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An old (last month) article on pits as nanny dogs: Pit bulls
Get thee (and the pit!) to an obedience class, reach out to a pitty rescue for some additional education (if there's one in your area - Hello Bully is Pittsburgh-based), and give this pooch the love it needs!
We have an adult dog who is a lab/pitbull mix. He could have a little hound mixed in but basically looks like a yellow lab with tan markings. He has a lab temperament, is super sweet, and great with kids.
We have an adult dog who is a lab/pitbull mix. He could have a little hound mixed in but basically looks like a yellow lab with tan markings. He has a lab temperament, is super sweet, and great with kids.
Your dog sounds a lot like our pup. Looks yellow labish with a little something extra. Overall sweet disposition.
I doubt that our puppy has a pure bred bone in her body. I'm guessing that she is a combination of quite a few breeds (retriever, terrier, pitt, who knows). Just an all around adorable American Mutt.
Still even then the pure American Pitbull Terrier is a very sweet, loyal, and loving dog, and I am sad at what happened to the dog, and it's reputation.
I'm a vet tech, and the practice where I worked had a large number of pits as patients. I've worked with hundreds of these dogs, often while they were hurt or scared.
I can count on one hand the number of aggressive pit bulls that came through our hospital. I saw way more aggressive labs than pit bulls. The single most aggressive dog we ever had was a young golden who had mauled her owner and put him in the hospital.
ANY dog can be aggressive. Having the dog as a puppy means their future behavior will be up to you. If you train them from a young age and take care of any problem behaviors as they develop, you'll be fine. The key is socialization - get that pup out and about. Take them to different places with different sights and sounds. Get them used to being handled.
Do be aware that some pits are more dog aggressive, so it is important to watch for this and socialize them young with other dogs. Don't let your puppy get into the habit of play biting, and make sure you teach good bite inhibition (basically just yell "OW!" and walk away if they nibble you). And RELAX- with the exception of medical conditions that cause aggression, no dog is BORN bad.
If you look at those cases of bad pit bites in the news, there are some common issues. Half the time the dog isn't even really a pit. Most of the rest the family just got the dog, or left the dog alone with small children, or left them outside on a chain and never socialized them, or let them roam free in a pack...this is OWNER failure, and the dog was just responding to the situation, which is what dogs DO.
I think that if I ever get a pitbull I would socialize it frequently with other dogs, cats, children, adults, the elderly, and the disabled so it would understand everything, and I have been pondering that I should train it with treats. For example if he or she starts acting up and trying to play bite I would say an affirmative no, and take away his or her treats, and when he or she plays nice I would give him or her a treat, and if it acts up again I would repeat the same thing till it basically learns that he or she has to be nice to everyone and everything to get a treat, and over time along with socialization I would basically have a good dog. I also plan to work out my dog, and have him or her swim and run a lot, and to take him or her to obedience classes. I am sure that this is the correct way to raise a pitbull right?
I think that if I ever get a pitbull I would socialize it frequently with other dogs, cats, children, adults, the elderly, and the disabled so it would understand everything, and I have been pondering that I should train it with treats. For example if he or she starts acting up and trying to play bite I would say an affirmative no, and take away his or her treats, and when he or she plays nice I would give him or her a treat, and if it acts up again I would repeat the same thing till it basically learns that he or she has to be nice to everyone and everything to get a treat, and over time along with socialization I would basically have a good dog. I also plan to work out my dog, and have him or her swim and run a lot, and to take him or her to obedience classes. I am sure that this is the correct way to raise a pitbull right?
Sounds like you're on the right track. The socialization and exercise are absolutely critical. The exercise helps the dog to drain excess energy, which in turns makes for a calmer, more submissive AND better behaved dog. My sister's 2-year-old male pit bull gets regular walks. My nephew also rides his bike and has the dog run alongside him (the dog REALLY loves it).
I think that if I ever get a pitbull I would socialize it frequently with other dogs, cats, children, adults, the elderly, and the disabled so it would understand everything, and I have been pondering that I should train it with treats. For example if he or she starts acting up and trying to play bite I would say an affirmative no, and take away his or her treats, and when he or she plays nice I would give him or her a treat, and if it acts up again I would repeat the same thing till it basically learns that he or she has to be nice to everyone and everything to get a treat, and over time along with socialization I would basically have a good dog. I also plan to work out my dog, and have him or her swim and run a lot, and to take him or her to obedience classes. I am sure that this is the correct way to raise a pitbull right?
I like this approach, it sounds like a good one to me.
Although our puppy spent the first few days with us surrounded by other dogs, kids, people (we were out of town when we got her), she's only had a handful of visitors since then. We've spent the last couple of weeks getting our pup used to her new home/family/older dog/routine. She seems to feel pretty secure now so it probably is time to get her out and about more.
She's doing a lot less play biting on people now (her bites never did hurt) but she still does it with our older dog. They can play a bit rough at times - no squeals of pain or anything, just lots of dog "wrestling" if that makes sense.
I've started leash training, so we can start to take some short walks. We'll look into some obedience classes as soon as her puppy shots are up to date.
Last edited by springfieldva; 07-18-2011 at 10:45 AM..
You can train any dog no matter what breed to be good off leash. You just have to put the time in.
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The socialization and exercise are absolutely critical. The exercise helps the dog to drain excess energy, which in turns makes for a calmer, more submissive AND better behaved dog. My sister's 2-year-old male pit bull gets regular walks. My nephew also rides his bike and has the dog run alongside him (the dog REALLY loves it).
