Project Pit BullTM
What is a standard and why is it important?
If you were to look at the different sizes, colors, and overall appearence's in American Pit Bull Terriers you wouldn't think there is a breed standard. Dogs weighing 80+ lbs. 75+ lbs. Long legs, short legs, wide, tall, huge 25 inch heads to sharp german Shepherd like heads, blue, merle, white, cream, brindle, fast, slow, over shot, undershot, I could go on forever.
There is in fact a breed standard for both the UKC and the ADBA, the two largest registries for the American Pit Bull Terrier and neither of them include, short, wide, 30 inch head, with a undershot jaw.
In fact, neither of them say, "dog must weight 70+ lbs" nor do they mention anything about merle being a required or accepted color. Yet thousands of breeders breeding hundreds of dogs breed for these very things.
Why do we even have a standard?
Good question. For those of us who are dedicated to this breed it is a guideline to the type of dog that should be bred for. Unfortunately, most breeders that I see disregard the standard and I would be surprised if half of the breeders out there even read a standard.
Not only is the standard being avoided but the standard for the ADBA is slightly different than the UKC making things even more confusing.
Which standard a breeder breeds too is up to them but yet again since we can dual register (Register a dog with both the UKC and ADBA) how do you determine which one to breed too?
All of these questions make having a standard all but pointless in my opinion. Yes it is a guideline but if you allow people to register dogs that are not even close to that standard then it loses it's purpose. Of course these are my opinions and I could be crazy. Who knows. Why not read them and decide for yourself if they mean something.
To read the American Pit Bull standard for the UKC click here.
To read the American Pit Bull Standard for the ADBA click here.
In Conclusion
I firmly believe a breed standard is important and should be used to breed truly but without any rules or calling it a "guideline" and not enforcing the standard why even have one? Yes, some breeders will use it but then some won't. This only complicates issues.
If people can breed whatever they like and disregard the breed standard how will the general public ever know what a real, correctly bred, correctly raised American Pit Bull Terrier is?
i'll leave you to ponder that question. Enjoy the rest of the issue.
Pit Bull Health Tip of The Month:
Joints and How to Keep them Strong and Healthy
Joints are extremely important. Having a dog that has injured her joints, torn an ACL, and has early hip dysplasia I am all too familiar with the importance of joints.
My oldest, Angel, recently had a sprain to her ankle joint and once again I am pounded over the head with the importance of proper care of my dog's joints.
One of the most important things you can do for joint health is to warm up your dog before any activity and cool them down afterwards. Warm ups are also good for muscle maintenance as well.
Keeping the joints strong starts when your dog is young.
I receive a lot of questions about weight training for both weight pull and to "build a dog up." My first sentence in every response is, "if the dog is under 18 months old it should not be training with weights or pulling."
Joint strength is increased when the joints are allowed to grow properly and develop fully before any strain beyond what a dog would normally put on them is applied. One way to mess up a good dog is to have them working out hard when they are young.
American Pit Bull Terriers mature from 3-5 years old and their joints do not fully develop until they are at least 18 months old. Some dogs take a few months longer so I advice people to wait until their dog is 24 months of age before doing any exercises that put strain on their dogs joints and muscles.
A 10 minute walk can do wonders to warm up your dogs joints for more strenuous activity. Also a 10 minute cool down can help decrease joint stiffness and muscle cramps.
A Word About Supplements
Do they supplements work? Honestly, I don't know. Are they worth it? Some people swear by them while others think they are useless. Do I recommend them? I have had success with some supplements and I do recommend them but I always suggest people take caution when using any supplement. I also suggest consulting a vet before, during, and after using them and getting their opinion on other options.
The supplement I have found helpful is Synflex for pets.
Again, use common sense and follow the directions closely when using supplements for the first time.
In Conclusion
My motto is if my dog is cripple or injured it is my fault for not paying enough attention to their care. Sometimes accidents happen (like when Angel ate a tiny ball that was tossed into my yard by kids next door) but over all your dog's health is your responsibility to maintain and manage to ensure they are healthy as often as possible.
