Angus, a dog with issues

Let me start by saying that I am not a dog trainer. I'm going to tell you the story of my dog "Angus". Angus is a full-blooded English Bull Terrier. I fell in love with the breed thirty years ago. I tried rescue groups to adopt, but since I had never had experience with they denied me. At that time I had been volunteering with our local Humane Society for years. Within a year they asked me to become a member of the board of directors. One day I got a call from a fellow board member, she had to tell me there was a bull terrier at the local shelter. Within 30 minutes I had arrived to see that it was a Bullie. (the nickname for Bull terriers) As I soon learned, this dog was picked up by the animal control officer(ACO), Which meant the owner had 5 days to reclaim him. After that he would be placed up for adoption. I was able to take him outside of the shelter during my visit and fell in love.

For those five days I visited him, took him out for walks, trained him to walk on a leash. On the fifth day I got a call from the director of the shelter. She had told me that someone had come in a claimed the dog. I was heartbroken. But, something deep inside told me I was to have this dog. I also felt that who claimed him was more than like not the true owner. And also that they could sell him for good money. He was a pure breed and unfixed. Which meant he could be used for breeding. I don't know why or what made me look on Craigslist, but I did. I typed in "Bull Terrier" and there he was!

Evidence that whoever claimed him that day was not the owner. I had my daughter email the person that placed the listing. They were asking $400 for him. I offered them $350 they agreed. We meet in a parking lot and the minute I had a hold of his leash a feeling of relief came over me. He showed signs that he had been it a fight. This flue up some red flags. Dogfighting ring! I had him in my home the issues he had been plain. First, He tried to attach my cats. A big issue, but I was willing to put the work in to fix that. I also found more evidence of dogfighting clues. All his canines teeth had been filed down and there were old scares. Later, I found out he was dog aggressive.

That issue was going to be the hardest to deal with. Angus would show no signs before an attack. He would display a sign that he would like to play (called a play bow) and in the next second attack. With all these issues to deal with I started to look for help. The best source of information I found was through the show "The dog whisperer" Cesar Millain. Within months, I had him living peacefully with my cats. Walking on a leash like a pro. The dog aggressive problem would be more of a challenge. I'm started taking him to events with other dogs but would make sure he had a muzzle on. The challenge with that was that it made him go into shut down mode. This was counter-productive, It would take me years to get him to be OK with other dogs. The final solution was starting him with older dogs. Older dogs are more mellow and didn't make Angus feel threaten. He now lives in harmony with an older dog and sometimes does the play bow which doesn't result in a fight. I can now breathe a sigh of relief.