How to Train a Pit Bull Puppy Basic Commands

Hello Adam, The puppy biting is completely normal and it will take him time to learn something different so try not to be too discouraged if it takes a little while. Check out the article linked below to help him learn. I suggest using the Bite Inhibition method right now while also teaching the "Leave It" method. It will take him time to learn Leave It but that is ultimately the method you want, so use the Bite Inhibition method until he learns Leave It well enough to use that method. Both can be found in the article below: Puppy Biting article: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite For Sit, he is also very young, so any amount of improvement is a big deal for him at this age. Check out the "Food Lure Method" from the article linked below to teach Sit: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-your-puppy-to-sit Luring him into the sit usually helps a pup learn faster - so that he is moving on his own, but if you feel stumped you can also try one of the other two methods from the sit article linked above. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Tayvious, I am not a vet. I highly suggest contacting your vet with this question - especially for a puppy so young. Fleas can be more dangerous if the infestation is severe with a young puppy. There are several products like shampoos, capstar pills, preventative medicines that will also deal with current infestations like advantix, as well as home treatment options if you have a household infestation now too. You will need something or a combination of things that kills fleas in all their life stages - adult, pupae, larvae, and egg on both puppy and in your home. Sometimes the home needs to be treated a couple of times, with a couple of weeks between treatments to ensure fleas have been killed in all their life stages - especially with carpeting. Be sure to vacuum well between home treatments to gather eggs. You need to consult your vet to see what is safe to use on a puppy their age. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hi there. It takes time for dogs to get use to eachother when there is a large age difference. Taking them on walks together is a great way for them to bond. Also doing things like playing games, or spending a few minutes working on training commands as a team will really help them adjust to eachother.

Hello. Here is information on nipping/biting. Nipping: Puppies may nip for a number of reasons. Nipping can be a means of energy release, getting attention, interacting and exploring their environment or it could be a habit that helps with teething. Whatever the cause, nipping can still be painful for the receiver, and it’s an action that pet parents want to curb. Some ways to stop biting before it becomes a real problem include: Using teething toys. Distracting with and redirecting your dog’s biting to safe and durable chew toys is one way to keep them from focusing their mouthy energies to an approved location and teach them what biting habits are acceptable. Making sure your dog is getting the proper amount of exercise. Exercise is huge. Different dogs have different exercise needs based on their breed and size, so check with your veterinarian to make sure that yours is getting the exercise they need. Dogs—and especially puppies—use their playtime to get out extra energy. With too much pent-up energy, your pup may resort to play biting. Having them expel their energy in positive ways - including both physical and mental exercise - will help mitigate extra nips. Being consistent. Training your dog takes patience, practice and consistency. With the right training techniques and commitment, your dog will learn what is preferred behavior. While sometimes it may be easier to let a little nipping activity go, be sure to remain consistent in your cues and redirection. That way, boundaries are clear to your dog. Using positive reinforcement. To establish preferred behaviors, use positive reinforcement when your dog exhibits the correct behavior. For instance, praise and treat your puppy when they listen to your cue to stop unwanted biting as well as when they choose an appropriate teething toy on their own. Saying “Ouch!” The next time your puppy becomes too exuberant and nips you, say “OUCH!” in a very shocked tone and immediately stop playing with them. Your puppy should learn - just as they did with their littermates - that their form of play has become unwanted. When they stop, ensure that you follow up with positive reinforcement by offering praise, treat and/or resuming play. Letting every interaction with your puppy be a learning opportunity. While there are moments of dedicated training time, every interaction with your dog can be used as a potential teaching moment.

