Cross Breeds - If you have a pitbull from fighting blood lines is it near impossible to get him to be ok with other dogs?

If you have a pitbull from fighting blood lines is it near impossible to get him to be ok with other dogs?

What im trying to say is that would it be possible for that pitbull to be fine in the company of dogs if it comes from fighting blood lines or are the chances are that he will always be aggressive no matter what training? i heard before that the instinct to fight would be to great to train out of them! By the way this is just me being curious, i dont even own an american pitbull:)

Public Comments

to be honest id never trust a pitbull especially one from fighting backgrounds my family has had many a dog and pitbulls have always been out of the question...
Half nurture and half nature.....Pit Bulls are great dogs....but they are very strong and very strong willed dogs. Intense professional training and a healthy loving and above all firm environment. I work in a shelter and the Pits that are surrendered are some of the sweetest, friendliest dogs down there. Problems come with irresponsible owners who don't know what they are getting into. In my opinion, this breed should be made illegal to breed...only because the vast majority end up in shelters from people who don't know how to handle them...and who will never be adopted because of the stereotypes perpetuated about them and lack of strong knowledgable owners to care for them.
All dogs will have fight instincts. But it's a matter of how you raise them if you want to bring that out. If a person raises a pit (or any dog) in isolation to be aggressive and fight, that is how he is going to be. If you raise it by socializing it with balance and discipline, he is going to turn out a normal dog. Pit bulls are just stronger than most other breeds, which is why they are used for illegal fighting and have such a bad rep. A chihuahua could fight just as much, but their bite is not nearly as bad.
If it comes from fighting lines then you have a 99.9% chance of it being dog aggressive
Yes, the dog needs to be obedience trained and socialized as a young pup. training never ends - you need to be consistent and persistent in your training with the dog its entire life. And it would be best to socialize the dog at a young age, by taking it to dog parks, etc. to expose it to other dogs in neutral territory so that it learns that other dogs are friendly. Dogs are pack animals and want to commune with their pack. If you open up that experience to allowing the dog to meet other friendly dogs, then it won't feel the need to be defensive all the time.
I would stay away from it. All it would take is 1 bad incident that you could cause you trouble for the rest of your life. Towns that forbid them and shelters that won't adopt them do it for a reason.
Ignorance here is getting worse and worse daily. THE BEST pit to own and the safest one around people IS one out of fighting blood. These dogs were bred for animal aggression and the vast majority of them don't have an ounce of human related aggression in them because they would be shot in the head, right at the side of the pit if they tried going after a human. If I were to own a pit, it would ONLY come out of fighting blood. Look at Michael Vick's dogs...why were they able to place most of them? Because they were FIGHTING blood line dogs, NO HUMAN AGGRESSION. Yes, a dog like that would not be able to get that aggression out of his system despite what someone in here said about it being "all how you raise it" crap that has become a mantra on YA. Hope I helped.
Dog aggression is a trait ANY pit bull breed could exhibit. They where bred for it for centuries, after all. In a well bred dog NOT bred for the trait or job of dog fighting then the chances and severity are likely to be LESS (or lower) and it isn't too hard to work through it with the help of a professional. Dogs bred FOR animal aggression are another story. Especially if these animals where in the pits AND successful. Not only do the have the genes, they have the experiences to back those genetic instincts up. Rehab (to a degree) has been done before, but usually by people with tons of canine experience (IE not novice owners who never owned their own dog before). I would personally NEVER house this animal with other dogs but i have heard of dogs who where "rehabilitated" enough to be out in public around other dogs with no problem. For some real cases and examples, just check out: http://www.bestfriends.org/ http://www.bestfriends.org/vickdogs/ They housed and worked with some of the MIchael Vick dogs, including a champion fighter who (i believe) HAS passed a good citizens test and i able to be around other dogs (not close contact) in public. I believe MOST of the Vick dogs where re-homed, rehabbed, etc. First time dog owners probably wouldn't be able to handle one of these dogs. Add - Greekman has a point that i never even thought of, at least when it comes to the human aspect of these animals.... but the poster was asking about the canine side of things, not human. So.... A lot of places/people WON'T try to rehab fighting dogs because of the risk they take placing them in homes. Liability. The dogs may be 100% fine with people but a danger to other dogs.
