Unfortunately, the mishandling of some dog guardians has caused pit bulls and their like to currently suffer from an unjustified bad reputation around the world. While it is true that genetic inheritance does influence on a dog's temperament, its behavior will fundamentally depend on education, socialization and the environment provided by their tutors. Even those dogs with genetics prone to show aggression, may never experience it if they receive a good education.
Therefore, it is not appropriate to speak of aggressive or dangerous breeds, since aggressiveness is not an inherent or exclusive characteristic of certain breeds. This is a serious behavior problem that must be treated appropriately to keep the dog and those around him safe.
If your pit bull is becoming aggressive, you should not believe the 10 false myths about pit bulls and other harms that accompany these dogs. Your best friend is very intelligent and will be able to learn to relate positively with people, with other animals and with his own environment, but it will be important to pay attention to some key aspects of his routine and his education to prevent these behaviors from continuing. If you ask yourself " my pitbull is becoming aggressive, what can I do?", you have entered the right place, on our site we will guide you so you know how to handle it.
Legal measures for responsible dog ownership PPP
The pit bull dogs (American pit bull terrier) exhibit a strong body, with widely developed musculature and a powerful jaw. Due to these morphological characteristics, they are classified as a potentially dangerous breed in most countries. Although strength and physical appearance are not decisive in the character of any animal, the truth is that we must adopt preventive measures to guarantee the legal and safe possession of PPP dog breeds, especially when we talk about aggressiveness problems.
Therefore, even if your pit bull is very sociable and kind to you, remember to comply with legal regulations when walking your dog, how to take it always with muzzle and leash (if it is extendable, not exceeding 2m in length) in public spaces. There are many details to take into account, for this reason, if you still do not know all of them, we recommend you consult the regulations on potentially dangerous dogs in Spain or the regulations on potentially dangerous dogs in Argentina.
Why is my dog becoming aggressive?
Many people wonder "Is the pit bull a dangerous dog?", due to the alarming events that have appeared in the media. As we have anticipated in the introduction, aggressiveness can be due to genetic causes, but in most cases it is due to a problem related to education, lack of socialization, lived experiences (including traumas) and even a possible pathology.
We will detail all of them in the following sections in a much more precise way, but it is important to highlight beforehand that the pit bull is an intelligent and very sensitive dog, who shows great devotion and enormous affection for their relatives, especially children. So much so, that history has classified the pit bull as an excellent nanny dog.
However, it is also true that a pit bull can be considered dangerous when it exhibits aggressive behavior, due to its strength, its jaw and its great physical resistance. But this is not an exclusive fact of this breed, rather any aggressive dog represents a potential danger to himself and to other dogs and people around him.
Wondering why your pitbull is getting aggressive? Aggression in dogs can have many causes and there is no single explanation for why a pit bull can develop aggressive behavior. For this reason, it is essential to be attentive to your furry's routine in order to identify the explanation for this behavioral change and know what to do in this situation. Below, we present some crucial aspects that you must consider to combat and prevent aggressiveness in your best friend.
What should I do if my Pit Bull is becoming aggressive?
If your Pit Bull is aggressive towards other dogs or towards people, it is vital that you do not ignore this behavior or leave treatment for later, when you are no longer able to control the situation effectively: the aggressiveness is a very serious behavioral problem that must be treated promptly, when we identify the first signs of aggressiveness. Otherwise, it will be much more complicated to deal with the problem which will cost us more time, effort and money.
The most important thing to prevent our dogs from being aggressive will be to prevent this type of behavior from the first weeks of life, with an adequate period of socialization and proper handling, always based on positive education and respect for the animal.
But if your pitbull dog is already displaying aggressive behaviors, read on to find out what you can do and how to handle this appropriately, whether you have an adult dog or an aggressive pitbull puppy.
The first step: ruling out pathological causes
Some pathologies and hormonal problems explain why a pit bull is aggressive. These diseases have a direct impact on the behavior of our dogs and favor the development of aggressiveness. A fairly common example would be canine hypothyroidism, which could be detected with a simple veterinary test.
A dog may become aggressive when experiencing high pain or feeling weak, for example. For this reason, if your pit bull shows any alteration in its usual behavior, don't hesitate to go to your veterinarian to analyze its state of he alth and rule out possible pathological causes.
In addition, we must emphasize that offering adequate preventive medicine to your dog is essential to prevent all kinds of diseases and behavioral problems. Therefore, remember to visit the vet every 6 months, in addition to respecting your vaccination schedule and deworming routine.
Training and socialization: the pillars of good education
One of the main fears people have when adopting a pit bull is that their dog will be aggressive towards other animals. The coexistence of the pit bull with other dogs will depend fundamentally on its education and socialization, which are the pillars of good behavior in dogs. The education of pit bull puppies should begin at the same time they arrive at their new home, but always respecting the optimal weaning age. From its infancy, we will need to transmit to it the basic rules that we want our dog to respect throughout its life, so as not to have to correct bad behavior in the adult dog.
When our puppy has completed his vaccination schedule and can start walking, we can start to dedicate ourselves exclusively to the socialization of the dog. It is very important that our furry begins to socialize from an early age, because only in this way will he learn to relate to other dogs, to understand the limits of play or bite, for example. However, if you have decided to adopt an adult pitbull dog, you should know that it is also possible to carry out the socialization of an adult dog, although it is inevitably a much longer and more complete process, which in most cases requires supervision and guidance from a behavior modification specialist.
Regardless of the age of the dog, we must remember the importance of positive reinforcement as recognition and stimulation for learning. Physical punishment, violent attitudes and the use of accessories such as choke collars or anti-bark collars can hurt the animal and are counterproductive in its education. By subjecting a dog to situations of high stress, as well as physical and/or emotional abuse, we favor the development of aggressive behavior and harm its emotional well-being.
