Hey all,

Little Background

Our pit is only a little over a year old, and has been very well socialized and gets lots of loving. He likes to lay in our laps and cuddle with us. But sometimes...

When it is time for bed and he is laying in his chair or in his bed we will come and tell him goodnight. We will give him a little "hug" and lay our head on his or on his thigh. Every so often he freaks out, or acts really nervous. Just now, my GF laid her head on him and petted him and he tried to get up real fast and jump down. We calmy told him it was okay and loved on him and told him to lay back down. When he did he tried to lay down as far away as he could in the back of the chair. We tried it agian, slowly and reassuring him it was okay and petting him. He then jumped up and ran on the other side of the bed and just stood there.
HE NEVER GROWLS or acts like he wants to bite us, but acts more like he is in trouble. This only seems to happen at night. During the day I can lay all over him and he does not care.

If he jumps down, and we call him he will come and let us pet all over him and acts normal. And he only does this every so often, but we tell him goodnight everynight. Although I do not think he would every snap at us, I just want to be sure on what might be causing this.

Is doing this sending him another signal than what we are meaning it to be? Is this something that he would not tolorate in a pack situation? Does he see it as threatening? What are you thoughts on this?

Now please don't tell me that Pits are bad dogs and all that mess, because they aren't. Ours is very well mannared, decently trained (people say he is awesome the way he listens to me but we hold him to a very high standard so to us he is 'decently trained') Everyone that has met him and thought poorly of Pit Bulls, has changed their minds.

Thank you,
Dylan

 

we've had our pit dobberman mix cince pup and she'll do almost the same thing so instead of givin the dog a goodnite hug we just tellher to watch the place and eat strangers. she almost always wakes up between the wife and i

 

if you are doing that than you are re-enforcing the behavior. if a dog does something you dont want it do (or something strange) and you cuddle it and tell it its ok than it will continue with that behavior because you just told it that its ok to do it. next time it does it (and from now on) just walk away and ingnore the behavior

 

Dylan,

This is just my opinion as a shelter volunteer and fellow pit owner.

By laying your head or limbs on him you are assuming a dominant posture.
This may freak him out because he 'knows' he's doing nothing wrong when you come up to him.
He might be more accepting of this from you as 'Alpha' than from your GF.
At a year he's no longer a puppy and he'll be looking to sort out his place in 'the pack'.
Perhaps he's just being insecure, and feels threatened by her.
There's nothing wrong with a growl (in context) He's letting you know how uncomfortable he is with the situation.

I want to commend you for being such a good 'owner' and taking the time to keep him well socialized, but as he matures his behavior is bound to change.
You ought to start thinking of him as a 'teenager'.
Yes, we have to hold our "monsters" to a higher standard. Mine has changed a few bigoted minds too!

Just my 2c.

He's a very handsome boy by the way!

 

a cesar milan dvd might help as well......i noticed that you said hes doing this at night , i truley believe its separation anxiety. its that time of night and he knows that there aint a whole lotta attention until the next day

 

I have never awakened any of my bullies with a physical touch, only verbally and with a sweet soft voice. Dogs often, when asleep are in a deep sleep and pyhisical touching may easily startle them. I agree, it can very well be an alpha dog thing but not sure in this case. it seems he may simply want to be left alone to sleep. Even my bullies on ocassion like to be left alone. Sometimes one will return to his bed in his room and sometimes one won't come down stairs and be social.

 

i know of a pit that has this same behavior, and shes 6. its from them feeling threatend buy you wrapping your arms around them and them feeling trapped. the dog i know is a grand champion and you can pull her ears knock her over ive seen kids yank on her tail and steal her food bowl and all she does is walk away or play with them. but wrap your arms around her and she quickly moves away. shes never nipped or bitten anyone she wasnt suposed too.(shes also a trained police dog) it would be like someone comming up from behind and bear hugging you, you wouldnt neccisarly wanna hit them but you would try to get out.

i hope all this makes sense.

tony

 

Thank you all for the opinions.

I will stop telling him goodnight like that and instead just pat him on the head. See what happens. He otherwise acts completely normal, and protective of us.

As far as the aplha role, me and my girlfriend both try to dish out the commands and take him places equally. He listens to both of us just as well and is actually a mama's boy which makes me feel better when I am gone. Apparently he turns into a completely different dog when I leave the house and it is just her and him. He becomes more alert and less tolarent of people walking infront of our apartment and the like.

And ArdWrknTrk, thank you for the compliment! He's our baby boy and goes everywhere we go, he LOVES to be in the back of the truck. Unfortunatly though, now we can't say "GO" around him because he wont leave us alone until we take him somewhere lol

 

Littleme, that makes alot of sense actually. He is the same way, little kids can do whatever they want to him and he just takes it in stride and loves it. You can walk up to him while he is eating and do whatever you want and he is fine. I guess it must be a feeling of being trapped.

 

I agree with #3.

imho, It sounds like you are invading the dog's personal space.

Ever hear the saying "let sleeping dogs lie". Once a dog does his three circles and lies down, if you approach him for anything more then a rub on the head (I wouldn't do that with this breed) you are going to trigger the dog. It is much better just to say you love him, smile at him, and then go to bed.

Especially putting someone's head near its body or personal parts. This makes the dog think it is being attacked and to fight or flight. This is the sort of thing that will trigger an instinct snapping or biting attack from any dog, which is why your dog is acting jumpy and getting as far away as possible.

If your dog wants a hug, squat down and let HIM come up face to face, neck to neck. Don't hug the dog while it is laying down and stay away from his legs and rear end. You are basiclaly giving the dog a panic attack.

Many times a dog will watch you go to bed and feel restful where he is and he is fine with that. If the dog wants to be touched, he will approach you first. Once he feels secure, he will end up being in bed with you or at the foot.

 

But there can only be -ONE- Alpha........ and you're it!

I agree, "let sleeping dogs lie".

My favorite one (as if there is a favorite) would rather be my co-pilot than anywhere else in the world. She hears the keys and is setting at the door of the truck before I can get there.

Wishing you both many rewarding years with your Best Friend.