Taking care of this womens Pit Bull...

He's generally a good dog. He's potty trained and he sits and stays, and you can get close to him and even hug him. But sometimes he'll try to jump up on me, and he knows damn well he isn't allowed! I yell and say "No!" but I feel like he doesn't take me seriously. I can't have him being so hyper!! I mean he's just a kid in dog years (around 10 dog years,) but how can I get him to be obedient?? I will have this dog for 3 or 4 months... That is to say, What is the best method to discipline a dog of his species??

 

I've got nothing good to say about pit bulls or their owners, so I will leave it at that.

 

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Well this women keeps him for protection, cause he is a good guard dog. But I mean, I think he's a good dog, he's usually mad calm. But that's cool man, I respect you so I'm sure you have a good reason to feel that way.

 

Treat it like any other dog and never trust him with other dogs because they have dog agressive tendencies.

 

He's acting up because he doesn't see you as Alpha Male, and seeing as he belongs to a woman he may even need to see an Alpha Female. (in which case you are screwed)

Next time he jumps up on you, instead of yelling "NO" (which he has no concept of what that means) Pin him down with your forearm and growl at him... You can growl the word "no" if you want which is usually what I do. This is language dogs understand. While you have him pinned you can also give him fake bites with your free hand around the neck area...

He should take you seriously after doing this several times.

If you are scared to do this because of the pitbull hype then you are screwed...


Good luck with this, so many people just don't understand dogs.

 

Disciplining a dog of any breed will always start at the same point.

Establish dominance.

With a pit bull, this can become tricky if you don't know what you're doing. Especially being that you are only temporarily watching the dog. But here's my advice.

Learn the dogs body language. You do not want to establish dominance over an aggressive, anxious, scared, etc. pit bull. Dogs can be very unpredictable when their in any of these states. Here is something from a quick google: http://dogs.about.com/od/dogtraining/tp/dogbodylanguage.htm

If you feel the dog is comfortable in its surroundings, then you can start to establish dominance. When he/she starts jumping on you, grab the snout very firmly with one hand (holding it closed) and bring the dog down to the ground. It's important to stay calm but firm while your doing this. Your state of mind will also effect they way the dog responds. Don't move too fast, yell loudly, or try to inflict pain. Just calmly and smoothly pin the dog down and show that you are in complete control. Calmly express that you are not happy in a firm but calm voice. Hold her down in till she stays in that position on her own will, then slowly let her up and love on her a bit. Scratch her ears and let her know that you love her, but you are the master.

 

I am going to refrain from getting on my soapbox, because I will go from zero to raging pissed off bitch. You need to establish dominance, you have to be the pack leader, not him. Pit Bull terriers are very loyal and love to please, but they are stubborn and hard headed. If he is jumping up because he is happy to see you, maybe trying turning your back, and ignoring him until he realizes he doesn't get attention acting that way. Also, they are very high energy dogs, he needs lots of exercise. Take him for walks, play with him. A tired dog is a well behaved dog

 

Thank you everyone! I think I have this now. I noticed that when he hears the neighbor dogs, he wants to go over and see what's going on. But I'm trying to teach hi, to heel so he walks with me.

But he is high energy as pixie doll said. But I really don't know what to do about it. I took him for 2, 15 minute walks today. (But just around my property.) The thing is though, that I'm pretty sure I'm giving him more of a workout than she did. She was keeping him in a tiny cage, that was too small for him, and they were staying in a motel room. I got him like a 10 X 10 X 8 cage. But he's still really hyper...

 

From my experience with Pits, that is not enough exercise. They need to run, fetch, wrestle, play. If he's not getting enough exercise then he will continue to jump on you despite your bests efforts. Also, if they get bored they can become destructive and hard to deal with. Have good chew toys and what not for him to play with.