This idea that a dogs behaviour is determined by its blood line is a bit of a myth really. 90% of the time a dog is vicious because the owner has raised it badly and doesn't know how to control it. If you treat the dog with respect, make sure you raise it to be used to being around strange dogs, and teach discipline properly from an early age, it should be fine.
Did you get the dog as a puppy or was it already around fighting dogs? All dogs, regardless of breed, have the ability to be aggressive. It's the fact that Pits don't know when to stop that causes them to receive so much negative media attention. I have 10 of them, never had so much as an aggressive growl or even a baring of teeth when they've been around other dogs and 5 of the 10 come from fighting bloodlines. With training, encouragement and proper care from a responsible owner, which you seem to be, your dogs should be just fine. Good on you for owning one of the most feared and hated breeds of dogs in the world.
I agree with greekmans answer somewhat, however I know a lot of reputable breeders have have dogs from old good bloodlines (fighting lines) that get along fine with other dogs. You can't show in conformation nor do any type of sport/working event with such dog aggression. The dog aggression is there, but it can be controlled and some what and trained out. My APBT rescue had very bad dog aggression as he lived with my BF and was his dog and he didn't socialize him. At about a year of age I moved in and started training him and socializing him. It wasn't an easy process, but now he does pretty good. The dog aggression is still there but is very controlled and he gets along fine with my bull terrier as we got him when he was a young puppy. Everyone has to remember dog fighting as be illegal for a long time now and reputable breeders are not longer useing these dogs for fighting and haven't been for hundreds of years. Even if they have some of the old lines its being bred out of them.
Every experienced pit bull owner I have ever encountered has said the same basic thing: "Never trust your Pit Bull not to fight." ANY dog can decide to engage in a fight at any time. The Pit Bull doesn't need any more bad press, so the smart thing to do is assume he will fight, even if it seems he won't. Always be in control of your dog & any situation you put him in. Every dog is different, not all Pit Bulls will display the same level of aggression towards other dogs. And you can't always predict what your dog will do in every single situation- especially situations involving other people's dogs that you cannot control. Due to his inherent strength and tenacity, a Pit Bull in a fight is more likely to cause injury to another dog, than most other breeds. Best to just avoid the chance altogether. The wisest thing to do- according to the people with decades of experience in this breed- is to err on the side of caution no matter what. Train him to be obedient and to ignore distractions. Never allow him off leash in public- especially off-leash dog parks. Be alert to your surroundings, keep an eye out for people violating leash laws, stray dogs, etc. Avoid problems before they start. The public will scrutinize your dog's behavior more harshly & unfairly due to his breed. A fight that's not even your fault may still be blamed on your dog just because he is a Pit. The best thing you can do for him- and all the Pit Bulls in the nation- is to ensure he is always a model canine citizen. You cannot *eliminate* an instinct. But you can control the dog's BEHAVIOR through training & physical restraint. You CAN train a highly dog-aggressive Pit Bull to behave politely on leash and obey your commands instead of lunging at another dog. And as Greekman said, you can definitely expect a fighting line Pit Bull to be highly human friendly- which is the breed's appropriate temperament. But you can't expect the same dog to "play nice" off-leash with a group of other dogs at the park. If dog parks & doggy play groups are all that important to you, pick another breed.
Yes its possible. But but like the other person said is 50% nurture 50% nature. Some of Vick's past dogs are now living in homes with other dogs.
actually I heard on animal cops,that they will breed 5-6 litters,and they will be LUCKY to get ONE that has the temperament to fight,not to mention its usually only the males that fight,not the females,so they have timid females,and they can get the mothers side of the temperament.
