Raising a Puppy: Mia the Blue-Nose American Bully Pit—49 weeks old
A day in the life with Mia the American Bully (Bully Pit) puppy. 49 weeks old, 62 pounds, 18 1/2 inches from the ground to the highest point of the shoulders (the withers).
A day in the life with Mia the American Bully (Bully Pit) puppy. 49 weeks old, 62 pounds, 18 1/2 inches from the ground to the highest point of the shoulders (the withers).
49 weeks old (11 months)
Amie often comes home to visit and ends up hijacking one of my dogs for an out and about adventure. She decided it was time to adopt her own dog. She started looking around for an adult Pit Bull and finally found what she was looking for at a high kill shelter.
Meet Princess Leia the blue nose American Pit Bull Terrier. Leia is believed to be about 2 years old. The shelter said Leia was iffy with other dogs. She likes to try and dominate other females. Amie wants her dog to be able to go on road trips with my pack, Bruno the Boxer, Spencer the American Pit Bull and Mia the American Bully Pit. A proper introduction is going to be very important. The first day we did not allow the pack to meet. Amie needed to work with Leia, teaching her some basic manners. Don't jump on humans, don't jump up at counters, stay off the couch, don't pull on the leash, wait for a command before jumping in the car, stop reacting to other dogs when passing, don't bolt through doorways, follow me, don't lead me, watch for direction, do not try and give it. In just a few hours with Amie, Leia already seemed like a totally different dog than the one she picked up at the kill shelter.
Leia had driven home in the van (AKA Puppy-Mobile). The next day when the pack got in for an outing they all knew there had been another dog in there.
After Amie worked with Leia for a day to teach her some basic manners, we decided to introduce the dogs by pack walking her with one dog at a time. We chose Mia as the first dog to meet.
At first Leia was very dominate towards Mia. Her tail was up and she did a few protesting alligator rolls trying to get closer, but Amie kept walking and didn't allow Leia to decide when it was time to approach. At first Mia was overly excited and needed a few corrections to remind her to calm down. Even through Mia's excitement her tail was hanging down mid range. Her body language was submissive. Mia was not intimidated, but she did not want to fight. Once Mia calmed down we allowed her to smell Leia's back end.
We just kept walking making both dogs heel, not letting the dogs pull or sniff all around as they pleased. As we walked Leia's tail started dropping. This picture shows it lower, but not yet relaxed.
At one point we stopped to pick up some dog poop and we allowed the dogs to smell one another. Leia puffed herself out, raised her head and tail and Mia took two steps backwards. Nope, Mia did not want to fight. Amie and I were careful not to do any sudden corrections that could trigger a fight because we could sense that Leia was in a state where that could happen easily. It was time to keep walking. The dogs were not quite bonded.
Notice the difference in tail position between the two dogs. Mia is relaxed and hanging low, while Leia's is up and ridged. The difference between the two dogs is, Mia grew up with leadership and clear rules and Leia did not.
But after 10 more minutes of walking Leia relaxed. Notice her tail is mid-level. We began to move closer to one another. We kept the dogs moving. It was at this point that we allowed Leia to smell Mia's back end. We were now walking with both dogs paying no mind to one another.
By the time we were finished the dogs could calmly stand next to one another.
When Mia started to smell Leia, Leia's tail started going back up.
Amie gently lowered her tail back down. Lowering a dog's tail can actually change their state of mind. It is like when you are in a bad mood and you decide to smile. It starts making you feel better whether you mean to feel better or not.
She held it down with one finger.
Leia turned and looked at Amie. After only one day Leia already sees her as her leader and tries to please her. Leia's body began to relax.
That's much better Leia. Leia is now standing very submissively allowing Mia to smell her. Her tail is low, her mouth is parted with her tongue hanging out and her ears are back. She is no longer trying to puff herself out.
We tried to get a picture of the two pits sitting side by side, however it proved to be difficult as Leia was never taught what the command "sit" means let alone "stay". She is going to need some basic training. Her manners have come a long way in only one day of living with Amie. She is a very good, loving dog with humans. The shelter had said she was an alpha female, but she is actually a middle of the road dog who had a ton of pent up energy with no leadership. She was not taught basic commands or manners. In one day Amie had her heeling on a leash, pausing at doors rather than bolting on ahead, not jumping up at the counter or on humans and walking by other dogs without reacting (at the pet store). Leia started watching Amie for direction rather than acting unruly and doing as she pleased when she pleased. I am excited to see how Leia will be in a week, month and in a year.
We plan on introducing Leia to Spencer the American Pit Bull Terrier and Bruno the Boxer the same way we introduced her to Mia. The processed will be delayed by Leia's scheduled Spay as she will need time to recover. Bruno the Boxer is good with other dogs, but he does not care for dogs who are dominate and unbalanced. The more Amie satisfies Leia's instincts along with teaching her basic manners and giving her a leader to follow, the better our chances are that Bruno will accept her.
Raising a Puppy: A day in the life with Mia the Blue-Nose American Bully