 

We have a nervous dog, her old owner passed away and the people who watched her until we ended up with her just left her outside and I think she was abused for some time. She flinches easily and is very skittish, and once I was walking with her off lead and there was a little yappy dog down the street (she is mostly doberman) and she went bounding after the other dog about to rip its face off. I had to run after and I grabbed her belly and flipped her over and she pooped everywhere. Anyway, yeah you just need to stand your ground, and plenty of exercise and walks and attention will help.

 

Yeah but it's strange to me. Because she had him all locked up. He would go on one 20 min walk the whole day, and so now I really don't know what to do. He has no toys and I can't find a tennis ball. He keeps barking at me but I' just ignoring him cause I don't really know what I can do right this second, and I don't want to encourage his bad behavior. I made him sit before I open the gate this last time, and he sat then walked over to me and stayed while I put his leash on, very well behaved. I feel like I'm taking steps in the right direction, but maybe he's hyper because he's been locked up most his life? This lady hardly gave him any exercise and he was in a 4 X 3 X 3 crate.

 

Well it'll take a while, just one step at a time. We ended up watching our dobie for several months cause the lady's daughter who owned her was gonna take her to hawaii but we ended up keeping her.

 

Good point. Chew toys are an excellent idea. I forgot to mention that. When I had my big dogs, I went to our butcher, and bought a 50 lb box of beef bones. My pups loved them. And try a longer walk. He needs the exercise, and getting him to walk next to or behind you, as opposed to in front of you will help let him know you are in charge. Good luck

 

Buy a bone like this....


It will come with bone marrow in the center and the dog will love it. After the marrow is gone you can put peanut butter in the center and it will keep the dog happy for a long time. They last forever too. Never get the raw hide kind, solid bone all the way.

Edit: I forgot one of those bones are in my sig. That's what I use and it keeps that power chewer busy and happy for hours a day.

 

will he destroy stuff if you don't put him in a cage? seems mean to keep him in one if you mean for the majority of the day

 

Knee the dog in the chest when he jumps up on you. It's supposed to work.

It did not work with the Rottweiler/Lab mix I had, though. I could push him backwards and knock him down and he'd come back for more. He thought that was the coolest game ever!

 

Thank you everyone! I'm going to buy him a durable chew toy, a ball of some sort and, a raw hide bone that you mentioned Lovin'.

No Porkstock, he wont destroy my stuff, But he has more room in his cage than in my room. It's like a big 10 X 10 X 8. I'm thinking he just needs more of a workout.

The only other thing is, my yard is fenced in, but the fence is only like 4 ft high. Do you think I can let him lose without him trying to get to the other dogs??

 

The only thing that got my dog to stop jumping on me was to completely ignore her. I don't acknowledge her at all when I first get home until she calms down.

I can't help but feel like people who have a negative view of pit bulls have either never been around pits or hang out in the hood too much. Every pit I've ever met has been a sweetheart

 

Not to talk complete shit about somebody (that dog's "woman")...but WHAT THE HELL?!? To keep a dog like that in a little crate!!! That just makes me feel like growling and snapping! My GOD...it really sounds like the dog is doing pretty good not to be aggressive or jumping more than it is. I know other people that would about lose their minds when a dog we had would jump on them...I told them to shut the f---k up! I didn't really care, and neither did anybody else that lived here...she was just happy to see us. At one point, I did (DID being the operative word here) see a guy that thought he would KICK her when she jumped on him...well, she was still here when he was no longer welcome.
BUT...I do realize that lots and lots of people think that is just a bad bad thing to do.

Getting the dog some chew toys and exercising him like you have described sounds great...and much more than that woman has done for him. I bet he is going to hate going back with her. Sounds like she just needs a poodle or some such little dog she can cram in a little crate. grrrr People that are going to do that to a good/medium sized dog should not be allowed to have dogs!

 

No no no....I said do NOT get raw hide products. Get a real bone as seen in my sig pic. Raw hide is bad for the strong jawed Bully breeds because they can chew through it too fast. They will ingest the entire "bone" in one sitting and that is no healthy. And they can easily choke on them. I've witnessed it happen first hand.