Dog Training World Forums Aggression Problems General Aggression Problem Discussion I slept with my beloved pit bull — until he tried to eat me alive Reply To: I slept with my beloved pit bull — until he tried to eat me alive

  • Patryk Krawczyk

    Member
    June 14, 2024 at 8:18 am
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    I agree with most of the comments. I don’t think it was territorial aggression, then it would be a problem to let the guest into the house. However, as has already been written we have too little information, there are a few potential things that could have happened:

    1. Dominance and defense of resources – I am the boss, I decide who can and cannot sit on this couch, the couch is mine, etc. a lot has already been written on this subject

    2. Defense of a pack member – pack drive – we don’t know how long the puppy has been in the house, maybe the pitbull already treated him as a member of his pack didn’t like the way someone tries to throw his new little brother/sister off the couch.

    As for the attack on the owner, I think the dog see taking him out of the room as undermining his status as a social leader. He could have gone into predatory drive and since no one was his boss and can’t stop him, he could have attacked anyone on his way.

    Proper leadership training and obedience basics could have prevented this situation. I know, from myself, that it’s hard to be objective about your dog, but stories like this teach us to pay attention to our own dogs (even though we think we know them inside out) and to always observe dogs especially if they are dogs with an unknown history.