newbie- with pit bull puppie........

[colione98]

Hello everyone

I am so glad to have found this forum because I would like to better myself and my wife's understanding of dogs especially in terms of caring for and properly training our pit bull pupp.

Brief background.....

We acquired our 5 month old male pupp at 2 months old but lent him to hour friend due to us living in an apt and recently moving into a townhouse. Unfortunately, they would go to work from 7am to 6pm and leave him in the house. He would soil their house and they would not let him out only for a few hours during the evening.

Once we moved May 2, he came aboard and the training began. For us, it was similar because my wife and I would go to work and leave him in the house to come later and find droppings all over. It was to the point where we had no choice but to purchase a crate.

Up until last week, we began to get a hand of timing and taking him out. In the morning, after his first meal, then after coming home in the evening, and once before sleeping in which he sleeps in our room non-crated in his bed. When caught in action, he is taken outside and completes his biz. When being walked or time to go out, he knows to go directly to the grass to do his thing. He has not soiled or urinated in our room since being crated except........

For the past few days, it seems as if he is straining to urinate and sometimes urinates as he walks. He is even urinating in his crate without being left for long periods as he had no problem previously. Fortunately, he defecates out doors :)

Now for your help.....

As a way of training, I took on the methods of my friend that has an 11 year old male pitbull and seems to be well trained to date. He used news papers/magazines in order to steer him from going to the living room or soiling the home. Not to mention my caribbean background where as your mother or grandmother would pick up anything in sight to give you a good whooping everytime you were bad.......... but I have promised myself and my wife to never hit our children because my father never spanked me nor did he believe in it as oppose to a lot of caribbean and latin folks.........

As time passes, I am realizing that I am losing patience and I feel that our dog is becoming fearful of me because I spank him. In relation to the newly occuring urinating incidences, he is only urinating more frequently and urinating in his bed which is located in our room. After urinating in our room and in bed which, he has never done before, he instinctively knows he as done wrong and crawls under our bed in fear of "me coming for him".

I have let down on the spanking after re-evaluating my anger and feeling upset at the way things are because I trully love my dog although I get out of hand when my patience has ran thin.

So in conclusion, I think my dog is old enough to understand that soiling the house is wrong because he now only urinates but low crawls after doing so each and every time........

Is he old enough to have some type of urinary tract infection at 5 months?

[kwitty]

Oh my goodness. Please don't spank your dog. It will only make him aggressive. Puppies also have such a short memory span, he won't even know what he's being spanked for. If you catch him in the act, pick him up & take him directly outside with a firm "No". Don't yell or hit your dog. This will make him aggressive and fearful. I believe crate training is the best way to go. Please remember to keep your doggie on a schedule. Feed twice a day, morning & night & be sure and take him out after eating so he can empty himself. Keep him in the crate at night also. When you are home, take him out every 30 mins. This will reinforce the fact the he needs to go out to do his business. After a while that won't be neccessary, as he will be able to hold it longer and let you know when he needs to go, as he gets older.

As far as the urinary tract infection goes, I would get him to the vet to have him checked out, straining and leaking is not normal.

Just be patient. Puppies are like children. It takes time, effort and patience, but they are well worth it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[colione98]

Thanks for the repy,

I'll keep you posted... :)

[krazy4birds]

Welcome to Petlovers colione98 and I am sorry for not catching your post before now.

I think you are doing a great job in teaching your dog etc....except when you came to the yelling/spanking part. Well....as you said you know that is not the way by now so that is no longer going to happen...GOOD FOR YOU :)

I think your dog most certainly has an issue with an infection or something that is causing these leaks. There is no way a "healthy" dog would just wet down their legs when walking...that is not normal no matter what. I hope you have taken him to a vet by now if not I urge you to do so as soon as you can.

We would love to hear an update on how things are going sinse this post is a few days old.

[Mutt Manners]

I agree with kwitty 100%. Your puppy has learned to FEAR you and learned that when you find an accident you are going to spank him. You should be very catious as you have a pitbull on your hands and they are known for turning on their owners! He is young and you have time to correct the problem but you have to keep your puppy with you at all times when you are in the house. You should not spank or hit your dog for having an accident. If you dont catch them in the act you can't reprimand, they don't remember what they did 5 minutes ago.

Also sounds like he is submissive urinating. Some dogs will pee when they are scared and over excited. Sounds like that is what might be happening.

Your best bet is to get a trainer involved before you have an aggressive problem on your hands and have to give up the pup due to biting problems.

Good luck.

[DiegoDog]

There is another reason not to spank your dog. Spanking is a human thing NOT a dog thing. If you are going to use any sort of negative reinforcement spanking makes no sense to a dog.

[rableman]

I cannot stress enough, nor agree more with the above replies! I own a large, very well trained pit bull and he is the most loving, non agressive animal I have ever owned.

I never spank, rather I train through showing strong disapproval and strong words. In addition, our dog receives an abundance of love so when disapproval comes, it comes as a blow to him.

