# Other Pets > Dogs >  Pit and Dachshund

## Jay_Bunny

I was looking through the pit thread and I find myself really wishing I could keep Magee. Magee is currently living with my husband's co-worker and our future roommate. She wants to find him a home but I find myself falling in love with him. Last night we went over to hang out and he kept coming over to me for a scratch. He seems very trainable. He has a mouthing problem but she is working with him on that with training. He's a very playful, lovable dog. My husband and I had plans to get a doberman from a friend that shows and breeds them and we still might sometime in the next year. And its all well and fine bringing in a puppy with our dachshund and the puppy can grow up with Bailey, but if we were to keep Magee, how do pitbulls do with small dogs. Bailey is small. He's only around 12-13lbs. He's playful, bouncy, and full of energy, but he doesn't understand personal space. He WILL get in Magee's face and he will jump on/around him. 

Now I don't like stereotypes but Pit bulls were bred for fighting and I have read on a few sites to be cautious when bringing a pit bull into your home when you have dogs or cats. He seems to be fine with cats as she has 2, and Magee does just fine with the other dogs (all medium to large breeds), but Bailey will be the first small dog in the house and I'm just wondering if people have successfully kept both pits and small breed dogs together without issues. 

I mentioned to my husband that I really like Magee, and he seemed a little surprised. I've had a slight fear of large dogs for a few years now. I was bitten (not attacked, just bitten) by a rottweiler (we found him as a puppy. He may have been abused as a puppy because he had an intense fear of water and african american men). That dog was my best friend and still was after being bitten. But ever since getting bitten, I get very anxious and nervous around large breed dogs. Once I meet them of course I'm absolutely fine and I'm not even the slightest bit nervous or anxious. This is one of the main reasons we got a small dog (who is completely unwilling to be trained ugh!)

So anyone have any advice or experience with keeping pits with small breed dogs and cats?

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## GoingPostal

They can do fine with small dogs, that said pits do tend to "arouse" faster and more likely to head for a fight at the drop of a hat and a doxie would not last long in a fight.  On one of my pit forums that exact thing happened a couple weeks ago, the doxie snapped at the pit and the pit grabbed it and killed it.  But that dog had shown desire to go after little dogs before too.  

My female does well with smaller dogs, my male no way. Different levels of tolerance.  Hard to tell how Magee would be, have you tried introducing them?  Are they both males?  How old is Magee?

  I have a cat and the dogs would probably like to eat her but know it is not allowed, they are pretty trainable, I do not however leave them together unattended ever.

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## Jay_Bunny

Both are males. Bailey was neutered at around 6mo old and I believe Magee is neutered as well though I am not sure of his age. He seems pretty young though. 1.5 years old or less. We have not introduced them yet, but we plan to very soon. I'm hoping to take Bailey to the dog park and she will bring her dogs one at a time to the park to meet Bailey.

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## Elise.m

Our friends have a pit bull male, with a dachshund male as well. They get along great! They're definitely partners in crime, and it's sooo cute when they cuddle together! I dont think they've ever had any problems with keeping them together.

My other friends just got a dobby puppy and they have a chihuahua mix as well. They don't go well together due to the chihuahua wanting to be dominant over this huge puppy. So far the only time they fight is due to trying to show who's dominate. Hopefully it'll end soon, cuz that chihuahua is so annoying!

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## starrlamia

I just wanted to add, dont ever leave 2 dogs alone together! If the 2 dogs get along great! But do not leave them alone unsupervised, always seperate when you cannot be there watching them.

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## aaramire

I have a friend who rescues pits, and she adopted out a very friendly female pit who was ok with other dogs. They got a daschund puppy, who the pit raised herself its whole life. They didnt crate her one day while they were gone, and they came home to a dead daschund. In my opinion, pits can be ok with other animals, but if they see a small animal go running past them, their prey drive is going to kick in and they are going to chase it. I firmly believe that you should never leave two dogs alone ever, and I think dogs should be crated when you leave the house, unless they can absolutely be trusted together. I would be very careful and watch them all the time, but I think it can be done.

