[Nubwagon]

Hey guys, new member here. I started out in the intro forums and was asked to post my questions in here as I would get much more detailed responses:

Quick background: My girl is a 4 year old pit boxer who I adopted about 1 1/2 years ago from a shelter. Her name is Lina & she's a very sweet & caring girl.

The majority of the issues stem from me walking her. I make sure that we go for a walk at least twice a day (once before work, once after work) for about 20-30 mins. The problems arise when she sees or comes close to another dog. I see the hair on the back of the neck start to go up and I can tell she is getting excited/nervous. Then the barking & pulling starts. I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as aggressive barking, more of a yelping really.

Another related issue is when I take her to a place she is not familiar with, such as a pet expo. When she's at a place like this, the barking doesn't stop. I think it may be nerves as she doesn't know the people there or where she is. Plus there's a lot of activity usually going on which adds to her anxiety I believe.

And when she's at home and is looking out the window and sees another dog, she starts with the barking and whining.

I'm not sure how to positively deal with these types of problems. It gets frustrating at times and I don't want to resort to yelling or any other kind of negative punishment.

Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[performanceknls]

Hey guys, new member here. I started out in the intro forums and was asked to post my questions in here as I would get much more detailed responses:

Quick background: My girl is a 4 year old pit boxer who I adopted about 1 1/2 years ago from a shelter. Her name is Lina & she's a very sweet & caring girl.

The majority of the issues stem from me walking her. I make sure that we go for a walk at least twice a day (once before work, once after work) for about 20-30 mins. The problems arise when she sees or comes close to another dog. I see the hair on the back of the neck start to go up and I can tell she is getting excited/nervous. Then the barking & pulling starts. I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as aggressive barking, more of a yelping really.

Another related issue is when I take her to a place she is not familiar with, such as a pet expo. When she's at a place like this, the barking doesn't stop. I think it may be nerves as she doesn't know the people there or where she is. Plus there's a lot of activity usually going on which adds to her anxiety I believe.

And when she's at home and is looking out the window and sees another dog, she starts with the barking and whining.

I'm not sure how to positively deal with these types of problems. It gets frustrating at times and I don't want to resort to yelling or any other kind of negative punishment. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks in advance!

There is no positive way to deal with this if you really want to fix it. No need for yelling and I would never suggest that as it does nothing but bring the dogs drive up. You do need to correct the behavior and teach the dog what a appropriate response is to seeing another dog. Your dog should ignore other dogs not get excited. If you really want this fixed then I can help you get started but you are going to have to correct your dog. You can try to redirect the dogs attention but you are not fixing the problem you are just prolonging your issue. I have seen all types of methods for DA over the years and what works is correcting the dog. Once your dog learns it is not appropriate to act that way they will relax and have a normal response. I have been training professionally for over 15 years and our business specializes in DA but I will not waste time posting a long thread on how to fix this if you are not willing to try it.

You should also seek the help of a local trainer as hands on help is much better than something you can learn online.

 

[KMdogs]

There is no positive way to deal with this if you really want to fix it. No need for yelling and I would never suggest that as it does nothing but bring the dogs drive up. You do need to correct the behavior and teach the dog what a appropriate response is to seeing another dog. Your dog should ignore other dogs not get excited. If you really want this fixed then I can help you get started but you are going to have to correct your dog. You can try to redirect the dogs attention but you are not fixing the problem you are just prolonging your issue. I have seen all types of methods for DA over the years and what works is correcting the dog. Once your dog learns it is not appropriate to act that way they will relax and have a normal response. I have been training professionally for over 15 years and our business specializes in DA but I will not waste time posting a long thread on how to fix this if you are not willing to try it.

You should also seek the help of a local trainer as hands on help is much better than something you can learn online.

:goodpost: Agree'd with everything. If your dog does in fact have APBT (theres only one "pit bull" breed...and given you don't know anything about the breeder it may not be a "pit mix") you can expect DA (dog aggression) and it will always be there. If the mix is as you were told, half of your dogs genetics wants to fight and the other half wants to play. (generally..though i have seen some well bred Boxers that are fairly DA..not on the same level, of course) Depending on how much APBT your dog may take on genetically will depend on how sever his drive for fighting will be/become and theres zero way of knowing until it were to happen.

Your best bet as PK said, consult a trainer and a behaviorist and i would STRONGLY recommend someone who has dealt with this breed in true form. Many trainers apply the same logic to all breeds and the same logic for a Labrador isnt going to be the same for the APBT.

I also train, though no where near the magnitude of PK given what PK does for line of work.. Its the safest option for you given your experience.

Also, some dogs will bark and whine acting like they want to play when in reality its something completely different, given what you believe is mixed in your dog avoid DOG PARKS and other forms of heavy traffic dog places. You can't train genetics only manage.. Also, don't make the mistake of believing play time with other dogs is socializing them.. Socializing a dog is not the same thing as playing with other dogs.