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Old November 20th, 2003, 08:37 PM
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daisy18216 daisy18216 is offline
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Pit Bull Question

I have a 2yr. old Pit Bull. I had him since he was approx. 7 weeks old (my husband brought him home from his work).

Anyway, I need help w/trying to get him trained so he'll stop jumping on people as soon as they come into my house. I've been trying to get him trained since he was a pup, but to avail.

Another user gave me a suggestion toward his constant licking. That suggestion works fine when it's just the immediate family, as soon as a vistior comes he won't listen. He is constantly licking and jumping, and trying to give hugs & kisses.

He's a great dog. Here's Mr. Licks Alot.
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Old November 24th, 2003, 12:42 PM
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CanadianK9info CanadianK9info is offline
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How are people reacting to your dog doing this?

The reason I am asking is because chances are he is getting the attention he desires from this behaviour (other words he is being rewarded for it), that is why he continues to do this. Even negative attention like pushing him down or saying "no" can still encourage this behaviour. When he jumps on people they need to completely ignore him... turn the other direction.... he should not get any attention until he is seated nicely for patting. You should also work on teaching him the command "Off", this command should mean "all feat on the floor" (off of the couch, person, counter top etc).... not to be confused with "down" as this means "belly on the floor".... some people use these two commands interchangeably which tends to confuse the dog even more so. To teach this you can ask your dog to sit..... have a piece of food in your hand if he jumps to get it say "off" and give a little bump on the end of his nose (not hitting) to knock him back to sitting position.... the second and I mean the second all four feet are on the ground reward him with the food and lots of praise. Release him and play.... do not do this repeatedly in a row... do at various times throughout the day. What you are trying to do is just teach him a command you can use when people come over and he starts jumping up on them..... you can say off and immediately reward. In this situation a clicker may be very handy.... if you want more info on this let me know and I can find you some stuff. Good luck.
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Old November 24th, 2003, 01:46 PM
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daisy18216 daisy18216 is offline
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My visitors get annoyed after awhile. When they go to sit on the couch, Petie jumps right on the couch and does his licking (also trys to sit on peoples laps).

I do tell Petie to get down (off the couch) and sit. I get him on the floor, and the second I let go of his collar he's jumping and licking all over again.

I will try the off command, I hope it works. He really is an excellent dog it's just his jumping, licking, etc. that is out of control.

He does calm down eventually.

Can you explain to me what a clicker is and how it works? I would appreciate it , and if you can give me more info. on it. Do you think I might have to use a clicker on him??

Thanks!!
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Old November 24th, 2003, 03:35 PM
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CanadianK9info CanadianK9info is offline
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Hi. It sounds to me like he is getting attention by doing this.... remember, attention to a dog doesn't necessarily need to be positive. We tend to forget this because we are humans and we do not have the same behaviours as dogs do . There are a couple excellent books that I recommend you take a look at; they explain dog behaviour in terms we non-canines can understand . The first is called "The Other End of The Leash" by: Patricia B. McConnell, PHD. The second is "The Culture Clash" by: Jean Donaldson. Both are excellent books and I personally feel they are must reads for any dog owner.

As you may or may not know, training a dog effectively means having nearly perfect timing.... if you correct too late or reward to late, the whole communication between you and the dog falls apart. The clicker is a training device used to aid in communicating with our dogs; it allows us to "mark" the behaviour we want, the exact second that we get it, so it becomes VERY clear to the dog when they have done what we asked. We condition the dog to associate the click with rewards. It is what the name implies, a small device used to make a clicking sound. The clicker is based on operant conditioning and was first introduced to train marine animals. It has since stemmed into dogs, cats, horses, pigs.... just about anything you can imagine. The clicker allows us to communicate to a dog the exact second that they have done what we want of them (telling them "you are right"). When starting out we just click and then treat the dog repeatedly to teach them that the click is a reward and means a treat is coming. Once the dog has learned what the click means they will start to offer behaviours in order to get you to "click" them. It is truly an amazing tool, you can tell it works at the mere speed you can train a dog using it; I encourage you to give it a try (goes to show that timing is everything to a dog). For more specific information check out the website:ClickerTraining.com . Click on "Clicker Basics" on the left hand menu. This website is by Karen Pryor a world leader in clicker training. You can buy all sorts of books from her site on clicker training. She also has a lot of information on there for you to read that can probably explain it better than I can . On her site she also has a clicker trainer search; I would recommend taking a class about clicker training as it will probably help you out a lot. Here is a link to the Find a Clicker Trainer section.... Find a clicker teacher I took a look at your state and there are LOTS of trainers listed there. If you have any questions let me know, I would be happy to give you some insight !!
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