pitbull training question for clevelandmetalzone

[sully]

hey john,

a friend of mine has a pit bull that he's trying to keep from getting up on his bed. see, she'll get up there and start lickin' on herself, and as a result, the integrity of the bedding is...well...compromised. i laughed my ass off when he told me this; i gave him shit about sleeping in his dog's wet spot.

anyway, got any ideas about getting her off of the bed? i know it's basic dog training stuff, but as far as pitbulls go, you're the best resource i know.

sully

[Wayniac]

Sully - I'm not John, and not and expert, but you may want to try this:

One technique that works generally well for all dogs I have had to train (3 of my past pets, my sis' dog, neighbors dog, and friends dog).. get a spray bottle and fill it with water (only water - no chemicals).
When the dog does an undesirable behavior, spray the mist (not stream, mist) in its face. Directly towards the nose and eyes. They hate it. And if they don't hate it they think it it s game and stop doing the behavior anyway.. but most hate it
Let me know how he makes out

[fett]

Whatever happened to a stern voice and maybe a little nudge and say; "Get Down!!!". And stick with it a few times. Dogs ain't dumb. Although, I never tried that with a Pit.:ROTF:

[horns666]

Hey Sully, John has been consumed with the police academy..

I adopted a pretty "vicious" 3 year old Bulldog from my sister. He was neglected by my bro-in-law..who's just a dumb, lazy asshole. "Harley" established himself as the pack leader and chased my asshole-in-law out of his house about a dozen times. He was a beautiful bulldog, so I took him as a pet for my son. "Harley" insisted on going on my kid's bed..all the olds methods (spray bottle, shock collar, bitter apple, rolled up newspaper ect..) just pissed him off..then chase the good outta the house and wouldn't let him back in.

I broke him with a leash within a few days. I would take him for a daily walk, and whenever he wanted to lead me..I'd stop (heel). I would randomly stop and go..and make Harley would follow my lead. He would be submissive as long as his collar was on. If I grab his collar without the leash, he would to show aggression and growl. Whenver I wanted him off the bed or furniture I clippped on the leash, and gave a firm but calm demand of "down"..it was working great!!

Unfornutely, about a week later Harley went after our 4 lb 8 year old Chihuahua. We made sure they got along before we took him in. They seemed fine together...until Harley got settled-in and wanted to establish dominance with Pico..that was close one..good thing I was right there before he chomped on Pico's head.!!

So we found a home who was advised of his history ..he attacked that entire family. Harley was moved to New York and was adopted there. He sent the new owner to the hospital with sever bites on both arms..I guess they didn't follow my advice about using the leash..

Sadly Harley was put down.

I'd use the leash, along with the command of "down"..and be CONSISTANT ! I would do that until the dog just respond to the command of "down"..eventually without the leash.

My dad did this and it always worked..lots of Bulldogs, German Shepards, Boxer.

[horns666]

I really like this guy. I think he's a good source..I especially like this episode!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=MHaaRBsuj3I

[Shawn Lutz]

Sadly Harley was put down.

Sully...tell the guy the one solution that worked above for Bill...Harley never jumped on another bed again :ROTF:

I think the leash method would work fine. Whenever the dog jumps on the bed, put the leash on him and pull him down off the bed and say "no" sternly. Rinse -repeat-rinse-repeat-rinse repeat until the message is sent.

If the guy isn't playing the alpha male of the family (pack to the dog) he'll have no luck in training any dog. If the dog knows your the man, the dog will be submissive and do whatever you ask of him

Its much easier training a dog from a puppy than trying to train an adult but either way with love and patience you can train them.

We also don't let our dogs on the furniture

[drockilles]

Some good advice here, but one thing to consider is not using the term "down". If you want a dog off furniture/you, or anything else, use "off" or "no". Using "down" can confuse them if you further train them to "lay down".

[Wayniac]

Yep - "off", "no", or "leave it"....

