Our dog is really sweet with people and lets the kids hang all over her but when she sees any other animals she barks and growls and when she gets close enough she'll bite. Anyone know of any way of making this any better? I would love to be able to bring her to a dog park or around my friends pets.
She is a 7 month old lab/pit mix.
You have a breed of dog that is bred to be agressive towards other dogs, you shouldn't be surprised at the behavior.
It is a bit late for you at this point, but for other readers, it is SO important to socialize a dog when it is young (2 months and on). If your pit mix hasn't been around other dogs, you've got a bit of a problem.
I would suggest getting the services of a good trainer, it isn't fair to your dog or other dogs to attempt this socialization process without a lot of safety and an experienced person involved.
First off pit bulls have not been bred to be aggressive.
Pit bulls were not bred to dog fight, they were bred to bait bears and bulls.
Pit bulls bite no more than an other breed of dog.
Secondly it is not too lat for this dog, she is only 7 months old. She is still a baby. The problem could be that the dog was not properly socialized when she was younger. However it is never too late to socialize a dog. I would however recommend you go and talk to a dog trainer, the ones at petsmart should be able to help.
Another problem is that you expect this behavior ton happen so you may get all tense and anxious and your dog can read this and it makes them tense and anxious.
So go talk to a trainer and this can be taken care of.
Don't let anyone tell you that you have a bad dog, they are just ignorant and misinformed, they really have no clue what they are talking about