When using marker training you build a stay into behaviors because the dog is not allowed to get up and come get their reward until released. So with one cue, sit for example, you are in fact teaching a sit/stay to your dog.

Another obedience time waster is the heel cue. Heeling is not a practical pet dog obedience behavior because heeling is a strict position (not walking on the left). Trainers who have made the “heel” part of their training programs usually just teach loose leash walking on the left side. It is far from what a real heel is. Which is, a strict static position the dog never changes.

Example, the dog holds a position where their right shoulder blade is next to your left knee. If you move backwards that position doesn’t change the dog walks backwards. If you take a big step with your right leg but do not move your left leg the dog stays by the left leg without moving.

In reality there is very little need for a pet dog to learn this. The heel is also quite stressful on a dog when it is taught correctly. They want to sniff and explore their world yet you are restricting their ability to do so because you want your dog to follow you. Or you want to show them who is the “pack leader” or whatever other reason that you use to restrict your dogs natural movement.

I’ll say it again so people don’t email with hate mail about how I’m crazy. The only time you would ever need a real heel is in high traffic areas where you need your dog close to you for a brief time. If you are walking down an empty street in suburbia why not let your dog have more freedom to sniff, pee, poo, and explore? Your dog is not going to see this limited freedom as a chance to over throw your household. That I guarantee you.

In short the best obedience behaviors are the ones you can actually use daily. Many classes are regimented to teach you a specific set of behaviors THEY feel is best for you and your dog. If you don’t need to teach a 30 minute down stay (way excessive in my view) then don’t worry about teaching it and don’t allow a trainer to mislead you into thinking that you really need to teach your dog the behavior.

Of course if you want to spend time teaching your dog more complicated behaviors by all means go for it. I’m not saying you should take what I wrote here today and ditch the obedience training. What you teach your dog is entirely up to you. However for those that want to cut right to the chase the simple behaviors like sit, down, leash manners, and coming when called will give you a lifetime of material to work on.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

Best Regards,
Jason Mann
http://www.PitBullTrainingHandbook.com

Mostly people email me with something along the lines of, “Jason, my puppy is super aggressive. He is biting other puppies, me, my husband, my kids, he tugs on our pant legs, what can I do to stop this aggressive behavior because I’m getting scared!”

Pit Bulls are among the many breeds that have high prey drives (chase, catch, shake, kill, eat). Prey drive is how they survive in the wild.

Prey drive is 100%, completely natural, and should not be feared. Your puppy having high prey drive does not mean he is going to be a killing machine or anything. In fact, dog trainers like myself search for dogs with high prey drives because it makes training much easier. However it can be overwhelming if you’re not used to or understand what you’re seeing.

Take pant grabbing for example. Your leg is moving (prey item) so your puppy wants to chase it (as they would prey) and when they get your pant let (catch) the start to tug (shake and kill).

Basically they are practicing hunting on your pant leg.

Biting, nipping, jumping on other puppies are all normal behavior traits for a Pit Bull puppy. They are learning how to play with other dogs, how much they can use their mouth, and what they can and cannot get away with.

If you watch your puppy with other dogs you will see the other dogs will tell your pup, “yes you can nip me that hard, OUCH! but not that hard!” You should do the same thing.

Puppies are incapable of aggressive behavior as you would think of aggressive behavior. Is biting to hard aggressive? Maybe. Depends on who you ask. For me I say no. I say it is because they haven’t learned how to control their bite yet.

If a puppy grabs my pant leg and starts to shake it is that aggression? Again for me no. It is hunting practice. However you could say the puppy is “acting” aggressively.

My point is true aggression is incredibly rare in puppies. Especially pups under 6-7 months of age.

Pit Bull puppies are like a lot of high energy, high prey drive breeds that need interaction with people and dogs in order to learn about their world. Your job is to help them learn about their world using proven, methods that achieve your objectives (soft mouth, social manners, house manners etc…)

Next time your puppy is chasing the cat, your leg, or another puppy around “acting” aggressive remember that this is a time for learning and while you don’t want to let your puppy run roughshod over you and everything around you you do want to give them a slight bit of freedom to learn.

In my ebook, The Pit Bull Training Handbook I go over a lot of these issues that owners mistake for aggression or bad behavior. Puppy house training, social manners, and crate training are also covered in the ebook as well.

Until Next Time,
Jason Mann
The Pit Bull Training Handbook – Practical Training for Pit Bull Owners.

My dogs, poor sensory overloaded four leggers, were drooling most of
the day waiting for their “piece of the pie.” You see, being the guy
I am my dogs are just as much part of my family as the two leggers
are so each of the dogs gets a plate made just for them based on
their personal likes and dislikes.

I wanted to share this with you along with a training tip because
a lot of times we are so busy on the holidays we leave out our
little four leggers.

My dogs get: (Raw meats mind you, nothing is cooked)

1. Turkey neck split between the 4 of them.
2. Turkey liver, sliced and diced Kentucky style.
3. Turkey heart. They love the heart.
4. A chicken thigh (bone in).
5. A cut of ham.

Each dog gets a little more or less of the above foods of course
but for the most part I try to keep it as equal as possible depending
on how much the dogs weigh. The heart is so small they only get
a tiny bit but they liver they love. I call it “Pit Bull Pâté” because I make it into a little spread that goes on their chicken thigh.

Now that we’ve covered the dogs meal I wanted to share with you a little training exercise I do with them to help proof some behaviors they already know like stay, down, and take it.

