prejudism

[NbyNW]

Badger,

Amber seems like a wonderful dog, but it sounds like if you're taking care of your mother's cat on a regular basis, you might try to find a dog that is not cat-aggressive. Has her rescue organization provided any details as to how she is with other animals?

[badger]

Badger,

Amber seems like a wonderful dog, but it sounds like if you're taking care of your mother's cat on a regular basis, you might try to find a dog that is not cat-aggressive. Has her rescue organization provided any details as to how she is with other animals?

oh, I make "cat friendly" a priority in my search for a canine companion. Amber supposedly isn't interested in cats. That said, I'll need to prod that further as 2 of the cats are very timid/skittish, and one is overbearing. Over the past 2 years that I've been looking through petfinders, I've come across a number of older pit/crosses that are cat/small animal friendly so even if Amber's not the right one, another will come by.

[Dogmama]

I, too, would be concerned about cats. "Ignores cats" may be good or bad. A skittish cat may instigate prey/chase drive. PBs have powerful jaws. And PBs as a breed have a pronounced prey drive (as do Border Collies, Shepherds, etc.) I'm profiling dog breeds .

With a 800 sqft apt, you may think about a smaller breed that is easily trained (barking concern). An older dog is ideal but I'd rather see a 2-3 year old.

Finally, here is something I witness repeatedly with PBs. People with other dogs react negatively to the "dog killer" and their dog picks it up. The energy (actually scents and body language) is what starts the problems. You often find that the other dog started the skirmish & the PB ended it out of defensiveness.

I have the same prejudices with my 100lb male German Shepherd, but not to the extent that PBs currently have. I do keep a $1M blanket insurance policy because if anybody enters my yard and my dog bites him, I'm still liable.( If the intruder is smart, he'll pick up one of the dozens of tennis balls strewn about & have an instant buddy. ) Not fair, but that's the law. A sign "beware of dog" can be interpreted that you have a dog who is a known problem. It's BS, but that's the way it is.

A CGC on a PB should be mandatory. If you ever find yourself in trouble, showing that your dog earned an AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) is a huge gold star in your favor. Plus, it's lots of fun.

[badger]

when I got my last dog (he was my one and only puppy love so far), I called around local shelters (this was before petfinder.com!) asking if they had any older dogs that were good with cats.

One shelter immediately said "Chevy!!" I wasn't looking for any particular dog, and I will admit when I first met this 90lb rottweiler, I had to think twice if I really wanted such a big dog. But he was so lovely I fell in love with him.

I took him home, and he just ignored my hissing cat and the other one that dove under the bed. He loved to chase squirrels, and strangely he chased my parents' cat, but he never bothered my cats. And I have one in-your-face aggressive cat who bossed him around (I used to tell my cat if I ever came home and found him dead, I wouldn't blame Chevy at all).

As for size, I like to generalize and say that the bigger the dog, the less active they are in the home. The little ones I fostered were so busy in the house it tired me out just watching them. Granted Chevy was older so never had much energy, but he was a very calming presence, and the last thing I need is a small, yappy dog (again, generalizing).

Pit bulls have all the quality that I'm looking for. Most of them are couch potatoes and have a definite "off" switch indoors that make them ideal for apartments. They're not too big, and they certainly aren't small. They can be very active outdoors, and I wish to go trail running and hiking and it would be nice to have a canine companion who can accompany me. They're usually friendly and love people. Their shedding is minimal, and they are big enough to hold their pee until I get home.

[TsPoet]

The true damage a pitbull can do to its opponents in the right environments. Look at the jaws on this dog!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNicN-o1VyA

Not sure a pitty would be a good apartment dog, would need lots of exercise and something to do much of the time.

"from pending euthanasia to top level disc dog in under 2 years...what a great story. Hopefully this will help show a positive side to the breed. They say that actions speak louder than words, and if that's the case, this is Wallace speaking loudly for pit bulls everywhere!"

[Dogmama]

A Frisbee PB is not the norm. They are typically heavy in the chest area and would suffer front leg injuries. If you look, this guy doesn't have the typical heavy chest conformation.

Regarding the on/off/good in apt comment - it depends on the dog. I know many people who take their PB's to dog parks to get them to chill out at home because they are so high energy.

Sounds like given your needs, possibly a greyhound rescue would suit you. Can run with you, minimal shedding, usually good house dogs & good with cats. Again, profiling any breed is risky because there is always the "Ya but" factor (as in "ya but my sister's dog..."<fill in the blank>). Little dogs can be yappy monsters because their owners allow it.

