 | Welcome to the new Pit Bull University |
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We have our first quiz added. Please give "ID THE PIT BULL" a go! It takes only a few minutes and please do not cheat We also need teachers desperately . To make this effort a success we need about 25 complete courses in pit bull ownership, pit bull working events, judges education and just plain fun courses. Do something you can be proud of and help with this effort. |
. BUT PLEASE!! If you have taken the quiz on the pitbullpets or other site please do not take it here. The results we obtain are important. | Re: Welcome to the new Pit Bull University |
| So what can others do to help? you have mentioned that you need teachers desperately, what would they have to do? |
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Hi Suzanne, I would love for anyone to develop courses related to canine education. e.g. bsl 101, beginning obedience 101, etc etc. The goal is to develop comprehensive owner education resources. |
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hi yes the goal of what i would like to teach is basic manners basic obedience for the canine challeneged lol making the most from on line education marcia in pa |
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Hi Marcia, You can come join puppy agility 101 it will also help with some basic manners/ obedience commands and there is no specific age limit. It is for pups 8 weeks and up as well as older dogs who are newbies to the sport. It is a fun class which promotes positive training, great bonding and exercise for the handler and dog! Hope to see you in class!! |
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Today, we'll talk about how to train your American Pit Bull Terrier and make it more obedient. The key to success in training your American Pit Bull Terrier is understanding the psychology of your pet - i.e. how its mind works, and then incorporating that with proven training techniques and a few training aids. Remember, your American Pit Bull Terrier is not a human and therefore does not think or react as a human would. Also, your pet does not verbally communicate with humans and you should not think that it does. It may recognize the word "out" and associate it with going outside, but that is only because it is a common action that occurs consistently before it goes outside. If you change the verbal word you use to communicate with your American Pit Bull Terrier along the way, your pet will no longer understand what you want. It is important that whatever word you choose to give a command, you stick with that same word each and every time, without the least alteration. Also, before you can even begin training your American Pit Bull Terrier, your must establish that you are the "Master" and your American Pit Bull Terrier is the "Follower". Remember, the American Pit Bull Terrier has an inherent trait that makes it a social animal, needing a dominance subordination hierarchy. You must establish that you are the leader of its pack before you will be successful with any type of training. This is called "social reinforcement". The following items will help you establish that leadership role in the life of your American Pit Bull Terrier: i) Do not compromise with your American Pit Bull Terrier. For example, if you want it to perform a desired behavior, don't just give up and walk away when it does not perform. Instead, use some type of reinforcement to show it that its behavior was not correct, such as withholding the treat or toy. ii) You should always initiate interaction with your American Pit Bull Terrier and terminate the interaction with your American Pit Bull Terrier rather than the other way round. iii) Avoid tending to your pet's every desire. Rewards should only be given for desired behavior, and should never be given just like that. iv) When you are spending time with your American Pit Bull Terrier, pet, talk and touch it often. This will help establish the trust needed to truly set you forth as the leader. Obedience Training Styles Just like housebreaking, when you are training your American Pit Bull Terrier, the key thing is consistency. You need to pick a training style that is suitable for you and your American Pit Bull Terrier and stick with it. The two most popular types of obedience training are leash and collar training and reward training. We won't have the time to describe these techniques in detail in this email - so we will just give you a short overview of these techniques. In the leash and collar type of training, the leash is used in the beginning as the tool to teach the correct behavior, then once the behavior is learned, the leash is only used to correct unwanted behavior. A mistake often made by the novice owner with this type of training is they forget the leash is used only as a tool. Often a novice owner will abuse the leash to nag at the American Pit Bull Terrier. This defeats the purpose of the leash. The leash must be used only to get the American Pit Bull Terrier to obey. It is used to establish the leadership role between master and pet, but to be successful in training, the American Pit Bull Terrier must understand the command with or without the leash and you must be able to utilize any tool at hand to solicit the correct behavior from your pet, not just a leash. Reward training usually incorporates food rewards or a reward that is associated with getting food. The associated award could be the command "Good". Many owners now use a clicker as an associated reward. A secret to making the