Recommended exercise routine for pitbull dogs
When we talk about the pitbull dog and its traits, we cannot ignore the fact that it is a dog with a lot of energy, which You must learn to channel it in a positive way to maintain a balanced temperament. A sedentary routine is dangerous and very detrimental to the physical and mental he alth of these dogs. A pit bull that does not perform enough physical activity can develop numerous he alth problems (mainly associated with being overweight and inactive) but also behavioral. By not spending energy, the dog accumulates anxiety and usually shows several of the symptoms of stress in dogs, among which can be found increased aggressiveness, hyperactivity or repetitive behaviors.
Therefore, be sure to provide daily physical activity to your Pit Bull and you may also consider introducing him to a dog sport. On our site, we show you some recommended exercises for pitbull dogs that are excellent for improving their muscle mass and physical resistance, but without compromising their joints.
Teach your pit bull to inhibit bite and drop objects
Another big myth about PPP breeds is that tug of war can encourage aggressive behavior, such as biting people and other dogs. Nothing is further from reality! Working on your pit bull's bite inhibition and teaching it to drop objects are essential exercises for these dogs, as it allows you to teach them an essential command such as "let go." It is also important to highlight that pit bulls are dogs that need to nibble, so avoiding these games and not providing them with toys encourage the appearance of unwanted behaviors (not always related to aggressiveness) such as destructiveness.
The risk in games of tug of war appears when we do not do it correctly. It is important to avoid at all times that it can reach our hands, for this we will use a large knot or teether and we will hold it at both ends, allowing the dog to bite the center. If we notice that it gets too close to one of our hands, we must release that end and ask for a "release". If the dog does not want to drop the object, we will ask him to exchange it for a prize while we repeat the order.
It is also essential to understand that during the game we must give in and "let him win" sometimes, but that we must also keep the toy on some occasions, in this way, we will prevent our dog from starting to generate possessiveness with toys and other objects.
In the event that our dog growls at us, shows negative body language or bites us, we must stop the game and in no case will we reinforce the dog. We can ask him for a "drop" and save the object, an action that will teach him that bad behaviors result in the end of the game. Conversely, if your dog doesn't drop the object, you'll wait for him to stop playing with it and then put it away.
Do you mentally stimulate your pitbull?
Unlike other more intelligent dogs, such as a border collie, pit bulls are somewhat slower in their learning, but that does not mean that they cannot learn commands, canine skills or very varied tricks. And most importantly, it doesn't mean they shouldn't be mentally stimulated either.
The pit bull is an intelligent and sensitive dog that must exercise his mind and sense of smell on a daily basis. To do this, we can use interactive toys, intelligence toys, food vending toys or, directly, carry out activities with it, such as sowing for dogs, an excellent smell exercise.
Likewise, you can exercise him with games, such as shell game, which we show you in this video:
Does your pitbull spend a lot of time alone?
Are pit bulls bad? Absolutely! Despite his bad reputation, the pit bull is a very sociable dogwith human beings (mainly children), who greatly enjoys the company of their families. They do not usually deal very well with loneliness and can develop behavioral problems if they spend too many hours alone or are ignored by their guardians. In general, a he althy adult dog should not spend more than 6 to 8 hours a day alone, otherwise behavioral problems are likely to occur.
If you want your pit bull to maintain a balanced behavior, remember to set aside time to play with him, share moments of leisure or exercise with your best friend. In a short time, you will be able to confirm that your company is a key point for the welfare of your dog.
Food is also an important factor
Dog nutrition is a key to good he alth and balanced behavior. A poor diet, poor in essential nutrients, can be negatively reflected in the behavior of our dogs. In addition, dogs must have a complete and balanced diet to fully develop their physical, cognitive, emotional and social capacities.
We advise you to seek the guidance of a veterinarian to ensure that the pitbull's diet is of high quality and meets its basic nutritional requirements.
Create a positive bond, don't be authoritarian
Unfortunately, many people continue to believe that in order to educate a strong and powerful dog like the pit bull, it is necessary to establish yourself as "the dominant" or "the alpha". Thanks to this unfortunate belief about dominance in dogs, many guardians carry out unreasonable and very dangerous behaviors, which cause frustration, stress and anxiety in the dog. dog.
It is totally false that we should subdue our dog by laying him on his side or that he should enter the house right after us, forcing him with his leg. These types of actions, to give examples, only damage the bond with the dog and are also not based on any study that supports its effectiveness.
If you want your dog to obey you and show a balanced behavior, you must invest in a he althy bond and give him a positive teaching, excluding any type of physical or emotional abuse. You can't expect your dog to obey you if you don't spend time educating him or teaching him how he should do things.
In addition, he will learn more easily if his behavior is reinforced, either with food or with a positive attitude on your part. Investing in quality time, dedicating 10 minutes daily to reviewing commands and obedience, is essential for your best friend to trust you and obey you, but not out of fear or authoritarianism, but because he truly believes that you are a reference figure to the worth following.
What to do if my pit bull is very aggressive?
On some occasions, although we try to provide the best care for our dog and spend time educating and training him, he may show aggressiveness. Since it is one of the most serious behavior problems, we always recommend go to a specialist, such as an ethologist, a dog educator or a trainer.
The behavior modification professional will help you evaluate the case, offer you a diagnosis and management guidelines, but will also carry out sessions with you in a field of work or specific place to solve the problem of aggressiveness. It is important to note that the prognosis varies depending on the case, but detection and starting treatment as soon as possible are key to preventing the behavior from escalating.
