Though referring to puppies in the title, this information can be implemented with pitbulls of all ages that have had no training.
Positive reinforcement is a much neglected area of pitbull training. It can take several forms and we are discussing a couple here.
What are negative and positive reinforcement?
In positive reinforcement we reinforce certain things with positive feelings, like rewarding your puppy when he sits.
Negative reinforcement is when you reinforce certain things using negative responses. Though he knows how, your pup chooses not to sit. You take away his reward. This is negative reinforcement.
Both strategies are more complex but we will address them in their simple forms here.
Then there is another extremely powerful concept of training known as ‘avoidance’.
Avoidance
This is when you dog avoid something that stimulates negative feelings.
Just as we avoid the negative consequences of running the red light we need to show our puppy there are negative consequences to disobeying that should be avoided.
You achieve this by withholding reward and not by correction.
When I give Angel my dog the command ‘go to bed’, she goes and lies down on the mat. After I have rewarded her, she decides to get up again. At this point rather that using the leash to correct her back to her mat as in compulsion training, I would take her by the leash back to bed and repeat my command. I would sit by her for about a minute, praise, reward and let her off.
Here the negative consequence was the withholding of reward until she has lain on her mat for a minute, and rewarding only after.
A lack of timing, discipline and consistency erodes good training. My own experience with my dog honey was that I taught her by positive reinforcement but neglected to consistently reinforce the lesson. As a result today she gets easily distracted as she hasn’t had a solid foundation.
Another example is of not consistently enforcing rules in all situations. A dog who has been taught not to jump on the sofa, but is not corrected when there are visitors cannot be properly trained.
Reward for Being Calm
This is one of the quickest and best ways to train a dog.
Praise, reward and treat your pitbull when you see him quiet and relaxing. Some say this will excite the dog, but if you only reward his excitable behaviour and not his calm times, you would have taught him to be boisterous. This way they will realize that they can have attention even when they are calm.
If when your pitbull is sitting down quietly and you walk around him all day without paying any attention, but when he finally gets up and comes to you pat, praise or treat – you have taught him that he needs to seek your attention and being calm will bring nor reward. Reverse that and pat and praise the excited dog – you will have taught him its okay to be boisterous.
Conclusion
Training of your puppy is a long term process and needs consistent reinforcement of both allowed and disallowed behaviours.
