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PITBULLS

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Everyday, our hotline receives many calls from people, who need to re-home their pit bulls, or they rescued a pit bull, and now they are not sure what to do next. In almost every case, we cannot take the dogs. We, like all rescues that take on this breed, are overwhelmed with the calls for us to “find a loving home for my dog”. We can help, but we can’t take your dog.

When people call us, the first question we ask is, “ what would it take for you to keep your dog?” Often, the home that the dog is in might be the only home that dog will ever have. Depending on what the circumstances are, and whether the person needs to “give up”, “give away” get rid of”, or even “donate” their pit bull to us, there are few options for that dog because there are just too many pit bulls and pit bull mixes, and not enough qualified people to adopt them.

If you have rescued a pit bull , and need to find her a home, you have done a very great thing for that dog. Please don’t be discouraged, we have helped many independent rescuers find homes for their rescue dogs. Some people who rescue this breed for the first time are nervous at first about all negative stories that they have heard in the news. Please remember that first, and foremost, your pit bull is a dog. She is not some type of killing machine that the media often portrays, and this breed does not “just go crazy one day”, and turn on her owner, who has responsibly raised her, nor will she “out of no where” bite people. I believe that the majority of “bad pit bulls” come from very bad people, who often abuse them by confining them to a chain in a backyard, praising them for being protective, never socializing them with other dogs, and people, and sometimes intentionally promoting them to be violent with people and other dogs. Ignorance is the number one problem that this breed faces.

Below is a list that LA Animal Services recently published for all breeds of dogs. If you plan on adopting a pit bull, or any dog for that matter, please take a look at this list with great care, and ask yourself, can you keep your dog safe for the next 13-14 years? Your dog is counting on you, and if you own a pit bull, chances are that your home is the best home, and possibly the only home the dog will ever have in his lifetime.

Reasons for DOG GUARDIANS Relinquishments:
1. GUARDIAN MOVED COULD NOT TAKE DOG (1,021)
2. GUARDIAN HAD NO TIME FOR DOG (768)
3. LANDLORD/ZONING ISSUES (692)
4. GUARDIAN HAD TOO MANY PETS (600) LA Animal Services does follow up on many of these relinquishments and many spay/neuter vouchers are distributed and as appropriate citations issued.
5. GUARDIAN TOO ILL TO CARE FOR DOG (350)
6. GUARDIAN DIED (327)
7. GUARDIAN COULD NOT AFFORD THE MEDICAL COSTS FOR SICK OR INJURED DOG (323)
8. DOG TOO AGGRESSIVE WITH OTHER ANIMALS (304)
9. DOG TOO AGGRESSIVE WITH PEOPLE (290)
10. GUARDIAN HOMELESS (256)

For pit bull owners, we have found that the three top reasons that owners need to relinquish their dogs are, she is destructive, and too high energy for the family. Second, the owner has to move, and their new place will not accept a pit bull. Third, the dog attacked another dog, especially when it is a dog within their family.

There are ideas and solutions that we can offer if you want to work with your dog that is too high energy, and often destructive. Over the years, we have kept many dogs from going to the shelter by offering our hands-on experience with behavioral problems. Please call us at 818-407-4145.

If you are moving and can’t take your dog with you, the best that we can offer is to post a photo of your dog on our website, and help you adopt your dog to another person. If you have less than a month to find a new home for your dog, we suggest that you board your dog until you can find a new owner for your dog. Depending on where you live, we have a list of kennels that you can pay to board your dog so that you can avoid taking your dog to the shelter where the odds are that she will be euthanized.

If your dog has attacked a dog, no matter how bad the fight was, it does not mean that your dog will now automatically be more likely to bite you, or a child in your home. There are many reasons why dogs are aggressive with other dogs, and that aggression often never transfers to humans. A dog fight is a horribly stressful situation, and needs to be dealt with immediately. Blaming the dog, and looking for a new home, which may never materialize for your dog, or worse, euthanizing your dog is not the answer. Please call us if you would like to work with your dog to overcome dog on dog aggression. We also recommend that you visit Dog Psychologist Brandon Fouche’s site at www.brandonfouche.com. Brandon is the reason that so many of our pit bulls are in great homes today!

