Is there any hope for a dog aggressive lab/pit mix with anxiety issues, or should I give her up now?

DONT PASS HER ONTO someone else – you will make things worse. I would do some obedience classes and work on it. My dog was 8 when I got him and it took a few years before he was “normal”, dont give up. Its possible

just keep working with her, she has been tramitized by the attack when she was younger and is scared.u can try a muzzle on her when she acts up and a tap on the nose along with a firm no might get her settled down.u might try walking her and if other dogs are in view just stop and hold her until they pass. i do this with my border collie as she is not the most friendlyest with people or other dogs.i would keep her and train her with this problem since she is a good pet with u while u are not around other animals.some dogs are just naturally like this and are loving and loyal to their human masters. work with her and good luck

First off don’t ship her out, she’ll only get worse and could end up biting someone. Just like humans some of us are not wired correctly. I know there will be lots that say there is no such thing as a bad owner, but that’s not true. You don’t know for sure her parents, and is they or she was inbreed. You’ve do all you can except drug her at this point. But really what kinda life is being drugged all the time? This is your choice, there isn’t noting wrong with a treadmill. When picking out a pup I don’t look at the (what I call a possible “fear bitter”) and this is a shy, no confidence pup that lets all the others come to you and stays back in the shadows. I’m not saying all the pup with this attitude can’t and won’t get fixed but your chances of this happening are greater. Best of Luck

The treadmill is reasonable – lots of people use them. (Cesar just had a show on about how to teach a dog to use one.) Sounds like you are really trying to help the poor thing.
There are holistic remedies that are used to help calm dogs – no harmful chemicals – you might consider trying those. I haven’t heard of any ill side effects from them and lots of people seem to get really good results with them.
There are lots of sites that sell this stuff: and are just two that I pulled up on google just now.
I wouldn’t try to give the dog away – you’ll just be transferring the problem to someone else and who knows if they will be as kind as you have been. It would be kinder to put the dog down than to give it to someone who will abuse it or tie it to a tree and forget about it.
Best of luck to you.

This sounds FIXABLE. I would suggest the book called don’t shoot the dog by karen pryer, I think that’s the book I’m thinking of. Do not by a treadmill. It would be very sad if one traumatic experience as a puppy caused your dog to never be able to go out side and play with other dogs again. Isolating your dog will only make things worse. She may become more fearful of otherthings as well. Your dog has been traumatized, you just need to VERY slowly reintroduce your dog to other dogs. First at a distance and give POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT. Please don’t loose hope, and don’t listen to Cesar, he is not a real trainer.

It isn’t fair to pass this dog off to someone else. That puts any pets in their area plus possibly small children in danger. Also, pit mixes given away free often end up with morons who fight them or use them as ‘bait’ (bait is a nice way to say the dog is used as basically a chew toy to get another dog ready for the fight pit; it’s not pretty).

Have you called in a trainer who deals specifically with aggression issues? If not, call around and find one. Make sure it is an in-home trainer. You want someone who can see the whole situation and work with you and the dog one-on-one. You can’t get this at a basic obedience class although you will need those later to maintain socialization and obedience if you get this aggression solved. Make sure this person uses positive reinforcement (clicker training is great). Harsh physical corrections on dogs with aggression usually ends badly for everyone. It usually just makes it worse.

Only after you’ve tried everything should you get her the treadmill. Going out obviously stresses her and she’s dangerous to other animals if she gets loose or cornered but training COULD possibly fix this. Just remember to never let this dog out without a leash unless you have a fence she cannot escape or see through. If it is chain link, you can get something that makes it into a privacy fence so your dog doesn’t have to see dogs walking by. I think Wal-Mart carries it. If not, Home Depot definitely does. Oh, if you go with the treadmill, make sure gets lots of physical AND mental stimulation. Try the brain teaser toys or hiding a treat and letting her find it. Training is always good for mental stimulation. I like to get Kongs, fill them with meat or soaked kibble, freezing them, and giving them to the dogs to clean out. It’s a good physical and mental workout for when I can’t take them with me. Good luck with your dog.

Giving up an even mildly aggressive pet to a humane society is signing their death warrant. A Pit at our local shelter was just put down because it “nipped” a volunteer.

Even finding it a new home would only serve to make the dog more distrustful and more aggressive, which will no doubt end it up at the… humane society.

The only hope is for you to work with the pet you chose to take in. You don’t abandon your child when they have temper tantrums, do you?

I dont think you shoud give her away. I think you should help her. Unless you feel you cant you should only give her to someone who can and WILL.
My obedience trainer is awesome and says you can fix any behaviour problem Maybe you just need to find a better or the best trainer.

I wouldn’t give up.

Is she tired out before you take her on walks/to stores? Dogs can sense your anxiety and that can make them step up even more to ‘protect’ you. If you tense up, or react when you see another dog, she’ll know and she’ll try to do what she thinks is right.

I’ve seen a few different directions as far as advice. Either keep the leash tense and keep walking, paying absolutely no attention to her reactions or the other dog. Just go, pulling, growling or whatever, do not even acknowledge the behaviour. If she calms down after a few attempts, reward GOOD behaviour, and continue to ignore the bad.

