Hi guys. This is my first post here. I warn you, it is long.
Charlie is the third dog we've ever owned (we currently just have 2, including him), and our first pit bull. We've had him since June, he's a year old, and although he hasn't been 100% perfect (as puppies typically aren't), I (and occasionally my mom) have been training with him extensively since November and he has shaped up into a pretty great dog. We take him for walks downtown once a week and we always get compliments on how beautiful and well-behaved he is. He still has his moments, of course (he gets some crazy cases of the zoomies), but overall, he's wonderful. We adore him.
But we have one big, big problem and we just can't find a solution for it. Charlie hates tortoises. He hates them. He wants to kill them all. And, unfortunately for us, we live in an area replete with, you guessed it, tortoises. They are constantly roaming around the yard. And if we, god forbid, forget to do a turtle scan before taking him out, it is ON. He goes into a blind frenzy, whining hysterically, scrambling and pulling and just generally being a nightmare. Now, my parents both work during the day, so my little sis and I are alone from 9-5. In a normal circumstance, my sister is at least around so that, if there's a tortoise in the yard that Charlie goes after, she can come out and I can hold him back until she puts it on the other side of the fence where he can't get it.
But yesterday, of course, my sister had gone out with my grandparents for lunch, and I was alone. I was hanging out with Charlie, having a pretty nice time with him, and I decided to take him for a walk around the yard so he could go potty. We hadn't seen a tortoise in a while, so I stupidly figured it was safe. And he was doing really, really well as we were walking around. He was just being really chill and obedient and totally great. Until he saw a tortoise. It was eating gr$#@! about 10 feet away; because of the palmetto, we hadn't been able to see it until we were right there on top of it.
As soon as he saw it, I knew it was over. He immediately went into a frenzy, and I tried to remain calm and yank him away, but he was only wearing a generic cloth collar--normally, he would have had his pinch on--and it did nothing. There really are no words to describe the next 15 minutes that ensued, other than "one of the worst experiences of my life thus far." I'm a 16 year old female, less than 120lbs, slightly anemic so I'm pretty weak. I am no match against a pit bull hellbent on murdering a tortoise. And there was nobody home to help me.
I held that leash so tight, the inside of my middle finger is skinned. I can't bend it. My arms are so sore, I can't even hold them above my head. At one point, I just jumped on top of him and held him down to give the tortoise a chance to get away, but the poor thing was just sitting there, petrified, in its shell. Charlie DRAGGED me across the dry gr$#@! to get to it and my knees are shredded. They feel better this morning, but last night, it hurt to even walk. I tried shouting for my neighbor, but he didn't hear.
I was on the brink of passing out when I finally got him away from that tortoise. Until then, I had had two other ideas: either I just keep him moving until he tires himself out and collapses, or I let the leash go. Every time I dragged him away, he would throw himself back wildly and I was so afraid that the collar was gonna slip right over his head. But eventually, after many failed attempts, I did get him to the point where he could no longer see the tortoise behind him and after that, it was like nothing had ever happened. He was right back to obedient, chill Charlie. Just panting a lot.
I held myself together up until we got into the house. I dropped the leash and bawled my eyes out. I grabbed the phone to call my grandmother--I dialed the number 6 times because my trembling made me unable to press the right buttons--and I was crying so hard she couldn't make out what I was saying. She thought that he'd bitten me badly and rushed home.
She got home shortly thereafter and I had calmed down enough to relay to her the accurate story, which she was relieved to hear. She helped me clean the wounds better (just scratches and scrapes from being dragged across the ground) and we did let Charlie out of crate to make sure the tortoise hadn't bitten him and he was not injured but very meek, very meager. I think my distress in the aftermath of the incident really shook him up. I wish I had handled myself better, but at that point, I was just done.
Nobody is mad at Charlie. I'm not mad at Charlie. Nobody thinks he's a bad dog now. In all other respects, he is a very, very good dog. He has some DA, really only when he feels threatened/challenged, but we know his triggers, his limits, and it's very easy to get him to simmer down. He's friendly towards people. He loves our other dog and he loves the rottie next door. We have chickens, and they run around in a fenced-in area, and he has no issues with them. He doesn't have much interest in squirrels and rabbits. But if he spots a tortoise, even across the street, he goes ballistic. And none of us can figure out why, or what to do. We relocate them (the tortoises), but they come back. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Charlie is the third dog we've ever owned (we currently just have 2, including him), and our first pit bull. We've had him since June, he's a year old, and although he hasn't been 100% perfect (as puppies typically aren't), I (and occasionally my mom) have been training with him extensively since November and he has shaped up into a pretty great dog. We take him for walks downtown once a week and we always get compliments on how beautiful and well-behaved he is. He still has his moments, of course (he gets some crazy cases of the zoomies), but overall, he's wonderful. We adore him.
