Agreed. I've been texting her and she's saying that the aggression shown could have been the result of the shelter environment, and "aggression can be dealt with"
I mentioned the lunging/injury concern and she said "I'm not that delicate yet!". I really didn't think she had her heart set on this dog... I never would have expected her to even consider a pit bull.
The volunteer at the shelter mentioned that dogs who have been in the shelter for a while can develop mental health issues and that as soon as they get home they'll be better. This dog has been there since a few days after Christmas. I think my mom is convinced once out of the shelter she'll be fine. It's very frustrating and concerning. I had no idea this thread would become so relevant to my life!!
So my question now is...
can aggressive behavior be changed? The dog is 6 years old. We don't know anything about her past, but she was at a county shelter before ending up at this nonprofit shelter.
Maybe this was the reason this thread was started!
To the bolded - it is really difficult to say, BUT... do you really want to find out?
As I've said before, I had to walk away from two
little dogs that showed aggression because I knew it wasn't something I wanted to live with. I have a super elderly person in my home (90s) and I didn't want there to be any problems, plus from decades of life with GSDs I understood dog liability more than most.
To take on a pit bull showing aggressive tendencies? No way! I'm the one who earlier said I rescued a pit from under a dumpster and wound up bringing it into my home and subsequently - at just five months old - she wouldn't let my DH into the house AND she went after my neighbors with a ferocity I'd never experienced before. I would never knowingly put myself in that situation ever again, it was terrifying! I care greatly about animals
and people and I wouldn't risk putting anyone in harm's way.
Friends of ours worked with our trainer with a dog who'd had a serious bite incident. After hearing the details, the trainer said he thought that training would not help the situation. The dog had gotten away with the bite and therefore learned he could do it again. It was devastating. But, unfortunately, euthanization was the right choice for the safety of children in the home and elsewhere. There were a lot of things that could've prevented the incident (some of which I posted earlier), but what happened, happened.
I posted a link earlier that had a chart that reviewed degrees of bites. I'll post it here. A pit bull is capable of the most severe degree of biting.
http://apdt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/ian-dunbar-dog-bite-scale.pdf
ETA found the list:
There are six categories of dog bites which are:
1) The Level One Bite
This is whereby even with the aggressive behavior of the dog, its teeth do not get in contact with the skin. This is just the regular dog simply trying to frighten another dog or a human being so that the person/dog will leave.
2) The Level Two Bite
In this level, the teeth come in contact with the skin but do not leave any skin puncture. Here, the dog takes its aggression to the next level. It does not mind taking this behavior a step forward to let anyone know that it does not want them around.
Level one and two bites are the most typical dog bite issues. The dogs are sometimes not harmful, and the diagnosis for their aggression problems is taken care of with adequate treatment.
3) The Level Three Bite
Here, there are about one to about four tooth punctures from just a distinct bite. However, the punctures are not deeper than over half of the dog’s teeth. This is the point whereby the dog shows itself as a threat to both people and other animals.
See Also French Bulldog Puppies
4) The Level Four Bite
While the punctures range from one to four, there is a minimum of one puncture being deeper than over half of the dog’s teeth. Whoever gets bitten, be it a human or another dog, will possibly be left with deep bruises surround the wound. These wounds are gotten from the dog shaking its head from left to right.
In level four, the warning sign goes up. This dog needs to be kept far away from not just people, but animals included. The dog is kept till its issue is analyzed by an expert.
5) The Level Five Bite
This comprises of diverse level four bites and assaults. This dog is clearly harmful to people and its fellow animals. Diagnosis is not good.
In this level, behavior specialists approve that the dog is put out of its misery. This is recommended because, asides being very
dangerous to others, it would face life the hard way when locked up in solitary confinement.
6) The Level Six Bite
The only good thing about this level is that it is very rare. It hardly occurs. Here, the victim either an animal or a person dies during the assault.