[badger]

yeah, every dog's different, I'll just keep looking until I find a dog with the same sort of qualities my dog did. I won't narrow my search to just pit bulls, but most likely I'll get an older one simply becuase of the energy issue. I like 'em mellow

[badger]

during a recent search on petfinder, I saw that Amber's ad was gone. I was happy thinking she was adopted, only to realize that her adoption was "on hold". Concerned, I wrote to the rescue and she told me that Amber will likely need surgery on both her knees. They think it's torn ACL, and that hopefully surgery will help her. If it's something else and she's not a surgical candidate, they won't have any other choice but to put her down as her quality of life won't be great with her being in a lot of pain But the rescuer is hopeful that she can be helped.

Anyways, I actually met Amber tonight, and she is super friendly and is a gem. The rescuer says she would appreciate it if I can take her here and there, even for a day so she can have a break from having 4 dogs as she herself is a bit lame with a knee injury.

So, I'm going to be taking Amber home with me this weekend for a sleepover

[TsPoet]

So, I'm going to be taking Amber home with me this weekend for a sleepover

Danger, Will Robinson!
I love it, enjoy her, and be prepared to have a new dog!

[lunacycles]

Good for you, Badger!

Here's a group a friend pointed me to on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/...&id=1106173062

[XMcShiftersonX]

I've been thinking more seriously about adopting a dog. It's been over 2 years since my dog died, and I miss having a canine companion.

My dog was mostly-rottweiler and he was an amazing ambassador to that breed. Many people who previously was afraid of them, he won them over.

So, I've been wanting to do the same for the maligned pit bull. I know I shouldn't be, but I'm shocked at the level of hatred people have towards the breed. Today, a coworker said "ew!! pit bull?! I hate pit bulls!" When I asked her why, she couldn't give me a specific reason, just that she hated them. She denied it when I asked if it was because of the media. Another friend told me to not even think about bringing it over to her house.

I faced prejudism regularly with my old dog. People would cross the street to avoid us, or cower when he wanted to go towards someone to say "hi". I'm sure I'll face the same, if not worse, when I get my new dog (a rescue, not a puppy).

I guess I'm just using this to comment more than anything else, because most people who have made up their minds that pit bulls are bad will feel that way no matter what I say. It's a shame because they make amazing companions.

I'm so happy for you, good luck with Amber! My advice is not to worry about what other people are going to feel about your dog. As I've shared before, a lot of people are very afraid of my 140 pound great dane whose head comes up to my chest (I'm 5'1), and is just the sweetest thing. It's really not your problem though, whatever irrational fears people may have about your dog. As long as your dog is nice, behaves fairly well (they're never perfect all the time), and you're involved in her training to make her better, enjoy your life with her! I wouldn't go out of your way to prove to people that your dog really is nice - let them be and if in the process of seeing how your dog behaves someone's mind changes, well, that's just a bonus. But, I wouldn't waste energy on people like that. Chances are you don't want your dog playing with theirs anyways! (Seriously, my dog as been attacked and hurt by more small, poorly socialized dogs than big ones).

And as for size of dog and living space...My dog lives just fine in a 1100 square foot condo with three cats, and my friend has an 80 pound pitbull in her one bedroom apt in downtown Seattle (probably 600-700 square feet). See what her energy level is like and make the decision from there, but chances are that is really a non-issue. Our dog is high energy and we just take him out for a walk whenever he gets rambunctious.

Have fun with her!

-Jesssica

[badger]

this is Amber and Morley. She's a great little house guest She's getting surgery on her knees on Tuesdays, so hopefully she'll be up and running soon. Not sure if I can foster her anymore because for sure I'll have to keep her!!

[OakLeaf]

Awwwww. If you help with her post-surgical rehab you'll definitely have to keep her. She looks like she fits into your household...

[badger]

well... this picture is more cute than accurate. My cat always bossed my last dog, who was very submissive. They often slept together, but the dog just merely tolerated the cat. Amber's not nearly as submissive. In this picture she was exhausted so Morley did his old trick.

Amber tends to be excitable in the mornings. This morning, Morley came by and was staring her down. You can see her twitching, it was like she didn't know what to do with that excitement (attack? play? run away?)

My cat is very aggressive and she's very uncertain of him (she was terrified when she first came, sat by the door and didn't want to come further into the house). She ignores my other cat because the cat ignores her, too. I haven't yet been able to trust Morley enough to leave them alone. The last thing I'd want is to come home and find a dead or maimed cat because he was so confrontational.

She's nearly perfect, but this dynamic concerns me for the long term.

[XMcShiftersonX]

Still that's impressive! It took my cats a year to go near my dog... granted he went from 18 pounds at 7 weeks old to 120 pounds at 6 months...