What You Need To Know About Your Pit Bull Puppy

The first 12 weeks of life are the most important for the development of your Pit bull puppy.

I know that your puppy is cute and your bound to think that everything he does is funny and entertaining, but it is important to understand that you have a very short window of opportunity to train your dog, give him the best food and properly socialize him before that cute little puppy becomes Dogzilla, and begins to destroy your home, and cause you much frustration.

 
Start training your puppy right away. In these first 4-6 weeks don’t let strangers scare your Pit bull puppy. If your pup becomes fearful of strangers you will have a hard time socializing him and he may grow up not trusting strangers. Do not nurture any fearful or anxious behavior. For example if your pup gets scared and runs behind you do not reward this behavior by petting the pup and telling him everything is all right. This will reward your pup for being scared and he will learn that fearful and anxious behavior is ok. Give praise and treats when he is doing what you want, ie, sit,stay,come,down. Ignore and walk away from, fearfulness,jumping,barking,ect. Your pup will hate having you walk away and turn your back, he will do anything for your attention.

 
Your new pup will almost certainly have a few nights where he is getting used to the idea that he no longer has his Mother and litter mates to make him feel secure. You will no doubt have to put up with a few nights of crying, and whining, after all he is only a baby. Have patience and don’t go to your pup when he is in this state of mind, this will only reward him and make this a nightly thing for a long time. This sleep-robbing behavior usually stops after a few days. Make sure your pup is in a crate for the first two weeks while you are house breaking him. This will prevent him from peeing and pooping on the floor in the night.

 
Your Pit bull puppy will start to do those cute things that a lot of people find entertaining to watch. Like tugging on your pant’s leg, or jumping up on your legs when you walk or move around. Don’t allow this to continue, you must disagree with this by ignoring the pup, and train him to sit when he comes to you. Having the sit as your default command will ensure your dog’s good behavior. There are a lot of things your dog can’t do when sitting.

 
Make training fun for you fuzzy faced little friend by playing games and rewarding your dog for good behavior, not just during training but throughout the day. If you look over and your pup is lying down chewing on his stuffed toy, go to him and praise him, give him a treat and tell him what a good boy he is being. Most people don’t notice the good behavior that their dogs display and only get interested in what they are doing when the behavior is unwanted. Even the most problem dog’s are good 95% of the time. So reward the good behavior when ever you see your dog doing what you like.

 
You will want to teach your pup what they can chew on. Puppies need to chew on something and if you don’t provide a chew toy for them they will find things for themselves, ie, your cell phone, remote control, your favorite shoes, or the leg on the coffee table. Use your dog’s chew toy as a play reward, tug, or fetch, this will make your pup love chewing on the toy, and not your other stuff.

 
Loud and sudden noises can send your pup into a tail spin of fear. It is important to socialize your pup to loud and sudden noises. Start small, like drop a can of beans on the floor, then when your pup is used to this sudden sound, make it louder and more startling, ie, turn the stereo on with the volume setting up high, not so high as to hurt the dogs sensitive ears, but you get the idea, you may want to take your pup to the fair, and you don’t want him running away at the first crack of fireworks.

 
To ensure your pup will grow up liking strange people and children, you should have many strangers play with, feed, and train your Pit bull Puppy. You could have puppy parties where you invite a lot of people and children to come and bring their dog’s so you can teach your pup that when there are people and dog’s around everything is fun and he gets a lot of treats from people he don’t know.

 
When training your pup you will want to have a lot of patience. A pup have a very limited attention span, and it is important to be consistent with your methods of training. For example if you are training your pup to sit, and you tell him to sit, and he turns and runs to another room of the house, you got to stay with it until your pup is sitting. If you let your pup get away with not obeying you he will learn that all he has to do to stop training is to walk away.

 
Keep training sessions short. Five minutes are plenty to begin with. Make sure you have reward treats at the ready, and teach the entire family the same commands that you use or your pup will only get confused. Practice everyday.

