starsha

I have neighbors who leave their little rat dogs barking constantly all day long. They bark aggressively and try and come through the fence anytime they hear me open the door. My two pits get very irritated by this. I use a leash and muzzle to take them out at all times when I know those dogs are out. But the biggest problem is that the barking irritates my boys so much that they can't even use the bathroom. I keep them at the other side of the yard and they'll just stare and bark toward the neighbor's side. I can get them to stop barking, and my smaller pit will simply just sit there and stare. My larger pit will cry and just walk in circles agitated.
My neighbors have no disregard that their dogs' behavior is not normal behavior. They have dogs in yards at least 100 feet behind us barking out of irritation. The dogs sit outside all day and the only time I've ever seen the owner put a brakes on them was when my smaller pit, on a muzzle, was standing at the fence while those rats were aggressively barking at him, pushing their face through the fence.
There are about 4 of these little dogs and my mom has the same problem with her dogs as well.
What can I do to get my pits to ignore the dogs altogether so they are able to use the bathroom? I can't make them hold their bladder until the middle of the night. That's unfair that I have to be unethical because of an irresponsible parent. I try to console them, but they're just so irritated that nothing works to distract them.

Cain's Mom

We use leave it. I live in a neighborhood where the dogs roam freely, about 10, and the owners do nothing. My dogs know leave it and I'm working on watch with them also to focus on me. If I say leave it they take their attention away and I say go potty. I'm not lenient and Cain lets me know when he needs out most of the time so if he needs out and won't go because of a dog close by I take him back in and wait 10 minutes then go to the door and tell him let's go potty. It doesn't happen often since he got leave it though.


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starsha

How exactly do I go about conditioning them to the word leave it?
I think all my dogs know is sit and stay, and then of course their names. I try to teach them drop it, but the farthest they go is to let me take something out of their mouth.
I used to be in dog training years ago with my mom's dogs, but I don't necessarily remember the techniques. I am, though, looking into getting private pit training with them soon.

Cain's Mom

We would say leave it, pop the leash and draw the attention away from whatever was distracting then rewarded him for focusing on us. It's kinda like watch, bringing attention back to you. We started inside first then moved outside.
My husband taught out heeler before I met it. It's like the wait command is how he did it. He put a toy I front and told her to leave it. When she went for it he took it away then repeat.


Look up customek9performance on YouTube. She's a member on here Nd has good training videos. I've used them lot. They're very helpful. She has a good "watch" training video that I use for Cain.


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starsha

Thank you! I will definitely look up the videos and get started! (:

Cain's Mom

You're welcome! I'm sure others will chime in with advice also. Keep us updated on how training goes


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redog

Performance kennels Lisa fixed bobs issue with our neighbors in 2 seconds. It wouldn't hurt you to find a good trainer in your area to help you.

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Dave

starsha

Yeah, definitely. I'm trying to get into contact with the trainer we used for my mom's other dogs and set up training appointments.

redog

See if they'll come to the house so they can see exactly what your dealing with. This is correcting bad behavior. Not so much training or teaching them a command

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Dave

starsha

Well I mean, there's a gap in the fence and the little rats stick their heads through that and push on the fence. My boys have NEVER bit them, but the way that the dogs bark at each other through the fence, and sticking their head into fire was enough evidence to prove that if those dogs ever got through the fence that there would be a big problem.
My mom has a lab, cocker spaniel, jack russell terrier, and a very friendly vizla, and she has the same concerns about them attacking those dogs that I do. Granted, her dogs wouldn't be executed if they were to hurt those dogs so she doesn't have to take as much of a precaution as I do.

SeanR

Its very tough to teach your dog to ignore other dogs, especially when the others are putting their heads into your dogs "territory". at the end of the day you bought and fell in love with a pitbull not a lab, and with that comes a high protective instinct and prey drive. so while on walks you can correct their behavior because you are near and have control over the leash but if you aren't around and your dog feels threatened, he will respond the only way he knows how.

My 1st suggestion would be blocking the gaps in the fence if possible, because if the neighbors dog does happens to get through, it probably wont end well.

and as mentioned above, it would help a lot to get a trainer to asses the problem at your house, to get straight to the root of the problem.

it isnt a pleasant situation to be in.
hope i could be of some assistance and that things start improving.

aimee235

http://youtu.be/zNAOe1djDyc Leave it
http://youtu.be/Eo-L2qtD7MQ Lets go


This lady has some really nice videos. I myself have been watching and using them to train my own dogs with really good results.

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aimee235

If you do not know how to do clicker or marker training this is a good video to start with.
What is clicker training?- dog training - YouTube
I use a marker word instead of the clicker because mine always disapears because my kids run off with it. So I just use the word "Yes".

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starsha

I've actually started training them today. I got clickers, treats to reward them with, and I've been trying the leave it method for right now. I use their toys and so far I can get them to resist jumping towards the toy, but Simba will usually just go off looking for something else to play with instead of waiting for his reward lol