How to Raise the Perfect Pit Bull (Avoid Aggression and Bad Behavior from the Start)
What’s up y’all? It’s Dr. Megan, The Pit Bull Doctor.
Many pit bull owners are concerned with making sure they raise their dog correctly early to ensure their dog doesn’t develop aggressive behaviors later in life. This week’s post focuses on some of the boundaries you should create in your home for your dog that will help
Last week, we focused on the first five commands you should start to teach your dog right away to start the process of teaching them to be calm and obedient. This blog post focuses on some of the tools and processes you should incorporate into your lifestyle to set your new dog up for success as they grow.
Crate Training
It’s important to start crate training from the first day you bring your pit bull into your life. Crates are imperative to the potty training process, ensuring the safety of your dog in your absence, and helps your dog to learn the boundaries and expectations of your home. Crates also provide your dog with a safe space of their own to retreat to for resting or just to get a break.
Many people mention crate training like it’s easy and I’m here to tell you, crate training can be stressful but the long-term results make it worth it. Your puppy or dog may whine incessantly while in the crate and your instincts will tell you to take your puppy out and comfort your puppy. However, the worst thing you can do is comfort your puppy during this time as it prevents them from ever adapting to the crate and learning to stay in their silently.
2. Teaching Your Dog Place
“Place” is an advanced command that also comes in handy in many situations, especially if you have a social and excitable dog when guests come over. The idea behind the place command is that your dog learns to go to a designated place such as a bed, elevated bed, or even a spot on the floor (or wherever you point) and stay there until you release them. This allows you more control over social interactions with your dog or allows you to ensure your dog is in a safe space without always using the crate. If your dog gets very excited when new people enter, being able to use the place command can also help them to calm down or provide clear instructions for how you would like them to behave in the presence of guests.
3. No Jumping on Guests
Just like any other dog, many pit bull type dogs tend to jump on people out of excitement. Training to stop this behavior can be difficult because it depends on other people not encouraging the jumping which can be difficult to manage. However, if you establish a rule of no jumping on guests from day one, you’ll be setup for success.
4. Refrain from Furniture unless Invited
Another important boundary to establish is around furniture. Some people don’t believe in allowing their dogs on their furniture at all, others don’t mind. From a behavior standpoint, only fully trained dogs who respect boundaries and get off the furniture when you ask them to should be allowed on furniture. This includes sleeping in your bed. The general rule should be that your dog be allowed in the bed as long as you’re happy with his behavior across the board and when you ask your dog to get off the furniture, they do so without any issues. Your dog also shouldn’t be jumping up on people while on the furniture or resource guarding. When first introducing a dog into your home, I strongly recommend only allowing your dog on the furniture when you invite them and not allowing them to jump on furniture whenever they want until they are fully adapted to your home.
5. No Repeating Commands
For best results with your dog, make a rule for yourself not to repeat your commands. Dogs, especially pit bull type dogs are highly intelligent and can learn to ignore your commands until the fifth or sixth time you say it, or until they can tell you’re going to actually do something about their choosing to ignore you. To avoid ending up in a situation where your dog commonly undermines you, be sure to only say your commands once then correct your dog.
6. Use distance if your dog is unfocused or reactive
Often it happens that we find ourselves too close to a person or another dog which leads to excitable or even reactive behavior from our dog. The reactive behavior can then trigger embarrassment or overwhelm in us when we don’t understand why our dog is misbehaving and feel powerless to do anything about it. One technique that slips many people’s minds in these times is distance. Usually, if your dog is reacting to something, it’s because you’re too close to it. Back away from the trigger or go to a less distracting environment and your dog’s behavior will immediately improve.
Conclusion
Pit bulls are awesome family dogs and companions. However, finding the information we need to know how to best train and manage them can be difficult. With the tips from this blog post, you’ll soon be on your way to raising the perfect companion and not having to ever worry about aggression in your home due to the boundaries you’ve established early on. If you have specific questions or need help, sign-up for a free consultation at Office Hours, where you can ask specific questions about your pit bull’s behavior!
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