[cellerby]

I think that the home my pit was in initially feed her table scraps, because every time I get food for myself she attacks me trying to get at it. If we sit on the couch and eat she will try and steal things off our plate or the table. What can I do to try and reverse this behavior? She is driving me crazy during mealtime!!

[LittleMissE]

I would think that putting the dog away during food time might help at 1st. Then let him/her out for the beginning of eating and if he/she is acts up don't let her in the room with food.

[Miakoda]

Simple. Crate her while you eat.

My dogs are not allowed to be loose while we eat. Although we have 2 that will go lie down and just watch from the living room, I don't appreciate beggars and don't want to fight a dog for something I dropped on the floor.

After the table is cleared off, then a dog is allowed in to "sweep" the floor (espeically under where Cole eats )

[Rai_77]

start NILIF right away. She is very much disrespecting your role as pack leader.

http://www.k9deb.com/nilif.htm

[cellerby]

i am trying NILIF and I know that she is trying to challenge me. I make her sit before I give her food, water, let her outside, take her in the car, give her a toy, and try to before I give her attention, but I am finding that the second I sit down she is trying to jump up on the couch, or wherever non stop and she ignors me still sometimes when i try to get her attention to stop chewing on something or if she is harrassing the other 2 dogs. Sometimes when I tell her no she will even go as far as barking at me. she trys to get my attention by pulling on my shirts, pants or anything around me. I know that NILIF doesn't happen overnight, but I am wondering if I am still doing things wrong. I do know that she is not getting enough exercise outside though because she still fights me when I try to take her for walks. She just sits down. We are slowly making progress, but she is not burning off enough energy! She also stops every 2 seconds to sniff or eat rabbit crap. I crate her during the night and day when I am at work, so I can try and put her in there during mealtimes as well, I just wanted to keep her out as long as possible when we are home.

[maryellen]

if your dog is a puppy, they have the attention span of a gnat, so training will be slower then if she was an adult dog.

exercise exercise exercise!! you must make the time to give her more exercise, she has pent up energy she doenst expel, so she is acting out..

[cellerby]

its not that i don't make the time. i can take her out for an hour and hardly get her 30 ft from the house. she is too interested in smelling things that i can't get her to walk yet. she is 5 mos, and all she wants is to sit and eat the rabbit poop in the field (any idea how to stop that??) i read that it wasn't smart to let her off leash so i don't know what else to do for exercise. my vet said that tug-of-war was not a good idea. anyone have anything to say about that? any other ideas for excersice would be appreciated too! i am willing to spend the time, just not sure of what would be constructive for her.

[maryellen]

at 5 months old she has the attention span of two gnats... if you make YOU more interesting then everything else that will help.. at her age, everything is a wonder, and must be investigated, can you sign up for obedience classes somewhere with her? that will help bond you and her, and teach her how to start learning how to act etc... puppies are like 4 legged babies, and need a lot of patience..

fun exercises like www.bustercube.com and a flirt pole would work too, and playing tug is fine...

[cellerby]

I am signing up for a petsmart class, although i did read the discussion about the quality of those courses on here! i am going to talk to the instructor ahead of time though and see if she has any experience with pits. i think that at least it will be a good class for socialization.

[Miho]

Unless we eat at the table Orion gets crated during meal times. Table begging is my biggest pet peeve and it drives me nuts when we bring him places and people feed him from the table!!

He is getting pretty good about it. He will lay down in the living room when we eat in the kitchen.

[Michele]

JC eats when I eat. When he's done, he lays down until i'm done eating.

[Miakoda]

Originally Posted by Michele JC eats when I eat. When he's done, he lays down until i'm done eating.

I also used to do this, although with multiple dogs, all the dogs ate in their kennels. But I used to always feed them right before I sat down to eat myself.

[maryellen]

i dont see anything wrong with petsmart obedience classes as long as they are positive and not cruel. socialization is VERY important and so is learning how to train her..

[jasmine2008]

Jasmine also used to be really bad when we first got her about begging. But i would have to agree with mia the best solution i have found yet is to crate her and then let her out when we are done.

