In this installment of Pitbull Puppy Training Tips, I’ll be talking about how to deal with aggression either toward or from your Pitbull puppy.
This is an important thing to nip in the bud, because tension now can lead to an incident later.
This post was inspired by an interesting question on the message forums.
See, one of our pit puppy pals has a pup that’s just a bit too rough with his Yorkie canine sibling.
The Yorkie responds by growling and snapping at the pitbull, who then responds by growling and going after her.
So how do you stop aggressive behavior on both sides?
That’s what we’re going to discuss!
Pitbull Puppy Training Tips on Aggression Cessation
The very first thing to know is this. You cannot allow tension or aggressive behavior either from or towards your Pitbull puppy. These are powerful animals, even as puppies. In another breed, a nip from one dog to another to get it to stop pestering it can result in a little wound. A nip from a Pitbull can result in a visit to the vet.
Related: Pitbull Puppy Training Tips: The Aggressive Pitbull Pup
Don’t Ignore It
There are certain behaviors that can be best remedied simply by ignoring them. Things like whining and begging are taken care of by simply ignoring the behavior. Aggressive behavior from either your Pitbull puppy or another family dog does not fall into the category of ignore it until it stops. Pits are generally a happy breed, but if they reach they’re breaking point, they’ll get on a dog, and get on it badly.
Interrupt the Behavior
You need to find something that your dog doesn’t like and that distracts it. In my case, we had a Pitbull that was deathly afraid of a water-filled spray bottle. It was JUST water, and we didn’t yell when we used it, but no matter what sort of behavior she was engaged in, if we busted out the spray bottle, her ears went down, and she stopped immediately.
Pro Tip from Pitbull Puppy Training Tips: Find your dog’s currency and use it. Whether it’s a spray bottle or a Pringles can filled part way with pebbles, find something that distracts your dog and that it doesn’t like. It’s a great way to interrupt behaviors like pestering the other dogs.
Related: Dog Training Problems: What to do When your Dog Becomes Aggressive
Encourage Good Behavior
The key to this installment of Pitbull Puppy Training Tips is to encourage good behavior. Of course, you have to stop the bad behavior as I outlined above, but you also want to reinforce good behavior. When your Pitbull puppy or the offending pet in question sits nicely next to you and the other dogs, reward that. Tell them how good they are. Pet them, scratch their ears. Make them enjoy that moment of not causing trouble. When you combine that with the corrective strategy above, your dog will start to get the idea.
Be Vigilant
Watch your dogs like a hawk, and whatever trouble they cause, nip that business in the bud immediately. It takes some time, but it pays off in the long run. If your Pitbull puppy tries to steal another dog’s toy or vice versa, correct it with its currency. No matter what it is, don’t allow it to happen or stop it immediately before it escalates.
Separate Them
This is so important. When all else fails, separate your dogs. Find another home for one of them. Whatever you do, don’t allow the aggressive behavior to go unchecked. It could end in something very, very tragic.
Address the Aggression Now
So you won’t be sorry later. This is such an important point in my Pitbull Puppy Training Tips. Your Pitbull puppy is learning how to interact with the world, so things like aggression either from it or towards it is only going to serve to skew that interaction. You DO NOT want a Pitbull that reacts first and asks questions later.
So follow these Pitbull puppy training tips on aggression now to avoid an unfortunate incident later. If you follow what I laid out here, you should have very little issues with your dogs.
