Any dog training experts here?

[grateful1]

Have a look at these collars. You can get collars with both vibration and shock.

A man with experience...eh!?

 

[Big A]

I hope you are kidding. Hitting a dog is not training.

Timeouts just didn't work with him. I tried.

 

[jstrat]

I hit the sh*t out of mine. He learns really quick not to bite at someone. I have a shar'pei and they are dominant/protective dogs. Just gotta remind them who the alpha is.

*edit* b/c I don't beat him, just hit hard or else he thinks I'm "playing"

I hope you are kidding. Hitting a dog is not training.

Now, on to the point. I have more than ten years experience working with Rottweilers, Pitbulls and Mastiffs. I can tell you that the issue is that your dog is an "outside dog". I am not being critical, but dogs are pack animals. They want to be with and your family. By keeping the dog outside and isolated, you are building aggression and territorial behavior. You need to spend time with your dog, take regular walks and alllow him to be part of your pack (i.e., inside the house). Pinch collars and shock collars will not work if your goal is to form a bond with your dog and get him to trust you as the pack leader.

I'm happy to help in any way I can. Feel free to PM me with ant concerns or questions.

Jeff

Good call Jeff. I agree! I grew up with a 130lb. chocolate lab that was always inside. Things are different with Cash though. When we adopted him, we agreed that we just didn't have the room inside for him. Our local shelter is a kill shelter, so when our neighbors abandoned him, we chose to give him as good a home as we could. So let me be clear that we didn't actually go to a shelter and bring him home. Our shit head neighbors abandoned him in their back yard. I called animal control, they came out... told me about the kill policy... the rest is history.

I'm lucky that right now I can spend quite a bit of time with him. This won't be the case though when I finish grad school. I worry about him being out there. Shit, I lost sleep over having him out there at first. Then I had to just let go and realize that he has a pretty damn comfortable place to stay here. He has a great dog house that is right out the back door, a great view of the front and 6+ dogs in the back from our neighbors. Its the best I can do for him now. Truthfully, he gets a lot more attention now that he ever has. I think its been a positive change for him.

Good lookin' out though. I think you are right on...

mac

Mac, I think you did a great thing rescuing Cash. Especially with your shelter's kill policy.

Sounds like you are heading down the right path. One thing you may want to try is getting him involved in some kind of activity that will burn off the extra energy. Pit bulls are athletes by nature so they love things like flyball, swimming, weight-pulling (with a proper harness) or even just walking with a backpack filled with water bottles or cans. Check around some of the dog forums for other suggestions.

Good luck.

 

[Allofus123]

SOme great advice offered here and some really bad advice also. The bad advice should be obvious so I won't even address it.

Do not get an E collar. Nobody, without proper training, should be allowed to use one on a dog. When used properly an e collar is not used for punishment. Unfortunately many believe you just need to shock a dog into submission. There are certain reasons that apply to ramping up a collar but there are are so many variables that it can not sufficiently be explained here. Unless "you" plan to get effective instrutions from a trainer on the proper use of a collar you will be better served to use other tactics.

There are difference levels of agreesion and while you have explained the dog as more excitable than agreesive he appears to be exhibiting both. If the dog is left outside and only has occasional "contact" the excitability factor raises once anyone enters his territory. He then display the aggression by jumping up, nipping, and just rough housing in general. Its not what most consider agreesion as he's not actually "attacking" in a fierce uncontrollable raqe but it is agreesion. This is most likely a learned experience as much as a instictive behavior. Do you "rough house" with him? How often do you really involve yourself with him? Does he get daily walks/exercise? There just so many things that need to be accessed first before really being able to put a plan together for correction.

If your dog is still jumping on you after receiving a raised knee into the sternum everytime than you are not doing it correctly. Make sure you are connecting firmly and commanding NO or OFF at the same time. A dog will not continue to repeat the behavior if its causing him a bit of discomfort when he does. Remember, always use one word commands and decide what those commands will be. You do not want you giving the OFF command and the wife giving the NO command. Another effective way to deal with this is as soon as you deliver the knee to him along with the "down" or "no" command is to grab him and pin him on his back into submission. Do not allow him to get up until he has completely submitted to you. Repeat everytime you enter his territory until the dog stops advacing agreesively/playful after you firmly command DOWN or NO. Also, remember the tone of your command delivery should be deliberate. A dog will grasp very quickly the tone you make your commands with.

There are a lot of basics in dog training but individual problems are hard to advise without observing the problem first hand. Be consistent.

 

[grateful1]

Another effective way to deal with this is as soon as you deliver the knee to him along with the "down" or "no" command is to grab him and pin him on his back into submission. Do not allow him to get up until he has completely submitted to you. Repeat everytime you enter his territory until the dog stops advacing agreesively/playful after you firmly command DOWN or NO. Also, remember the tone of your command delivery should be deliberate. A dog will grasp very quickly the tone you make your commands with.

Does this hold true for women as well?