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## joepythons

> I just wanted to add, dont ever leave 2 dogs alone together! If the 2 dogs get along great! But do not leave them alone unsupervised, always seperate when you cannot be there watching them.


Would you explain why? So in your opinion no dogs should be left alone together  :Confused: .To jay bunny introduce them slowly and watch the body language.We need pics of them  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## Haydenphoto

> I was looking through the pit thread and I find myself really wishing I could keep Magee. Magee is currently living with my husband's co-worker and our future roommate. She wants to find him a home but I find myself falling in love with him. Last night we went over to hang out and he kept coming over to me for a scratch. He seems very trainable. He has a mouthing problem but she is working with him on that with training. He's a very playful, lovable dog. My husband and I had plans to get a doberman from a friend that shows and breeds them and we still might sometime in the next year. And its all well and fine bringing in a puppy with our dachshund and the puppy can grow up with Bailey, but if we were to keep Magee, how do pitbulls do with small dogs. Bailey is small. He's only around 12-13lbs. He's playful, bouncy, and full of energy, but he doesn't understand personal space. He WILL get in Magee's face and he will jump on/around him. 
> 
> Now I don't like stereotypes but Pit bulls were bred for fighting and I have read on a few sites to be cautious when bringing a pit bull into your home when you have dogs or cats. He seems to be fine with cats as she has 2, and Magee does just fine with the other dogs (all medium to large breeds), but Bailey will be the first small dog in the house and I'm just wondering if people have successfully kept both pits and small breed dogs together without issues. 
> 
> I mentioned to my husband that I really like Magee, and he seemed a little surprised. I've had a slight fear of large dogs for a few years now. I was bitten (not attacked, just bitten) by a rottweiler (we found him as a puppy. He may have been abused as a puppy because he had an intense fear of water and african american men). That dog was my best friend and still was after being bitten. But ever since getting bitten, I get very anxious and nervous around large breed dogs. Once I meet them of course I'm absolutely fine and I'm not even the slightest bit nervous or anxious. This is one of the main reasons we got a small dog (who is completely unwilling to be trained ugh!)
> 
> So anyone have any advice or experience with keeping pits with small breed dogs and cats?



PITS where not bred for FIGHTING! Im not sure where you get your info from. They where first bred for hunting. Do a little research before you give them bred for fighting title !

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## accidental777

Technically bull baiting as well. It still amazes me how these dogs at first were celebrated war heroes and popular pets in america, and now they have been villianized. Once upon a time they even graced the cover of Time magazine.
A good book goes a long way though. If you can pick it up, "Pitbulls for Dummies" is a decent read. Pits aren't for everyone, and you probably should realize that if you get one, you are looking at a lot of training. Don't get me wrong, they are 110% worth it. However, things like socialization, desensitizing, and general obedience are all very important with this breed. 
I will add that even if pits were not originally bred for fighting, they are dog aggressive animals by nature. There is always a risk. But once again, here is where your level of responsibility as a dog owner can make that difference. 
Good luck to you whichever way you decide.

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## illini4x4

I used to own 2 pit bulls, a chihuahua and a pomeranian all at the same time. The small dogs were the ones that ran the house not the pits! lol I would always take my pits to my friends house and they would play with his miniature rat terrier. They NEVER had any problems. They would actually let my friends dog take bones right out of their mouth! My pit Milenko I raised as a puppy and I found Stax when he was about +/- 7 yrs old 
(RIP buddy). It all depends on how you train them. I never played rough with my pit bulls and always taught them to be courteous to other animals and they were just fine.

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## Jamie-n-Heith

I had 3 pit bulls and a little toy poodle and the poodle ran the show!!!

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## Jay_Bunny

Thanks for all the replies. Actually I have done a lot of reading and research about pits. My husband and I did a lot of research on different dog breeds including Pits, Dobermans, Poodles, and Rottweilers. According to a lot of books I read, Pits were first and foremost bred for boar and bear baiting. Then dog fighting became popular and pits were one of the breeds used for dog fighting. So, yes they were bred for fighting at some point in history. I am not saying they are SUPPOSED to be bred for that, but they were and still are. 