Hello Shaienne, For the Sit, I recommend very gradually working pup up to distractions and telling pup to Sit, then waiting until they do it (even if it takes 30 minutes at first, calmly reminding pup to "Sit" every five minutes) before allowing them to have anything they want - like a treat, walking forward on a walk, saying hi to a person or dog, going to sniff something, eating dinner, being thrown a toy, being petted, ect... Have pup work for what they want by sitting first. This approach can be used on its own or combined with the Pressure method below. Another approach is to use the Pressure method from the article linked below. Reward pup when they do sit willingly, but keep the treat or kibble hidden in your pocket until after they have sat, and as pup improves require a better sit before they earn the reward - so a slow sit earns praise, and a fast more focused sit earns the treat, to help motivate pup to improve their sit. As they get better at consistently sitting quickly then give the treat less often so pup has to do a few commands before the treat is delivered, to phase the treat out more. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-sit If pup is not comfortable being touched or has any aggression issues, including toward other dogs or people, I recommend using a waiting approach instead of the Pressure method from the article. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Jasmine, First, know that what you described is normal for basic obedience, especially at this age - the initial goal is just to teach pup what a word means and motivate them to learn. What comes next is intermediate obedience. For intermediate obedience, you will gradually work up to distractions and pup developing the skills to obey in those situations too - at first the distraction might be someone walking through the room, a squirrel in the yard, a leaf blowing by, ect...Start with less distracting environments, then gradually move onto harder environments and spend intentional time practicing in each of those new environments until pup can focus there too. For example, in your home without others around is easiest, your backyard is a bit harder, your front yard is even harder, your neighborhood is even hard, your home with guests present is even harder, a pet store is even harder, ect...Go out of your way to practice at the current level pup needs to learn at and to create the distractions pup is ready to learn to overcome during training sessions when you can control things - so that pup can also respond when things are more out of your control in every day life, but keep the distraction level what pup is ready for at that point in the training so pup can still succeed with your help - the goal is to guide pup and provide consistent, calm boundaries at this point. Second, you may need to switch some of your training methods now that pup knows the commands and is sometimes choosing to disobey. For example, when teaching Sit I would first recommend using the Treat Luring method from the article linked below. Once pup knows that method well and has worked up to some distractions, I would enforce my command using the Pressure method from that same article when pup chooses to disobey something they know. The pressure method will still reward some but will also give a gentle consequence for disobedience to encourage pup to obey even when they don't find it as fun. Be patient with pup and know that a puppy is still developing their attention span and ability to learn - keep things more positive and very gradually transition to intermediate methods for commands over the next 4 months. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-sit Some other methods to help enforce commands when pup is ready: Reel In method for Come: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-whippet-to-recall Turns method for Heel: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel The Leash Pressure method for down: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-to-lay-down If pup doesn't know these commands really well already, start by using the treat luring methods with each command before using the slightly firmer methods to proof that command once pup has learned the command and just needs to be reminded. Right now you can also keep a drag leash without a handle (for safety reasons to get caught less around the house) on pup while you are home. That way when you give a command like Come and pup ignores you, you can calmly walk over to them and lead them back to where you were - gently teaching them that they need to listen in every day life too. For the shake paw, I suggest a different approach. With pup sitting in front of you, tap the back of pup's front paw until they light it slightly off the ground, while happily saying "Paw or Shake". As soon as they move it at all, praise enthusiastically and reward with a treat. Repeat this until pup starts to lift the paw all the way off the ground - then reward. When pup is lifting the paw up, require pup to lift it higher before rewarding with a treat. Continue to praise for attempts though. When pup will lift the paw a couple of inches off the ground when you tap and say shake, start to tell pup to Shake, then wait seven seconds, then tap to remind pup if they don't lift on their own. Do this until pup starts to lift the paw consistently without needing the tap a few seconds later. When pup can lift when you say paw, place your hand under their paw when they lift it, praise and reward right when their paw touches your hand - even though you caused it to. Repeat. Next, place your hand slightly below where pup's lifted paw is, wait until pup lowers their paw a bit - accidentally touching your hand on their own (by accident on their part at first), as soon as pup touches your hand on their own because your hand was under the paw, praise and reward. Repeat until pup starts to intentionally touch your hand because they are associating it with the treat being given. When pup starts to understand that touching your hand is what earns them the treat, wait until pup puts their paw all the way into your hand, rather than just touching it slightly, before you reward. Practice this often for lots of short training sessions frequently, rather than fewer long ones to help pup focus and not get as distracted during training. Expect this to take several days or weeks to teach, not just one or two sessions. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Elona, What you just described is commonly called the "puppy zommies". It's normal, although a bit tricky to deal with in the moment. I suggest practicing something called "Jazz up and Settle Down". Which is a bit like red light, green light for dogs. During training, get him a little excited, then command "Stop" or something he knows like "Sit", and freeze. Wait and completely ignore him until he calms back down. As soon as he gets calm or sits, praise and give a treat. Tell him "Let's Play!" again, and start playing and getting him a bit excited again. As soon as he starts to get a little worked up (not too much at first), command "Stop" or "Sit" again, then wait, reward with a treat when he calms down, then continue the game after he is rewarded. Repeat this a few times each training session, then end the session (have lots of frequent shorter sessions throughout the day at his age). As he improves, and can really calm down quickly, let him get a bit more excited before calling Stop. Gradually work up to him becoming more and more excited and having to calm down quickly from a higher level of excitement as he improves. Also, understand that this will take some time and practice. Puppies have to learn self-control just like any other skill, while young. This game can help him develop it sooner though. I also recommend practicing calmness at the door when letting pup inside, so pup has to enter calmly initially too. Thresholds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-w28C2g68M Check out the Leash and Step Toward methods for jumping on people. Leaving pup's leash on them when they first come inside and you are supervising to make sure it doesn't get caught on anything, can help you enforce rules calmly at that time. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-australian-shepherds-to-not-jump Additional commands that may help when the baby arrives are Out - which means leave the area, Place, and Leave It. Leave It: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Out - which means leave the area: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75dyWITP1s If pup isn't already crate trained, that may be helpful to work on ahead of time too, for times when you simply need to give pup a dog food stuffed chew toy in the crate for some down time, and know that pup and baby are safe when you need a rest. Surprise method: https://wagwalking.com/training/like-a-crate Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Janiyah, Check out the Leave It and Bite Inhibition methods from the article I have linked below. I would work on teaching Leave It - which takes more practice, and using the Bite Inhibition method while pup is still learning Leave It. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite I would not worry about teaching pup not to bite interfering with future guard work either. The two are actually completely different. Puppy biting is a social behavior. It's how pup's learn about things around them and play with other puppies. Pup simply needs to learn how to control pressure and not to bite people normally. Bite work done for protection and guard dogs is something taught to adults using a dog's drive train, and rewarding the dog for biting on command with bite bag tugs and fun. You don't want a dog to learn to use their mouth all the time - like a pup who never learned to stop mouthing. You want a dog to understand that biting in general isn't allowed, then to learn that there are exceptions when working and given bite commands. You can continue to encourage bite work skills for future guard dog puppies by playing games like tug and using flirt poles, instead of having pup bite on you. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden