Friend I'm moving in with MAY have found their dog. We spent a few hours at the animal shelter today meeting and playing with him and she's in love. Her partner and Ryuk will be meeting the pup tommorrow and we'll see how it goes... this dog seems almost perfect for them...we're slightly concerned about cat aggression (then again EVERYTHING else on his "temperament evaluation" was um...a bit off) and small dog aggression. We've been told he's a bit rude with dogs his size but Ryuk is VERY good with rude dogs and puppies so we're hoping it will work.

He's a year old Dutch Shepherd/Pit mix.... will chase anything that moves and loves tug. Great bite inhibition, not a bit of actual training apart from housebreaking, totally okay with being handled everywhere, engaged with whomever's working with him but generally aloof with new people, solidly build (great since he'll hopefully be a backpacking dog that does agility and tracking for fun), very curious, extremely smart, and so adorable it hurts XD

He actually reminds me a LOT of Ryuk as a puppy in temperament....except without the drawing blood, complete lack of interest in doing what anyone says, and fits of uncontrollable zoomies of teeth and claws even after I worked him for 2 hours....he's much nicer than Ryuk was >_>

Pics to come if they get him!

Don't let him hurt Ryuk. Some pits and pit mixes get off on fighting.
Castration can help reduce the "seriousness" of that attitude.

That's exciting, Jamie! How old is he?
eta, whoops, nevermind; I missed that you said he's a year old...

He sounds special!

 Quote: betty landercasp

Don't let him hurt Ryuk. Some pits and pit mixes get off on fighting.
Castration can help reduce the "seriousness" of that attitude.

this guy was neutured at 4 months (yeah....YIKES that's young...but shelters want to make sure no one's breeding them so...greater good?). He doesn't even mark (he pees squatting) he does kick after but I don't think he even knows what he's doing. There was nothing to suggest during his walk he was at all an aggressive dog (I've seen dog aggressive dogs...they usually pay attention to other dogs when they're 20ft away and barking at them....he knew they were there but was no much more interested in us). They'll be meeting in "the meeting room" at the shelter (neutral ground) and on leash.

Should I run Ryuk first? Take the edge off? He tends to be more playful when he's got tons of energy but I don't want him dancing on the spot when he meets this new dog. I'm thinking a 30 minute frisbee session maybe?

To make a good impression on the trainer my friend asked I do not have Ryuk on a prong collar which is fine (this trainer/behaviorist doesn't seem to be okay with them). Ryuk won't play with other dogs if he even thinks I have a fun toy (he goes in "work mode" and glues himself to my side) so I'll be bringing a few treats instead. I have a lower value toy I will have in my bag that squeaks if we need a distraction.

I think taking the edge off Ryuk is a good idea and maybe your friend can go early to walk the new dog and take the edge off him as well?

 Quote: jamie craig

They'll be meeting in "the meeting room" at the shelter (neutral ground) and on leash.

Just a suggestion on the meeting Jaime. I tend to like to keep things very safe and casual on "first dates". I don't like inside rooms for initial encounters -too intense. Can a shelter volunteer or the trainer help you walk them outside?

I like to start with both dogs outside a bit away from each other and then just take off walking in parallel. If that goes nicely with no hard stares or posturing they can move along a bit closer together (you with Ryuk the volunteer with the new dog).

If everything looks relaxed and positive after several minutes, you can stop, with encouraging pets all around, and appropriate sniffing could be supervised.

JMHO -you mention you'll have a trainer there and you probably know all this already so we'll await happy pictures!

Neutered males can become best buddies. Ryuk will be able to out smart, out manuever him, it should be fun. Congrats on finding a new place to live too.
Send photos.

 Quote: Betty Landercasp

Don't let him hurt Ryuk. Some pits and pit mixes get off on fighting.

...why I do somewhat involved and time consuming introductions. Barrier frustration from the shelter environment doesn't help any breed's attitude so when bringing a shelter pup out I like to incorporate some controlled exercise into the experience (per previous post)

If it's really a DS mix, I want PICTURES!!!!!

(although I highly doubt this. Most dogs labeled as DS mixes are anything from Boxer/Pit, to Akita or Greyhound mixes.)