Hello. I am the proud owner of two American pitbull Terriers who will be turning 4 in April. My male has always been a nervous/fearful dog. I brought him home when he was four months old. The breeder never socialized him with children or with anything for that matter except his litter mates. As he grew up, I took him for walks in public parks, visited friends and family and socilaized him with everything. At a year and a half old, he under went surgery for a cruciate repair and 5 months later he went under a again for his other leg. He has gone through 4 surgeries all before the age of three. After these surgeries is when my husband and I started noticing a change. Heavily shaking and panting during thunderstorms, loud bangs, strong winds and a few other things. He has also started growling at strangers and on three occassions he has jumped at children's faces. Luckily he didn't bite them. The kids were completely still, ignoring the dog. Just this past valentine's day weekend, my paren't were looking after the dogs. A family friend came over. He rang the door bell and opened the door without entering the house. All three dogs ran out, however my male went right for him and jumped at his facing leaving several puncture wounds and a large gauge. Have currently have a six month old son and baby on the way. We really need some help in dealing with fearful aggression behaviour. We do not want to resort to putting him down, however we don't want to keep living with the "what if " mentality. We would really appreciate some advice. thank you.
Stefanie and Adam