reward trained American Pit Bull Terrier reliable is working the pet around distractions in its environment and teaching proper socialization. If you only train your American Pit Bull Terrier in the house, it will not be used to extra stimuli. The well trained American Pit Bull Terrier, then exposed to unfamiliar people, may not respond as desired. When reward training, it is important you train both inside and outside your home to make sure your American Pit Bull Terrier is exposed to as much stimuli as possible. Another important tool in communication between you and your American Pit Bull Terrier is the tone of your voice when delivering a command. The command "Good" will have a more positive tone. The excitement in your voice will be picked up by the American Pit Bull Terrier and it will eventually associate it with the feelings of acceptance for that response to the previous command. The word "No" will have a more forceful tone, usually associated with a negative response, such as a stern tug on the leash if leash training. The American Pit Bull Terrier will eventually establish that tone as an indication for an undesired response to your command. As you move on in your training, the tone will be as important to the American Pit Bull Terrier as the command itself. Also frequently overlooked by the novice owner is body language. Once you get to know your pet better, you will understand its meaning behind specific body motions. An owner who really understands his/her American Pit Bull Terrier will see even the slightest head movement in certain situations and understand exactly what it means. This enables the owner to give a command prior to a behavior occurring. I got this off a mini course that I checked into. It is really great for people who are beginners!!!!! |
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Today, we'll talk about how to teach the basic commands to your American Pit Bull Terrier. Before we begin instructions for individual commands, it is important that you understand the pitfalls to avoid and tips for success when teaching the basic commands to your American Pit Bull Terrier. * Always use your pet's name when speaking to it. This will increase its attention to you when calling it or giving it a command. * When you give a command, enforce it. Do not repeat the command over and over again. If it does not respond to the command, manipulate its body into the command position if appropriate. Never give a command if you do not intend to enforce it. You will lose credibility with your American Pit Bull Terrier by doing this. * Always reinforce desired behavior. Reinforcement does not always have to be a treat. Your touch and voice can be enough reinforcement to help the American Pit Bull Terrier understand it did what you desired. * Never reinforce undesired behavior. No matter how they tilt their head or make you feel bad, never reinforce the undesired behavior. Remember, your American Pit Bull Terrier is also learning how to manipulate you. If it does not perform the desired command, it is imperative that you ignore it, then try again in a few minutes. Eventually, it will respond to your command because of its born-in desire to please you. * Never punish desirable behavior. Many owners do not realize that when their American Pit Bull Terrier performs the desired action, such as going to the bathroom outside, and then the owner immediately walks away, they are punishing their American Pit Bull Terrier by ignoring them. Stay with your American Pit Bull Terrier after the desired behavior is performed. Make sure it understands that what it did was good and you are happy before leaving it. * A trick for success is keeping your American Pit Bull Terrier interested. Remember, a American Pit Bull Terrier will only learn if it is having fun. Know when to quit when training. Trying to do too much too soon will mentally exhaust the American Pit Bull Terrier and it will be much harder to train. We'll now discuss some of the basic commands that you should teach your American Pit Bull Terrier. However, because of space constraints, we won't have time to discuss all the basic commands that you should teach to your American Pit Bull Terrier. COME Teaching your American Pit Bull Terrier to come is one of the most important commands it will ever learn. It is also a command that will take a lot of time to successfully learn. Begin by waiting until your American Pit Bull Terrier is already approaching you, then when two to three feet away give the command "COME" with the name of your American Pit Bull Terrier ("COME SCOUT"). When the American Pit Bull Terrier gets to you, praise it. You should repeat this exercise as often as you can for several months. As your American Pit Bull Terrier begins to associate "COME" with a good thing, you can gradually increase the distance. If your American Pit Bull Terrier does not come, then it has not yet made the association of the word to the action. Give it time, it will eventually understand. The key to success with this command is for your American Pit Bull Terrier to always associate the command "COME" with a good thing. A common mistake made by novice handlers is they use a firm tone with the command causing the American Pit Bull Terrier to associate fear with the command. If a American Pit Bull Terrier fears you, its instinct will be to run away instead of coming near. NEVER chase your American Pit Bull Terrier when using the command "COME". This is a sure way to teach your American Pit Bull Terrier that "COME" is a bad thing. Once you believe your