[Drgnrdr]

Talk to the trainer see if they understand, the Intermediate class teaches Park it, or go to a spot you designate, I use this for all the dogs, that jump on guest or answer the door and put the dog under control, and you can use it for eating also.
You will learn Leave it in the puppy/beginner class, this is good for leaving the rabbit poop alone, get a gentle leader it will control her head and help you so she doesn't pull or by gentle pressure, pull a little bit on the leash then relax, talk excited and pull gentle a little bit then relax the leash, don't keep constant pressure forward when she stops and sits, dogs fight resistance, you pull they keep pulling back, but if you just pull for a second with the leash and then relax she may start to resist, but gets no where, cause you have gone relax again, if she stops and sits and refuses to go forward no matter what you do,(and you may have to try for 5-10 minutes like this, it's a bad habit and she's not seeing you as in charge) use a very high value treat to encourage her to follow you, then after a few steps tell her "yes" and give her the treat, then tell her good girl when she walks with you.
If you try the pull relax way, she will understand she needs to follow you, or she won't be allowed to do anything else, and make sure you don't allow it.

Ask the trainer if she puts leave it and take it together, like keep a treat on her hand and says leave it, then after dog backs off, tells them take it..this should not be done, simply because leave it should mean do not touch, and then you turn around and say okay now you can, very confusing the dog needs to understand leave it is something they can not have, no matter what that way if you say leave it they leave it alone and walk away from it, cause they won't try to anticipate you releasing them to take it in a second and they keep going at it, or it may be something you don't want them to have EVER so don't even expect to get it later. This is simple logic and understanding a dog and how to train them, alot of the new trainers coming down the pike have the leave it takeit together, I keep trying to tell them the new book is wrong, it's not printed correctly, besides having alot of misspelled words and wrong phrases and instructions put together, the info for teaching leave it take it is wrong also, most trainers I know who understand the concept for these 2 cues, ignore the book and teach it correctly the way it was intended. Suzanne Hetts is one of the pioneers of Petsmarts training program, see if they know who she is and has read anything from her.
Read my leader follower tips in this training forum, if you scroll down, answer the questions on there, and follow the tips and solutions posted.
This is my opinion only, licensing fees and docking charges are seperate...LOL

[cellerby]

Thank you so much for all your help, I will definately be using the advice! Another quick question though, do you recommend using a harness on pits?

[PNWPBR]

Originally Posted by cellerby Thank you so much for all your help, I will definately be using the advice! Another quick question though, do you recommend using a harness on pits?

Harnesses are good if you want your dog to PULL you. The popular thought with harnesses is that it gives owners more control when walking their dog, but it is actually the opposite. It gives the dog more to lean into and therefore pull with their chest instead of strain on their neck like a collar would.

Use the Gentle Leader like Drgnrdr suggested, I use them as well and they are wonderful training aids. They have no pressure on chest OR neck and are very similar to the concept of a horse halter. Control of the head equals control of the dog and your walking experience will be much more enjoyable.

[The Diesel]

Exercise, and lots of it. At that age they dont all like walking around too much, they just wanna smell everything and then pee and poop on it, and thats ok. I would play alot indoors with balls and stuff, you can play tug, this breed loves playing tug for the most part. Look up info on how to make a flirt pole, its great exercise for them and you can do it while sitting on your butt lol. You can even make a small one for indoors which is what i have done for rainy days. Im a big believer that a tired dog is a happy dog and happy dogs learn better. Be firm with your dog without being mean, alot of dogs understand the tone of your voice and know when you mean business.

[Drgnrdr]

Harnesses are good if you want your dog to PULL you.

dito..
I tell ppl it gives them 4 wheel drive to pull you even more, you might as well strap on some skates and go...lol

[megschristina]

I agree with the harness thing, Apollo has a beautiful red leather harness, with a metal breastplate, it is sooo pretty, but he knows it gives him the "pulling" advantage..lol, he only wears it when I feel like showing off. I agree just put the dog away while you are eating. and good luck with the puppy classes!