Pit bulls get a very bad rap - it is bad owners that create bad dogs. If you avoid any aggresive actions with him, don't play tug of war with him, don't play fight like you might with other breeds of dogs, he will be the best dog you ever owned. Pit bulls lock their jaws out of instinct and can cause unheard of damage. It isn't anger that causes this, just instinct. Calm the aggression in him, make him a lover, but don't worry, his instinct is to protect you and he will.

Rableman

[PatchO'Pits]

Pit bulls get a very bad rap - it is bad owners that create bad dogs. If you avoid any aggresive actions with him, don't play tug of war with him, don't play fight like you might with other breeds of dogs, he will be the best dog you ever owned. Pit bulls lock their jaws out of instinct and can cause unheard of damage. It isn't anger that causes this, just instinct. Calm the aggression in him, make him a lover, but don't worry, his instinct is to protect you and he will.Rableman

It sounds like you have a great dog. I agree with everyone else that hitting will get you absolutely nowhere. If the pup is peeing in the house as stated above check out the medical aspect , but it does also sound like submissive peeing and reprimanding him can make that worse. Submissive peeing is something the pup will just grow out of you can't make him stop it...

Take the pup out more frequently and when he can't have your total attention crate him to avoid the problem until he learns. If you aren't watching and he goes.... that's your fault not the pups. Try to get the pup on a set schedule for going out if you can that will be really helpful to you. First thing in the A.M., after meals, before bed, and anytime he is playing hard and a couple of other times besides that. As he grows the amount of times will lessen.

Sorry this is off the original post a bit.......
I'm a mom to 6 very happy spoiled rotten Pit Bulls and have been involved with training, showing and loving this breed for many years.
As for the above quote I need to just help out a little on this one. It is absolutely fine to play tug-a-war with your pup. Playing tug is a great time to also teach the out command. Playing with toys is also a great training tool. Simply playing Tug-o-war has nothing to do with making a pup agressive.

HUGE MYTH which is just not true is that APBTs have locking jaws. I always laugh when people say this and tell them not to worry I have a key. APBTs do NOT have locking jaws. Please read this link it will explain how the myth was started:
http://www.realpitbull.com/myths.html

As for the comment on protection.... I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean (?) APBTs should not be people aggressive in any way and most are NOT inheritantly protective as per say a GSD or Rottie would be. Though yes when push came to shove I'm sure the dog would protect his owner. APBTs would rather be lovers not biters! LOL

[amstaff]

i agree with most all the replies also, except the one where you cant play tug of war. as long as you have rules, tug of war is so fun! when you feel teeth, stop. my cue is "all done" this way they learn positively not to play that way. and pits are not known for turning on their owners any more than another breed. these dogs were not bred to be human aggressive. if you check out www.atts.org you will see these dogs rate above goldens and collies. anyway, if you get mad, nervous, or scared any dog will pick up on this. just check your emotions before dealing with your pets, and dont hold a grudge. also, many of the people i know have dogs many months older than 5 months that still are not alowwed out unsupervised. 5 months is still pretty young. along with housebreaking, you want to curb any other unacceptable issues like chewing. so, better them not to happen, then to try and correct them. when youre home, if you must have your dog out of the crate, make sure your eye is on him at all times. and make sure you win this dogs trust back and get this dog out in public to be around other people and stimuli. even every other day if you can take him somewhere new even to just sit on the sidewalk for 5 min. after about 15 times or so i think the connection starts to be made and they start to get more comfortable. so good luck, hopefully everything will work out for your pup. remember that while he was at your friends, he basically had no training.

[PittieNMutt]

I agree with all the posts above

[golden818]

the worst thing you can do is spank your dog your tone of voice should be enough thats how my brother trained his pitbull and now he is the sweetest most obedient dog

[apbt-bp-luvr]

U SHOULD SPANK HIM SOMTIMES.BUT...DONT BE AFRAID TO SPANK HIM. :cool:

[apbt-bp-luvr]

But Dont Abuse Him.show Him That Ur The Boss...IF HE THINKSS hes the boss then hell do watevr he wants :eek:

[PatchO'Pits]

U SHOULD SPANK HIM SOMTIMES.BUT...DONT BE AFRAID TO SPANK HIM. :cool:
It is never ok to spank a puppy. :confused:

[apbt-bp-luvr]

well it depends on the age!!!

[apbt-bp-luvr]

i mean dont make him sqeel but its ok to spank a puppy

[PatchO'Pits]

i mean dont make him sqeel but its ok to spank a puppy NEVER. Puppies and dogs do not understand spanking. It is not part of a dogs' language. Please read up on the harm it can do :( Giving proper corrections in dog language such as putting a dog on its side would be much more appropriate if the situation required it, but never hitting.

