Pit Bull Training P2a

The key to success in training your PitBull is
understanding the psychology of your pet - i.e. how its
mind works, and then incorporating that with proven
training techniques and a few training aids.
Remember, your Pit Bull is not a human and therefore
does not think or react as a human would. Also, your
pet does not verbally communicate with humans and you
should not think that it does.
It may recognize the word "out" and associate it with
going outside, but that is only because it is a common
action that occurs consistently before it goes outside.
If you change the verbal word you use to communicate
with your Pit Bull along the way, your pet will no
longer understand what you want. It is important that
whatever word you choose to give a command, you stick
with that same word each and every time, without the
least alteration.
Also, before you can even begin training your Pit Bull,
your must establish that you are the "Master" and your
Pit Bull is the "Follower".
Remember, the Pit Bull has an inherent trait that makes
it a social animal, needing a dominance subordination
hierarchy. You must establish that you are the leader
of its pack to be successful with any type
of training. This is called "social reinforcement".

The following items will help you establish that
leadership role in the life of your Pit Bull:

i) Do not compromise with your Pit Bull. For example,
if you want it to perform a desired behavior, don't
just give up and walk away when it does not perform.
Instead, use some type of reinforcement to show it that
its behavior was not correct, such as withholding the
treat or toy.
ii) You should always initiate interaction with your
Pit Bull and terminate the interaction with your
Pit Bull rather than the other way round.
iii) Avoid tending to your pet's every desire. Rewards
should only be given for desired behavior, and should
never be given just like that.
iv) When you are spending time with your Pit Bull, pet,
talk and touch it often. This will help establish the
trust needed to truly set you forth as the leader.

Obedience Training Styles

Just like housebreaking, when you are training your
Pit Bull, the key thing is consistency. You need to
pick a training style that is suitable for you and your
Pit Bull and stick with it.
The two most popular types of obedience training are
leash and collar training and reward training.
We won't have the time to describe these techniques
in detail in this email - so we will just give you
a short overview of these techniques.
In the leash and collar type of training, the leash is
used in the beginning as the tool to teach the correct
behavior, then once the behavior is learned, the leash
is only used to correct unwanted behavior.
A mistake often made by the novice owner with this type
of training is they forget the leash is used only as a
tool. Often a novice owner will abuse the leash to nag at
the Pit Bull. This defeats the purpose of the leash.
The leash must be used only to get the Pit Bull to obey.
It is used to establish the leadership role between master and pet,
but to be successful in training, the Pit Bull must
understand the command with or without the leash and
you must be able to utilize any tool at hand to solicit
the correct behavior from your pet, not just a leash.
Reward training usually incorporates food rewards or a
reward that is associated with getting food. The
associated award could be the command "Good". Many
owners now use a clicker as an associated reward.
A secret to making the reward trained Pit Bull reliable
is working the pet around distractions in its
environment and teaching proper socialization.
If you only train your Pit Bull in the house, it will
not be used to extra stimuli. The well trained
Pit Bull, then exposed to unfamiliar people, may not
respond as desired. When reward training, it is
important you train both inside and outside your home
to make sure your Pit Bull is exposed to as much
stimuli as possible.
Another important tool in communication between you and
your Pit Bull is the tone of your voice when delivering
a command.
The command "Good" will have a more positive tone. The
excitement in your voice will be picked up by the
Pit Bull and it will eventually associate it with the
feelings of acceptance for that response to the
previous command.
The word "No" will have a more forceful tone, usually
associated with a negative response, such as a stern
tug on the leash if leash training. The Pit Bull will
eventually establish that tone as an indication for an
undesired response to your command.
As you move on in your training, the tone will be as
important to the Pit Bull as the command itself.
Also frequently overlooked by the novice owner is body
language. Once you get to know your pet better, you
will understand its meaning behind specific body
motions.
An owner who really understands his/her Pit Bull will
see even the slightest head movement in certain
situations and understand exactly what it means. This
enables the owner to give a command prior to a behavior
occurring.


So says the Pitbull Institute