twodoggies2001 Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 This morning in the Herald Sun letters section, there was a letter from Carol St. Kilda regarding her walking her beautiful gentle giant old Ridgeback when she came across a six week old pit bull pup with it's proud track-suited owner. Carol states that the pup was snarling and trying to attack her ridgie. She also says the 'attack' was unprovoked in a pup so young. Could this be possible with a pup so young? I am on the fence regarding pitbulls, but her inference of the 'track-suited' owner shows me her bias. Is she perhaps making a mountain out of a mole hill? If this is possible, then there is another potential killer growing up in the suburbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 This morning in the Herald Sun letters section, there was a letter from Carol St. Kilda regarding her walking her beautiful gentle giant old Ridgeback when she came across a six week old pit bull pup with it's proud track-suited owner. Carol states that the pup was snarling and trying to attack her ridgie. She also says the 'attack' was unprovoked in a pup so young. Could this be possible with a pup so young? I am on the fence regarding pitbulls, but her inference of the 'track-suited' owner shows me her bias. Is she perhaps making a mountain out of a mole hill? If this is possible, then there is another potential killer growing up in the suburbs. 6 weeks old!!! C'mon, really. Sounds like a bit of hype or a huge "Type O" to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobi'sDaisy Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Im not sure about the 6 weeks thing but I have personally witnessed real and scary aggression from a very young pup at our local park. had never seen anything like it before.. little thing at 9 weeks went for a 5 month old .. had it on its back and everything. The same pup is now coming up to 6 months and the few times i had seen it, it has gone for any dog that came near. We now leave the park if we see them But to me that is very unusual behaviour for a pup? I always wonder what the owner is doing to curb this aggression or if it's because of him.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Some dogs are born aggressive and I have seen this in a young puppy. It was some sort of pitbull cross, a neighbour was looking after this young girl aged about 10 weeks for some friends - I asked him where she had been purchased from and he said he didn't know. She was very aggressive towards my old dogs, all of whom she was bigger than. They were perplexed, they weren't anywhere near her and I said to him that i hoped she def wasn't going to be a dog park visitor as that level of aggression was completely unacceptable and would be dangerous once she was bigger. He had the dog a few weeks and then moved house so I've no idea where she went but I found it frightening, it certainly wasn't normal behaviour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 This morning in the Herald Sun letters section, there was a letter from Carol St. Kilda regarding her walking her beautiful gentle giant old Ridgeback when she came across a six week old pit bull pup with it's proud track-suited owner. Carol states that the pup was snarling and trying to attack her ridgie. She also says the 'attack' was unprovoked in a pup so young. Could this be possible with a pup so young? I am on the fence regarding pitbulls, but her inference of the 'track-suited' owner shows me her bias. Is she perhaps making a mountain out of a mole hill? If this is possible, then there is another potential killer growing up in the suburbs. 6 weeks old!!! C'mon, really. Sounds like a bit of hype or a huge "Type O" to me. I have seen it, it does happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirawee Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I know of a Kelpie pup who was highly agressive at 12 weeks of age. Thanks to her my old Kelpie is now agressive when tied up or in a crate if another dog runs up to her (or was last time she was put in that situation which was many many moons ago) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodoggies2001 Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 Well, that new proud owner could now have a ticking time bomb on his hands. Not a good feeling!!!! Wonder how many more were in that litter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 My sister bought a Staffy from a BYB and at about 10 weeks old he was circling and challenging the older Stafford (not BYB)... This boy was put down at 18 months are months of tormenting and attacking the other dogs - it finally started circling and growling at my niece and when my sister went out and tried to stop him, he went for her... The vet was called that afternoon and he is buried in the back yard... I always thought there was something not quite right about this boy - he always stalked people and held his tail high most of the time.. He was a scary dog... I think some dogs can be born with something wrong with them - the vet that put him down suggested he may have had a brain tumour or something... To be honest, I don't think it matters - he is one dog that should have been put down a lot sooner than he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I'm a little on the fence about animals being "born bad" - there are a lot of factors that influence behaviour patterns - both positive and negative. That said, if you have a very young pup that displays overtly aggressive behaviour, then the sooner you start working on the issue, the better - preferably with a well qualified trainer. My 12 year old girl was not exactly the most evenly balanced critter when I first got her at around 5 weeks old from a BYB FTGH ad in the Trading post - we started her behaviour modification training right away... and she has developed into a well balanced and friendly dog that interacts perfectly with everyone and everything in public places. Without that early training, who knows what kind of monster she could have been... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfsie Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I have seen plenty of very young puppies that are aggressive in puppy classes. And it is sad to say most owners do not realise what is happening and do not work too hard at maybe helping the pup to socialise/train/desensitise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atanquin Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Probably is dog aggressive but he was on a lead and did not actually attack so I dunno why this lady would have reported it sounds a bit funny to me sounds like this lady wanted attention and with all they hype with DA atm if the pup had bit her or her dog because he was not under control fair enough but it sounds like he was so I dunno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobie Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Working in animal welfare I have seen numerous pups this young act in a highly aggressive manner towards other dogs including there own litter mates. I personally beleive some pups are born/inherit these traits. I don't really get why this lady reported the