bullyhillmama
Well-Known Member
hello, we have had a foster for 3 days now, he is almost 3 and still intact. i already own 2 female pitbulls and a female sheltie mix, so i was not seeking another dog, but (through a long chain of events) it came down to either me pulling him from the shelter or he was being euthed. so here we are 
he came from the BARCS shelter in Baltimore where he was a staff favorite. apparently he was in and out 4 times (irresponsible owners of him and 3 other mastiff type dogs, not adopted and returned). im going to try to stay brief, but i have a lot of things to ask about him!! firstly, here is what i like about him. despite being scared to death, undersocialized and still intact, he warmed up to my family and is very gentle, goofy, fun and loving with my husband and I. we have 3 kids, ages 8, 5 and 20 months, and when he interacts with them (on leash, supervised) he is gentle and not pushy. he is very smart, also. when i picked him up, i could barely muscle him to my truck!! but in just a few days he is walking beautifully at heel and no longer bum rushes me for the door on the way to potty. he had a slight URI and is on abx, so is "quarantined" from our dogs.because of this and where he is crated in our home, we go through 3 doors and a gate to get to his potty place. he will now pause at the door/gate and look to me to go first before following. he seems to be respectful of human boundaries, in that when he gets excited and jumps up, i will turn away and say "OFF!" and he will respect that and bounce happily at an appropriate distance. i was told that he was a shelter staff favorite, and was never aggressive, but when he was brand new here and terrified (he seems insecure) he was doing a good deal of growling while trying to look tiny and averting his eyes. he also barks at men. so no, i havent seen "agression", but i would like to make sure that his fear/growling does not escalate. i understand that being leery of strangers is common in mastiff breeds, but how do other CC owners deal with growling/barking? i dont allow it for my dogs, but it honestly hasnt been an issue. what ive been doing is sharply saying "AH!" to get his attention then praising him for looking at me. good? bad? other way to deal with it? the shelter also said he was great with other dogs. it will likely be a few weeks till he formally meets my girls, but when he sees them from afar he seems interested and curious, not aggressive or upset. i was told today by a woman at the pet store that i have to "really watch him" because even if he seems "great at first" he will eventually become dog aggressive and potentially dangerous to the kids. now... i dont tend to pay heed to that sort of talk, as i live with pitbulls who i trust to the moon and back, while still being realistic about who they are and what their quirks are. my thoughts are that if we take it day by day, nip any obnoxious behavior in the bud, and continue to be firm yet gentle, we should be ok. am i being a naive idiot as the woman who told me this lead me to believe? also, i want to have him neutered, ASAP. but with him being so leery of strangers, im afraid he will misbehave if i leave him at the vets. do i let him settle in here more? how do i best help him to become social? i dont expect him to love all strangers, just to not act totally innappropriately. he is here on foster, but we already are smitten. i just want to do the best we can for him so that he will either be wonderful for us or help him to be a good pet for someone else. any advice you have to offer on the breed or our situation will be welcomed thanks for reading!!
he came from the BARCS shelter in Baltimore where he was a staff favorite. apparently he was in and out 4 times (irresponsible owners of him and 3 other mastiff type dogs, not adopted and returned). im going to try to stay brief, but i have a lot of things to ask about him!! firstly, here is what i like about him. despite being scared to death, undersocialized and still intact, he warmed up to my family and is very gentle, goofy, fun and loving with my husband and I. we have 3 kids, ages 8, 5 and 20 months, and when he interacts with them (on leash, supervised) he is gentle and not pushy. he is very smart, also. when i picked him up, i could barely muscle him to my truck!! but in just a few days he is walking beautifully at heel and no longer bum rushes me for the door on the way to potty. he had a slight URI and is on abx, so is "quarantined" from our dogs.because of this and where he is crated in our home, we go through 3 doors and a gate to get to his potty place. he will now pause at the door/gate and look to me to go first before following. he seems to be respectful of human boundaries, in that when he gets excited and jumps up, i will turn away and say "OFF!" and he will respect that and bounce happily at an appropriate distance. i was told that he was a shelter staff favorite, and was never aggressive, but when he was brand new here and terrified (he seems insecure) he was doing a good deal of growling while trying to look tiny and averting his eyes. he also barks at men. so no, i havent seen "agression", but i would like to make sure that his fear/growling does not escalate. i understand that being leery of strangers is common in mastiff breeds, but how do other CC owners deal with growling/barking? i dont allow it for my dogs, but it honestly hasnt been an issue. what ive been doing is sharply saying "AH!" to get his attention then praising him for looking at me. good? bad? other way to deal with it? the shelter also said he was great with other dogs. it will likely be a few weeks till he formally meets my girls, but when he sees them from afar he seems interested and curious, not aggressive or upset. i was told today by a woman at the pet store that i have to "really watch him" because even if he seems "great at first" he will eventually become dog aggressive and potentially dangerous to the kids. now... i dont tend to pay heed to that sort of talk, as i live with pitbulls who i trust to the moon and back, while still being realistic about who they are and what their quirks are. my thoughts are that if we take it day by day, nip any obnoxious behavior in the bud, and continue to be firm yet gentle, we should be ok. am i being a naive idiot as the woman who told me this lead me to believe? also, i want to have him neutered, ASAP. but with him being so leery of strangers, im afraid he will misbehave if i leave him at the vets. do i let him settle in here more? how do i best help him to become social? i dont expect him to love all strangers, just to not act totally innappropriately. he is here on foster, but we already are smitten. i just want to do the best we can for him so that he will either be wonderful for us or help him to be a good pet for someone else. any advice you have to offer on the breed or our situation will be welcomed thanks for reading!!
