Lots of bragging about Seppel in this post. Shamelessly.
Seppel really is a great dog. He's quite honestly, the perfect Pit Bull for me. He's high drive both for toys and prey, he's high energy but can still sit at home on the couch, he is particular about dogs, but isn't going to haul off and grab something [unless it is small and fuzzy!].
Here's the thing, I house sit a lot. Seppel has had the opportunity to come with me a few times and he's always really well behaved. He mostly just ignores the dogs I'm watching, and they ignore him. We've also been walking with my friend Lynna who has Ibizan Hounds on a daily basis, she rotates the females that she brings and Sepp has been completely fine with them, even if they randomly come up and sniff him on a walk - he doesn't care.
Don't get me wrong, he wouldn't hesitate to grab a small dog, and he wouldn't hesitate to fight with another dog if they challenged him. *not dog fight fight, Just saying he will stick up for himself. He has been questionable before, but other than two instances that were iffy he has growled as a fair warning when he is very disinterested in another dog. We've had rude dogs come up to us and he's been able to ignore them, he's very obedient in that respect because he's always looking at me like "Oh god, I'm not looking at it!"
The thing is, I love Seppel and I love this breed. So much so I have been looking at kennels for my future dog, which is probably at least 5+yrs down the line if not longer. I actually contacted Joanie of Tatonka kennels to talk to her about her dogs.
Tatonka Kennels produces real, traditional American Pit Bulls. These dogs are not show dogs, they are bred for sport/working. This kennel in particular prides itself on producing sound and stable dogs, both in mind and body. I called Joanie up just to get a feel for what she produces, and honestly because I wanted to know if it was even reasonable for me to want one of her dogs. She was super nice to talk to and at the end of the conversation I felt like I could handle having a dog from her kennel someday.
However, lately, I'm torn. When I get this next dog I might not even be housesitting and it might not even be an issue. But it does make me wonder that even though I like the temperament and look that these dogs have, that maybe it isn't the right fit for my lifestyle.
Basically, I need to clone Seppel, and his clone needs to have TWO good hips, and the same personality. Wishful thinking.
In almost having this dog for two years I feel like his true true colors are starting to show. I think it's also that we are doing a lot more, going a lot more places, he's getting more exposure and I'm learning just how far he's willing to take things. In previous posts I was uncertain as far as how DA he could be, and I feel pretty confident now that I would consider him selective or picky, but I don't consider him a high risk DA dog. It is also situational because this is the same dog who runs the fence barking at other dogs and I'm not sure if he was super amped up that he wouldn't go after a dog - I just haven't seen him act that way in a normal situation where he is not amped up. Obviously he's shown me his ability to follow things through in the scuffles he's had with LiLo, so I'm not saying he is totally bomb proof, but overall he is not that serious.
I feel like I've gotten a very good starter dog for this breed, although maybe too good because I'm not sure that I could handle a 'real deal' Pit Bulldog.
Part of the inspiration for this post is the dog we're currently watching. She's a spayed female who is older, and is the queen bitch in her house. Her and her housemate [who is away] have to be crated & rotated because they will fight. In the past this dog has been fine with my dog LiLo [although I think now they would get into it because LiLo is a boob!], and she has also gotten along with Seth. I brought Seppel with me because he's still rehabbing from surgery and also because my dad can't watch him all the time. When I brought Sepp into the house he completely ignored the other dog, he let her sniff him [I gave him the stink eye the whole time!]. She was actually kind of annoying and even tried coming up to him while he was lying down minding his own business. I shooed her away because I didn't want them to start something. Seppel was totally oblivious. I keep them separated mostly because I don't trust her to not try to 'lay down the law' and I know that Seppel would be like "Nope" and not hesitate trying to eat her if she was being bossy. Seeing this interaction and seeing how well behaved he's been, just makes me very happy and very proud to have him.
He's just a good dog!!
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