pics of my friend's puppies he got today

[spot]

I'm so glad I saw this thread!! Last June I adopted a shelter dog who was listed as a pit bull mix. I visited her several times before adopting her and I really liked her personality. one day at the park where my son had tennis lessons, another parent told me my dog looked just like a Catahoula Leopard dog, which I had never heard of. I went on line and sure enough, she looks just like one.
she is incredibly strong and loves a tug toy better than anything but goes through about one a week, and I get the best ones I can find. she is very stubborn but smart. I have to be very firm with her and spend lots of time playing with her. she's chewed through books, shoes, jeans.....we have to keep everything put up. she's very loving with the kids, will sit in your lap if you let her (she's close to a year old, and over 50 pounds, she has put on over 15 pounds since I got her and she was healthy to begin with). at the shelter she was friendly with the other dogs and I was considering at some point down the road getting another dog but after reading this thread I think that might not be a good idea. anyway, what a great thread!! I'm glad I saw it.

 

[pitbulllady]

Catahoulas are often mistaken for Pit Bulls, due to the muscular build, broad head and chest. A big problem right now is a large number of Catahoulas and Catahoula x Pits that have wound up in pet rescue from the areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the people who have them have no clue as to what they are, or what to expect from them. Someone on a photo-hosting site I'm on posted pics of two Catahoulas from Louisiana, that she is fostering in New Jersey. She assumed they were hound x Pit Bull crosses. She also assumed that they'd been abused because they disliked strangers, were aggressive with other dogs, chewed on everything, dug holes all over the place, and were very "hyper"-all typical Catahoula behavior. Sadly, she's a know-it-all dog rescuer, who feels nothing but contempt for dog breeders, so when I informed her that I bred Catahoulas, and that this was, in fact, what she had, she more or less told me where to go. I have a bad feeling that both of those dogs will wind up being put to death for doing something that's perfectly normal for it to do, but unacceptable in an urban New Jersey setting, or that they will wind up being another newspaper headline-"Pit Bull Mauls Dog Rescuer!", because of course, if the dogs DO anything bad, they'll automatically be labeled "Pit Bulls".

pitbulllady

 

[spot]

that would be a shame but you are probably right.

 

[fiveohatch]

another update.

he got them fixed last monday and since then they haven't gotten in one fight with each other (not even a growl). this used to be a daily thing for them. they'll even sleep on the same couch with no problems.

my buddy thinks that they may stay like this but i doubt it. pitbulllady has been correct so far with them and i'm staying with her opionon that they'll still fight. it's going to be interesting to see though.

 

[Elmolax]

That's great that he got them fixed. That helps ALOT. But, of course, they will eventually fight up again. These are a great breed, good luck with em.
Cheers.

 

[pitbulllady]

another update.

he got them fixed last monday and since then they haven't gotten in one fight with each other (not even a growl). this used to be a daily thing for them. they'll even sleep on the same couch with no problems.

my buddy thinks that they may stay like this but i doubt it. pitbulllady has been correct so far with them and i'm staying with her opionon that they'll still fight. it's going to be interesting to see though.

It won't change anything, in the long run. Catahoula dog-aggression has nothing to do with hormones, since at this age, their hormones haven't even kicked in yet. They are still sore from surgury, and most likely still have some drugs in their system(it can take dogs quite awhile to get all the anesthetic agents out of their system), and are still a little bit "shook up", knowing that SOMETHING happened, but I would not leave them unattended. It might make for a short-term "fix" (no pun intended), but once they recover, it's likely that they'll go back to being Catahoulas.

pitbulllady

 

[fiveohatch]

i just thought i'd bring back an old thread of mine and mention that they haven't tried to get in a fight with each other in almost a year now. both of them are doing great.

 

[thisgal]

They are large, VERY powerful, and independent in nature, and like working-strain Border Collies, have an enormous amount of engery which can find highly destructive outlets if the dog is bored.
Spaying/neutering has NO effect on dog-aggression in Catahoulas, since this does NOT result from sex drive or hormones. Thesedogs have an unbelievable tolerance for pain, and most likely get an endorphine "high" when in a combat situation, whether they are male or female. In the frontier days of Louisiana and Texas, dogs had to fight to survive, and so this trait came about as a "survival of the fittest" situation. The ones who could fight and win, got to stay alive and breed. Spaying would actually increase testosterone levels in a female, so would most likely increase the urge to fight as well. Catahoulas also have a very high prey drive, as would benefit a hunting breed, and will go after small animals.


pitbulllady

Okay, I just realised that my sister's highly problematic dog (Oscar, you may remember me posting a couple threads about him), who is mostly Weimar, is also part Catahoula. I just showed my sister the pictures of these puppies, and she said they looked alot like the rest of his litter. This would COMPLETELY explain his behaviour. Weimars are also very destructive when bored; and as far as the fighting goes, we rarely have them between our 4 dogs, but when they do occur, it's always him on top of someone else, and my dad or I have always had to physically remove his jaw from the other's neck. I think you could aim a firehose at this dummy and it wouldn't phase him.

Apparently my parents had a Catahoula (& Irish Setter) when I was like 3, but I don't remember her.