Are they pack animals?

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Postby vaughndyer1 » June 8th, 2006, 1:16 am

I have heard time and time again that because pit bulls are dog aggressive they are not pack animals. Is there any where I can read about this? My dogs might make those people change their minds! My dogs always want to be together. I bought a gate to seperate our hall from the livingroom to seperate Shy and Sassy at night(they have never had a prob. I just thought I would try it out to be sure it would stay that way)....Well, Shy sat there and whined (which I have never heard before) until I gave in and let them both in our room. They do not like to be seperated- all 4 of them?!?!
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Postby a-bull » June 8th, 2006, 8:35 am

4?? Wow . . .

My two don't like to be seperated, but I think it's because my male was a sickly pup when I got him, and my female basically raised him as her own---but 4 wanting to be together, that's interesting.

Are they mixed breeds?
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Postby msvette2u » June 8th, 2006, 10:03 am

I think all dogs are pack-oriented. Pit bulls were bred to, well, be aggressive (and kill) other dogs. But that doesn't change the fact that they are still pack-oriented. That's why dogs can fit in so well with our families.
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Postby mnp13 » June 8th, 2006, 10:41 am

Yes, dogs are pack oriented, but Pit Bulls may not tolerate a pack.

Your dogs are most likely whineing because they don't like to be separated because it is outside of their normal "routine." Are you separating them when you are not home or when you are home?
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Postby vaughndyer1 » June 8th, 2006, 5:19 pm

Well I have never seperated Shyshy and Sassy because at first I didnt know I needed to but after reading about peoples dogs getting into spats I wanted to seperate them at night when I was sleeping (just in case). They won't have it though!!It has only been in the last 5 months that we have taken on Max and Ozzie and they are still babies (5 mths and 3 mths) They dont mind being seperated from the bunch as much as the other two so you might be right. They might just be so used to having each other that it has become a way of life for them. I have not had ANY aggression problems! Sassy is really the only one we are unsure of when it comes to mixed breeds. She came from the humane society.
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Postby mnp13 » June 9th, 2006, 12:46 am

that's the thing... you won't have a problem until you have a problem.

At least at night you are home and will wake up to a problem (hopefully). Please don't leave them together when you are not there. the day they get into a tiff over a toy, blanket, pillow or piece of lint on the floor will be the day you come home to dead dogs.

I'm not being dramatic either, it happens. The woman who delivered Connor to us had a GSD mix foster rip out her personal dog's throat one day while she was at work. the dogs had been fine for months, and then one day they weren't fine anymore and she found her dog dead in her kitchen.

There is a post on PBF about a similar situation, and they posted pictures that were quite graphic. I don't remember what the outcome was, but the mess in the kitchen was unreal.
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Postby Cuda » June 9th, 2006, 8:57 am

mnp13 wrote:that's the thing... you won't have a problem until you have a problem.

The day they get into a tiff over a toy, blanket, pillow or piece of lint on the floor will be the day you come home to dead dogs.


Ahhh yes the ol' piece of lint on the floor wars :) Just picturing the dog hovering over a piece of lint aggressively made me laugh my ass off :)
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Postby mnp13 » June 9th, 2006, 9:16 am

Your dogs don't fight over invisible things? :?

Ours do....
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Postby a-bull » June 9th, 2006, 9:52 am

I can honestly say mine don't fight over "stuff" anymore.

They use to get too wound up over rawhide or particularly special bones, but I just don't give them those anymore for that reason.

In the begining, they would 'argue' over toys, so I bought two or three of everything, and gradually left out more and more toys until they weren't phased by one another playing with a toy. It did, however, take a loong time to get to this point, and lots of supervision.
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Postby cheekymunkee » June 9th, 2006, 10:43 am

mnp13 wrote:Your dogs don't fight over invisible things? :?

Ours do....


Mine have all had tiffs over invisible things. They're all mad I tell you!
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Postby dogcrazyjen » June 9th, 2006, 11:24 am

Tess and Tallulah would kill each other over a piece of lint on the floor. Put out a hundred toys and Tallulah would demand all 100 are hers. She is a very pushy, territorial, and possessive dog. Tess can share just fine, although she will do drivebys on occasion and take Jack's toys right out of his mouth, but he lets her. If he has something he really wants to keep, he lets her know she cannot have it.

Once they decide it is fun to fight, I think they make up reasons to do so.
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Postby Miakoda » June 9th, 2006, 12:39 pm

My dogs are pack animals----in a HUMAN pack. Although I have a handful that will get along with one other dog or so, they in NO way want to be in a large group of dogs & most just want to "play" with other dogs in a not-so-nice way.....aka they love to fight.

While I believe all dogs have pack instincts, it's what their pack is comprised of that makes the difference.

I don't expect my dogs to get along with other dogs & in fact, whenever we get a new dog, I don't even bother trying to "introduce" that dog into a "pack" as that is not why I got the new dog. I could care less if my mutts can run around & play together. And they could care less as well. They weren't bred to be another dog's playmate.
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Postby a-bull » June 9th, 2006, 12:53 pm

dogcrazyjen wrote:Tess and Tallulah would kill each other over a piece of lint on the floor. Put out a hundred toys and Tallulah would demand all 100 are hers. She is a very pushy, territorial, and possessive dog. Tess can share just fine, although she will do drivebys on occasion and take Jack's toys right out of his mouth, but he lets her. If he has something he really wants to keep, he lets her know she cannot have it.

Once they decide it is fun to fight, I think they make up reasons to do so.


I think that's true, because my female was also very possessive of toys, and both my dogs have had possessionguarding issues . . . but I was determined to never let it result in a fight, because I figured if it did, that would become the 'means' of solving problems between them from there on out. Not saying there are any guarantees probelms still won't occur over some toy in the future, but I haven't had any problems in years.
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Postby cheekymunkee » June 9th, 2006, 12:59 pm

Miakoda wrote:My dogs are pack animals----in a HUMAN pack. Although I have a handful that will get along with one other dog or so, they in NO way want to be in a large group of dogs & most just want to "play" with other dogs in a not-so-nice way.....aka they love to fight.

While I believe all dogs have pack instincts, it's what their pack is comprised of that makes the difference.

I don't expect my dogs to get along with other dogs & in fact, whenever we get a new dog, I don't even bother trying to "introduce" that dog into a "pack" as that is not why I got the new dog. I could care less if my mutts can run around & play together. And they could care less as well. They weren't bred to be another dog's playmate.


Same here, mine want to be with their HUMAN pack, not a canine one.
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Postby mnp13 » June 9th, 2006, 1:42 pm

a-bull wrote: I was determined to never let it result in a fight, because I figured if it did, that would become the 'means' of solving problems between them from there on out.


this is absolutely true.
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Postby ParisStreetPitCrew » June 9th, 2006, 1:58 pm

My dogs get along well. They LOVE cuddling together (hence all of the lazy dog puppy pile photos). I've never had any fights, any tiffs, and maybe only an argument or two since I've had them.
That being said, I would still never leave them alone unattended. They all get separate crates next to eachother. Everyone does just fine this way. However, if I were to crate them away from eachother, there would be a lot of crating issues.
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