But we have one big, big problem and we just can't find a solution for it. Charlie hates tortoises. He hates them. He wants to kill them all. And, unfortunately for us, we live in an area replete with, you guessed it, tortoises. They are constantly roaming around the yard. And if we, god forbid, forget to do a turtle scan before taking him out, it is ON. He goes into a blind frenzy, whining hysterically, scrambling and pulling and just generally being a nightmare. Now, my parents both work during the day, so my little sis and I are alone from 9-5. In a normal circumstance, my sister is at least around so that, if there's a tortoise in the yard that Charlie goes after, she can come out and I can hold him back until she puts it on the other side of the fence where he can't get it.
But yesterday, of course, my sister had gone out with my grandparents for lunch, and I was alone. I was hanging out with Charlie, having a pretty nice time with him, and I decided to take him for a walk around the yard so he could go potty. We hadn't seen a tortoise in a while, so I stupidly figured it was safe. And he was doing really, really well as we were walking around. He was just being really chill and obedient and totally great. Until he saw a tortoise. It was eating gr$#@! about 10 feet away; because of the palmetto, we hadn't been able to see it until we were right there on top of it.
As soon as he saw it, I knew it was over. He immediately went into a frenzy, and I tried to remain calm and yank him away, but he was only wearing a generic cloth collar--normally, he would have had his pinch on--and it did nothing. There really are no words to describe the next 15 minutes that ensued, other than "one of the worst experiences of my life thus far." I'm a 16 year old female, less than 120lbs, slightly anemic so I'm pretty weak. I am no match against a pit bull hellbent on murdering a tortoise. And there was nobody home to help me.
I held that leash so tight, the inside of my middle finger is skinned. I can't bend it. My arms are so sore, I can't even hold them above my head. At one point, I just jumped on top of him and held him down to give the tortoise a chance to get away, but the poor thing was just sitting there, petrified, in its shell. Charlie DRAGGED me across the dry gr$#@! to get to it and my knees are shredded. They feel better this morning, but last night, it hurt to even walk. I tried shouting for my neighbor, but he didn't hear.
I was on the brink of passing out when I finally got him away from that tortoise. Until then, I had had two other ideas: either I just keep him moving until he tires himself out and collapses, or I let the leash go. Every time I dragged him away, he would throw himself back wildly and I was so afraid that the collar was gonna slip right over his head. But eventually, after many failed attempts, I did get him to the point where he could no longer see the tortoise behind him and after that, it was like nothing had ever happened. He was right back to obedient, chill Charlie. Just panting a lot.
I held myself together up until we got into the house. I dropped the leash and bawled my eyes out. I grabbed the phone to call my grandmother--I dialed the number 6 times because my trembling made me unable to press the right buttons--and I was crying so hard she couldn't make out what I was saying. She thought that he'd bitten me badly and rushed home.
She got home shortly thereafter and I had calmed down enough to relay to her the accurate story, which she was relieved to hear. She helped me clean the wounds better (just scratches and scrapes from being dragged across the ground) and we did let Charlie out of crate to make sure the tortoise hadn't bitten him and he was not injured but very meek, very meager. I think my distress in the aftermath of the incident really shook him up. I wish I had handled myself better, but at that point, I was just done.
Nobody is mad at Charlie. I'm not mad at Charlie. Nobody thinks he's a bad dog now. In all other respects, he is a very, very good dog. He has some DA, really only when he feels threatened/challenged, but we know his triggers, his limits, and it's very easy to get him to simmer down. He's friendly towards people. He loves our other dog and he loves the rottie next door. We have chickens, and they run around in a fenced-in area, and he has no issues with them. He doesn't have much interest in squirrels and rabbits. But if he spots a tortoise, even across the street, he goes ballistic. And none of us can figure out why, or what to do. We relocate them (the tortoises), but they come back. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Charlie wants to kill all tortoises - help urgently needed!
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