mouthing and jumping oh my

[ksvstamp]

I am considering adopting a Pit...they are just so beautiful and sweet. I went to visit my brother who just adopted one from a shelter. He is Pit/Dogue de Bordeaux mix. Yep...think Turner and Hooch and that's him. He was told at the shelter that Simba was 4 yr old and super sweet. Of course he is sweet. He also doesn't know when to stop playing. He also chews on any part of a person he can get his mouth on. He has also chewed my nieces box spring. Is this common behavior for a dog of this age? My SIL is not comfortable with dogs, but ironically, he doesn't seem to do this with her. But then, he likely doesn't see her as a playmate. They have small children in the house (grandkids that visit) and now they are afraid he will unintentionally hurt them. I think the yelling to stop and swatting him is only aggravating things. I believe that he needs some good schooling and "proper" attention. He seems to have boundless energy and has difficulty just laying down to rest. He is being walked several times a day, for long periods. I think however his play time needs to be more intentional. I also think he needs a crate to be his place to go and decompress so to speak. Only guessing...I would imagine this makes sense. Is this a common occurance with this breed and at this age? I know they are an energetic breed, but I would hate for them to give up on him after only a week or so. Maybe this is not the breed for them?

[perseus]

You are asking the right questions and the answers are here in this forum. also in case you haven't already the website is the starting place I recommend to people. realpitbull.com/.

[sugar]

I know there are people who will give much better answers regarding the training aspect very soon. I just wanted to share my story about my dog Chubby with you (and you can share it with your brother if you want). I adopted Chubby from a rescue when he was about 2 years old (ears had been shorn off, he was bald from malnutrition and all bones when he had been dumped on a highway here in NYC). He was a very sweet dog, very loving, kinda affectionate (he was still figuring out how to express his happiness, lol). But his manners were god-awful to nonexistant! He peed everywhere, he chewed everything in site and he was super duper mouthy (mind you, not biting just really really mouthy). I kid you not, by the fourth day of having in my home I was sitting in my trashed bedroom on the floor and crying because I felt like I had made the biggest mistake. Everyone in my family was either angry with him for chewing/peeing or afraid of him for being mouthy and pitbull (a dangerous combo in their minds). I was crying and feeling awful for thinking I would have to return this very sweet but utterly wild dog. He walked over to me and sat down next to me and licked my face. And that was it...I was now determined to make it work.

It took A LOT of work, I'm not going to lie. With Chubby's mouthiness what worked was saying "ouch!" like it really hurt and walking away. After a while he starting picking up on the fact that being mouthy made the playtime stop (and playtime was very important for him). Sometimes dogs are mouthy because of some impulse control issues (as it was with CHubby), he just didn't know when to stop. We also worked on playing and not getting him all riled up (watching him and if he got too amped we slowed or stopped the play until he was a little more calm). I also got him a backpack to care some water bottles in to help tired him out more on walks.

But the biggest change came from clicker training. He picked up on clicker pretty quick and learned that if he did good things or listened to me good things happened (good things being bits of hotdog! lol) We did the Nothing In Life Is Free protocol and the first two months if he wasn't in his crate he was tethered to me by a four foot leash. I didn't let him out of my sight until I could trust him not to pee/chew in the house. He had ZERO privileges until he earned them (couldn't even eat a treat or get a cuddle until he sat down or gave me his paw or did something to *earn* it).

Again, I'm sure you will get better advice, just thought I'd let you know about my own journey with a very VERY rough around the edges dog that turned into the newest love of my life.

[loverocksalot]

You are right yelling and swatting is making it worse. It can really get out of hand as the dog associates it with such negative experiences. The better way is to reward with food by tossing it to him while he is doing the right thing. Soft food like chicken or cheese that can be cut to small pieces works welll and keeping a tin with kibble in it for the quick moments you need it is helpful too. Google Paul Owens the original dog whisperer for some free videos with help with what I am talking about. Also google NILIF which means nothing in life is free is a great program when a pup is being naughty.