I would be not be working but relaxing in the sun if I was given a nickel for every opinion I have heard about the pitbull being a dominant breed and needing to know ‘who’s boss’ or to be shown a ‘forceful hand’. If you start right, a pitbull is not at all hard to train. As a professional trainer dealing with many breeds as well as America’s pitbull Terrier, my boldly answer is: the blame lies with owners.

The crucial thing to understand in dog training you are not actually training, but learning the concept of training, to be able to communicate better with your dog. So it is you that’s in training to learn how best to show the dog what you require of him. Once you do, its very simple, although the more complex your need communication may be more complex too. This is why positive dog training methods are the most effective system.

Why is Positive Training Most Effective?

The simplest answer is that it is a difficult system to fall into a serious mistake with. A detailed answer is that you are learning to communicate in the most effective and stress free way possible with your pitbull by understanding his learning capabilities. As a result your dog will not avoid or fear you. Positive training is challenging, exciting and fun and not for Mac Donald’s type owners who need fast food results.

How long do I need to use tools like Treats and Clickers?

You need to faze them out and only implement to teach something new or refresh an old lesson. High value treats should be given periodically. Trainers who knock the Clicker or Marker system are merely trying to sell their own. All dogs including blind and deaf dogs could be trained with this method. A dog I know, blind and deaf from birth has learnt by touch markers and vibrations of stomped feet to obey heel, walk loose, lie on the side, wait, come and sit down.

I myself have used light flash and hand signals effectively to train deaf dogs. I am emphasizing that these methods are effective because they call for working with an animal and not against.

It is a good idea to incorporate these behaviours into daily routines to keep them fresh and sharp. Wait to climb the stairs, sit for food etc.

Training Summary

pitbull s like to please people which makes training easier, but doesn’t mean they are going to be a champion in obedience in a week or learn things overnight. Every tool, technique, method you use should be done so consistently. If you seem unclear and use different methods all the time you will confuse your pitbull if he performs only sometimes it will be because he has been trained that way.

While using positive training you can hardly mess up with correction training you can even mess up your animal almost irretrievably.

A most important factor in whatever method you decide on is to make sure both you and your dog enjoy it.