I dont know what to do with my pit bull - lab mix?

Question

my dog is about 4 months and he is snaping at everyone in the

house and he has snapped and broke the skin on my family

members hand, it was like it was ripped. And he has tasted

blood 2 other times before but it wasnt bad like the hand. What should i do?

Answer 1

Take him to obedience school asap. He needs to learn that it's not ok to bite or snap at people unless they are harming someone else. You also need to step up to the dog and diciplin him as well. Tell him "NO" or "Bad Dog" and make him go into another room or lay down away from you and anyone else for a while. If you need to, swat him on the behind or on the end of his nose. Don't let this go on for much longer or he will think it's ok to do.

Answer 2

Get the dog out of your house. Re-home it with someone who knows how to work with powerful breeds. This is not meant as an insult to you, but dogs in general will try and play bite and if they don't get trained that it is not okay they can start biting down more seriously, OR if they bite seriously, like when you go to take a toy or move food, then they have an aggression issue that needs serious intervention.
Forget the "taste of blood" thing. The dog isn't trying to eat you. It's not being trained right and if not corrected QUICKLY this dog will soon be a candidate for euthanasia or be another story maligning a breed because of it's mixture.
Neither APBT's nor Labs are "bad dogs" but without a firm hand in training because of this particular dog's biting, you can be creating a big problem.

Answer 3

Disagreeing with a previous answer--do not hit this dog. That will be likely to make his aggression worse, not better. What you have here is a dangerous situation. You have a dog that is either out of control due to hierarchical issues, or overwhelmed and fear-biting. You need somebody to evaluate the situation to determine why the dog is biting and to help everyone in the house learn how to interact with the dog in order to shape his behavior into more positive patterns. Get some professional help, a qualified animal behaviorist specializing in behavior problems. If he has bitten several times already, you need help NOW, or this will end very badly for him and possibly tragically for the people involved, as well. Best wishes.

Answer 4

my pit bull rottweiler mix went through a stage like that too. It is just natural for them to try to play that way, and it is also their way of trying to determine who is the boss......however, you do have to curb it now or it will continue, and get worse as he gets bigger. He will get the mind set that he is the Alpha of your household, and could become a very aggresive dog, and not safe for children or ppl other than who lives in the house to be around.
What I did when mine would snap was to wrap my hand around his muzzle (not covering his nostrils, just around it so he couldn't open his mouth) and say "No, No Bite" And would try to divert his attention to a toy of some sort, to get him to play with that instead. If after telling him no 3 or 4 times he was still trying to play that way, I would do it once more and then put him in his crate for about 10 minutes. Then I would let him back out. Usually, after the crate he would have calmed down enough that he wouldn't try to play that way anymore for a while. It only took me a couple of months to break him of it. Mine was about 3 months when it started, and he was probably 5 or 6 months before he had totally stopped. He is now 1 1/2 and will only snap at the air, plenty far away from us, and only when we initiate play with like a rope toy or ball, and I think then he is really trying to get the toy.
If he is not just playing and is snapping viciously you can try obedience training, or consider getting rid of him. An aggressive dog, especially of the size that yours will be when full grown can be very dangerous.

Answer 5

destroy him, have him put down in a human way, because one day he may kill a child, seeing he is like that, and would you really be able to live with yourself, knowing your pet dog has taken the life of an innocent baby or child, in Australia there has been many cases recently where the family pet dog has turned on family members and even killed babies, and a group of dogs have killed elderly people too,
this has to be from the way the dog was raised, many people tease a dog in a joking way, thinking it is funny, but then something like this happens and you cannot turn back the clock of time, you will never be able to say 100% that you can stop this dog from doing this in a much more serious way as I said earlier, a childs life could be at risk, some day,

Answer 6

needs to be trained big time, take him to obedience class, whenever a dog bites me I don't back down instead I pull that dog onto his back and make him stay there until he stops struggling I would never do this with a pit, but then again they are normally people freindly, he needs to know the humans are boss and biting is not tolerated and will not let him get his way. Force with bully breeds normally makes them act worse so training them is different and you will need a professional or he could get much worse.

Answer 7

You need obedience training!!!!! NOW, before it gets worse. If you let him continue to think he's boss he will continue.He needs to know this is UNACCEPTABLE! And if he does continue- he could seriously hurt someone, and might have to be put down because of it.He's a puppy and needs to learn that you are the Alpha, not him. My boxer puppy tried to bite me twice on the face (in puppy class). The trainer said to put him in a down command (submissive) 50 times a day, until he has no problem w/ it. He's fine now. also another tip- don't let him be above you- like on a couch w/ him over you or above you. They perceive that as dominance. Your little guy needs to know you're dominant! You will both be happier w/ puppy training. Good luck!!

Answer 8

Your dog is a puppy. Puppies bite. They need training to learn that its not appropriate. Enroll in some puppy classes like yesterday, before his bad habits become worse.

Answer 9

At 4 months he is still a puppy and puppy's nip at times. I agree he should have some obedience classes if possible. One thing you could do is go to the pet store and buy a muzzle to fit the puppy. When the puppy nips\snaps say NO(call his name).Like as in .....NO, Rascal! Then put the muzzle on at once for at least five minutes. Repeat as necessary. He will catch on.

Answer 10

any dog that has pitbull in it has the instict (in there dna) to bite or attack. theres nothing you can do to change that..my advice is when he learns how to lock his jaw...its time for him to go....when they learn how to do that they wont let go! it becomes very dangerous....i know its hard to face that something you love can't understand what its doing....its up to you to decide when enough is enough....Good Luck!