3/08/2005 01:35:00 AM|||Jason Mann|||Today I would like to share with you what I have learned about Pit Bull training and why the books that have been written on the subject are mostly junk.
Pit Bulls are a hot topic these days. You'll be hard pressed to find a nice article or story about them anywhere. Recently they were banned from Ontario (yes, another blunder in the world of common sense) and more areas are considering the same.
On that note, people are also coming along hoping to cash in on their popularity. Writing ebooks and crappy books that are so vague and general you could substitue Pit Bull or German Shepherd and the book would read the same.
In the end these books share general training information with a few (very few I might add) Pit Bull specific concepts in the mix to make it "appear" like a Pit Bull training manual.
STOP. Read this and then make up your own mind.
Okay with that said let's get started...
Pit Bull Training 101
The thing about Pit Bulls is, they are smart. Some are extremely smart, but as whole the breed was blessed with intelligence. Once you think about it, they were bred to fight and if you've done your homework they didn't just run out and try and kill another dog.
No, a lot of them wrestle and have moves they put on their opponents. They use their brains and learn from experience how to fight. While I hate dog fighting with a passion, I am glad this has rubbed off into modern dogs. Giving them the ability to use their noodles and make decisions based on experiences.
Which leads me to the most important thing you will ever read, hear, or be told about Pit Bull training...
...find what motivates your dog and make every training session a positive experience and you will have a highly trained Pit Bull.
I can not over emphasize those two points enough. Once you find out what gets your dog super excited you will get their attention easily. This makes training fun for both you and your dog.
You must make every single training experience positive or you risk ruining your dog. It's really that simple.
Always allow them to do something right before stopping. Do not correct them and quit. They will remember the correction not the behavior they did right before the correction. They think in the moment and bad experiences stick with them like super glue to your fingers.
I'd like to share with you a personal story. A story that I am in no way proud of, it's not horrible, but it could have been.
When Angel (my oldest at 4 years of age now) was 4 months old I hired a private trainer to help me learn how to train her.
He was a very nice man, preacher, drove a school bus, and was knowledgable about dog training. The first day he pulled out a prong collar, explained it, and told me we would be using it. I was naive and frankly she was kind of out of control so I agreed.
He showed me how to put it on correctly then he attached the leash and demonstrated a correction while teaching Angel to focus on him.
He corrected her so hard she yelped!
I was not happy and made it very clear to him that would not happen again or I'd do more than give him grief.
He apologized but something very important happened that moment.
From that moment on every time he would pull intot he drive Angel would run and hide.
One harsh correction sent my dog into panic mode and damaged her chances of training success.
Thankfully over time we corrected that but it still lingered with Angel. She wasn't excited to be training she did it because she had to.
That went on for four weeks until the contract ran out. During that time I was experimenting with different training methods. I was mostly trying positive training or what they call "marker training."
Then one day I took Angels favorite toy (a baseball, any ball worked but she LOVES baseballs) and asked her to sit. She sat down instantly.
I asked her to down, again, down in seconds.
I asked her to sit again, up into the sit in record time.
Then I tossed her the ball.
Eureka!
From that moment on the collar and the leash were never used again for training. I re-trained the sit, down, come, and heel using a tennis ball.
Her heel is more solid, her sit is unshakable, her down is super strong, and her recall is 95% reliable. Which is better than most dogs for sure.
I have since found Honey's motivator (a tug rope) and trained her to sit, down, come, and heel as well. Her recall is 98% reliable and the rest are great, except the heel. She still has trouble but hey, no one's perfect! :o)
The moral of this story should be clear, one bad day nearly ruined Angel for good. It took months of work to re-build our bond and trust. I let it happen and she knew that.
I might sound crazy, but unless you were there you have no idea how badly that messed her up. I was sure training would be hard and it was until I found out how to use what motivated her to make training fun and positive.
Would you like to see the girls in living color?
Here are some vids I shot last summer of the girls working the spring pole, playing at the park and one of Angel's off-lead heel in the front yard (pay attention at the end, you'll see where I hide the ball to get her attention.)
To view the video's visit: http://imageevent.com/jmann4/angel
Watch Angel do a solid off-lead heel by going to:
http://imageevent.com/jmann4/training
Note: I apologize in advance for the bad narration and poor camera work. :o)
I can not cover this topic in one sitting so this will subject be broken up into several installments.
So keep your eyes peeled for the next installment of Pit Bull Training - Myth vs. Reality coming soon.
Best Regards,
Jason Mann & The Gruesome Twosome (Angel and Honey)
Pit Bull Lovers - The Most Complete Pit Bull Site Online
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