[apbt-bp-luvr]

u can play rogh with pitts thats wy most ppl buy them for ther kid cuase they hav a very high pain tolerency wich ables them to not get hurt from younger rogh children NOTE:unless its with a realy young child pitts can hurt youngers on accedent while playing

[apbt-bp-luvr]

NEVER. Puppies and dogs do not understand spanking. It is not part of a dogs' language. Please read up on the harm it can do :( Giving proper corrections in dog language such as putting a dog on its side would be much more appropriate if the situation required it, but never hitting.
not hiting i mean like while their doin somthin wrong just a light pat on the top of the head

[apbt-bp-luvr]

not pat like swat**

[d_broncochic]

Hi,

I dont have that much to say about spanking your pit, negative or postive. I do know that its very important with dogs such as pitts, rotties that they learn who the alpha male is (keeps them in control knowing that you wouldnt approve of some of their behavior) . I had a rott (very large guy) and that was the first thing we were taught to do. Write me back if you want some suggestions.

I do have one very important suggestion. Puppy obviously knows he did the wrong thing by the way he is acting submissively, now you have to balance that out with letting him know the right thing....
So as angry as you are when he has his accidents is how happy you should be when he does his business outside... Make an overdramatic happy reaction usings your voice, the happy rythm of rubbing his chest, hugging him....he will very quickly learn...oh this was a good thing, much better than the yelling stuff, i'm going to do this again.

Good luck.

[Codykins]

Of course no hitting, obvious common sense!!

Look, the worst thing you can do is struggle through teaching your dog. You have been given very good advise and I believe some are coming from trainers - because they are right on the money! However, what I learned by hiring a trainer is this. How to train your dog. All the good advise did not teach YOU how to TEACH your dog. How do you get him to sit and stay? There are ways to get your dogs attention (without loud voice and physical violence) and repetitions is the answer. Over and over and over again until they learn the desired behavior. Us telling you to "be the Alpha" doesn't teach you how to be the "Alpha" and spanking or hitting isn't the answer, for sure. Hire a trainer/behaviorist immediately!! and learn how to train your dog. He will be your best friend and be trained. My trainer/behaviorist taught me so much and I have been a dog owner all my life. I had good dogs, but now I have a perfect dog! It takes a lot of work from you, and months (4-6 months) before your dog is listening to you intently. But. progress come quickly and you will see immediate results. What trainer taught ME how to teach my dog, it was the best money I ever spent!!!!

[PatchO'Pits]

Good posting Codykins! Inexperienced owners should always take t least one 6 to 8 week training course with their dog IMO. I even include that as a stipulation in my puppy contracts (actually I require new owners finish 2 complete courses)

As for teaching the dog you are the alpha I agree but teach not hit.

Mine know I'm the boss and I have never had to hit them to prove it.

[d_broncochic]

i feel like i should post that i wasnt condoning hitting in my previous post here,
I just didnt give an opinion on it. our new member with questions got baraged with
"dont hit your dog" and in his posting he had already said that he knew he shouldnt.

we chased off another sensitive member when she asked questions about her cat (unfixed)
and she got slammed with postings of the importance of spaying....she never posted here since. I would just like to avoid chasing off people who are really trying to learn something from us.

[PatchO'Pits]

i feel like i should post that i wasnt condoning hitting in my previous post here,
I just didnt give an opinion on it. our new member with questions got baraged with
"dont hit your dog" and in his posting he had already said that he knew he shouldnt.

we chased off another sensitive member when she asked questions about her cat (unfixed)
and she got slammed with postings of the importance of spaying....she never posted here since. I would just like to avoid chasing off people who are really trying to learn something from us.

Got ya' ;)
Just trying to help as the original posters seem to be trying really hard and some seem so set on giving advice that hitting is a type of training that it really scares me.

I hope they stay!

The sad truth is APBT owners need to learn to deal with comments as they will constantly encounter ignorance from the general public which is a lot worse than people trying to give helpful advive. JMO

[Squawksx3]

Never "rough play" with your Pit pup... when he starts to bite, redirect his play and biting to a toy. Puppies should never be allowed to bite you. You have a wonderful breed... do your research and you'll have a loyal, loving companion. Good luck :)

[apbt-bp-luvr]

Never "rough play" with your Pit pup... when he starts to bite, redirect his play and biting to a toy. Puppies should never be allowed to bite you. You have a wonderful breed... do your research and you'll have a loyal, loving companion. Good luck :)
R U RETARD???u can most certanly rogh play with a pitt they barely evr feel pain u can hit them over the head with a peice of wood and they wouldnt even sqeel!!!

[apbt-bp-luvr]

and ya gota teach him protection u would kno this if u took alot of training courses with ur dog!!!-MANZ BEZZT FRENZED-

[Squawksx3]

R U RETARD???u can most certanly rogh play with a pitt they barely evr feel pain u can hit them over the head with a peice of wood and they wouldnt even sqeel!!!


You are exactly the kind of person that has no business having a Pit OR any animal.... and the reason animals suffer. Do yourself and the animals a favor... rehome them and take up a sport.

This is your first warning.... if you continue to talk abuse you will be banned from the board......