Before I give them their plates I put the dogs in a stay and then one by one on put the plates on the floor about 4 feet apart (my dogs have food issues so they need space).

After that I put the dogs into a down and one by one I release them with their different “take it” cues to go to their plates.

Simple? Well yes and no. Yes it is simple to do when you have one dog but not was easy with 4. Especially given the food that is on the plate. My dogs love liver, heart, and raw chicken. Making this simple exercise much more difficult for them because they are hungry and their are good eats on the plate.

However, from a training stand point training each dog separately and then putting them together as a group makes this exercise quite easy to set up. People are amazed at how well they behave but only if they knew how many times they go to the food during training. lol.

That will be our little secret okay? ;o)

Have a Grand and Safe Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,
Jason Mann and the Moo Crew.
The Most Complete Pit Bull Site Online
The Pit Bull Training Handbook

There is a 45 day, no hassle guarantee so I promptly refunded the purchase. In her email she said the reason why she wanted a refund was because she doesn’t believe in training with treats. Curious I emailed her back asking her why she didn’t believe in training with treats.

Her response was typical of people who do not understand the principles of dog training. She responded with the following …

“I don’t like treat training cause I want her to respond without always expecting a treat. Also, I don’t like having to carry treats all of the time.”

Early on in my dog training education I remember having a debate with a trainer that I was working with about the use of food rewards in dog training. They believed you should limit the use of food rewards and I was trying to figure out why that is.

Later in my training education a trainer that I respect and who trains dogs to the highest levels of competitive sports and working roles in law enforcement told me they believe in training with food because it makes training easier and more efficient.

Today I believe that if you are still trying to train your dog using praise or toys or some other form of reward you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Why? While a few dogs may indeed respond to toys and praise the vast majority of dogs will respond to food. Food makes training easier.

I am writing this today because this “no treat training” confuses me. Would you work without a paycheck? Seriously. That is exactly what you’re asking your dog to do. Hey, do it because I said so or else!

What if your boss walked in and said, “Hey, you’re not getting a check anymore, do it or else!” Would you respond, “Oh golly boss, thank you so so much for ya kindness boss!” They have name for this kind of thing, it’s called SLAVERY.

Dogs work because you pay them. Eventually the work becomes the reward and you don’t have to pay them as much, but you still have to give them their holiday bonus from time to time otherwise they will go on strike and walk out on you.

To expect a dog to listen to you “just because” is ridiculous.

Now you may have a dog that doesn’t respond to food, that’s all good, I am not saying they do not exist. What I am saying is you should not dismiss using food rewards because you “don’t want” your dog to “expect a treat.”

The lady also said …

I”ve been using the deep ” authoritative” voice followed by positive touch & voice. That technique only works sometimes

The reason it only works sometimes is because the dog is not receiving a motivational reward. Speaking to your dog in an “authoritative” voice does nothing. Why? Your dog doesn’t know what you are trying to convey to them. You could scream at them for an hour but unless you give them a reward at the proper time, your voice means diddly doo.

My advice to anyone reading this that thinks training with treats is not effective or they don’t want to use food because they don’t want their dogs expecting treats is to educate yourself about the principles of dog training before you start training your dog.

Learn from a professional dog trainer before you make up your mind.

Best Regards,
Jason Mann
The Most Complete Website About Pit Bulls Online

Fast forward to a week later.

Puppies biting, pooping on the carpet, peeing on your shoes, tearing your house to shreds, biting you, mouthing you, growling at you, and you start to realize that this whole puppy thing might not be your cup of tea.

First, I feel your pain.

Second, the following tips will help you iron out Pit Bull puppyhood problems without driving yourself mad.

One of things I hear a lot from new Pit Bull owners is they comment on how this puppy is not like any other puppy they have raised before so they think the dog must be different.

Dogs are as different as people. New owners often purchase a puppy after the loss of a pet and constantly compare the new dog to the dog that has passed. Not only does this set you up for failure it makes raising your new puppy harder because you are expecting your new puppy to act like the other dog.

This is quite far from reality.

Dealing with your new puppy should be a fresh start for you. Avoid projecting the “our other dog” comments towards the puppy and start treating the puppy as an individual with their own personality.

You will find you will make greater strides if you do this.

Training should start immediately. There is not an age limit on when you can start working with a dog. 8 weeks old is generally when a new puppy is brought home so, 8 weeks old is when you should start training your new puppy, setting the rules, and teaching manners.

I have covered Pit Bull puppy training quite extensively here at the blog and other places so I won’t go into great detail here. If you would like specifics on house training, biting and mouthing, and teaching them manners you can visit http://www.pitbulllovers.com and http://www.pitbulltraininghandbook.com

Setting a Solid Foundation is Key

Typically people bring home their puppy and think it’s going to run like a well oiled machine. Realistically the machine is imperfect and the plan soon slips into recovery mode instead of prevention mode.

Solving behavior issues like chewing, biting, barking, and house soiling starts with a plan. Prevention is the name of the game. If a dog cannot get away with a behavior they will learn not to do it. Easily said, not so easy to do.

Develop a plan on how to redirect biting, how to help your puppies new teeth come in (chewing), how to teach them to “quiet” down, and set a schedule for potty training.

With this plan in mind get started. Be consistent, don’t rush the situation and try to avoid going into the situation as if this is another dog you have raised in the past.

If you stick to your plan and show the dog what is allowed and what is not allowed your Pit Bull puppy training experience will be a pleasant one. If you fail to plan it could be a frustrating road to recovery.

Until Next Time,
Jason Mann
The Most Complete Pit Bull Website Online