Question for pitbull owners

[Mokomon]

I had a female that I got at 5 weeeks old
She NEVER, EVER, growled at ANYONE or ANYTHING!

I just had to re-home her in Dec because I have been ill & I just couldn't physically handle her anymore.

She was 70 pds of PURE muscle, and deserved someone who could give her the attention she needed

Man, I love & miss my Bella

 

[Turbosaurus]

For your particular situation socializing the dog is very important. Get a cage muzzle if you think he might bite other dogs at the dog park, its not worth the liability and its not fair to bring a dog to the park who is likely to bite someone else's without a cage muzzle. Introduce him to as many people as possible in a controlled environment where the dog is leashed. Invite your friends over to the house, let them give the dog a cookie if he behaves and you need to correct him sternly if he shows aggression (A pinch collar should never be used to correct aggression in a dog, they will often heighten aggression, not offset it, a flat leather collar with buckle works best. Collars with plastic buckles should never be used with a pit) That contrast of rewards and corrections should help him to quickly understand what is in his own best interest. Be careful who you do this with. If he bites someone, he could be put down depending on your city code.

Also, go to obedience classes. What you're talking about is behavioral, and obedience training won't teach the dog to correct behavioral problems, but it will
1) socialize the dog
2) Teach you how a dog thinks and the proper way to show encouragement and the proper way to correct bad behavior
3) will establish your position as dominant in the pack.

In the mean time, be careful who you introduce him to and under what circumstances.

Make sure YOU are in control in the house. You decide when its play time. You give and take away the toys. You give and take away the food. The dog must understand you are in charge and that you are a fair and consistant ruler.

Also, you must always be vigilant. My female wasn't dog aggressive until she turned 4 or 5, but as she got older she became more and more dominant when it came to other dogs until the point she was starting fights. Just because the dog is not dog aggressive at 2 yo doesn't mean they won't be at 5.

as many pit bulls pass temperament testing as golden retrievers. http://www.atts.org/stats1.html (check the facts)

 

[Blueiz]

Each individual dog is different,as others have said, all dogs will show there breed characteristics. This is why knowing the characterisitcs of a breed before getting it are really important. Youve gotten some excellent advice here. The only thing that I can add is just to reiterate you have to show the dog who is boss, when he shows that he thinks hes top dog, put him onto his back and hold him there til he fully relaxes. Socialize the dog as much as possible, let strangers pet him if they want to. While this pup is at a managable size, it will be much easier to accompolish the above. Also keep in mind that this may mean a lot of work for you for the duration of the dogs life. Consistancy is key, dont let them get away with anything, not even once. Remember dogs do not have human emotions, if hes jumping on you whining or barking for your attention, ignore him. Make him work for what he wants and make it known to him that you arent going to show attention because he wants it, but when you want to give it.

 

[Blueiz]

To add to my above post, please remember this dog is still a very young puppy and it may in fact have nothing to do with aggression, simply the way pups socialize. At what age was it taken from its siblings? It would pay you to join a quality pitbull forum for help from ppl with years of experience with this breed.

 

[Turbosaurus]

when he shows that he thinks hes top dog, put him onto his back and hold him there til he fully relaxes.

Be really careful about "alpha rolling" a dog. It puts your face close to the dogs face and he's got bigger teeth than you. If your dog is seriously questioning your authority or showing handler aggression, you can correct/overpower/force your dog into submission at the end of a leash without potentially sacrificing your nose. Remember, we're bigger, we're taller, smarter and stronger. Why get down on the dogs level to roll 'em where you're much less imposing?

If he's just decided not to listen to you or he's a pup who's distracted, go ahead and roll 'em, but you need to be real secure in your authority and place at the top of the dog pack.

 

[Blueiz]

Be really careful about "alpha rolling" a dog. It puts your face close to the dogs face and he's got bigger teeth than you. If your dog is seriously questioning your authority or showing handler aggression, you can correct/overpower/force your dog into submission at the end of a leash without potentially sacrificing your nose. Remember, we're bigger, we're taller, smarter and stronger. Why get down on the dogs level to roll 'em where you're much less imposing?

If he's just decided not to listen to you or he's a pup who's distracted, go ahead and roll 'em, but you need to be real secure in your authority and place at the top of the dog pack.

At ten weeks of age, I think this is pretty much a safe move, he can easily be overpowered and I hope that common sense prevails when doing this and no one would put there face close to the dogs mouth..

 

[bettagurl]

At ten weeks of age, I think this is pretty much a safe move, he can easily be overpowered and I hope that common sense prevails when doing this and no one would put there face close to the dogs mouth..

At that age I do also think it is safe to do, but only when he is out of line and needs very serious corrections.
I don't always suggest this, because a lot of people will let go of the dog before it's relaxed, or if they get hurt, and that causes very serious problems, as the dog believes it just won that fight. The last thing you ever want is a dog who thinks he's the boss in a physical way.

 

[Turbosaurus]

10 WEEKS? I missed the "weeks" part.. his eyes are barely open! Go ahead! Roll that pup! Roll 'em plenty. At 10 weeks he's just foolin around. I think I got distracted with all the bad pit bull info on the following posts. As a pit bull mommy myself I get a little defensive. My bad. He's too little to know how to do anything right.

Litter mates in a pup pile will not play with a dog that is too tough. If your itty bitty 10 week old puppy is growling, don't worry. Just walk away. The absolute worst punishment you can give a 10 week old puppy is no direct attention! That's how they learn naturally what is acceptable. If they're rough with their litter mates, the litter mates will go play with another pup. If you walk off when he gets pushy, he'll learn. Real obedience training really cant start for another 2-4 months depending on the dog, but you should start educating yourself on training a dog NOW. You can't expect much from the dog this young, but you can learn how they think and it will help you and your family to avoid mistakes that could give your dog the wrong idea (that he's in charge). Things like letting your dog walk through a doorway in front of you, things like stepping over the dog instead of moving him away.... Its too early to demand behavior like you would in an obedience class, but the sooner you learn how they think the better off everyone will be.

If you've never trained a dog before there is an excellent book called "catch your dog doing something right" I can't remember the author but it gives great insight to how a dog thinks and how important timing, consistency and contrast is in training a dog. Its really worth the read. The author is very gentle and its a perfect starting point.

When you're done with that book, before the dog is about 6 months old and he starts to test his limits, read the Koehler method. Koehler was not a fairy like the woman who wrote catch your dog doing something right, but in the event you have a dog who's more strong willed than you'd like Koehler will get you thinking in the right direction. He's really tough, but his golden rule is ONE properly executed correction is 1,000 times better than a thousand half-a** corrections, and he's right.

 

[Turbosaurus]

And betta girl is right... if you're going to take a stand, you have to do it all the way. If you alpha roll the dog, you have to hold him until he completely submits, all the way, and goes limp in your hand. If he is struggling at all, and you let him go, what the dog has just learned is that he has defeated you in a contest, therefor he is stronger than you. That's a bad thing to teach a powerful dog.
Tug toys are another good example of this- don't ever let your pit "win" in a tug of war. You can GIVE him back the toy after you WIN the contest, but don't ever let him TAKE it by force, game or not.

 

[PattyCakes81]

Hi! Bkrd

Check out www.pitbulllovers.com

The owner of the website, Jason Mann is very knowledgeable on APBT's. I bought a e book from him a year ago that helped and keeps helping me with my pittie:clap:. When you buy the ebook you get access to the private PitbullLovers forum. And this is where you can get all the help you for Pit Bulls. This forum as the same quality of knowledgeable people like AC has.

PattyCakes