighting with other dogs in your presence. Lower ranking members will never fight in the presence of a Pack Leader, unless allowed to do so, by the Pack Leader. Dog-on-dog aggression is a pain, and it very often discourages owners from taking their dog out for walks. Dogs become dog aggressive because they've been attacked by another dog before. When this happens, dogs will attack a strange dog because it knows that attacking first is a good defense. It's a very traumatic experience for dogs, as you may have already found out, and this is why they behave like they do. You cannot eliminate dog-on-dog aggression (it's traumatic) from a dog, but YOU CAN control it. The way you control it is by giving it strong corrections when it goes beserk at the sight of a dog. This is inappropriate pack behavior, and you, like the Pack Leader that you should be, should correct this. You make it wear a prong collar, and it has to be on when you make corrections. The way you correct it is by jerking the leash while its wearing the prong collar. This is what you call giving a correction. How hard you jerk the leash depends on the temperament of your dog. Dogs with soft temperaments need soft corrections, and dogs with hard temperaments need hard corrections. You're going to have to experiment with your dogs. Start off by giving soft corrections, and work your way up until you find a level of correction that makes your dog respond. Once you find the right level of correction that makes your dog pay attention to you, use this same level to get it to listen to you. Almost every dog who is trying to lunge towards another dog needs strong corrections because the dog is really pumped up (high in drive) at the time. My rescue dog used to try to lunge at cats, and it would drag me across the street. I decided that I had enough of the crap, and I fixed all of my dog's problems by reading LOTS of info from good and experienced dog trainers. Today, when we walk by a cat, it no longer lunges at them. I can get more into detail about these corrections through email, so if you decide to control your dog, email me at [e-mail] Also, if you work on becoming your dog's Pack Leader, this problem WILL stop. You will hear people say, "Prong collars? with corrections? That's cruel!". Cruel is when you can't control your dog, and have to put it to sleep because you can't control it.

Answer 5

Dominant dogs fight because they want to be the "alpha" dog in the pack. Your pit-mix is expressing his dominance. It's not because he's a pit bull, it's because male dogs express dominance quite often, especially when not neutered.