 
Pit bulls have gotten a bad reputation for aggression, but when you take the time to train and properly socialize this breed, they are gentle, loving and make a wonderful family pet. They are guard dog’s by nature and you will need to have control over them at all times. If you are considering getting a Pit bull puppy then do your research and make sure you understand what to do to provide a balanced and healthy lifestyle for you and your Pit bull puppy.

The post What You Need To Know About Your Pit Bull Puppy appeared first on Val Heart.

source https://www.valheart.com/need-know-pit-bull-puppy/

Shape Our Children’s Futures By Teaching Respect Towards Animals. Guest post by Jenny Holt

With an estimated 86.4 million cats and 78.2 million dogs in households across the United States, and 9.8 million cats and 6.7 million dogs owned in the United Kingdom, it’s safe to say animals play an important role in the lives of many.

 

The way we respect animals shapes the way we treat not only ourselves but others. It’s not uncommon for young children to pull a cat’s tail or tug at a dog’s fur out of mischief but it’s up to us, as adults, to teach the surrounding young to respect animals. Animals have feelings and deserve respect, but they make us people better.  So how can you teach your children to respect animals?

 

1. Set A Good Example
Children are like sponges – they absorb everything they see and hear around them. They’re influenced by everything, even things you think they’re not paying attention to. Setting a good example is extremely important. If you respect animals, they’ll respect animals. Not shouting ‘stupid cat’ at the stray that runs in front of your car could make a huge difference in how your child grows up treating other felines. It is as simple as that.

 

2. Get A Pet
Whether it be a goldfish or a dog, children are forced to learn how to look after themselves and others quicker if they have a pet. Having to feed, clean and run around after their pets teaches them responsibility. It means that they grow up to become more considerate to others, self-sufficient and they are more likely to become law-abiding and valued citizens. Pets are also great companions so your child will become more sociable too.

 

3. Be Merciful
If you have a mouse in the house, don’t use inhumane traps such as glue traps. The glue is extremely painful for the mouse stuck on it and the trap itself doesn’t kill the mouse which means it can be alive for days, suffering. Try getting something like a Trip-Trap Mouse Trap which has enough ventilation for the mouse to survive until you realise it’s in there and can let it out in a field.

 

4. Observe Animals in Their Natural Habitat
Immerse yourself in the great outdoors by visiting parks, hiking and spending time in nature which can make a big difference. It helps your child develop a connection with the natural world and seeing animals that aren’t in captivity helps them to understand their place in the circle of life. Even watching ants go about their business in the back garden will help your child learn how to respect other living things.

 

5. Visit Farms, Zoos, and Shelters
More and more often, farms, zoos and animal shelters are letting in children so they can learn more about all kinds of animals, from dogs to horses to penguins. In fact, some zoos have created week-long courses that give applicants the chance to gain practical experience in zoology and animal handling. But if you can’t do any of that, then listening to the talks and watching the animals as they go about their lives can have a huge impact on the way children see and react towards animals. Shelters often have information about where each of their animals came from before they were brought into the shelter, so children can also see the repercussions of negative actions towards animals.

 

In her research on the link between animal cruelty and children, Gail F. Melson, a professor of child development and family studies at Purdue University, found that 70% of violent prisoners (she lists Jeffrey Dahmer, the Boston strangler Alberto DeSalvo and the Son of Sam David Berkowitz as examples) had histories of serious and repeated animal abuse in their childhood. Even Professor Frank Ascione at the University of Denver, who assessed 1,433 children between the ages of 6 and 12, discovered that the 60% who had been exposed to violence abused animals. Perhaps teaching children from an early age that animals deserve the same amount of kindness we wish ourselves to be treated with will give them more respect for human life too.

 

The post Shape Our Children’s Futures By Teaching Respect Towards Animals. Guest post by Jenny Holt appeared first on Val Heart.

source https://www.valheart.com/respect-animals/