Choosing Pit Bull Puppy

You've talked to other Pit Bull owners, maybe a few dog trainers, and you've done your overall research. You've read up on the history of the breed, and you've asked all the questions that you need to. Now, you are ready to make the step at finding a breeder.

Once you've made the decision to bring a Pit Bull into your home, you want to find a responsible breeder, which generally does not include hunting the free classifieds of your local paper. Be patient, and do the research. You want to ensure that the puppy you bring home comes from good breedings and a healthy line of dogs.

You'll want to able to ask the breeder to make suggestions as to which puppy's temperament will be best for you and your family. You don't want to let the puppy tell you, as you may come home with a puppy that is more dominant than you're prepared to work with. You'll want the breeder to find a dog that will fit into your schedule; for example, if you're an outgoing person in regards to physical activities, consider a more active dog.

It's a good idea to choose a puppy that is going to be outgoing, friendly, and curious about what's around him. Statistically, puppies that are shy and fearful can turn into adult dogs who may bite out of fear.

Each bully breed has their own health issues, which is why it's important to find a breeder who is willing to talk to you about past litters and adult breeding dogs  and their overall health. A good breeder will inform you of any health issues that he/she has seen arise in their dogs.

You want to make sure that you can spend time with the parents, as the demeanor of the Pit Bull parents can tell you a lot about how the puppy will be when he grows up. Although, that's not always the case, so you'll want to make sure to question the breeder about any aggression or dominance issues that may have been seen in any of the puppies.

When choosing a puppy, you want to find one that not only fits your ideal image of a Pit Bull, but that will fit into your family's lifestyle. Pit bulls can vary from very active to couch potatoes, and every one is different. If you have a low-key family, I wouldn't suggest a high energy dog.

When picking out a puppy, it is more than just picking the one you like. It's about finding a responsible Pit Bull breeder who can help match you and your lifestyle with the perfect puppy.

Socializing Pit Bull Puppy

Because Pit Bulls can be very high-strung, it's important that you start socializing and training as soon as you bring the puppy or dog home. You want your dog to be used to new people, sounds, and things. Otherwise, you may end up with a dog that is scared of everything new, or aggressive to strangers.

MIA, my blue APBT is a little bit of both. You can place a broom on the floor, and she's terrified; she's never been hit, chased, or harassed by a broom.  Stack boxes in the corner, and she's hiding under the table until she's ready to get used to it. New people come over, and she's barking and backing up. Although, MIA was socialized for the first year, we seemed to back down on her training after that.

When you bring a Pit Bull into your home, you want to make sure that you start training early and you continue it.

Like many dogs, when Pit Bulls are not socialized, they can become a little unpredictable. You want to make sure that your dog knows what pots sound like when they fall or what a vacuum sounds like. You want to socialize your dog with objects and sounds, not just children, adults, and elderly people.

When you bring home a new puppy or dog, it's important that you set up ground rules, restrictions, and training schedules. Start small, introducing one thing at a time. If you swamp your dog with tons of new concepts all at once, you won't get the end result that you were hoping for.

It's very important that you socialize your dog early. It's thought that a puppy needs the most exposure between the age of 3 to 12 weeks. That means, you want to find a breeder who is reputable and knowledgeable. If you're looking at shelters, you'll find that there are many shelters who have volunteers and paid employees who spend time with the puppies, socializing them with new concepts.

Don't stop the training when you get home, and don't stop the training just because your puppy or dog may be older than 12 weeks. Old dogs can learn new tricks.

Without any experience with strange people, objects, or noises, you just don't know how your dog will react when he comes across this situation.

Introducing a Pit Bull puppy with a pet rat

Pit Bull Puppy

Here's a cute video of a pit bull puppy.

What are pit bulls capable of??? Are they all true killers?

Check out this cute video.

A real life look at how a pit bull plays with a small size dog in a little confined yard. Can big and small dogs all follow the rules when they respect their pack leader? This big girl is Jada, a 3 year old pitbull that came to me with a serious food aggression problem...

Pit Bull Plays With Sticks

Picking a Pit Bull Puppy

Along the lines of temperament testing and picking the right puppy for you and your household, you want to make sure that you pick a puppy from a reputable person versus a puppy mill or backyard breeder.

You can use the folling Tip for Choosing a Pit Bull Puppy to pick out any puppy really. You can implement some of the tips to picking any dog of any breed from a breeder, and you can implement some of the tips for picking a puppy from a litter at a local rescue.

MIA & Rat Puppies

Whoever said that American Pit Bulls don't get along with other animals need to rethink their statement.

Here is MIA playing with my three rats.

Potty Training Update

So M.I.A. ia now 7 months old. She has her moments, I'll say that for sure. We started crate training her, but because she seemed to like the crate and have absolutely no idea what was going on, the crate training solution never really kicked into her mind. Then, we started tying her up, basically with the same sentiment of crate training but tie her leash to something stationary while she was still attached versus put her in the crate. This was the key... To start...

Once M.I.A. started to realized that if she went outside, and didn't potty, she had to stay leashed, she started pottying more outside. This was great. We were able to give her shorter times on the leash, when she wouldn't go. And things were really working...

Then, she had a step back... Deciding that my parents bedroom was a much nicer place to use the bathroom versus having to go outside. I assume she felt that this would solve the problem of being tied up. Who knows?



Now, all doors must be shut, and we know that as soon as she takes off down the hallway she has to go. We've been doing this for about 2 months, give or take. But, she still has her moments. She'll go days without pottying in the house, and then...

She'll start at the door and move her way to the living room, peeing as she walks. It's happened twice now, I believe. It's just not a pretty site or thing to clean up.

I just with that this poor pup was little enough to litter box train.. Yes, it's rather silly and amusing, but you can really Litter Box Train a dog..