Leadership Rules
Misconceptions about "Alpha Dogs" and Pit Bulls

I was standing on the corner the other day walking my dog Angel when a woman walked up with a nice looking Pointer. As we waited on the light to change so we could cross the lady said, "Those are great dogs but you have to rule them with an iron fist. You better make sure you're the Alpha." I smiled and said, "thanks for the tip." The light changed and we crossed and went our separate ways.

This is a common misconception about American Pit Bull Terriers and other bully breeds. People think since they are well built and athletic you have to "rule them with an iron fist." Nothing could be further from the truth. This goes for a lot of dog breeds.

You can be a leader without being "the boss" or "dominant" or the "alpha" or whatever pointless term you want to use to describe leadership. Leadership is about caring about your dog, guiding your dog, and being fair. Strong leaders are not dictators. They are people of compassion and kindness. I know I have not met a leader I respect that "rules with an iron fist."

Learning to lead with a pillow soft fist is the first step in raising a well manner Pit Bull. Am I saying you should be a gushy push over that coos and caws at their dog like some 3 year old would a Barbie doll? No. I am saying set rules, be fair enforcing those rules, guide your dog, help them learn, and love them. You do not have to show them who is boss or be the "Alpha dog."

A strong leader will...

• Set fair rules
• Enforce those rules fairly
• Guide and help their dogs to understand these rules
• Understand their role is not to dominant
• Give their dogs a chance to learn before reprimanding them for breaking a rule
• Be understanding

Vast amounts of behavior problems could be avoided if everyone would learn to be a proper leader that focuses on allowing a dog to be a dog but at the same time learn our human rules as well. Dogs are not people and they should not be expected to act like us. Acting as if your dog should understand what you want immediately is setting them up to fail from the start.

Pit Bulls are outstanding dogs. Given proper leadership and training they can enhance your life beyond the scope of this article. However, you have to give them that chance by providing proper leadership and understanding that the "alpha" crap that is spoon fed to dog owners is just that, a bunch of donkey doo. Be a leader that rules with guidance and I guarantee you will see a major difference.

Puppy Training
Getting a Proper Start Training Your Pit Bull Puppy

In the picture to the left you will see me and one of my Pit Bull clients, Zoe. Zoe is a sharp little Pit Bull puppy with some serious potential. As I told her owners, "keep up training and she will be a rock star."

Her owners are smart and they are doing Zoe a great service by attending training classes with me.

Now before you think I'm bragging on myself, I mean, they are doing the right thing getting Zoe off to the right start by seeking training and information from someone who has experience and knowledge about Pit Bulls and dog training. Zoe being super smart and quick to learn is a bonus.

6 things you should do right now to get your puppy off to the right start...

1. Use lure/reward based training methods. Otherwise known as positive motivational methods.



2. Start training immediately. 8 weeks is a great time to start training your puppy.



3. Play a lot with your puppy. Use play to help train your puppy.



4. Teach boundries. Teaching what rooms the dog can and can not go into is the first place I start all puppies.



5. Start rewarding with "life rewards." Have your pup sit or lay down at feeding time, before going out, or playing.



6. Enroll in a Puppy Class. Getting your dog started off in a puppy class will help them learn to be around other dogs and distractions.

I would suggest you start training your puppy to lay down first, then to teach them to sit, and then to come when called.

These three behaviors will be the foundation that you build your training on. Nearly every other behavior you will teach them has one of these three at the root of the behavior. Take coming when called, this is also recall over a high jump. The only difference being is there is a high jump. Sit is also sit while moving. Down, is also down on recall.

Having these three behaviors solid will help you control your dog and help them stay under control under heavy distractions. Let's say you teach sit and the dog learns it solid and they develop a door bolting issue. Once they bolt tell them to sit and they will have to stop and sit. Then you can call them back to you so they are not injured by a car.

Have a puppy that likes to jump on guests? Asking them to sit before they can jump or get attention will go along way to stopping this behavior from turning into an annoying behavior when she gets older.

