Me and Bryan went and took Mason our 6 mo. old puppy in to the vet yesterday to get blood work done on him. He has fearful aggression issues which we are working with trainers on but seem to not be making much more headway after the initial improvement. I wanted to see if there were any imbalances in his thyroid or any other abnomalities that could be an underlying cause. He's been fearful since the day I got him as my foster. I couldn't bear to give him up so he became mine. His fear has always been there and the aggression part has gotten worse because he sees success in getting people to back away from him.
Anyways, we went to the vet's office, one we go to regularly. A guy walks in who we've never seen before and has a very brash personaltiy which I can sense already. Mason gets set off because 1 the guy's looking right at him and 2 he gets more aggressive when in small areas where he feels cornered. The vet then asks me a load of questions which I answer to the best of my knowledge. He then says he will NOT be doing blood work on him as he feels its a waste of time. Tells me to go see this behaviorist (who costs 260 a session I might add). Tells me and Bryan that we have a SERIOUS weapon on our hands, tells us we need to do something about it (like we hadn't just told him we were doing mulitiple training classes and sessions with him and we weren't there to see if there was some other cause). Then of course he has to throw it in our faces about his breed. Yes I FUCKING know that pitbulls are notorious for 'aggression' but you know what, there are LOADS of pitbulls out there, one of which is Hannah my other pit who is VERY well adjusted. Just like there are LOADS of other breeds out there who are as or more aggressive then Mason. He THEN has the audacity to tell me that we need to work w/ this specialist and if that doesn't work that we should seriously consider euthinasia. I sat there dumbfounded and shocked. I didn't even know what to say. He left and I bawled my eyes out. How DARE this asshole tell ME what to do with MY dog who we are trying SO hard do rehabilitate. He doesn't know the shit ive been through. He doesn't understand that by saying the E word that he's hit a cord so deep inside that now it's brought up a mess of emotions. I will NOT put another puppy to sleep. I wont do it. I will not give up on Mason because NO ONE ELSE wants to take the time to fix him.
I still feel numb. On top of which i've been very frustrated with the whole situation. It's very tiring and emotionally draining to have to keep going again and again and failing. I just want him to be happy and well adjusted. I want him to not be so afraid of people and dogs he doesn't know. I want people to see the Mason I see everyday at home. Who's happy and excited and playful. Who likes hugs and kisses and belly rubs. I want that for him… I know it must be SO hard for HIM to go everyday out in the world and be so afraid. Hell I think EVERYONE on this site knows. Maybe mason's got agoraphobia or SA. I just want for him what other dogs know.
aw i love puppiessss and dogs! Mason is lucky his mom cares about him so much! We dont want mason scared everyday like most of us are bc we know how that feels! =[ good luck with mason!
I had a pit bull once, and it was such a love affair. I got him from a friend who rescued dogs, and was a bit of an outlaw. She stole him from a junkyard luring him out with food from the hole he lived in when not being kicked and abused. It’s a sweet tender story and I won’t write all the details here. But the dog was a bit of a biter. And I had to defend him from family and others who insisted he was a danger and would never be any good. He loved me so much, protected me, protected my car. But we always worried that he would nip or bite (never children) but he was protective. He became a trail dog, and there were never problems with him there. The dogs ran together and always had their attention on rabbits or other things. He would never run up to a human and make him fearful when he was out running. Anyway, I had to leave town for a long time and I left him with my ex. Bottom line- my ex (a true blue dog person) almost gave up on him until they had a show down. He had to be able to put his feet on Tedders, something he got defensive about probably because he had been kicked. Also Tedders had to learn to get out of the chair. We used to not be able to move him from any place or he would growl. Basically Tedders had a Master at that point, and became the sweetest dog to everyone. The anxiety over him biting or hurting was gone. So when the dog whisperer talks about dogs needed to be second in the pack and u first, I get that. It wasn’t something I was able to do for Tedders (also called Spook), but my ex was. I loved Tedders dearly in both of his modes. There is no dog like a pit bull!