[rjohnstone]

My dogs are both trained using similar commands.
"Off" means just that... get off of whatever they are on.
"Leave it" means do not touch and "down" is what I tell them when I want them to lay down.
Water bottles will only piss the dog off. I use positive reinforcement training methods.
Dogs want to please their owners. They don't like it when you ignore them.
I give 1 treat every time the obey a command during training.
When they fail to obey, they get the command repeated and after that, I show them what I expect them to do. If I have to show them though, they get praise when they do it, but no treat. The treat is only when they do what you say without having to repeat the command more than once. Then they get the treat and a lot of love.

It's a cycle that most dogs figure out pretty quickly.

Training collars are good for dogs with obedience issues.
I had to use one to get my dogs to stop barking at the fucking cats at all hours of the night.
My training collars are not unregulated "shock" collars.
They vibrate (dogs hate that), they will "nick" small voltage for 1/10 of a second, and you can also dial in the intensity of the"nick".
The point is to get their attention, not inflict pain.
It does have a continuous shock feature for off leash training.
If the dog runs away or is in danger of running into traffic, you can hit this button (will only transmit for up to 8 seconds regardless of how long you hold the button down) and it WILL drop any dog and stop them cold.
Never had to use that feature, but I can see its benefit.
I use the Dogtra 200NCP Gold collar, not cheap, but worth every penny.

http://www.dogtra.com/s_product/s_view.php?category=Companion

[horns666]

Sully...tell the guy the one solution that worked above for Bill...Harley never jumped on another bed again :ROTF:

I think the leash method would work fine. Whenever the dog jumps on the bed, put the leash on him and pull him down off the bed and say "no" sternly. Rinse -repeat-rinse-repeat-rinse repeat until the message is sent.

If the guy isn't playing the alpha male of the family (pack to the dog) he'll have no luck in training any dog. If the dog knows your the man, the dog will be submissive and do whatever you ask of him

Its much easier training a dog from a puppy than trying to train an adult but either way with love and patience you can train them.

We also don't let our dogs on the furniture

Exactly..

Shawn, I wrote that right before bed..well, at least you got the idea.

Poor Harley, he's attacking people in doggy heaven now..that's not nice. I'll tell God to put the leash on him..

Drockdiles has a point about the verbage. "Off" instead of "down" would prolly be a better word. But, the leash training was most effective..IMO.

The leash works good for wives too..I'm just kidding!!!:ROTF:

[fett]

Just keep the commands consistent. Tone of voice is the key. You can have a dog jump on your bed and you say; "Peanut Butter" in a stern voice and give him help getting down. After a few tests, the dog will learn that "Peanut Butter" means "Get off my bed, you fucking fleabag!!!":ROTF:

[horns666]

Yes, Being consistent is very important with any method you choose. I swear by the leash, because I it worked instantly. But, you MUST take him for walks first to establish you're the boss (pack leader).

[fett]

Now, if parents could only do that with their kids.:ROTF: Sans the leash. I play poker at my step-son's house. Me, Rob, Melissa and Josh. It would be wonderful if it weren't for Sam. She's 6. It doesn't matter what hour it is. Like 8,9,10,11 PM. She is all over the table and it pisses me off. Rob, the Dad, keeps barking orders at her to go away. Does she listen? Noooooooooooooo Why don't they just say; "Go to your room and go to sleep!!!!" ? It may take a few attempts to make her stay there, but they don't have the balls to stand up to her. There is a parallel (sp) here.

[SouthPlatteDemon]

Also keep in mind that an alpha male dog would never let another dog in it's bed. So even though it looks innocent, the dog might be challenging your authority.

[fett]

So what you are saying is if I own a Alpha Male it will kill me in my bed? And, I have owned an Alpha Dog. It was an Australian (Sp) cattle dog. He was a sweetheart until he saw another dog. He was neutered but that didn't stop him. I have had 4 dogs in my 57 years and I am done.