The key to living happily with your Pitbull is to make sure that you train your Pitbull well. For your dog to effectively learn what you expect of them in different situations, however, the training has to be done the right way. Question is, what is the right way to train your Pitbull?
For training to be effective, start training your Pitbull early. This way, your dog won’t learn any undesirable behaviors. You’ll also need to properly socialize your Pitbull and be consistent during training, but there’s a lot more to training a Pitbull. Let’s check out the dos and don’ts of training your Pitbull well.
12. Don’t Wait Too Long To Start Training
For training to be effective, it should start on the first day you bring your Pitbull home. This teaches your Pitbull puppy that you’re in command from the very first day.
Second, it doesn’t give your pooch time to develop any unwanted behaviors. If they learn some unwanted behaviors, they’ll have to unlearn them in order to learn the positive behavior you’re teaching. This could make training more difficult.
11. Do Use Positive Reinforcement
The best way to train your Pitbull is to use positive reinforcement. This means rewarding your dear fido with a positive experience once they do what you want them to do.
For instance, if you give your Pitbull an order, and they follow it correctly, reward them with some treats or even words of praise. Since your Pitbull enjoys the treats, it’ll always repeat the action that helped them earn the treats.
10. Do Teach Obedience
As a dog owner, you want the confidence that comes with knowing that you can control your dog in all situations. The key to controlling your Pitbull is to teach them obedience.
For instance, if you tell your Pitbull to “come,” it should obey the command and come to you, even if they were about to get aggressive. Obedience training is the key to having a well-behaved dog.
9. Don’t Make Training Sessions Too Long
Dogs don’t have very long attention spans. If you want your Pitbull to learn effectively, you should keep training sessions between 5 and 15 minutes. Beyond that, your Pitbull will lose concentration, and the training session will become ineffective.
A good way to train your Pitbull is to have several 10-minute training sessions spread out over the course of the day. This works particularly well with puppies.
8. Do Leash Train Your Pitbull
Pitbulls are among dogs regulated by Breed Specific Legislation. Most states require Pitbull owners to always keep their canine buddies on a leash whenever they’re out in public. Therefore, it is very important for you to leash train your Pitbull.
Train your Pitbull to always keep the leash slack. It should be clear to your dog that you’re the one in control, and that they shouldn’t be trying to pull against you.
7. Don’t Get Frustrated
Even though Pitbulls are smart, they also have a stubborn streak, and therefore, all your training sessions won’t go as you expected.
When this happens, don’t get frustrated and lose your cool. Instead, remain calm, and try to get the pooch to concentrate. Once they show concentration, reward them with treats. If it doesn’t happen, you can stop the training session and wait until later. You should also check if there is something distracting the dog.
6. Do Establish Dominance
Dogs are pack animals that instinctively obey the pack leader. Therefore, if you want your Pitbull to obey you, you must establish dominance and position yourself as the pack leader. If you don’t do this, your Pitbull will assume the pack leader position, and you’ll have a hard time controlling them.
To establish dominance, teach your dog that you’re the one who gives them permission to do things like going outside, eating, or playing.
5. Don’t Use Aggression
A lot of people think that beating or punishing their dog for unwanted behavior is an effective way of training. In reality, this doesn’t teach your Pitbull anything.
Using aggression against your Pitbull will not only ruin the bond between you and your beloved pooch, but it can also cause your dog to become aggressive. You definitely don’t want to have an aggressive Pitbull on your hands.
4. Do Socialize Your Pitbull
One of the most important things you should do is to make sure that your Pitbull is properly socialized from a young age.
Fear, especially in unfamiliar situations, is one of the things that cause aggression in dogs. Socializing your Pitbull exposes them to multiple people and situations and teaches them to be comfortable even in unfamiliar surroundings. A good way to socialize your Pitbull is to enroll them in a puppy kindergarten.
3. Don’t Be Inconsistent
Inconsistency can make it very difficult for your Pitbull to learn. For instance, if you don’t want your dog to ever beg for scraps at the dinner table, never give them any, regardless of how much they plead. Giving in to their demands even once shows them that this is acceptable behavior.
In addition, always use the same commands. Don’t say “sit” one time and “sit down” the next time, as this will confuse your dog.
2. Don’t Train Your Pitbull In A Place Full Of Distractions
Dogs get easily distracted. Therefore, if you want your Pitbull to learn quickly and effectively, you should do the training in a calm environment where they are unlikely to get distracted easily. For instance, don’t train your Pitbull in a park, where there are a lot of things going on.
Once your Pitbull has mastered the commands, you can then start practicing the commands in different environments.
1. Do Teach Your Pitbull To Tolerate Touching
As part of caring for your Pitbull, you’ll need to brush them, wash them, clean their ears, and trim their nails regularly. All these involve lots of touching. If your Pitbull is not used to being touched, it can see this as a nuisance and possibly get aggressive.
To prevent this, teach your Pitbull to be tolerant and even enjoy this kind of handling from a very young age.
Related Questions
Do Well-Trained Pitbulls Attack? While it is impossible to predict the behavior of any Pitbulls with 100% accuracy, it is very unlikely for a well-trained Pitbull to attack. It is also very unlikely for Pitbulls to suddenly snap and attack someone, and there’s no age when Pitbulls will become aggressive. Aggression is usually a result of poor training.
How Do You Tell If A Pitbull Will Attack? Some signs that a Pitbull is about to attack include baring their teeth, making a low rumbling growl, looking you in the eye, and stiffly wagging their tails upwards. Note, however, that Pitbulls don’t suddenly snap and attack. If a Pitbull wants to attack, something must have triggered them.
How Do You Stop A Pitbull Attack? If a Pitbull wants to attack you, avoid the temptation to run or yell at the dog. Instead, remain calm, start backing away slowly, and avoid looking the dog directly in the eye. Direct eye contact with an angry dog means you’re challenging them and could push the dog into attacking you.
