My pit doesn’t know when to STOP.

[enemy614]

 Sorry this is such a long thread, but I thought it would be better if I explained things more clearly. Any advice would be appreciated. I’m not asking for a miricale just some pointers.

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  I love my pinknose dearly. but shes a crazy broad, and my mom is about to throw my dog out if somethin doesn’t change. (don’t worry about the dog tho if she goes I go) shes not even a year yet, shes gotta be close to a year so I try to rationalize her behavior as puppy behavior but its not getting any better.

   I have a fenced in yard but I have to tie her up because she’s constantly trying to get over or under the fence to attack the neighbor dog. I don’t know if she just want’s to play or eat the little yapper but I can’t have this happen regardless because my neighbors have children also. And then when I’ll try to call her in she completely ignores me till I get close to her then she runs off and thinks its play time, then when I get fed up with chasing her and go inside she starts right back up on the fence barking at the neighbor dog.

   She doesn’t know when to stop playing and being feisty. Shes always going after peoples feet trying to bite them. Sometimes when she plays it can be mistaken for vicious the way she barks and growls at me (i know its not shes just playing) but it makes me not even wanna play with her.

   I show her plenty of attention. she sleeps with me. We do sit with treats, she know lay down, she knows gimme your paw. She kinda knows stay. But its like shes dr jeckyl and mister hyde man I don’t know what to do. I could exercise with her more but my biggest issue isn;t her rowdyness its her inabilty to come when I call her when her attention is on another dog/cat. She knows “come” when shes calm. But when she’s wound up theres no stopping this crazy dog. I love her but this has got to change.

   And one more thing which is a BIG thing. I can’t get her to stop attacking my cats. They can’t get a moments peace. Neither can my other dog. She always wants to play, which I can understand a dog wanting to play but she is CRAZY, Shes even taken a couple shots from my black lab Mack cause he didn’t want to play but shes persistent. The cats have caught her a couple times too but she just won’t give it up.

[kendseycollins]

Try focus training. Start small.  Start in a quiet area.  The idea is to keep her in a situation long enough to sort of get bored.  Have somebody walking behind or beside you, but not too close.  She’ll probably be pretty intense at first, but just keep walking.  Don’t sit still because then she is already bored and will focus more on this other person.  Keep walking around the area, keeping the same distance between you and your training parter.  As you sense her attention start to break make her sit.  Hold the treet up and wait for her to look at you, even if just for a split second.  Reward her every time she focuses her attention on you.  As she starts to build her focus you can start pushing for her to focus for longer periods of time.  When she starts to get that down move to an area where you can be around or encounter other people.  As you walk practice getting her attention when people or other dogs walk by or as your walking by the soccer field with kids playing.  Once you can get her to focus on you and sit and lay down, even with other people around, up the ante and take the training back into your back yard.  Start with her on the leash.  Walk around the yard, up and down the fence etc. It may be a challenge to your training at first, but just remember to reward her for even the slightest shift in attention from the dog to you.  This type of training desensatizes dogs.  They will be more relaxed and happier if they learn to focus on you rather than the dog across the fence or the bike rider in the park.  The important part to remember is that it is a lifestyle.  You can’t let your dog’s focus wander wherever on walks then expect her to pay attention to you at home, just because you want her to.  Teaching her tricks is a great way to get her attention.  As for the play, try time outs.  Our dog Kaos is the same way.  He is very energetic and has an issue with self control.  We taught him the command, “Kennel Up.”  When the command is given he goes into his kennel and waits for us to tell him to come out.  The kennel doesn’t have a door, so this excercise needs to be trained for.  It took a little while for Kaos to understand that he got sent to his kennel when he wasn’t socializing appropriately, but this training has worked FABULOUSLY!

[enemy614]

Thank you so much for the reply. I’m gonna start working on focus training asap. She’s been relatively behaved lately which is alot less stressful. I’ve still had to tie her up in my fenced in back yard but I’m hoping after we work on focus training that won’t be a issue. I’ve been doin the timeouts too and it seems like lately were having less timeouts. Do you have any advice on teaching her to “kennel up” though?

[kendseycollins]

🙂 You’re welcome. Kaos pees on my neighbors dog.  He would run up to the fance, stop and hike his leg right on the pamapoos head. I know what it’s like to have a young pit.  They’re rambunctious and it is obnoxious, especially when they want to play.  It can also be difficult because people don’t understand that they aren’t being agressive.  We call Kaos our ankle biter because he likes to go after our toes.  There was one time my daughter sat down and he pulled her around on her butt by her shoe.  She thought it was hillarious.  I didn’t think it was quite so funny while trying to get the grass stains out of her pants.  As far as the kennel training goes, as with all training, start when it’s quiet.  If she already has some idea what the command means, then give her the command and wait for her to go INTO her kennel, then give her a treat.  When she consistantly goes to her kennel when you give the command, then start making her stay before you give her the treat.  Once she gets good at waiting for you, you can start giving her the command when people are around. A lot of times Kaos will try and ignore us.  We just point to his kennel and give him the command sternly while stepping into his space.  We don’t smack him or anything, just assert our authority with a strong voice and ominous presence.  You can also try flipping her over on her back and kneeling over her like a dominant dog would.  Some people think this can help assert you as an authority figure.  Whether you try this method, or just assert yourself as her “pack leader” through discipline, she will respond better in all situations if she knows you’re boss.  Not to say you have to be abusive, just firm and authoritative.  This type of authority could help when she starts going after your feet too. 🙂  As far as excersize goes, we don’t have a whole lot of time, so we go out to a quiet road, kick Kaos out of the car, then drive.  Fast enough that he can’t get infront of the car.  He LOVES to chase us!  This is probably not the most conventional form of excersize, but the sprints burn energy FAST.  We can get one heck of a work out in 30 min.  If you’re working on a tight schedule, running sprints can burn off energy in a shorter amount of time than walks.  Kaos won’t play fetch, othewise that would be a good activity.  Focus training and kennel training both take time and patience.  Just keep at it and be consistant, and someday your dog will be old and arthritic and not able to run and jump and be obnoxious. 😉 Jk. It really does work, but only if used consistantly.  Kaos is about a year and a half and is still full of puppy.  Just keep workin’ hard and she’ll get it.  They’re very smart, just stuborn.

[jesse2009]

U R not kidding when u say they r stubborn, Spike is as stubborn as they come! I don’t have any biting issues, but he is so possesive of his toys! I just thought today that i will have to take treats with me when we go outside and try to train him to give them up for more playing. Crazy dog. He is very good with our cats they are no longer afraid of him either. He is pretty much a good dog, has his moments like we all do. I just keep wondering why he showed up at our door step? We got enough critters as it is. Well, there has to be a reason but I hope he is the last one for a while. The car idea is great but where we live that would no be a good thing to do. Instead I throw frisbees, unfortunatly they don’t last very long,

[kendseycollins]

Lol. Yeah, frisbees aren’t really designed for the enthusiasm of a pit.  The car thing is fun for us, but isn’t actually all that great of an idea.  We only do it with Kaos because he is not a car chaser.  He only follows us if we hang out the window and call for him.  We also spend a lot of time in fenced in places, like tennis courts or baseball fields.  They make FANTASTIC play grounds, plus they’re fenced in!!!  The best part about owning a pit, nobody bothers you during play time 😀

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