Having some aggression issues

[russdidham]

Hi,
We are new to the site and decided to join when our dog ( American Pitbull ) started to show aggression towards us when on walks and backyard training. Kane (the dog) showes more aggression towards my wife then he do to me.
We went on a walk one day and came to a fenced backyard, Kane tried to sprint to the fence, do to the fact of other dogs behind the fence. When we corrected him as we do with the heal command, (slow down) he turned towards us, grabbed the leash with his mouth and begin to pull on it. I told him "leave it" and he stoped. we made it past the fence and on the way back the same thing happened. So the next day we picked a different location to take him for his walk. Now it seems that when he gets an idea ( "I'm going to run away now, or going to stop and smell something" ) if we correct him by giving a quick tug on the leash, he turns on the leash and bites it and pulls. So we are holding out on taking him for a walk for now.
Today my wife is in the back yard with him teaching him to "climb" and "heal". Everything is going really well. He is obaying all commands, Healing really good, He climbs on a platform and stays untill she gives the free command. This goes on for about 20 min. Then its like a switch went off. As she proceded to give him a treat then pick up the leash from the ground, Kane decided he had enough and grabbed the leash started to pull on it and jumped oh my wife (wrapping his front legs around her leg). So she had enough, came in the house very upset. Kane then relized that he did wrong, and proceded to his resting place. With his head down ( " Looking sad " ) . So what are we missing?
I started the site on the climb training and heal, he seemed to be doing really good with it. Today I am moving to the aggression section.

[russdidham]

anyone have any ideas for us????

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Few things here to troubleshoot.

First thing is how are you doing with the relationship building exercises and pack structure exercises? Let me know if you are following ALL of them.

I wouldn't recommend starting any formal exercises unless you see a change in some of his relationship behavior with you.

For instance, if you are in the home and your wife gives a simple invite for affection - does he pretty consistently jump on the chance? Or, is he the one calling the shots for interaction.

Sounds like Kane has some serious restless spirit going on. Does he have an outlet? He is tugging on the leash, but does he have the opportunity to tug on something appropriate when you say it is OK.

Do you think you can manage a game of tug with him. On the recommended site links there is a link for dog training equipment. There are 23 inch tugs like this:

You can tie an old leash on the end to keep your hand out of the way and have a great time with him before the formal training or walks. Just dont let him get a chance to go to the ground and chew it up. You can use two to get his attention off one and back to the other to teach the "out" command. You can also hold something that "spueeks" to bring his attention to the other.

If this is too dofficult you can also set up a spring pole by using a garage door spring, rope, and a tug like this that hangs high enough so that his front feet can't touch the ground when he has it. This will also burn him out great before walks or obedience and can be used to HUGE advantage when doing further training where we can call him from and to it.

With pitbulls it is good to recognize and appreciate their catch dog instinct so we can harness it in a way that keeps him balanced. If we dont give him something to tug he will always be looking for it - so we have to create an appropriate obsession. This is similar to hunting dogs that will "fetch" tennis balls all day long because they dont have the options of retrieving ducks.

It is important to have the right relationship first though so we can stay in control of the game.

Here is a trainer that we work with using a spring pole to harness the drive of his bandog. You would not want this dog playing tug with the leash:



Next, I would recommend getting Kane used to a comfortable basket muzzle that you can feed treats through. Refer to the "Jack" muzzle video for the quick version of how to get him used to it, but it is best to do a slow process over a few days - week. Make it very positive so he associates it with positive training and extra treats. This will take ethe option away from him of biting the leash during difficult training sessions or walks while you teach him new habits.

Also, I would recommend using an "easy walker" harness from premier pet products on his walks for now. Double hook the leash to the harness and a loose fitting slip collar (as a safety catch in case he slips out harness). This will give you a better physical advantage without having to "jerk" him.

Avoid leash "jerks" at all costs as this is most likely to agitate him more and seem aggressive to him.

It is OK at this point to use a prong collar for gentle wrist flicks to teach him the postion while practicing in the yard or low distraction environment paired up with a lot of treats - but don't use that on the actual walks. I can teach you how to use the prong better on walks if you can master some of the things up to this point - or else it would be skipping steps which is never good.

Keep in touch with us please.

Good luck!