I have an 11 month old female Great Pyr.. and a 6 year old Male Pit Bull.. the last month or so the Pyr has become rather aggressive and started attacking my put anytime they were to eat. When I say attack I don't mean the grrrrr get away from my food growl, I mean the full blown for the throat I'm not stopping til you die attack. I started feeding them separately and in different rooms completely and then tonight she attacked him for no reason. This time no food was involved, she just lunged... he cowers down and takes it, I'm scared that this could turn into a blood bath if she gets a hold of him worse than she already has.. I thank God we raised the Pit to not be aggressive or I may have a much worse situation to deal with. At any rate, I need help with this and soon before someone gets hurt =( me or the dogs or both. Any Advice would be awesome thanks

hi I've researched about your situation and although I can really tell that there's jealousy going between the two of them. try to visit this website to know what to do with it..dog fighting reasons and solutions

The food thing is called resource guarding. The other may just be the Pyr going through adolescence.

I was going to give you advise on how to deal with resource guarding but since you are dealing with two large breeds, I think the best thing is to strongly recommend that you consult a behaviorist. You need someone to come in and observe your situation and advise you on how to deal specifically with what they see happening.

There have been many other posts with replies on how to deal with resource guarding if you want to review those. But, I'd get a behaviorist consult if I was you.

UPDATE - seems now she just doesn't like him at all.. I brought her in, no food around at all and she went after him again... =( I fear I may have to give her up.. Im searching for a trainer that deals with this type of thing

How are you dealing with the behavior?

well Ive tried showing as much authority with her as I can.. Kind of using the Alpha Rollover on her but shes pretty big so it takes almost all my body weight to get her down.. once she is down, its usually a firm STAY til she relaxs and I let go of her, if she moves up I repeat it til she stays there.. seems that when they are inside she tries to get at him but outside she ignores him.. I have to have a muzzle on her if they are together in the house, and now I don't even trust her enough to leave him with her outside alone.

You need the help of a behaviorist/trainer ASAP. You need to be careful about doing an alpha roll on a large dog who is showing aggression--it could decide to turn on you.

I agree, however she has never shown any aggression towards me and I dont do it with her unless her muzzle is on her.. I was wondering if pregnancy might cause her to become aggressive towards him.. They are both still in tact.. and although we kept them apart as much as possible while she was in heat I suppose it is possible he got her... Im wondering if there is any way to tell if she is by looking at her.. I have a vet scheduled for next week.

Originally Posted by Cadynce

I agree, however she has never shown any aggression towards me and I dont do it with her unless her muzzle is on her.. I was wondering if pregnancy might cause her to become aggressive towards him.. They are both still in tact.. and although we kept them apart as much as possible while she was in heat I suppose it is possible he got her... Im wondering if there is any way to tell if she is by looking at her.. I have a vet scheduled for next week.

They are both intact? Why?

I don't know if being pregnant could cause her to become aggressive but I'd suspect that an intact male and an intact female living in the same house PROBABLY got together. Yep, pretty good likelihood.

My husband didnt want to clip him because a breeder was interested in using him for a stud.. which I have recently decided to go against it after seeing the conditions she keeps her kennel.. As for her shes gone thru a few health issues and the vet advised us to wait til she was ok before we did that, we have her schedule for end of march.

You know as well as I do the plight of Pittbulls in this country right now. Explain to your husband that he does not want to contribute to that by putting his dog out to stud. Men tend to have this macho mentality like neutering their male dog is like getting themselves castrated....<sigh> :???: Unless your dog has got a great pedigree from the best lines, you don't need to be breeding him.

Have you considered that the health conditions your girl has had may be contributing to her aggression issues now? She may be ill--sick dogs can get aggressive in self-defense.

He actually comes from a very good bloodline.. however I strongly pushed for him not studding him and i have convinced him not to do it.. I was actually very against even having a pitbull and was quite prejudice of the breed until we got him. He has an amazing personality and has changed my view on the breed itself. Either way he will not be bred as long as I have anything to do with it. As for the female. Her being sick wasn't anything severe, she had some issue with her eye.. which as I have been told ois a common ailment with Great Pyrs, the Dr wanted to have her off all meds before he put her under any sort anesthesia. I have spoken to the vet about her sudden aggression and he has suggested the same a few others have, and says that she is probably trying to show who the pack leader is since I have not (to her) shown that I am. I'm at my wits end here... I fully expected to be chastised for lack of better words when posting on a forum for help.. I understand the different points brought up in regards to her not being spayed.. Yes I know the deal with pet over population.. that's how I ended up with her, someone bred her and couldn't find her ad her brother homes. Either way, Despite what people may think I am doing everything within my power to find a solution to this prob. =(

While it could be a dominance issue, I'm not so sure. You might want to have a dog trainer or behaviorist come in and observe. There may be things you aren't even picking up on that are contributing to the behavior.