We are going to introduce them slowly and at least until we know how they will act around each other, Bailey will be confined to our room while we are out of the house. Or at least confined to the upstairs. (baby gates are our friend)

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## ed4281

I had a daschund and a pit together for 10 years and have never had any issues good luck to you and I hope you enjoy them

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## Jay_Bunny

Well I just got a nice pic taken of Bailey tonight so I'll upload it when I can. I'll get pictures of the other dogs the next time we go over.  :Smile:

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## joepythons

> Well I just got a nice pic taken of Bailey tonight so I'll upload it when I can. I'll get pictures of the other dogs the next time we go over.


Sure tease us and make us wait  :Tears:   :Tears:   :Razz:

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## Jay_Bunny

Well I couldn't upload it last night because its part of my husband's Christmas present. I'm putting together a photo frame wheel of our animals so he can put it on his desk at work. He keeps saying he wants pics of our kids at work so I had my sister come over and take pictures of the dog, cats, and ferrets. (I consider the snakes my kids, but he doesn't really :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): )

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## joepythons

> Well I couldn't upload it last night because its part of my husband's Christmas present. I'm putting together a photo frame wheel of our animals so he can put it on his desk at work. He keeps saying he wants pics of our kids at work so I had my sister come over and take pictures of the dog, cats, and ferrets. (I consider the snakes my kids, but he doesn't really)


Ok i will let it slide this time  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): .Thats cool  :Good Job:

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## Repfanaticlady28

If the Pit is trained properly (regardless of its history) and as long as it doesn't have a high prey drive they'll do fine. Introduce the Pit to small dogs and see how he does. If he's still a pup it's easy to train him how to act around smaller dogs as long as he doesn't start out by acting aggressively. Even then, it'll be harder to train him, but still not impossible. As somebody stated before, they should not be left together unsupervised. When I leave my house my Dachshund and German Shepherd mix go in their crates (because they're crate trained and like their crates) and my Pit stays in the living room. I do this because I've been told by many Pit savvy people to do it and because I've had experience with keeping dogs (non-Pit mother and daughter) together unsupervised for 5 years without a single problem and out of nowhere they got in a HUGE fight. The mother lost an eye and part of her ear. I still to this day have no idea what set them off because I wasn't there. I will never leave dogs together unsupervised again. Better safe than sorry. Here's some happy pics to get back on topic.
This is my Dachshund using my Pit to get a leg up onto the log. The Pit just sat there without a care in the world.


Also, some background with my situation. I adopted my Pit in December 08. She was 2 years old. She had a little bit of a prey drive, so I worked with her (since I have cats), took her to obedience training, and praised the heck out of her when she avoided the cats. 

A month later I wanted to adopt a puppy, but didn't know how she'd be, so I introduced her to puppies and small dogs. She played rough with them, so I had to work with her again on that. I did adopt the puppy, but he stayed with my neighbors until I could get Lady to play more gently with him. It took 2 months before I could move him into my house. 

In June I was offered a Dachshund for free. I've wanted a Dachshund for many years. Just didn't want to buy from a breeder and was never able to find the right time. I met the owner at a tennis court that wasn't being used and introduced the dogs on leash. Lady did great, so we went back to our house and introduced them again on leash. No problems at all. Took the leashes off and they were fine, so now I have my Pit Bull, German Shepherd mix, and Dachshund. Not a single tiff, much less fight to speak of, BUT if there is I will be ready and I will know what caused it because I will be there. Anyway, good luck and have a happy New Year!

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## FrostFell

Kind of coming late to this

Iv owned, bred, raised, shown, and trained pits for nearly half my life.

To put it in plain simple terms. If you are going to be out of line of sight of them, take one with, take both with, or crate them both. Period. You could be fine. You could not be fine. Doesn't matter. All it takes is one second when you are not there and you have a dead doxie that can never ever be replaced.

Don't take that chance.

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