Games to Play With Your Dog

Hyper dogs and active puppies will definitely benefit from this one. Playing games and strenuous play will tire out your pup.

Take Wallace the Pit Bull, the Purina Incredible Dog winner for the Flying Disk Competition, he was a misunderstood APBT in a shelter. He was going to be put to sleep because of his breed (considered high risk) until his owner fought for him. Quickly, it was decided that Wallace needed an outlet for his high activity level, and the flying disk was brought out. And now look at him. Once on the kill list, now a champion.

I have video of my blue APBT, MIA, playing tug of war.

You'll also find information about FlyBall.

Check out the below link. Watch the videos. Read. Bookmark.

Games to Play With Your Dog

Puppy Thieves

I bet you thought I was giong to write about people stealing puppies.... Nope...

Puppy Thieves are the puppies who are the thieves. They have this bad habit of stealing and running, or stealing and destroying the forbidden items that you would rather them not have or touch.

How do you correct the behavior?

Demons (APBTs that is)

A Demon Sleeps In My Bed, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

APBT's have great personalities and even better temperaments. I just wish that the ignorant people that have never spent more than two seconds looking at an APBT and walking away would see that. You can't judge a dog by its history. You can't judge a dog by the actions of another dog in the same breed.

You wouldn't jude a human that way, and we're animals just like them. We just have a higher sense of intelligence and awareness.

More Dog Training Thoughts

As training in any dog is important, training an American pit bull terrier, is even more. You should train the dog with Reinforcement Training.

Basic obedience is a must!

But what about the other problems that your dog has that you haven't quite gotten a grip on? Try using Problem Solving tools and techniques. You may, also, want to try Untraining Your Dog's Behaviors. Untraining is the opposite of training, as with training you are hoping to enforce that a behavior will occur again, with untraining you are hoping to enforce that a behavior will not occur again.

But, at the same time, not all American pit bull terriers are the strong and illusive type dog. Some, like any other dog and any other breed, will succumb Fears and Phobias. How do you overcome those fears? You don't want a dominant dog, but you do want a confident dog.

Internet Puppy Scams

According to a recent article on yahoo news, a Online Scamnew is in the midst... But, unfortunately it involves innocent people wanting to open their lives to a new puppy. You assume the puppy in the picture is the puppy you're going to get... Not all the time... The classifieds and online ads that float all around the interent are filled with puppies. Breeders getting the word out about a new litter of pups. You take the bait, and get screwed....

I will admit that I have searched for days on online classfieds and adds. Searched tons of breeders and looked through many photos. Luckily, I did not get caught in one of these scams. I received my pit bull puppy from a loving pet parent in Atlanta. His ad was different than most of the ones I had seen. Just listing that he had 11 puppies, 4 males and 7 females available, serious inquiries call xxx-xxx-xxxx or xxx-xxx-xxxx. I called. Met with him the day after, and brought home a gorgeous blue pit bull.

Some people aren't so lucky. Read the following article to hear a few stories... Find ways to protect yourself!

Online Puppy Scams

Famous American Pit Bull Terriers

When people think pit bull, the tend to forget that they are very noted in history for the good that they've done. Pit bulls are found throughout movies, history, and celebrity lifestyles.

Many people don't realize the the American pit bull terrier is the only breed that has been on the cover of Life for three issues.



The pit bull was, also, the poster image for the U.S. during the 1900's. The American pit bull was the image people saw on various war posters, representing the country's strength and dignity.



Sergeant Stubby, has been a poster dog for the pit bull breed for years, but many people have NO clue who he is. Stubby is the most decorated dog in military history, much less the only dog promoted to sergeant. He was in combat during WW1 with John Robert Conroy, who snuck him aboard the USS Minesota after finding him on the Yale campus. Stubby fought beside the 102nd Infantry of the 26th Yankee Division in the trenches of France. He fought for 18 months and through 17 battles, even being wounded in his front leg. After receiving proper care, like a brave soldier, Stubby returned to the battle field to warn his fellow soldiers of gas attacks, located wounded soldiers in "No Man's Land," and being a 'listen out' instead of a look out to warn his men of incoming artillery. Stubby was solely responsible for capturing a German spy when at Argonne. When returning home, Stubby met with three presidents- Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding. Stubby was made a life member of the American Legion, the Red Cross, and the YMCA. Sergeant Stubby died on March 16, 1926, a hero.



Bud was the first dog to travel cross country (1903).


Pit Bulls in Movies:

Petey from the Little Racals

Blue Walter's Blitz from Cheaper By the Dozen

Other Famous Pit Bulls

Popsicle- Number 1 US customs dog. Popsicle was found in a freezer during a drug raid.

RCA- Certified hearing dog in Alaska
Tahoe, Cheyenne, and Dakota- Search and rescue dogs in Sacramento; working none stop at the World Trade Center and Pentagon after 9/11

Famous People Who Have Pit Bulls

Helen Keller's pit bull Sir Thomas.

Theodore Roosevelt

Woodrow Wilson

General George Patton

Jamie Foxx

Rachael Ray

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Ken Howard from 'Crossing Jordan' was saved by his pit bull during a medical crisis

Alicia Silverstone

Jessica Biel

Jessica Alba

Kevin Federline

Pink

And a few other celebrities

"Pit bulls get a bad rap because of irresponsible owners. Many people consider the look or popularity of a breed before thinking about whether the dog works for their lifestyle. Please evaluate your lifestyle before taking on the responsibility of a pit bull." Cesar Millan

Famous Pit Bulls

Training Your Dog

Reinforcement Training is the best way to teach your dog. It's the quickest and most effective. Using Punishment as a Training Method is NOT the best way to teach your dog. Especially when considering the pit bulls are stubborn and hard-headed dogs. You NEVER want to use punishment as a training method for you pit bull. I would NEVER recommend it to any breed of dog, in any case. Punishment has a sever downfall of aggression...

When Training a Dog consider your dog. Never train when you're upset or stressed, as these emotions will be emitted upon the dog.

My 14 week old pit bull has been responding with great efficiency to positive reinforcement training. I have chosen to use the clicker with her, as an unconditioned reiforcer, and her learning of the basic commands of sit, down, sit/stay, down stay, and look, has heightened. She is becoming more and more efficient with the cues and her behaviors daily. I strongly recommend using positive reinforcement training in conjunction with clicker training, which ARE closely related.

Clicker Training

With my new pit puppy, I started positive reinforcement training the day I brought her home. A few weeks later, I picked up my old clicker, and decided to give it a try. I have seen faster results in her behaviors with training with the clicker than with not. I personally, vouch for Clicker Training with your dogs.

Growing Puppies

I never really thought about feeding my puppy vitamins and supplements, but then when flipping through an issue of the APBT Gazette, I found an add for K9 Puppy Gold. I had to try it. I recommend the supplement for any and all puppies. My pit bull puppy, MIA, LOVES it.

You can find it at PetCo, Amazon, and K9 Power . I'm sure other petstores and websites carry the supplement as well, these are the only ones that I have seen. Although, I tend to just buy it at PetCo. Never really looked elsewhere.

The great AMERICAN pit bull terrier

Did you know that at one time people were trying to get the name changed to American pit bulldog in order to better classify the breed. A great dog needs a great name.