New Puppy?
Start Your Puppy Off Right
For your puppy to grow into a healthy, balanced dog, you must demonstrate leadership from day one.
New puppy owners often make the mistake of endlessly worrying about finding the right puppy treats or bed. They spend little or no time worrying about how or what they will teach their new puppy.
Yes, a puppy needs nutritious food and a safe, warm place to live. But another equally powerful and important biological necessity is the need for a strong pack leader to serve as the dominant source of alpha energy in their lives.
Pit bull Puppies are naturally hard-wired to follow a pack leader. A pack leader is, by definition, strong, stable and consistent; traits many new puppy owners forget around their dogs. I have had clients who are strong leaders in their jobs, but, when they come home, they turn to mush with their dogs. Then they come to me, puzzled as to why their dog won’t behave.
Puppies sense our confidence levels and will take control if they perceive us as weak. When dogs or puppies take control, bad behaviors, such as excessive barking, leash-pulling, or anxiety, will develop.
The most important thing you can do is to become your puppy’s pack leader. This role doesn’t begin when your dog is six months old or when he’s bad. For your puppy to grow into a healthy, balanced dog, you must demonstrate leadership from day one.
Here are some important points to remember in your role as pack leader:
When getting a new pitbull, make sure to set aside time every day to provide mental exercise by maintaining rules, boundaries and limitations. When these needs are met, the affection you give to your dog will be channeled as a reward.
Create a schedule that includes a daily 45-minute power-walk in the morning. This is critical for your pitbull's health, both physical and mental.
Enlist your whole family in the process of bringing a new pitbull puppy home. Discuss what their responsibilities will be before the puppy arrives.
Make sure you find a breed that fits your lifestyle. For example, more active breeds, like hunting and herding dogs, require more physical exercise to stay physically and mentally content.
Always walk out the door ahead of your dog when leaving the house. This will show your dog who is in the leadership role.
On walks, make sure that your dog is not in front of you, pulling you down the street. Instead, keep your dog to your side or behind you. This will also demonstrate to your dog that you are the alpha figure.
Give the pitbull puppy something to do before you share food, water, toys or affection. This way the dog earns his treat. For example, have your puppy perform the Sit or Down command.
Set aside a budget for unexpected circumstances, like medical bills and training classes. A healthy, well-trained dog makes a wonderful pet.
A puppy will be set up to fail if his new family doesn’t learn these lessons before he arrives. Remember, puppies don’t crave a fancy treat or bed; they need you to become their stable pack leader to demonstrate love in a way they understand.
How Humans Create Behavioral Issues for Dogs
Why Rules, Boundaries and Limitations are Key
The sooner you set rules, boundaries and limitations, the sooner you get to enjoy a healthy, happy, and balanced dog.
We’ve learned in other lessons that dogs follow calm-assertive leaders. The pack leader, the mother or the male, embodies calm-assertive leadership.
Dogs communicate through energy at every moment. The pack leader projects calm-assertive energy, and the rest of the pack responds with calm-submissive energy. This is how the pack achieves balance.
From the moment puppies are born, the mom sets rules, boundaries and limitations. She tells her puppies how far they can go away from the den and when to eat, and she walks with them.
The mother also allows the puppies to share activities with each other. When she wants play to end or just disagrees with what’s going on, she picks up a puppy and takes him to another spot.
In all of these ways, the mom sets rules, boundaries and limitations and, in doing so, nurtures her puppy’s healthy state of mind. As adults, dogs look to their pack leader to set these rules.
Understand the Animal in the Dog
If you are to understand the animal in the dog, you must forget human psychology when dealing with your canine. Mother Nature created pack dynamics to guide the development and adult lives of dogs. Dogs become unstable when they live with us and lack a calm-assertive pack leader.
Humans have the power to understand pack dynamics, and we possess the ability to replicate pack dynamics. By doing so, we connect with our dogs on a primal level. The key to this is you as pack leader.
To achieve this, you must duplicate the action and attitude of a canine pack leader. Set and enforce rules, boundaries and limitations in a calm-assertive and consistent way. Feed your dog after her mind reaches a calm-submissive state and never reward unstable behavior. Walk with her every day like her canine pack leader would. And only share affection after projecting the calm-assertive leadership that Nature has intended your dog to follow.
Start Early, Start Young
People ask me when they should start setting rules, boundaries and limitations. The answer is now!
Most people get a puppy and wait to teach him rules, boundaries or limitations until six months or one year old. Meanwhile, the puppy is teaching you rules, boundaries and limitations. At this point, rehabilitation is required, because you will have to regain the position you lost a long time ago.
So start now! The sooner you set rules, boundaries and limitations, the sooner you get to enjoy a healthy, happy, and balanced dog.
The Food Philosophy
Why it's Important for Dogs to Follow Commands Before Eating
Domestication means that dogs don’t have to hunt for food, but they still have to work for food.
In the animal world, waiting is a part of who they are. Dogs have to wait to eat; they don’t just get a meal by Federal Express.
Domestication means that dogs don’t have to hunt for food, but they still have to work for food. When they’re little, puppies work for food by waiting for their mom. This is a form of psychological exercise, and it’s very important for a healthy state of mind.
I feed many dogs at the same time with no problems. Dogs that show calm-submissive energy get to eat first, and I won’t feed dogs that show negative behaviors such as aggression or nervousness. I wait until these dogs project calm-submissive energy before they get fed, much like their mom or pack leader would do.
Work for Food
Before my dogs eat, I take them for a walk. In this way, I ask my dogs to work for food and water. This is a form of waiting, which is psychological exercise that helps nurture a balanced, happy dog.