matter I guess other than she was very concerned about what could happen when this dog becomes an adult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 This morning in the Herald Sun letters section, there was a letter from Carol St. Kilda regarding her walking her beautiful gentle giant old Ridgeback when she came across a six week old pit bull pup with it's proud track-suited owner. Carol states that the pup was snarling and trying to attack her ridgie. She also says the 'attack' was unprovoked in a pup so young. Could this be possible with a pup so young? I am on the fence regarding pitbulls, but her inference of the 'track-suited' owner shows me her bias. Is she perhaps making a mountain out of a mole hill? If this is possible, then there is another potential killer growing up in the suburbs. Unlikely but not impossible. Unless 'Carol' is an expert on dog behaviour there's no way to know whether or not the pup was displaying real aggression and whether or not the pup was a pitbull. More likely a poorly bred, poorly socialised Amstaff pup sold at a nice high price to a stupid owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Definitely possible for a very aggressive puppy to be obvious at that age. I know someone that had mated her bitch to a really old dog from a line they were trying to keep, and then a terrier crossbred jumped the 7' fence and mated the bitch a couple of days later. It was so aggressive that she couldn't get a lead on it before it jumped back out of the yard again. The first mating was the last chance with the old dog so they opted to let the bitch have the litter and DNA test the puppies. The normally devoted mum wanted nothing to do with the puppies at 3 weeks as they were becoming increasingly aggressive. By 4 weeks it was obvious that they were all crossbred, even though the DNA results weren't back but the worrying thing was the aggression. They spent every waking minute fighting and if picked up they just kept trying to bite. After consulting a very well known trainer/behaviourist, the breeder put the whole litter down at 4 weeks and the DNA results confirmed they were all by the crossbred dog. There was no way she would have tried to find homes for puppies with that sort of temperament. In times past breeders routinely put down any puppies with unsuitable temperaments. I know of one particular breed that was being resurrected, where a lot of puppies were put down due to temperament issues. Over 20 years that breed went from dangerously unpredictable to very stable and biddable due to breeders making the hard decisions to not settle for anything less than the temperament they wanted. These days the BYBs in particular just breed from and sell anything no matter what the temperaments and so we end up with lots of unstable dogs in out society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 In times past breeders routinely put down any puppies with unsuitable temperaments. I know of one particular breed that was being resurrected, where a lot of puppies were put down due to temperament issues. Over 20 years that breed went from dangerously unpredictable to very stable and biddable due to breeders making the hard decisions to not settle for anything less than the temperament they wanted. These days the BYBs in particular just breed from and sell anything no matter what the temperaments and so we end up with lots of unstable dogs in out society. Hence some unexpected problems in breeds we would like to think of as gentle: the cocker rage syndrome, and more recently, appearance of aggressive golden retriever lines. There are also a very very few breeders who prefer the pup that shows aggression at an early age and keep them for breeding purposes. Google bandog or bandogge and you'll find some breeders who'll scare the pants off you. I wish there were a way of directing the hysteria about dangerous dogs toward these people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillybob Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I pup sat a 12 week old 'pit type'red nosed pup that attacked an echidna, wouldnt let go, even though it had a face full of spines.It was also dog aggressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I'm a little on the fence about animals being "born bad" - there are a lot of factors that influence behaviour patterns - both positive and negative. That said, if you have a very young pup that displays overtly aggressive behaviour, then the sooner you start working on the issue, the better - preferably with a well qualified trainer. My 12 year old girl was not exactly the most evenly balanced critter when I first got her at around 5 weeks old from a BYB FTGH ad in the Trading post - we started her behaviour modification training right away... and she has developed into a well balanced and friendly dog that interacts perfectly with everyone and everything in public places. Without that early training, who knows what kind of monster she could have been... T. I'm not sure you can be on the fence, all animals (we already know in humans) can be born with mental instability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlemum Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 In times past breeders routinely put down any puppies with unsuitable temperaments. I know of one particular breed that was being resurrected, where a lot of puppies were put down due to temperament issues. Over 20 years that breed went from dangerously unpredictable to very stable and biddable due to breeders making the hard decisions to not settle for anything less than the temperament they wanted. These days the BYBs in particular just breed from and sell anything no matter what the temperaments and so we end up with lots of unstable dogs in out society. Hence some unexpected problems in breeds we would like to think of as gentle: the cocker rage syndrome, and more recently, appearance of aggressive golden retriever lines. There are also a very very few breeders who prefer the pup that shows aggression at an early age and keep them for breeding purposes. Google bandog or bandogge and you'll find some breeders who'll scare the pants off you. I wish there were a way of directing the hysteria about dangerous dogs toward these people. http://bandogmastiffs.blogspot.com/ Check it out! Certainly scared the bejeebus out of me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willow Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Our kelpie cross was very aggressive at 9 weeks. Very aggressive. She was *that* puppy at puppy school. She settled down somewhat with lots and lots of socialisation, and then one day was introduced to a friends puppy when she was about 16 weeks old (the pups were similar ages). We had to break up on the most violent dog fights I have witnessed. They were actually trying to rip each other to shreds. Agression in young pups can happen. We ended up putting our girl to sleep at 11 months due to her aggression becoming unmanagable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdie Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 (edited) . Edited September 17, 2011 by Purdie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now