Whether you decide to combat potential or current joint problems with supplements or old fashion warm ups is up to you. Personally I like a combination of good old fashion common sense mixed with some modern day technology to help my dogs stay fit and on the run.
Pit Bull Training Tip of the Month:
Clicker Training Facts and Fiction
I would like to use this months tip to talk about some common clicker training facts and dispell some of the fiction associated with the method.
First and foremost clicker training works. As a professional trainer my reputation (and living) depend on results. No results leads to no money, no kibble for the dogs, no corn flakes for me, and no coco-puffs for my fianceé Allissa.
Let's look at some fiction.
Fiction: You will always need a clicker.
You will not always need a clicker. One example is how I trained my little mixed dog Patch to play dead when I say, "bang" and point my finger at him.
I used a clicker to teach him every aspect of the trick. Now, I point my finger and say, "Bang" and he rolls to his back and lies still. I do not use the clicker and I don't use treats at this stage either.
If I want to hone his play dead trick I will use the clicker to polish it and then phase it out as I did the first time around. Other than that he plays dead reliably on cue.
Fiction: Clickers are too hard to handle while training.
I have gotten this from a few people who have never tried clicker training and even a trainer I know demonstrated how hard it would be to use a clicker while training. Obviously it can be done, hundreds of trainers use them daily to teach dogs things from sitting to climbing up a ladder to meet Godzilla for a Taco Bell commercial.
Fiction: Clicker training does not work for common problems issues like house training or jumping.
The first tool I pull out of my bag when addressing a problem behavior is my clicker. Why? because I can clearly mark the desired behavior in a quick easy to understand fashion for the dog.
Humans use words far to often and most of the time we over complicate matters using pointless words. One word I find pointless is "no." A dog can not learn to give you a desired behavior when you say, "no" in response to an undesirable behavior. The clicker helps eliminate confusing words that confuse the dog.
Fiction: Clicker training never works for serious behavior problems like aggression and extreme fear.
While the clicker may be too harsh for some fearful dogs if you muffle the click you can usually get around that. I have seen dogs that were fearful of the clicker when clicked normally but when put in my pocket responded like a normal dog would to a normal volume click.
I have dealt with aggressive dogs (that were fearful as well) who were transformed using a clicker to mark calm acceptable behavior.
Fiction: Clicker training takes longer than other methods.
Granted there are some behaviors that may take longer using a clicker but in my personal experiences
dogs learn behaviors quickly with clicker training. Some behaviors are learned much faster because
there is no avoidence or force used.
Just the Facts Please
Let's take a look at some cold, hard facts.
Fact: Words are not uniform and consistent. You can say, "Yes!" ten times and I would be willing to bet 4-6 times you sound completely different or stress different parts of the word. A clicker is uniform and repeats the exact same sound over and over again.
Fact: A clicker sends a clear signal to the dog. As I said above, people tend to over complicate matters with the use of words. One moment you may say, "yes!" The next you might say, "good!" Then you might say, "Okay!" or "No!" A clicker sends a clear signal to your dog they did something you like.
Fact: It works on chickens.
You might think I'm poking fun but I'm not. Chickens have been trained using a clicker and positive concepts. If a chicken can learn by this method a dog can too.
Fact: You can't mess up.
This is my favorite fact of clicker training. Even if you tried it is hard to mess up and if you somehow do you do not damage your dog as a result.
Using leash corrections and training collars can result in injury, damaging trust, and are quite easy to get wrong. Professionals with years of training can use these methods and make them look easy. They are not that easy. Getting them wrong is quite easy and quite common.
Fact: No avoidence issues.
Avoidence issues are easy to see. A dog decides to drink water rather than sit. A dog smells the grass rather than down. A dog looks away and lowers their head instead of coming when called. These are all avoidence behaviors that dogs use to get out of doing something because it stresses them out.
