I need advice from experienced pit bull owners?

If the shelter will allow you to adopt the dog, and you want to take on the additional responsibility, I would applaud your efforts.

I would hope that the shelter would allow you to do a "trial run" and see how the dynamics works with the 3 dogs you already have. If your dogs are all altered, you may be able to manage this, and save a dog in need.

Not all pit bulls are dog aggressive. One of my boys is almost 3, and plays well with all my girls and even the young puppies. You have to be vigilant and watch their body language and behavior, but it can be done.

Never leave them out together when you are not there to supervise tho. Crates are a good thing, and most dogs acclimate to them quite well, if you use them as a "safe haven" and not punishment.

To the person who said all pit bulls and Rottweilers should be outlawed, tell that to my 5 Rotties and 10 pitties who are all reliable, stable, good citizens...fear leads to ignorance.....educate yourself to reality before you make blanket statements like that.

As long as you have the time, money, space and of course energy for all of the dogs, I don't see anything wrong with adopting him. Remember though, that he's at the age where they want to test the dominance of the others, so be prepared for that...also, before you make a final decision, let him meet and interact with your other dogs first. If all goes well, go for it! Congrats in advance, and good for you for adopting!

truth and bubba---We have a 3 yr old pit bull named Dosia and a 4 1/2 yr old rott/choc lab mix named Bosco, and 2 kids, ages 6 and 2. I have never had any kind of a problem with them...because we not only trained and raised our dogs right, but we taught the kids how to treat them, as well. What should we do after all the rotts and pits are gone and there's a new breed targeted by people that think they know everything? Just keep extinguishing breeds until they're all extinct? I do not believe that any dog is born bad. It's up to the owners to not only train their own dogs and teach their own kids, but to at least TRY to educate others, even those without any pets at all, about the gross deception going on in the media and with ignorant fools who believe eradicating entire breeds is the answer. And just so you know, pit bulls and rottweilers are not even listed as the most aggresive breeds....

BTW---I DON'T believe that all dogs are the same...like people, they all have their own personalities and little quirks about them. BUT---you're contradicting yourself. You say that the problem is the "dog defenders" wanting to believe all dogs are the same, when they're all different...THAT'S MY POINT---they ARE all different....as in, my pit bull is NOT the same as the ones you mentioned. The main contributing factors to a dogs temperment is it's enviroment, treatment, and upbringing. If I go by your logic, I will have to assume that every jack russell wants to kill a baby, since that's what happened a couple of months ago...every pomeranian is genetically predisposed to bite the jugular of the person holding it, since that happened, too. You see the problem? You can't lump an entire line of dogs together based on the actions of a few....and may I add that if we only relied on the MEDIAS' portrayal of the "truth", we would be screwed from the get go.

Listen, I am not an experienced pit bull owner, but I do know one thing: you cannot let an innocent dog be murdered just because he hasn't found a home yet. If he is a sweet dog, get him. Just let your heart decide. And if you really can't keep him, you always have the option to get him, then put fliers up to give him away. That way, he actually has a chance. Just listen to you heart, but also do the logical thing. Four dogs is a lot to take care of, but if you have enough money and space to take him in, why don't you? The way you talk about him, he must be a sweet and loving dog. And by the way, FYI, not all pit bulls are aggressive. That is a lie. So just listen to you mind and your heart, and you can be certain you will make the right choice.

I don't think a pit is right for an apartment at all. You need to check with the landlord to make sure this is acceptable. Eukanuba does not make your dog huge. It is one of the best foods on the market. She probably over fed her dog. If you proceed to get a pit bull, you need to give it a whole lot of attention. Do not play tug-o-war with the dog. This is a very bad thing to do with any dog, especially pits. It teaches them to be agressive. A month or two old puppy of any kind can really tear up an apartment, the rug, peeing everywhere, and even gnaw on the strips around the door, etc. Cats are a far better choice for apartment dwellers. They are naturally clean and almost automatically use the cat box.