Fighting bloodlines are bred for their animal aggression. They really receive no "training" to fight, when they get old enough they are thrown into the pits together and urged on by their handlers. That desire is already in them, it's genetic. It's NOT nurture, that's idiotic. You do not train these animals to properly fight. You just urge on their naturally tendencies. However, there are soft dogs from fighting lines that never have that urge and therefor never fight. It really just depends. If the dog is a very young pup, you can always try advanced training and socialization starting as soon as you get the pup. However, if it is older, it's iffy. It could be tested around other dogs to see the level of aggression it displays. I would never do it, I would never trust it. Single animal homes are the best for these dogs kept as companions, IMHO. It only take ONE time for a beloved pet to be dead, and for even more bad rep to be put on the breed. The being said, FIGHTING lined dogs are some of the BEST BRED American Pit Bull Terriers you will find. They are bred for their gameness, their soundness, their trueness to the breed. It is heartbreaking when raids are performed and some of the longest lines of well bred APBTs are all euthanized simply because they are from fighting backgrounds. Around other dogs, they may not do the best. But they don't have to be around other dogs! With the family, they will be the best. A CUR is any dog that displays growling, barking, unsoundness, aggression such as that. http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Acur&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGIG_en Curs will often lash out at both humans and dogs, even if they only have animal aggression. You break up a fight between curs, you will probably get bit. A TRUE, well bred APBT is NOT a cur. Actually fairly silent fights, their main fighting style is latching on and holding. Any APBT CUR, and any HUMAN aggressive animal, is culled and removed from the blood lines! A fighting lined dog will be extremely human friendly.
I totally disagree, I am not an expert, but what I do have is first hand knowledge and hands on experience for the last eleven years. My three legged, Pit Mix or Pity as I call him, Wishbone. In the past eleven years, Wishbone has been in three fights total, all provoked by other dogs. Wishbone’s first fight ever, he saved my life and my daughter’s life. A typical Friday, 6:30 am and I had the car pool. My daughter, (6 years old at the time) and I walked out the front door of our home to get in the car and start our morning. As I glanced to left I saw my husband chained Wishbone to the side of the house so tonight's caters would have access. Let me make it clear this was the first, only and last time we ever chained a dog. As we walked to car, I heard barking and growling, I looked up to see two very large, very aggressive, very NON-Pit Bull type dogs charging at us. To far from the front door and not close enough to the car, I used my body to shield my daughter and used one arm to cover my face. I could feel the fur of the first charging dog brush against my arm and sensed the presence of the second dog’s body over my head. The second dog crashed down between us, but I did not feel a thing. I opened my eyes and saw it was not the second dog at all. It was Wishbone! Still chained to the fence, fighting and holding off the two attack dogs giving me enough time to pick-up my daughter and get her safely back into the house. As I shut and locked the door, I looked out the window and saw only the two attack dogs pouncing on Wishbone. Suddenly, up popped Wishbones head, taking one dog by the scruff, shaking it like a rag doll, tossing it against a tree, doing the same to the second dog, and repeating it repeatedly, until they both whimpered off. That was his first fight, his second he was protecting a pack member and the third, another dog challenged him as pack leader. Other dog’s provoked all three fights in the eleven years I owned him. And for the record, Wishbone’s father was used in dog fighting he had what they call “gameness.” Gameness is an extreme trait. A trait that is the primary characteristic in bully breed dogs, especially that of the American Pit Bull Terrier. Other dog breeds can be very determined to complete their job or skill, but gameness is not necessary for them to survive retrieving the duck or pulling the sled. Gameness is the trait that is the determination to complete a task through pain and stress even if it means death. Game-bred dogs do not submit. These dogs are dominant (not necessarily aggressive). Game-bred dogs never give up. It is my opinion, as soon as people start to understand that one word, they will have just scratched the surface of understanding the American Pit Bull Terrier. I would like to think Wishbone is an awesome dog because of the love and proper care we gave him. Or was it because he was a Pit Mix, or was it because eleven years ago the breed and people were as screwed or abused as some are today I could not tell you. I can only tell my experience with one dog and I would do it all over again! Edit: Last Par., should read: eleven years ago the breed and people were 'NOT" as screwed-up...... Sorry!