Clicker training offers a solution to this. No stress, no avoidence.
If you use positive methods and deploy a clicker to mark what you want and ignore what you don't want the dog learns to work for you to earn something. Read that last sentence two more times and really let it soak in. It's that important.
When a dog is corrected for bad behavior the dog learns to avoid the bad behavior so they can avoid the correction. It's like running a red light. We don't run them to avoid getting a ticket. That is called positive punishment in dog training lingo. Positive (Adding something) punishment (the ticket).
In the end the dog works to avoid something bad instead of working to gain something pleasant.
Clicker training teaches dogs to work to gain pleasure without fear of punishment.
My View on Clicker Training
I look at clicker training like this. If you were giving a math problem to figure out which response would you prefer from the teacher:
(A) - Every time you gave an incorrect answer you were smacked in the back of the head and scolded.
(B) - You were ignored until you gave the correct answer.
A is using leash corrections in dog training and B is using clicker training methods. The difference is night and day. A student who is given the (B) response will likely learn to love math.
The student who is given the (A) response will likely hate the subject and only perform because they have to in order to graduate.
Which student would you want to teach?
Clicker Training Conclusion
I highly encourage every Pit Bull owner to give clicker training a shot. Clicker training is rapidly becoming the preferred method for training dogs (and other animals like fish, chickens, cats and birds) for a reason. It's effective, affordable, and all you need is an understanding of the concepts, a clicker, some treats, and time.
If you would like more information about clicker training concepts and to get started learning the basics I recommend you check out the The How of Bow Wow DVD and grab a
Getting Started Clicker Training for Dogs Kit from Karen Pryor's Clicker Training web site
In the end I think you will be pleased with the results.
Subscriber Questions
Dear Mr. Mann my dog is a year old. The problem with him is that he doesn't stay. And when he is loose he runs away from us and we have to run after him. Is it to late to correct this probelm?
No, it is not too late to correct this problem.
The answer to this question is to not let the dog have that much freedom until he has earned it. This leads me to a pet peeve of mine.
Allowing a dog freedom when the dog has shown he or she does not deserve it is a leading cause of problems within the Pit Bull house hold.
When teaching a dog to stay start out from a short distance away and keep the amount of the time the dog has to stay down to 5-10 seconds. As the dog learns the behavior increase the difficulty.
Never let your dog off the leash. This is the cure-all to coming when called and staying in one spot for more than a nano-second.
Along with having your dog on a leash you should only use the word for "come" when you know your dog is coming to you. When your dog is about 2-3 feet away and heading straight for you use the command for "come" and praise when your dog gets there.
Never call your dog to punish them. If they are not listening use the leash to reel them in. When they start to come to you use the command you use for "come" and praise when they get there.
Thanks for reading and I hope this helps you out.
Resources:
Where to find Great Gear for Your Pit Bull
Before you check out this months gear section I would like to comment on why I am not offering the leather harnesses at this time. In short, I'm lazy. I'm kidding. The harness will be available within the next couple of weeks. If you want to place your pre-order you can do so by going to the harness page.
You will also notice a new nylon walking/tracking/light pulling harness has been added. These harnesses are flat out cool. They have three D-rings one on top and two on the sides (for tracer lines etc...) and they have a handle on top for quick control in crowded situations.
These are available on a pre-order basis as well. Visit the harness page to place your pre-order.
The Mt. Bachelor Pad by Ruff Wear - When I go out on training assignments or hold classes or just go out to hang with the dogs these bad boys are rolled up and ready to roll with us. The Mt. Bachelor Pad is a portable mat that is durable, comfortable, and provides your dog a nice place to hang out while on outings or in the home.
Comes in Medium and Rust color only (shown in picture to the right) NOTE: All three of my dogs fit on the medium pad.
Medium- $59.99 (includes shipping and handling)
If you have any questions about these products feel free to send me an email. My email address is Jason@PitBullLovers.com.
Date: October 16th 2006
