So, long story short, my friends dogs got picked up by the pound and they probably wouldn’t have left the shelter (1. Because they’re a bonded pair. 2. They’re pit bulls. And 3. They have shown aggression with certain things). Let me preface this with the first night here, they massacred my guinea pigs and tore the door off of this steel kennel to sleep with me despite me having been told they were crate trained. They’re pottying inside when the door isn’t open but they aren’t alerting me that they have to go either. Porky (the albino pitty) has toy aggression, but I have tried to de-escalate by getting the other dogs attention with another toy to show them that everyone can have a toy. Buddy (black and white pit) keeps trying to mount my dog and I get him off every time because nobody is alpha in this pack but me. Whenever a disagreement happens, we get leashes up and go for pack building exercises. I have a leash that clips around my waist and I attach Odin’a leash to it because Porky needs to learn from Odin that walking with a loose leash means the chain doesn’t cinch. Buddy is the oldest at 4 years old, so he walks well on leash and I hold him in one hand, so that’s how I get all three dogs on one walk. I’m tiring them out. Yesterday, we went to the park and played fetch for two hours and then had an evening and night walk. We didn’t sleep well last night, so we only did a day and night walk today after flea and tick baths were given because I found a tick on one of them which meant I had to treat all of them. I have them walking in a pack now, but now we need to work on desensitizing them to both cars on busy roads and dogs on other sides of gates, which is going to take a lot of patience, treats, and a spray bottle.

But, I love certain things about the two pitseven if I don’t trust them fully. I love that porky will spoon with me all night. I love that buddy insists on sleeping on the edge of my bed near my feet. I love how protected I feel when I go to bed knowing that these three dogs would probably stop anything from hurting me. I love that both of them tolerated me putting on sweatshirts bc it’s cold and they have thin fur. I’m hoping this continues to progress in a positive manner.

Tell me about your rescues. The ones that were tough, especially. Behavioral issues. Temperament issues. Guarding issues. I can’t be alone in this.