Hello from Massachusetts

[pinkhulahoop]

Hello, Its great to find this place. I'm Jackie, married, and a mother of 4 kids (two teens still live at home). We just brought home Mocha from the shelter 2 days ago. She is 9 months old, about 70lbs, and listed as a blue Pill Bull Terrier/Mix. They were unsure of her breed specifics. We were not specifically looking for a pit bull, but her sweetness won us over. We currently also have a 10 year old male Corgi/mix named Arrow (he has german shepherd markings and a shepherd bark), and an 8 year male old cat named Cotton. So far Mocha seems fine with the cat, they barely acknowleged each other. Mocha let the cat come up and sniff her. Arrow, our corgi, is being either terriorital or jealous and is acting more aggressively than she is. They both have crates and we are slowly introducing them on leashes. We understand it will take time. Mocha so far is very friendly to people and other dogs on walks. She only has reacted to Arrow when he barks or growls first. She is learning commands quickly. BUT she pulls a lot on walks and almost knocked me over. She saw another dog playing with a ball in a fenced yard. She wanted to play also. My husband was having a hard time with the pulling too. We definitely need to train her to walk on a leash without yanking. She will be going to a puppy training group soon. We will get a trainer to work with both dogs if needed.

I'm here to get info on the breed in general, about introducing them to older dogs, and training. Also if anyone could help me figure out her breed(s).

Here she is

[jamielvsaustin]

Hi Jackie! to the forum
Mocha looks like a typical shelter Pit Bull mix. There's really no way to know what she is, since she's adopted and you don't know her parents lineage. Of the breeds (APBT, Amstaff, SBT and Ambully) that fall under the umbrella term "Pit Bull" I think she's going to look most like an Amstaff or a Bully type. (Ambully and American Bulldogs are different...Ambullies are the ones that are typically short and stocky)

I think the shelter misinformed you on her color...maybe it's the lighting of the picture though. She doesn't look blue at all to me. She looks like a light redish color, which I think is refered to as liliac. This is a link to a thread that contains a video of one of our forum member's dog-Veronica. Your dog looks to be the same color as Miss V. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=154596

***Actually I did a little bit of research and technically, if your dog is liliac then she does have blue undertones. See here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=144748&p=1907704&hilit=+color#p1907704

Have you guys ever owned a PB type dog before? If not, are you familiar with their backgroud-the fighting? Even though your dog was very likely not specifically breed to fight, and probably her parents or even her parents' parents weren't either-it's still in there genetically. Just like a herding or retrieving breed. And because of that you're going to have to accept a few things about Mocha (which in time, you'll realize you should accept about any kind of dog)-she and Arrow may get to a point where they don't get along and will have to be permanently separated. She may get to a point where her and Arrow are okay, but she's not okay with other dogs. And there's also a possibility that'll she'll like all other dogs (though, this one is the least likely). If Mocha is the type of dog that doesn't like other dogs-please don't feel like a bad owner, or like she's a bad girl. It's perfectly normal. All you need from Mocha is for her to like people. If she doesn't-then you've either got some work to do or a big decision to make.

What is your set up for the dogs when you guys can't supervise them? If you're not already-you really should be separating them. Could you imagine-Mocha full grown-her and Arrow getting into it when no one is there to stop it? It could be deadly. Your best bet is to set them up for success. Here's a resource on crate and rotate: http://www.pbrc.net/rotate.html

Are you a fan of the dog park? If so, perhaps this will change your mind. This forum strongly suggests (the majority any way) against dog parks:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=50274

Also, this may be something you're interested-it talks about bringing a new dog into your home. Personally, at 9 months I would consider a modified version of this (I say that, because at the top it is advised against using it for puppies...while Mocha is still kind of a puppy-she's also very close to her teenager/adolences stage).
Two week shut down
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=81654&hilit=+two+week

There are a ton of resources here, and really I've just barely skimmed it for you. So much for you to learn There are a couple of other sites I'd like to suggest that have really good information.
http://drsophiayin.com/resources
http://www.pbrc.net/
http://www.badrap.org/

This forum advocates strongly for responsible ownership of this breed. Don't be afraid to poke around a read the stickies and ask questions-even if they've already been asked...someone will answer or point you in the right direction. The three websites above-Dr Sophia Yin, Pit Bull Rescue Central and Bad Rap also have an almost infinite number of resources for you-tons and tons of good stuff on all of them. Good luck on your search Be sure to share photos often-we love it!

[jamielvsaustin]

Excuse the typos and misspellings! I usually spell check before I post-Ahhhh!

*lilac
*adolescene
*probably lots of other really bad ones

[pinkhulahoop]

Thank you for your very thorough reply. I will definitely read all the info. I really appreciate it. We are in love with Mocha. We want to make sure we do this correctly, so everyone is happy (even the cat).

My husband and I have never had any type of pit bull. We've both had medium size dogs, we've never had 2 dogs at the same time. I'm aware of their history, but generally pretty ignorant. We are actually unintentionally doing something similar the crate rotation. Each crate is in a separate room. Mocha is only out when she can be supervised. Arrow is in his crate when she is out. There is almost always someone home so it works out ok. The dogs will only be out together when they can be supervised. Right now my husband and I are introducing them with each of us holding a leash. And we walked them together. Mocha is getting a lot of exercise. I'm hoping she stays 'ok' with the cat.

We do not have any dog parks near us. And I'm not that comfortable with them anyway, no matter what type/size dog it is. Arrow will be aggressive if he thinks he is protecting us. He thinks he's a bigger dog than he is. We understands dogs are dogs, and not people. Arrow is always on a leash or lead when around other people. He only "runs free" when we're in a safe place. So we will do the same with Mocha.

We canoe, camp and sometimes hike. We go on 'dog friendly' vacations. We are hoping both dogs can get along.

Well thanks for all the info. I have alot of reading to do.

[Curly_07]

Welcome! You sound like you are on the right track! Jamie posted some really good links for you. The info in them have helped many of us here. We were all noobies at one point Hope you enjoy it here!

P.S. She also looks red/red fawn to me, not blue, but it could be the lighting. I would also consider her a "Pit Bull" in the generic/blanket term.

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[Curly_07]