We have now had Marley for 3 months. He has been thru his first dog class and was the teacher’s pet!! He caught on to his commands within seconds and was very well behaved around the 5 other dogs. We will enroll him in the next phase of training after the Holidays. The trainers liked him so well, they suggested we take his training as far as possible and they would like to use him in the community as a role model for the breed by visiting the elderly and disabled. Kudos to our trainers for accepting and recognizing the abilities and personality of the breed!!
We have since nicknamed the dog Pumpkin because he is orange and has a big toothy smile like a jack o lantern. All of his food aggression has stopped and his behavior towards the cats turns out to be a mere eagerness to want to play with them…nothing more..although they want to have nothing to do with him.
While in training we learned about appropriate toys to keep him occupied while we are away and when we have visitors. We don’t muzzle him while walking but bought a chest harness that keeps him more focused while in the neighborhood.
Twice we have ended up with stray dogs in our yard while our dog was secured. Once was a larger aggressive dog that our dog barked at but did not try to bite or attack. Once was by a smaller more submissive dog that Pumpkin just sniffed and licked. Both times the owners were apologetic and seemed surprised, hopefully pleasantly, that our pit bull did not attack their dog.
The down side to owning the pit is that he hogs the bed, tosses the cusions off of the couch, licks us constanly, and steals the cats’ food when we leave it unattended or within his reach…darn it. 🙂