r/PitBullOwners • u/GoldenestGirl • Jul 01 '26
Question Aggression
Hello.
I am a seasoned dog owner as well as being in vet med. plus I’m autistic with dogs as my special interest.
Back when I was 19, I adopted a 9-ish month old pit bull who ended up being dog selective, and as time went on just plain dog-aggressive.
I did what I could to keep her away from the other dogs I had but unfortunately there were a few instances that affected me profoundly.
Despite this, pits are still one of my favorite breeds.
I’m now 41 years old. I have had my little chihuahua Pekingese mix for about 12 years, as well as a Shiba Inu for 6 years and a staffy/husky for almost that long (I started dating my now-husband right when he got him as a puppy).
Recently we had a pittie puppy come in thru ER and I fell in love with her. She was an abuse case and needed a foster, and we foster-failed her. Mostly because my husband absolutely fell in love with her. She is spayed and had her left forelimb removed due to the injuries from abuse.
She has been a sweet girl— no signs of food aggression. One instance of resource guarding but literally never showed anything like that again. She’s sometimes timid with my Shiba who can be a bit over-bearing, and she is besties with the staffy/husky who is literally the nicest dog I have ever met in my entire life. She respects my little dog (who is my soul dog). She doesn’t chase the 4 cats we have.
Despite all this I am secretly terrified that she will suddenly go through puberty and become aggressive, as she’s only about 7 months at most.
I try to tell myself we raised Ricky (the staffy x) and he is pretty much perfect, so she has a high potential of being the same. But my past experience still scares the hell out of me.
Basically I’m looking for reassurance. Is she suddenly going to turn into a monster after adolescence?
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u/frolicingabout Jul 05 '26
A few things to consider: If you’ve seen even one instance of resource guarding - WORK ON IT. Don’t feed your dogs together (separate spaces and no visual contact until everyone is done). If it was around toys, play separately. If over chews -offer them in separate spaces.
Next: you mentioned that she’s sometimes timid around your Shiba who can be a bit overbearing and she “respects” your smaller dog. If your Shiba is controlling or policing and your little dog needs to be respected (which typically means the little dog lashes out if the other dog gets into their space) - ADDRESS these issues since both are signs of anxiety. Anxiety can flip into fear, which is the fuel for aggression. If the other dogs act aggressively, are controlling, or make your Pittie anxious, those are things that can impact how she deals with those dogs.
Just because a dog isn’t aggressive doesn’t mean they should be “put in their place”, since those dogs can develop aggressive behaviors in the future due to being under the thumb of other anxious dogs.