Pitbulls get a bad rep for being aggressive dogs with an unfixable bad attitude, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. This dog breed is actually one of the most loving, sweet-hearted creatures, and you’d be lucky to have one in your household, or indeed, grow with one as a child. In spite of that, like with any dog breed, puppies tend to bite as they teeth, and if that is not addressed, it could turn into quite a dangerous habit. But fear not, for we are here to guide you through it, and tell you all about how to train a Pitbull puppy not to bite.
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Stop The Biting: Pitbull Puppy Training Tips
To stop your Pitbull from biting, there are a bunch of things you can do. The idea here is to teach them that biting is harmful and negative behavior, by time, they will understand that, and refrain from doing it. These following approaches will show you how to stop a Pitbull puppy from biting.
1. Following the natural way to show them biting hurts.
Puppies tend to play-fight with each other, and when they do, some nipping and biting are sure to be involved, but by time, they learn to play nicely, but how?
The trick here is that when a puppy bites their playmate aggressively, it will hurt, and the puppy on the receiving end of the nip will show his agony in a sharp sound, and retreat into a corner. This sound and action help the biting doggo understand that what they did was wrong, and by the time they will learn.
This is exactly what you can do with your puppy. Take some time to have play sessions with your dog where you pet them and play around with them, your Pitbull pup is sure to get in a nib on one of your fingers. Take that opportunity to act like that bitten puppy, say “no” or any other simple word in a firm and loud voice, then stop playing with your pup for a little while. This shows them that biting is not okay.
Remember to retreat your hand slowly if your puppy gets to one of your fingers. Pulling away your finger might trigger the chasing instinct in the Pitbull, and that will not help in training. If your puppy bites more than three times in a fifteen-minute window or so, take a timeout from the play session to show them you mean business.
2. Show them that human biting is unacceptable.
Biting on a chewing toy is fine, but biting on human fingers is not. We know this, but how do we make the dog understand? This advanced technique is based on a replacement. If your dog attempts to bite you, pull away, and instead give them a chew toy. Wave it around until they bite on it. You can do the same thing with a game of fetch, or tug-of-war, where your puppy latches onto something with their teeth and you try to pull it away. If it gets too aggressive, you should use the leave it command to stop the game.
You can do so with the infamous heel biting that some dogs love so much. Once they bite on your ankles, stop moving, and wait for them to release. When they do, give them a chew toy and praise them for stopping bad behavior. This is positive reinforcement for refraining from unacceptable actions. You need to stop the Pitbull puppy biting humans habit from a young age, so it doesn’t develop into something more dangerous.
3. Keep your furniture safe by creating biting boundaries and reducing the urge to bite in-home.
In case dogs are more inclined to biting things in their environment, such as your furniture, for example, you can give them something else to chew on. Make sure you pick a toy that they’re interested in, and also one that can withstand their rough nipping, in other words, they need to be biting off more than they can literally chew. If plush toys are too weak, upgrade to rubber or hard plastic. Playing with other dogs is also a welcome distraction, it helps dogs release their need to bite, and leave their more peaceful behaviors for home activities. This kind of socialization is also important to teach them how to treat other dogs and animals in a friendly manner.
If the furniture biting continues, perhaps you need to get a deterrent spray for your most prized assets. Prevention is better than the cure, right? So if you wish, you can spray this deterrent on a piece of cotton, and allow your dog to chew on it. This will help your dog associate the smell of the spray with bad taste, and will stop the doggo from targeting your furniture or whichever items you choose to spray. The exercise should go as follows:
- Give your dog the sprayed cotton ball.
- He will instantly spit it out.
- Bring it closer to him so he could smell it and associate the smell with the taste.
- To make things more advanced, make sure he has no access to water for up to an hour so the taste stays with him. As cruel as it sounds, your dog may learn that he can bite on whatever as long as he drinks water right afterward.
Pitbulls are one of the most energetic dogs, and this is actually part of what makes them such good family dogs, especially with kids. This, however, means you should give them a lot of attention so they don’t go bad. Give them love, affection, and time. Take them on walks and play with them constantly, this will help put them in a good mood, which can only do great things for your relationship with your Pitbull doggo.