Puppy Training

[Bayside Corals]

I got pitbull puppy about 6 months ago and he is now about 8 months old. I have never owned a dog before and experienced many things you have. His name is Bosco and he is a great dog (getting better every day). After the first couple of months of getting him me and my wife were like holy Sh*t what did we get ourselves into! We had a serious talk on many occations about getting rid of him as we could not handle all of his energy!

Like others have said watch cesar he has been a ton of help for us!

To me it sounds like your dog has to much pent up energey that he needs to get rid of! We use to take Bosco for very long walks and it wouldn't even faze him! So I started taking my bike and made him run beside me on the bike. That worked much better! he would actually get tired out and would listen much better to commands after a good run (not a walk). We would sometimes take him for a run beside the bike and then go for a walk after so we could train him not to pull on the leash for walking. If we tried just walking him with no run first he would pull like crazy! The run before hand is key.

Bosco is a very social dog. We take him to the dog parks, bring him around other friends with their dogs, we started this from a young age and does well around other dogs. When Bosco was younger we used to leave the leash on him while he played with other dogs and people so if he got out of line we would correct him with a stern NO and a quick correction with the leash. If he did it again we would respond with the same corrections only the tug on the leash would get harder and harde each time. Eventually it will sink in! The other thing that really help us was a pincher collar. A regular leash did nothing, the choaker also did nothing. Put on the pincher collar and a swift tug on the leash and he will listen real fast! He now wears his pincher collar all the time except for bed time.

he is still a work in progress as he is only 8 months old but has come a very long way since we first got him! For us the single most imoprtant thing is excersize! Without it we would have been hopless. the second thing was the pincher collar.

If you don't have room for a treadmill, or have a bike, try some roller blades or even get one of the those doggy back packs and put some extra weight in there to tire him out quicker. You have to tire him out before you try to train him or he will not listen. If we are expecting company or throwing a party we will run Bosco on the treadmill for 30mins before everyone arrives and he will behave much better. I also run him before I take him to the dog park or anywhere else there may be other people and dogs and he will listen to me. The key is to tire him out.

Colby

[my2rotties]

Colby,

Why not get Bosco (love that name) a harness and teach him how to pull things. It is fantastic exercise and pitties are the very best for doing things like this. Dogs LOVE to have a job, and pitties were used for fighting and then people saw their pulling potential. It's amazing to see how much one dog can pull.

Good for you for working with you dog, and not giving up on him.

[Aquattro]

First, a really good read is a book called Control Unleashed. Great info on managing "disorderly" dogs. Also, I can tire out my border collie in about 10 minutes while sitting on the floor training her with a clicker. Clicker training makes them think hard, and thinking hard is hard work. There is no need to run your pup for hours a day. Another thing I'd look into is a DVD called Crate Games...it's designed more for sport dogs, but the first few phases teach self control, I found it to be a fabulous tool.
As for dominant, I think the case is more that the pup is sensing your frustration, and without feeling your clear direction, is taking it upon himself to direct his own actions. The book above will help with that. Lots of Milan's stuff is probably similar. Goggle clicker training and read some of Karen Pryor's stuff on it, it's a great way to tire your pup without leaving the house.
to add, there are lots of comments about tiring him out being important. I'd have to disagree. The real key is to have a relationship where the dog respects your direction on when he can act up and when he can be a good dog. Yes, excercise is important, but running your dog into the ground to bypass correcting behavioural issues is not the way to do it. If I had to physically tire out my dogs everyday, I'd be ready for the olympics Again, the book will give you advice on getting to this type of relationship. Clicker training will also help, as it builds the dogs confidence and lets him learn to be successful working with you. This starts the realtionship where your dogs looks to you for direction.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

First, a really good read is a book called Control Unleashed. Great info on managing "disorderly" dogs.

Another thing I'd look into is a DVD called Crate Games...it's designed more for sport dogs, but the first few phases teach self control, I found it to be a fabulous tool.
.

and why didn't you tell me abbout these two?

Steve

[workn2hard2day]

It will also help to make his mind work.
We taught our dog to sit at the side of the trail when we saw people approach. (it took a special treat - real chicken bits!)
He would have to sit until they went past. Some people will ask to pet him because at that point he will be "well behaved".
Keep the treat in your fist and low to the ground, make him work to get the treat it. They will pet and go on before he gets the treat.
Your walk will take longer, but it will make his little brain try to figure out what you are doing.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Thanks everyone. Sorry for the late reply but I kind of got busy and forgot about this thread! So much great advice. Some is along the lines of what we are doing, some is new.

I still run with diesel as much as possible but it never tires him out for long. He is a machine. I grew up with two German Shepherds, two Rottweilers and a Rotty/Bernese mountain dog X, who combined probably didn't have as much energy as this guy! I grew up on 200 acres though so the dogs had a lot of freedom

He is still relatively good at home but continues to have issues with socialization. I have to be honest too, I take him out much less now during the daytime or where there are a lot of other dogs simply because I can't handle the way he acts. I know this is really wrong but for the past few weeks I just can't deal with his whining and barking when he sees another dog.

He is starting a dog daycare twice a week on monday. So he goes in for 8-9 hours a day. The dogs are all in a nice big area together with lots of toys, a cool little playground and half of it is outside, so fresh air. They seem to take great care of the dogs and allow big and small dogs which I like. I didn't want him going to a small dog daycare which actually may not allow him anyways because I am hoping some of the older, big dogs can put him in his place.

We'll see how that goes.

I forgot to mention something funny. Today I was walking him past the big Vancouver Police Station near my place and there was a huge group of officers outside. Well Diesel decided he would bark as loud as he could at them! So embarrassing! They were cool though and just kind of asked if I wanted them to arrest Diesel and take him away. I said sure but I guess they didn't realize I was serious.

[my2rotties]

Good to hear Justin!!!