First, I assume your dog came from a shelter or rescue organization, and I want to thank you for giving this little guy (girl?) a chance at a good life.

Now some things to think about. First, how sure are you that you are correct about his mix of breeds? Is this the shelter’s best guess, or did someone actually see both parents? Since Labs are so common in this country, a lot of shelters will decide “must be a Lab mix” if it’s the right size and doesn’t bear an obvious resemblance to anything else. You may end up surprised by some physical or behavioral development as your pup matures (maybe she will turn out to be terrific at herding ducks… or pointing ducks!).

Second, the good news is that often by mixing in another breed, you can cut the chances of your dog inheriting the tendency toward strongly gamey interdog aggression. This is no guarantee (just as being pure fighting-bred pit bull is no guarantee the dog will fight), but it changes the odds.

True pit/Lab mixes are often really super friendly, nice dogs. Both breeds’ natural tendency is toward horribly inappropriate, over-friendly greetings of both people and dogs (especially when young). Both are very social (typically) and have very small personal-space zones. This will annoy some people, almost all herding dogs, dogs with pain issues, and quite a lot of other dogs as well. So teaching your guy really super self-control starting very early is a good idea! If you make a rule that he NEVER gets to greet ANYONE of ANY species unless he is first holding a sit or walking (by his choice) on a loose leash with a flat collar… he will learn how to offer more polite, unaroused greetings. This will pay off in spades as arousal on greeting is a huge cause and trigger of interdog aggression problems in greeters AND greet-ees.

You’ll want to watch for signs of aggression toward other dogs. Know what “hard eye” looks like. If other dogs don’t want to play, do the right think and remove your party animal. Find him some well socialized, friendly adult dogs to play with ASAP — these are the ones to teach him good grownup dog manners. If you see play starting to tip over into fighting, you’ll need to start really limiting free play with just any old dog; dogs who tend to do this (play turns serious) don’t belong in dog parks or day cares. Really work on being able to call him out of play over and over and over. (A quick treat and being sent back to “go play” works great to reinforce this skill.)

BADRAP, a California Pit Bull advocacy organization, has some good information on its website, http://badrap.com.

Finally, a super resource is the DVD called “Dog Talk.” The presenter is Donna Duford, a wonderful trainer, and in the DVD she narrates about the behavior shown in both still photos and videos of dogs interacting. There are lots of kinds of dogs and, because she works with a large municipal open-admit shelter, there’s lots of pit bull images. This is nice because you get a good explanation of what “overaroused,” “fearful” and so on look like on this particular breed.

Finally, do not be sucked in by people who tell you that you must outmuscle your big strong dog to show him who’s boss. Most pitties are ridiculously people-friendly, but if yours has limits, this is not a dog you want fighting back. You will lose. And your dog will learn that fighting back works. It is a death sentence. Find puppy, adolescent and adult classes where the trainer is familiar with teaching good self-control and self-calming. If you can find someone in your area teaching a Control Unleashed class, see if that person also teaches puppy or obedience, because she is probably someone who “gets” how to install self-control in a very upbeat, positive, effective way.

Finally, don’t panic. If you are not sure what you’re seeing, ask someone with experience. Some dogs sound like they’re killing each other when they are playing. Serious fighting is silent. Some fighting for fun is loud and things get muddy here. If it’s silent and/or someone gets hurt, you have a problem — get help. Other than that, you probably have a wonderfully bright, funny, friendly, athletic buddy — enjoy!

-Greta Kaplan, CPDT, CDBC