Your morning routine - every morning, not just some of the time - should go like this: Project calm-assertive energy before you give your dog affection. Then walk your dog to exercise her body and allow her to explore the world. When you get home, prepare her food. While you fill the bowl, ask your dog to sit. If she sits quietly and projects calm-submissive energy with no negative behaviors, place the bowl of food in front of her.
Some of my clients think this routine sounds rigid. But from your dog’s perspective, it’s how Nature always intended her to live.
Cesar's Top 10 Summer Tips!
With record temperatures around the country, it is important to keep your dogs in mind when it comes to keeping cool. Here is Cesar's Top 10 Tips for beating the summer heat!
1.) Exercise your dog early in the morning or late at night. These are the cooler parts of the day, and this will make the walk more comfortable for both you and your dog. I’m a believer in vigorous exercise for healthy dogs, but this is the time of year to back off on exercise intensity.
2.) Use doggie boots. You can find these at your local pet supply store. If you can’t walk your dog during the early and later hours of the day, this is a good way of protecting it. Heat rises from the ground, especially on surfaces like cement and asphalt, and dogs absorb and release heat through their feet. Just like boots prevent the dog from absorbing the cold in the winter, they also isolate heat.
3.) Watch for signs of dehydration. Dogs can't sweat. They cool off by panting, so an overheated dog will drool excessively. It will become lethargic, its eyes will be bloodshot and it may appear a little pale. If you lift its skin, it will take longer than usual for the skin to fall back into place.
4.) Let your dog check the weather. Dogs don’t have the Weather Channel, so they don’t know why they are being denied a long walk for the day. Allow your dog to step outside and feel for itself that it is too hot, too wet or too cold to go on a long walk. Instinctually, the dog will understand that it has to shorten its walk, or simply come back inside where it’s safe.
5.) Find innovative ways to cool your dog. Don’t have air conditioning? No problem! Find a spot in the shade and set up a kiddie pool. At the Dog Psychology Center, we have misters that spray the dogs with gentle streams of misty water. Lay down a wet towel for your dog to lie on. Or simply set up a fan in front of a pan of ice.
6.) Dogs cool from the bottom up. Make sure to spray the paws and stomach, not just the top of the dog, when spraying it with water. A wet towel does more good on the bottom of your dog than when laid on the top of its coat.
7.) Let your dog dig! Your dog may resort to finding his own way to avoid the heat. Dogs in nature dig their dens not out of frustration but to find food, hide, give birth or keep cool! If it’s possible, locate a shady area where it’s okay for your dog to dig.
8.) Keep your dog hydrated! Different dogs have different needs when battling the heat. Keep in mind that darker coats absorb more heat than lighter coats. Also, overweight dogs will dehydrate faster. Carry a bottle of water when going on a walk with your dog. Better yet have your dog carry it for you in a backpack or a vest! The water in the bottles will keep the dog cooler and also give the dog a sense of purpose.
9.) Never leave your dog in a parked car. The car retains more heat than an open area, even if it is in the shade. Plus, a dog may get overexcited in the car due to passersby or panic from claustrophobia, making dehydration more likely. On longer trips, make sure you have water for the dog and keep the AC running.
10.) Use hot weather as an excuse to swim more often! The best activity you can do in summertime or hot weather is swimming. Instead of walking the dog, take the dog on a swim! If you hold them and allow them to take you around the pool, it becomes a powerful bonding experience for the two of you, similar to the walk.
Behavior Rehabilitation
Discovering the Cause of Barking
If nuisance barking is a problem, consider these issues to find a solution.
Some clients tell me that they love coming home because their dog greets them excitedly by jumping and barking. They feel this proves their dogs love for and bond with the family.
But look at a dog in a natural setting; she doesn’t bark and yelp and jump on her pack mates in a burst of affection.
So what are my clients’ dogs trying to say?
Looking Deeper for Answers
Dogs that greet their owners in this way are trying to communicate. But rather than professing undying love, they are probably trying to tell you that they are lonely and bored and that their needs as a dog are not being met. The excitement that you see is your dog’s way of burning off the excess energy that has been building throughout the day.
People shouldn’t be disappointed by this revelation. This just means that dogs don’t use emotions like people do. Remember, they’re dogs. To love a dog means you must treat him like an animal, which means fulfilling him as Nature intended him to be fulfilled.
Now, let’s get back to our barking dog. So-called nuisance barking, which is often ongoing and not in response to a particular stimulus like a jogger running by the house, is your dog’s way of sending you a distress signal.
Somewhere his needs as an animal are not being met. Is his world anchored by a pack leader who projects calm-assertive energy? Are you walking with him every day, which exercises his body and his mind? Is he living a balanced life?
If nuisance barking is a problem, consider these issues to find a solution. It’s the best way to show real love for your dog.
Sources: http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/tips/index.php, Cesar Millan
The AKC refused to recognize breeds called "pit bulls" until 1936, when it recognized the American Pit Bull Terrier under the alias Staffordshire Terrier. The original Staffordshire Terrier, bred in Staffordshire England as a pit fighting dog is typically 14-16 inches tall and weighs up to 45 pounds. The American cousin is 18-19 inches tall and weighs up to 80 pounds. In 1972 the name was changed to the American Staffordshire Terrier to distinguish the breed from the British dog.
used in battle and for guarding, but they also served utilitarian purposes, such as farm work. Specifically, these dogs accompanied farmers into the fields to assist with bringing bulls in for breeding, castration, or slaughter. The dogs, known generally as bulldogs, protected the farmer by subduing the bull if it attempted to gore him. Typically a dog would do this by biting the bull on the nose and holding on until the bull submitted. Because of the nature of their job, bulldogs were bred to have powerful, muscular bodies, and the resolve to hold onto a violently-struggling bull, even when injured.