DOG AGGRESSION
The Pit bull was originally created for the purpose of fighting other dogs; most pit bulls are dog aggressive, at least to some degree. Some pit bulls will simply not tolerate any other dogs, regardless of sex. A few pit bulls will remain dog friendly their entire lives, but they are a minority. The majority of pit bulls are at least same sex aggressive and as adults will not do well with other dogs of the same sex or those that are "pushy" with them, although as pups they may get along fine (this can be very misleading to a novice pit bull owner). Pit bulls will commonly start developing signs of dog aggression between the ages of 8 months and 2 years, although it can develop at any age and can come on either gradually or quite suddenly. It is important to note that many pit bulls do not display the "typical" signs of dog aggression before a fight. Owners of dog aggressive pit bulls learn to "read" their dogs and recognize the subtle signs indicating impending dog aggression. Training will not eliminate dog aggression in the pit bull but, when combined with responsibility and vigilance, training can bring these natural tendencies under control in on-leash situations. Where housemates are concerned, if one is a pit bull, extra care should be taken to prevent tension over food, desirable treats (like bones), and favorite toys. These items are often "triggers" for spats or fights between dogs sharing the same house and owners should be very aware of them. This is also the reason that an adult pit bull should NOT be left alone with housemates or other dogs. Due to their fighting heritage, many pit bulls do not recognize signs of submission given by a dog they are fighting and, if they are unsupervised, the results can be disastrous. It should be noted that many breeds have dog aggressive tendencies, and leaving any such breed unsupervised with another dog, especially a dog of the same sex, can lead to a tragedy.

Keep Your Dog Social
With humans, the pit bull is very easy to socialize but, since they tend to be very enthusiastic, they should be taught manners early on. A trained pit bull is often very social and loving with friends and strangers alike. As with most breeds, socialization with humans of all types should be part of the dog's training for life. A pit bull that shows unprovoked human aggression, especially with children, is NOT typical of the breed and is showing very poor temperament. Such a dog should be thoroughly evaluated by a trainer or behaviorist experienced in the breed for a final determination of their temperament and recommendation on how to proceed. The pit bull is typically a people loving, intelligent and fun breed. Many excel at obedience training and dog sports such as agility, weight pull, Frisbee, and flyball. Due to their affinity with people, this breed is a good candidate for rescue and adoption, but potential homes need to be carefully screened to insure that the new owners understand and accept the responsibility of owning a pit bull. Media hysteria and bad owners have greatly damaged this breed and every incident involving a pit bull makes it worse for the entire breed and their owners, often prompting breed specific legislation or breed bans. Potential owners need to be informed of the pit bull's correct temperament, and need to be prepared to deal with the issue of dog aggression. Most pit bulls have a high prey drive and may chase small animals or livestock. This is NOT a breed for everyone! The only way to repair the pit bull's bad reputation is to keep them in the hands of responsible owners.

What would be the ideal owner for this breed?
The ideal owner of a pit bull is an extremely responsible person committed to the care, training and exercise of their dog. Such an owner should be knowledgeable about the breed (or at least willing to learn), very aware of the dog aggressive but people loving nature of the breed, and dedicated to protecting not only their dog, but also the breed as a whole from the continuing media hysteria generated by bad press and bad owners. The ideal owner of a pit bull would never allow their dog to roam the neighborhood, be off leash in a public place or around strange dogs, and would not leave their adult pit bull alone and unsupervised with another dog of any breed, since fights can start between unsupervised dogs, especially dogs of the same sex, and such fights can have serious consequences. This owner would spay/neuter, make sure their dog remains socialized with all types of people, contain their dog securely when not supervised by an adult, obedience train their dog, and insure that their dog is well exercised every day. This owner would NOT be looking for a guard dog, as pit bulls are typically very people friendly and not naturally inclined toward "man work." This owner would either have no other dogs or an altered dog of opposite sex, since many pit bulls are same sex aggressive and can be placed with a non-dominant dog of opposite sex.

What are these dogs surrendered for typically?
Owner turn-ins of pit bulls are usually due to dog aggression (which is often mistaken for human aggression by inexperienced owners). Other reasons include: * Destructive chewing, which is usually out of frustration and lack of exercise * Too much energy/lack of time for dog and breed specific legislation against pit bulls in the area/moving to an area with breed specific legislation. * Pit bulls also often are brought in as strays or confiscated from abusive owners, dog fighters, or criminals.

Pitbulls Featured on Best Friends! www.bestfriends.org

Excerpt from Saving America's Dog, by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends Animal Society
The name of the session said it all, Beleaguered Breed: Saving Pit Bulls. This is the type of dog that is being killed at a disproportionate and alarming rate in shelters. It is reported that one in 600 of thsee types of dogs will make it into a home. The well rounded panel included experts in advocacy and model programs, and through thought provoking presentations reaqlly challenged the audience to think about ways to save pit bull type dogs in a whole new light!....

This article sites several pit bull resources! To read more, please visit : www.bestfriends.org

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Downtown Dog Rescue is a program within the non-profit Friends For Animals
(818) 407-4145 | lori@modernica.net