I rescued My Pit Bull as an adult from my local animal shelter, and she is wonderful! She does very well with Everyone, kids, strangers, dogs, and cats. Just ask the shelter to temperament test the dog with other people and animals. If he passes the tests, then introduce him to your other dogs. Introduce them on neutral territory, keeping them on a leash until you know what their reaction will be. If they start playing, then you are pretty much in the clear. At that point I would absolutely adopt him. But until you Really get to know his personality, be sure to keep a close eye on him around your other dogs. And NEVER leave your Pit Bulls alone with other dogs unsupervised. It only takes One small argument when you are not there for something Terrible to happen! They are just so strong, if they ever did bite another dog, it would be devastating.

I think it is definitely worth a shot to introduce him to your current dogs. Thank you for considering rescuing an Adult Pit Bull!! Pit Bulls have such a hard time getting adopted!

Two pit bulls of the same sex should never be placed together in the same home. This is a disaster waiting to happen. It is not all about how they are raised. You collie may thinks she is the alpha but I can assure you if these two pitties get into a fight and she joins in, she will lose---period. It is very sad that he will be euthanized if not adopted but your obligation is to the dogs you have now. Please do not put them at risk.

Pit bulls are fully mature at around 2 yrs..So that means if a dog is gonna be dog or human aggresive 9 times out of ten it would have shown it before this..

Now is when the "true" character of the dog is shown..If this dog is not agressive than you should deff rescue it..

Also make sure ur dogs meet at the shelter before you bring this dog home ..if you can..if not than at a local park..just try to avoid home so territory is not an issue..Most pit bulls are great dog..So many die in shelters everyday..More than any other breed..so helping this dog out may seem like nothing but it is a huge deal to that dog that would have been another statistic..

Read a lil more about these dogs if you want to learn more..

Go to badrap.org (it could be .com)

They have lots of good info..

Good luck..Don't read into the bad press..you see ur dog an see he's great..a huge majority of these dogs are just like him..

Also I hope your dog is neutured as that could cause problems..if both dogs are neutured than that should not be one..

LOL you have no idea whether the dog will act along with the other pit in "pack mentality". Often times if "strange" pits are thrown together, they'll go nuts. And you've got no idea as to how this pit was raised. I already answered someone's question about pits, so here it is again:

The problem with dog defenders is that they want to believe that all dogs are the same and it's all "nurture over nature" and it's always the human's fault if the pit or presa canario (like the ones that killed Diane Whipple in San Francisco) gets nasty.

They want to keep likening dogs to people: Treat a person right when you're raising it and it'll grow up just fine. Treat a dog right when you're raising it and it'll grow up just fine.

Except that these people tend to forget that there are people born with predispositions to be mentally ill, violent/aggressive, or have certain mental incapacities (antisocialism, like that creepy kid who gunned down his classmates last year). So, if people can have these defects, isn't it safe to assume that certain breeds of dogs can have some sort of predisposition towards negative traits? It would stand to reason, logically; particularly since schizophrenia and depression are genetic in people, thus "killer instinct" is genetic in certain dog breeds.

This is exactly why I disagree with the whole "nurture, it's the people's fault if the dog maims/kills" crap, because there will always be those stories of people saying "Oh my G-d, those dogs were such family dogs, I didn't even see it coming!" when the dogs end up eating their kids (this happened in San Francisco a year or two ago). Mark my words...there are bad breeds, and until people wake up and start thinking logically, they'll never understand it (and keep likening the anti's to racists, like someone above said).

ONLY if you feel you are able to handle 4 dogs. Nevermind the breeds - it's all about what YOU feel you can handle.

Never leave alone unsupervised. Crate train. Tons of exercise. Lots of training.

If you feel you are able to handle 4 dogs - go get him. Don't get him out of pity though. Get him because you like him, and because he suits your lifestyle.

Be sure to check these links out on multidog households and dog-tolerance levels:

I'd definitely recommend it but you will want to introduce them to each other perhaps on neutral ground at first to see how they get along. Then while your new addition is settling in, have a kennel cab for when you can't supervise and leave him in there or in a separate area when no one is there to supervise. Once they know each other well, it sounds like you have a doggie heaven! Thanks for rescuing these dogs!