Also, have her in a sit stay anytime you see a dog coming. Reward her for when she stays sitting, or stays sitting and doesn’t react.

Since she got attacked on a walk, she now thinks she has to be the protector of the pack when she’s out for a walk. She needs you to step up and show her you have everything under control and she can just enjoy her walk, not constantly be on alert.

Also, she has terrier in her, and terriers tend to have issues with dog agression as it is, so it will be a bit of a struggle.

If you really don’t feel up for solving the issues and honestly think she would be better off with someone else, please make sure you don’t just give her up to anyone. It could be bad for her, and if her issues aren’t able to be controlled by them or are allowed even further she’ll be the next pit in the headlines.

Also, I’m not sure about the treadmill thing, but I think that would lead to understimulation and only agrravate any anxiety. Best bet for now might be to try and find a time to walk her when it’s least likely to encounter other dogs. Or go for several short walks instead of one long one, to lessen your chances. Until the problem is fixed.

Check out Azmira.com- they have some flower essences to give to your pet to help them with fear, aggression, spraying, abandonment, neediness, obsessiveness, jealousy and a R&R essence. It helps their mind to overcome bad experiences.

don’t give her away. if you give her away she will become fearful of not just dogs but humans as well. she will bark, growl or whine at humans as well as dogs. you would want to keep her and buy her a treadmill. remember that if you ive her away sh will never trust anyone again. i have a dog but she won’t ever let me near her without her baring her teeth. all because somebody gave her away, for free, when she was a year old. you see my point. so keep her. love her most importantly, a help with the dog problem. slowly introduce her with other very gentle dogs. if they treat her nice she may be able to get along with other dogs again. but this will take some time.i hope this helps.

1. If you’re honest to anyone who asks “why are you giving her up?” than I doubt you’ll get any takers.

2. I like some of what Cesar Millan does. It is true that dogs are better with exercise and clear rules. But his positions on “alpha” and dominance are badly screwed up and in the hands of someone who is not an absolute expert, usually make things worse. I’ll spare you all the details about why, suffice it to say that the old wisdom about dominance and alpha rolls usually makes things worse and produces a dog that is more skittish and insecure.

3. The short answer: get Leslie McDevitt’s book: Control Unleashed. The book was written for agility dogs so some of the activities and a little of the language is agility specific and you’ll have trouble relating to. But the vast majority of the book applies to all reactive and insecure dog (and that describes your dog to a “T”).

It is a very practical and hands-on book that you’ll end up reading and re-reading. There is one particular game in it (called “Look at That”) that sounds like a superb fit for your situation.

I’ll spare you all of the details. But the quick summary of the thesis behind the book is this: we need to learn to find ways to take dogs who lose control or feel threatened and desensitize them to those threats. And we do that by working with them to add structure (so there is no longer uncertainty there), adding control and confidence (by starting out sub-threshold), and learning how to manage the situation.

I also suggest looking for a dog class (not a trainer but a dog class) that is for reactive dogs and uses the Control Unleashed book as the syllabus or methodology. I am not exaggerating when I say that I think there is nothing you can do that would have more impact than reading CU and (ideally) getting your dog into a class with the CU methodology.

Some additional background info that might prove useful is the Sarah Kalnajis DVD “The Language of Dogs.” It is full of video examples with different breeds so you can read when a dog is stressed, when it is happy, when it’s trying to “make peace” or when it wants space or warning signs before a dog bites. What you’ll discover is if you spot the warning signs before your dog loses control, you can gradually (like a vacination) expose her to some stresses at levels that keep her sub-threshold (so she doesn’t react).

As to a couple of other ideas from this thread:
–I love Karen Pryor’s work. The book “Don’t Shoot the Dog” is a great one. But I don’t think it’s very helpful for you in this situation.
–A treadmill. Well, exercise for a dog is ALWAYS a good thing. But this sounds like a very expensive solution to me. Furthermore, it sounds like you’re resigning yourself to keeping your pooch as an indoor dog. And I think you can work past what is going on.
–herbal and natural remedies. Yes, they’re always worth a try. But I’ve never seen any of them be the sole reason a problem like this went away. Usually, they’re a good addition to something else you’re doing, what I would call “stacking the deck in your favor” (like: doing CU, giving your dog a lot of physical activity, avoiding exposure to other dogs up close so your dog can’t rehearse bad behavior, and then also the herbal solutions).

ok well i have a pitbull and she has the same problem she is very dog aggressive. so i walk to outside with a muzzle on her face. it use to be worse when she was a puppy cuz she was attacked and stuff. but now that she is older she is starting to calm down more when we walk her and once i yell she is fine. i think if u get rid of the dog it will just get worse becuase u r all the dogs knows and it is use to you. anyone you give the dog to is going to have a bigger problem. she might just wrong out of it give the dog time.

It’s the Pit Bull side coming out in her. They are a messed up nutcase breed. Nothing you can do will ever fix her head!