Post by RealPitBull on Sept 15, 2008 8:08:10 GMT -5
It’s all about Rules and Setting Limits. Lots of dogs get overly rambunctious when playing. They get ‘lost in the moment’. This is why frequent ‘time outs’ during high-energy games like tug are a great way to a) establish leadership and b) help your dog to have a good on/off switch (this transfers over to other sorts of situations that would require your dog to turn it down a notch when overly excited by environmental stimuli.
As far a Pit Bulls being unpredictable during play, I respectfully beg to differ. The ‘unpredictability myth’ has been a huge source of trouble for our breed, and I hope that no Pit Bull owner would continue to use such a word when talking about their dog or the breed in general. Contrary to mythology, Pit Bulls are actually one of the easiest breeds to read, and very predictable. You just have to know what to look for, which is where education comes into play. Like all dogs, Pit Bulls perform behaviors that make sense to THEM in their doggy minds, and having a completely different set of rules and suites of behavior than humans, it is up to us humans to take some time to get to know dog language so that we can better understand what our dogs are saying to us.
for example : pitbulls always want to play but always on their terms..... and initially they will never back off to give you free time... they need to know when it is TIME to play .....but seriouisly ;playing tug of war is not really a good idea as it gets the dog too excited... Eventually I do play tug with my yogi when I have the time to do so..... I really enjoy the excercise for the both of us but bonehead grabs the tug rope from one end reaching up to my hand and that is a scary sneaky thing.... one time a year ago , he did just that reached up to my end and clamped down on my hand, would not let go for a few moments,,,, in the excitement of the game , he did not know what he was doing.... took me a while to get his mouth off my hands, scary indeed and as you know in the excitement of any game ,pits will be unpredictable , its not that I feel its not proper , its what the experts are saying about tug that adheres to my beliefs.....
As far a Pit Bulls being unpredictable during play, I respectfully beg to differ. The ‘unpredictability myth’ has been a huge source of trouble for our breed, and I hope that no Pit Bull owner would continue to use such a word when talking about their dog or the breed in general. Contrary to mythology, Pit Bulls are actually one of the easiest breeds to read, and very predictable. You just have to know what to look for, which is where education comes into play. Like all dogs, Pit Bulls perform behaviors that make sense to THEM in their doggy minds, and having a completely different set of rules and suites of behavior than humans, it is up to us humans to take some time to get to know dog language so that we can better understand what our dogs are saying to us.
Mary Ellen ..
for example : pitbulls always want to play but always on their terms..... and initially they will never back off to give you free time... they need to know when it is TIME to play .....but seriouisly ;playing tug of war is not really a good idea as it gets the dog too excited... Eventually I do play tug with my yogi when I have the time to do so..... I really enjoy the excercise for the both of us but bonehead grabs the tug rope from one end reaching up to my hand and that is a scary sneaky thing.... one time a year ago , he did just that reached up to my end and clamped down on my hand, would not let go for a few moments,,,, in the excitement of the game , he did not know what he was doing.... took me a while to get his mouth off my hands, scary indeed and as you know in the excitement of any game ,pits will be unpredictable , its not that I feel its not proper , its what the experts are saying about tug that adheres to my beliefs.....