newcommer agression

[courtney2225]

My boyfriend has a 3yr old Blue pitt that was a sweetheart when I came in the picture. Huge cuddeler, great with other dogs, plays and listens well...until we though we could bring home a great dane 8wk old puppy. at first she was just ignoring her and then we got Meka's(the pup) ears cropped. when she came home all "out of it" Kai (the Pitt) was actually really nice to her, she would try and come over to lick hwr ears and be comforting like a momma. they started to play together and although kai would run over the pup cause shes a tank compared to meka's baby girrafe stature they played great. My boyfriend and I are trying to piece together where it took a bad turn but Kai has now gone after the pup twice!!! John got bit in the hand seperating it on monday..over putting leashes on to go for a walk. And I got bit in the forearm and on my leg just yeasterday..sacraficed myself for the baby..id do it again. while racking our brains trying to figure it all out we think it may have been due to us taking off Mekas ear bandages?? I know we obviously have given the pup more attention cause we have to clean the ears and now her battle wound but we honestly have been very equal to both dogs. they both sleep on the floor, Meka in her crate...thankfully.  were at our wits end about this, were buying a muzzle this morning for Kai and going to keep a leash attached to try and break the agression and regain our pack leader position, any help on this would be greatly appreciated!!! were tearing up at the thoughtof getting rid of Kai or Meka...but now our show dane may have some scars on her face and i dont want her to be affraid of other dogs....so far shes not!!

[youngtwin]

This is serious Courtney. The Dane will never stand a chance with an agressive pit bull and it's really not kind to subject this dog to an agressive dog. If you don't get this pit bul under control and trained with consequences with his bad behaviour, then be prepared in giving up one of them. I'm assuming the Dane is much bigger now. I just joined the forum. However, I would never stand for agression nor food agression. Get a trainer, it's cheaper than you getting sued if the pit bites a child or injures you or perhaps someone elses little dog............So what is the update? Hopefully good...Best of luck with this one, it's not hopeless, but I'm wondering how you solved it.

[courtney2225]

Thank you so much for your response, Kai plays great with other dogs thats why were shocked! I have a pitt at my parents house and a chiuwini that she gets along with and we have numerous playdates with our friends. she goes to dog beach and the only thing that she is guilty of is stealing other dogs balls and she listens well. She does have obediance training but pretty much the basics ( sit, stay, come, shake, high five) but she is deffinately reacting to the muzzle that we got for her yesterday, she hates it but she is my boyfriends shadow with it on. seems like shes acting like she does not know what to do and we stripped her of her"rank". which id say is a good thing? though last night (with the muzzle on) both dogs wanted affection and she tried to nip at Meka again, thankfully that suckers on there tight and she couldnt do anything.  we were talking to some of our friends last night and apparently another fireman that john works with is a dog trainer that works wonders, if he accepts the dog..hopefully Kai will be accepted, hes deffinately not the cheapest but it would be worth it to us. San diego is about 2hrs south from where we are here in huntington, but that just depends whereabouts in san diego due to it being a huge area, but its not that far. Im going to look up that NILF training! anything would be great to know if itd better us in anyway. but as far as the leash thing goes, from what john says they were both excited to go for a walk but kai just turned and attacked, when i got involved kai had a bone and Meka just walked by..then Kai got up and stalked her down the hall and got her in a corner, thankfully i was watching like a hawk and say it start to play out and was right behind kai to stop the mess, my arm to the grunt of the attack, one of our paramedic friends came over and tended to my wounds so im doing better. were feeding them in seperate  and feeding kai first so maybe she wont have to stake her claim as the higher rank?

[Margot49]

Wow, you do have a problem and that definitely may escalate.  Very hard to evaluate without actually seeing the animals interact, etc.  You are wise to keep Meka in a crate. I doubt very much the aggression has anything to do with the ear cropping care.  I don't want to get on a Pitt Bull soap box but you *may* have one with some aggression issues.  Add to this, it is often difficult to keep two or more dogs of the same sex together (either sex).  Is Kai going after Meka unprovoked or is it when Meka wants to play, etc?  As for the leash incident, I assume they were both excited at going for a walk?  Often, overexcited dogs, particularly some breeds, can end up in a fighting frenzy.  Actually, one of my neighbors has this problem with their two boxers.  Well, I can give you some ideas of what not to do.  Don't feed them close to each other. Don't leave food or toys out unless you are there to supervise.  Don't leave them together unless you are there to supervise and I suggest, if they are both out, to muzzle Kai and keep her on  a leash so you have control.  Is Kai obedience trained at all?  How does she interact with other dogs in general.  I would definitely start working on NILF training with her (look that up on the Internet).  Wish I could be of more help but just hard not seeing what is actually going on.  I would suggest you possibly consult a Behaviorist.  You might try calling your Vet's office or a local All Breed club for a recommendation.  If you have a Pitt Bull rescue, reputable breeder or dog trainer near you, try consulting with them.  Your best bet is talking to someone who is more breed specific.  I see you are in Huntington Beach?  How far is that from San Diego?  I'm asking because I have a son in San Diego that uses a trainer for his dog that he says is pretty good.
In the mean time, you will have to be very vigilant and not leave the two together and use the muzzle and leash.  A fight can break out in a nano second and Kai can do some major damage or worse.  Hopefully, this can be worked out and you will be able to keep both dogs.  
Gosh, I feel your pain.  Do look up NILF and start implementing some of those ideas.
Please keep us posted.