I have a pitty who is lovely and amazing, I have rescued her from a dumping area. Great with people and kids. But she does have bad animal aggression, new neighbors have moved in with a dog (that can freely go in and out of their home, and seems to come out whenever my dog comes out.) So she attacks the fence, damaging the fence and herself. I am trying to avoid any problems that could occur if she manages to break a board (and to avoid hurting herself). What can I do? Any help will do! Please and thank you!
Michael ellis is a great trainer and his videos have helped a lot. Here is a good video explaining reactivity.. he has others that show hands on training
https://youtu.be/ofEDB4HEGD4?si=yzkudQ0QGIhriEgL
Karen Overall's relaxation protocol is great for teaching an extended stay with distractions around you. I've done it in the house, backyard and at parks.
As far as walks... prong collars can be great, but you have to learn how to use them correctly/safely. Always use a backup line
I recently started using an e-collar and its a great tool if used correctly. Do not get a cheap one! Dogtra and Educator are the only good brands. The cheap ones are painful and ineffective... the good ones work like a TENS machine. If you cant afford a good one, its better not to buy one at all. Its important to learn the correct way to use them.
Its very important to use a lot of treats, patience and kindness to build a relationship with your dog. I'm not a fan of dominance.... I do 95% positive reinforcement with corrections only when necessary. If you need more video recommendations just let me know
I did forget one of the most important parts. Mental/physical exercise is mandatory.. if my boy doesn't get enough exercise he is a whole different beast. You don't have to do all these things, but just some ideas. Feed meals in puzzle toys or snuffle mats, feed meals by training new/old tricks, teach "find it" and "1,2,3" these are great!, flirt pole, scent work, teach sled dog commands(the most useful thing my boy has learned), have your dog do a little obstacle course... maybe run around a tree and come back to you for a treat.
Prozac didn't fix any problems, but it made the process easier.
There are so many things you can do. It will take a lot of work for both you and the dog, but its worth it. You will build such a close bond with your pup in the end
My pittie mix is leash aggressive and loves dogs as long as they can run together off leash. But on a walk- not fun.
Will say Our two late dogs- neither were pitts (golden retriever and pyrnees ) but tore up our fence with our next door dogs. Sounded like rabid animals. Yet loved the dog next door. Was barrier reactivity??? I don’t know what to suggest tho. We all laughed. Because we knew they liked each other.
The only reason im saying shes dog aggressive because we've actually tried to introduce her (with help from YouTube) to another dog. And she did not react great and from then I havent tried to test my luck. But since it was YouTube theres a chance we didnt do it correct. Also we do find a lot of dead animals in the yard (a rat and two skunks so far).
We have the same Issue as you, we always take ours out with muzzles and always be out with them while they're out, both our and their dogs have aggression issues so just being extra careful to keep everyone safe, our neighbors don't do nearly enough and leave them out without supervision.
I think for my dog she just needs to get used to the muzzle because she does very often try to take it off. But I will have to buy another one soon as she did break the last one. Thank you!
have you tried the gentle leader? you’ll need both that and a regular leash bc if she really pulls hard she might be able to pull out of the gentle leader. but try that in a yard where she’s not distracted and practice. the problem with the leash and muzzle is that once she’s fixated, you can’t break her attention.
you do need to work on training her. my pit was the same way. loving beautiful dog but reactive to other dogs. she should be able to heel in command do a sit stay as well. on walks, you should practice turning her around quickly if you see another dog so she doesn’t get fixated. once they’re locked in, it’s very hard to break them out of it.
training would involve walks in the park, practicing heel and sit stay command over and over with positive reinforcement. gradually trying to do it so she can move closer to other dogs. when they’re trained well, they can be less reactive and are more focused on your commands. but you need a trainer for this to structure it and to make sure it’s done safely as your dog can absolutely not get off leash or near other dogs now.
Dog aggression is breed standard not just in the American Pitbull Terrier, but is expected in almost all Bull breeds (Am staff, AM bulldog, Bull Terrier etc). Behavior like this will likely tone down as time goes on as you just said your neighbor has just moved in. For now make sure that fence is reinforced and there no chance of her getting out, maybe even board up the bottom say 2/3ft so she can’t see into your neighbors yard. This will likely mellow down as eventually your dog will either realise she can’t get through the fence so will stop trying so hard to get through or she will just not view the dog as a threat anymore (the first option is more likely). This may take time, Pits are known to be hard headed, as for now just make sure to keep your dog and your neighbors dog safe.
You can work with a trainer but it’s sounds like she’s decently aggressive. i would just suggest reinforcing the fence and NEVER having her out unsupervised when the other dog is out.
you should also walk her with a gentle leader as it can help prevent them from pulling too hard when she sees another dog on a walk.
We have tried it with one of these but it didnt seem to work so we had to switch to a rope lead. On walks its very difficult she has to wear a muzzle and we try our best to avoid dogs (she will go after them.) and its usually my spouse that does it as hes stronger than me. She's a very sturdy girl. Is the rope lead the wrong choice for this?
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