American Pit Bull Terrier understands the command, begin to reinforce it. Put a lead on your pet's collar and allow the American Pit Bull Terrier to run around with the lead dragging behind. Gently pick up the lead, without the American Pit Bull Terrier noticing and say "COME SCOUT". If your American Pit Bull Terrier does not come, then gently pull the lead forcing it to come. Repeat this test often. Another exercise to test the "COME" command is having a family member walk the American Pit Bull Terrier, on a leash, away from you. Give the command "COME SCOUT" and see if the American Pit Bull Terrier comes. Repeat the command if it does not come the first time. If it does not come the second time, give a third command, but this time have the family member walk the American Pit Bull Terrier towards you until it reaches you. Be sure and give the American Pit Bull Terrier a lot of praise when it reaches you, even if the command was performed with assistance. OFF This command is used to tell your American Pit Bull Terrier that it should not touch an item with its mouth or paws. It can be taught by containing the American Pit Bull Terrier in a controlled environment with only a few items that may distract it. As soon as it reaches for one of the items, use the command "OFF". Praise it when it leaves the item alone. Eventually you can begin to walk it around and use the command "OFF" in a larger area. It will eventually understands that this means to leave the item alone when the command is used. It is an especially nice command to utilize when your American Pit Bull Terrier may be getting into a dangerous situation by touching something that could potentially hurt it. HEEL This command is used when walking your pet's shoulder next to the owner/handler's leg. Begin teaching "Heel" by placing the American Pit Bull Terrier on your left side using a choke chain and a lead. Hold the lead tightly with your right hand and loosely with your left. Begin walking and give the command "HEEL". Tug the choke chain as soon as your American Pit Bull Terrier begins to pull ahead or lag behind. Use the command "HEEL" every time you tug the lead to move it back into the proper position. Once your American Pit Bull Terrier begins understanding this exercise, it will watch your leg to make sure it is heeling. Once it understands straight lines, it is time to start turning corners. Turn left first gently pushing it as you turn if need be. Give the command "HEEL" every time you turn to make sure you have its attention. Sessions should be no more than 20 minutes the first day and 15 minutes two times a day thereafter for the first week. Your American Pit Bull Terrier should be able to learn this command in about a week's time. Here is another great training session for beginners. I have used this myself and it has really paid off. Just a little help in Beginners Edu. 101 |
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Here are some great website to visit: This site is for all of you who are interested in weight pulling. It has a schedule of events and competitions. This is also a good site. It gives you a rundown on all different kinds of sports for the breed. You must click on LiL Bull Site. Maybe something on there that you would be interested in training your dog for. I especially liked this site due to all the event pictures. It has a helpful message board if you need training tips or want event schedules. This site has links that cover everything from weight pulling to bite training. The APBT and breeds like it are very good sports dogs. They have the muscle and strength power to do just about anything. They are starting to be more recognized in the sporting world and are starting to dominate it. People are starting to realize that these breeds are more than just fighting dogs. As you can see I have posted several things on this board and will keep doing so. I am totally dedicated to the breed. I owe it to my dogs to make people aware that the breed is not dangerous just the owners who have them. You make your dog what it is. I never owned a APBT, I trained rotties for protection and my husband brought a pit home one day. I was skeptical and afraid at first, but she has been the best dog I ever owned. She proved it the day my house got broke into and I was almost beat to death. If she had not of been there I would be dead now. She attacked the man and fought him off of me and she was due with a litter in 2 weeks. Treat your dog right and they will forever protect you. |
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Scot is there a way to make the Puppy Agility 101 forum also available on the overall site news page of forums? Therese, Patch O' Pits Alpha mama |
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| I would love to start a child education program in my area using my APBT (who is cgc certified) in which we teach children dog saftey, how to care for our pets and basic stuff such as this. Does anyone know where I can begin? |
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I actually do this. I recommend you contact AKC as they often have free materials they will send you such as coloring books that are instructional on greeting dogs. It is honestly better to go and get a therapy certificate as well before doing this as many places will not allow you to come in unless you have one You can get info about thera-pits off my website at: http://www.patch-o-pits.com/therapy.html and on http://www.apbtconformation.com/bully_therapy_dogs.htm If you need any other help just send me an e-mail Good luck! |