Training your puppy right now and getting them started learning some leadership rules will save you a lot of headaches and your dog will be better off too.

Request, Response, Release, Reward
The Four R's of Obedience Training

Positive training is fast and effective especially when you have a good understanding of these four items. I call these the "Four R's" and they flow together to create a behavior.

Say for example you are teaching your dog to sit. The actual process will go like this, Fido, sit, you will then lure Fido into a sit, you will release Fido and reward him for doing it correctly. As Fido learns the behavior you will remove the lure and ask him to sit, then he responds correctly, and you reward.

Every behavior you will teach your dog follows the same process. You ask for something, the dog responds and you reward when they offer the correct response.

What happens when the dog does not offer the correct response? Nothing. You ignore it and start the process over. Fido only gets rewarded for the corrrect response. Later on you can add a no-reward marker like, "Whoops!" or "No" and help guide Fido to the correct response.

When you set out to train your dog to do anything remember the four R's and make sure you are allowing your dog time to give you the proper response. Espeically in the beginning phases of training. A lot of the time people are impatient and they give a correction to fast before the dog can even attempt to offer a response. This distracts from the learning process and your dog will learn at a slower pace when you have bad timing.

Applying the Four R's During Correctly

All beahviors are either active or passive. Coming when called would be an active behavior while sitting is a passive behavior. I always reward during the active portion of any behavior. For example, I ask the dog to sit, I then lure the dog into the sit and get a correct response, then I release the dog and reward her for the correct response.

Why not reward the dog immediately once they sit? Rewarding the dog at the time of the behavior does work to teach the behavior. However, we are teaching two things at once when you add the release cue. You are teaching (A) the target behavior, in this case a sit and (B) you are teaching the dog a release cue. Teaching a release cue results in a dog holding each behavior taught until told they can get up. Think of it like a built in stay cue.

I use "okay" for my release cue but you can use any word really. What word you use doesn't matter it is when it is applied that counts. If you say, "Fido, sit, lure and get the right response, FREE! then reward" that is fine. Releasing the dog tells them the exercise is over and they can get up and move around.

In short you are rewarding the active part of the behavior rather than the passive. This helps a dog learn to go from passive (not moving) to active (moving) and it creates explosive behaviors. When you ask your dog to sit they won't half way try, they sit and they sit fast. When you ask your dog to lay down they go into a down quickly and they pop out of it when released or switch to another cue quickly. A release cue helps a dog learn self-control.

Before I end this article let's take one more look at how the four R's can be applied to coming when called.

Training your dog to come when called should be at the top of the to-do list. I do this a little different than some trainers because I start at the end of the behavior, the final result, which is, the dog directl in front of me. With a dog on a 6 foot leash I load my hand with treats, I start moving backwards quickly and as soon as the dog turns I say, "good dog!" and encourage the dog to come to me. I do not say, "come" at this point When the dog is 2-3 steps away I say, "Come" then I release, "okay!" then reward the dog.

So I request the dog to "come" only when the dog has already started coming to me and I know for a fact they are going to make it all the way to me. This helps them give the correct response. The moment they are directly in front of me I release and then I reward. This teaches the dog that coming when called is a good idea because I immediately release them when they offer the right response. They learn that the fastest path to their reward is to come to me and then they can play. I do this a lot with fetch and tug as the reward.

If you have a dog that loves fetch, say their name and back up, when they are a few steps away from you say, "come" when they reach you, give the release cue and toss them their ball to fetch. The dog should bring the ball back on their own and want to play with you. If you have a dog that loves to tug, follow the same process except when you release offer them the tug toy and play a quick game of tug with them.

Keeping the four R's of training in mind when you are working with your dog will help you teach each behavior more effectively because you have a path to follow. Stay on the path and your dog will learn at a much faster rate.

Resources:
Where to find Great Gear for Your Pit Bull