what should i do about my 4 week old pit bulls additude?

Question

Her father is american pit and her mother is red nose pit. I got her when she was only 1 week old now she is 4 weeks old and she growls and bites me and my husband just about everytime we try to touch her. She is to small to pop on her rear end. I've tried everything from holding her until she calms down to...rewarding her only when she is well behaved. She is not mean 100% of the time but i have to get her completely tame. Do you have any advice for me?

Her mother has passed away that is why i have her. i rescued her. her mother nor her father are fighting dogs. sometimes i think she is being mean and other times i know she is playing.

Answer 1

What kind of idiot gives away 1 week old puppies?!! She's already emotionally damaged. Whether or not she ever learns not to be aggressive will depend on you. Reward her only when she behaves and have a lot of patience. Try feeding her while you hold her so that she associates human touch with good things. Seven weeks is really a minimum age for taking pups from their mothers. Whatever you do, ignore the advice of Cassie S and anyone else who tells you to hit the dog, unless you want a mean, aggressive dog.

Answer 2

All puppies growl and bite - that is how they learn what is acceptable and what isn't. At 4 weeks old, you should not have this puppy - it should still be with it's mother. At this age, the mother should and would be teaching what is and is not acceptable for a puppy and also it would be learning and interacting with its littermates. The puppies would begin by playing, biting, rolling around to find their place in their family. At 4 weeks old, you have (or someone has!) prevented this learning process from happening. Why did you get her when she was ONE week old?? How was she being fed and nutured?

It is completely normal for puppies to "play" this way. If you have been acting as the surrogate mother, then it is your role to "tell" the puppy no. When the puppy acts this way, pick it up by the scruff of the neck (that is how mom would do it) and move it away from you. Every time it does this, pick it up and move it away. That is what mom would do. And when it gets older and older and does this - behave like it's litter mate would - screech OWWWW and stop playing with it. Then re-engage. You are then teaching the puppy that was too hard and you will NOT play like that. It teaches the puppy that play is ok, but enough is enough. That will also teach the puppy something called bite inhibition.

Also, when old enough - and after it has its shots and is neutered/spayed - please do so - teach the puppy basic commands like sit, down, stay and enroll the puppy in obedience classes. A good trainer will teach YOU how to deal with your dog (more so that teaching the dog anything).

Good luck

Answer 3

Did you really mean 4 weeks or four months? A puppy taken away from it's littermates and mother before it's about 7-8 weeks old is much too young! They need to learn important lessons about bite inhibition - which means not biting too hard. The other pups will yelp if hurt, and the mother will step in and grab an overly aggressive pup.

It sounds like your family doesn't have a lot of experience raising aggressive dogs. Either hire a professional trainer highly recommended by another terrier owner or give it away to someone who can handle it before it is too late. Sorry if that's not the answer you were hoping for, but it's better than having the dog put down and a lawsuit after she bites someone very badly.

Answer 4

I'm afraid you may have a serious problem on your hands. Your puppy may have been bred for aggression and/or viciousness. Unfortunately, humans do those things to dogs sometimes. Bad breeders are everywhere and they do not care about dogs or their potential owners. It's inexcusable, because it is not in the dogs' natures unless it is bred into them. Also, your puppy was taken from her mother far, far too young. She should still be with her and her littermates, so she may have some issues from that. She is probably very confused and may be confused in general about dog behavior. But here are some things you should do ASAP that could turn things around for you and your pup:

--Bring her to the vet so that the doctor can see if she has any physical or neurological problems that may be causing her to act this way. Advise the vet that the puppy was separated from its mother at one week of age.

--NEVER hit a dog. They do not understand it. They don't connect the physical punishment with what they have done wrong. It's linear logic and they do not have linear logic like we do. All they learn is fear.

--What you need to get immediately is a professional dog trainer. Call the trainer, ask if he or she uses positive reinforcement training. Beware of trainers who use "avoidance" training--they are mostly scaring your dog into obedience; sometimes they are harming the dog. A good positive reinforcement trainer will be able to assess your dog's ability to respond to training, but start now. Again, tell the trainer the pup was separated from the mother at one week of age. Not a ton can be expected of a young puppy, but she can begin to learn "good" positive behavior and she can be helped to understand the human world and her home.

She sounds as though she may be anxious. Holding her is actually going to make her more anxious. Please find a good trainer and get that person on the job today--for your sake and for you puppy's.

I wish you the best of luck! Some of the best behaved and sweetest dogs I've met have been pit bulls, but they do sometimes present with stubbornness and aggression, and then we need to help them. Trainers are key.

Best of luck and let us know how it works out, OK?

Answer 5

Hello, I rescue pitbulls, so I know a little about them. Is it an aggresive groal or a playful puppy growl? I would recommend buying ceaser milans book. He has a lot of experience with pitbulls. It's probably something she will grow out of. And if you got her when she was only a week old she was never taught by her mother and siblings about boundaries. You also need to socialize socialize socialize. For two reasons. First, she's a pit, they are naturaly dog agressive. Two, She wasn't raised with the other pups, which means she doesnt have the pact instinct

Answer 6

first off the reason why she is so fiesty is well she's a puppy but on top of that she was taken from her mom and litter too soon. the first 8 weeks they learn how to behave by play fighting with the litter or the mom throwing down some authority. any time she bites you even if its barely a bite yell "ouch" in a high voice and then ignore her. if she does it again "yelp" again and then "throw" her on her back and pin her there and get close to her face and in a low "mean" voice tell her "no bite" and "scold" her untill she surenders(its like the mom growling to keep her in check). when you flip her on her back and pin her its showing her that you are dominate. she may squeal a little but as long as you are not squezing her very tightly you are not actually hurting her. its just like a kid throwing a tantrum because you punished them. or try picking her up from her scruff and gently shaking her, stop, if she continues fussing shake just a little harder till she surrenders by relaxing or pulling her ears back. i know it sound bad but these are all things that her mom would of done to keep her in line. puppies discover everything with their mouths and dont really realise that it can hurt others. so you have to let them know that it does. you have to show that you are the boss. it wont stop over night you have to keep inforcing that you are boss. the flipping her on her back and making her show you her belly is the most effective i've found. have fun with your new pitt and give her lots of love

Answer 7

Its great that you have started your traing this young but it maybe a few weeks before she really understands you are trying to teach her. If your'e not afraid of teeth, stick your thumb in its mouth and hold the lower jaw. It will really bother her and she will shake like crazy but it has always worked for me. But again give it a little time and constantly put her on her back and make her submit to you and if you can get her around as many people and other animals, especially older non-aggressive dominant dogs who will let her know shes not acting right in a way you cant do. Best of luck on the new addition, and dont give up.

Answer 8

hmmm.. at 4 weeks she is acting like this? and not to mention towards your family? wow, i would try to get her into some sort of dog class for agression and maybe contact your local vet. she should not be acting like this towards the family. i have 2 pit bulls and i do the paper method. when they act up i hit the paper on something hard it makes a loud noise and they stop. this has worked well for my pits. you can also try taking a can and putting some pennies in it tape it up and shake it also when she acts up. try this it may help. on the other hand having a pit bull that shows aggression towards family is a no no and should be adressed NOW.

Answer 9

Yes, give her back to the mother dog. Four weeks old is too young to be off the teat.

Answer 10

This is what you do, stand tall so she knows you are about to do something,Then roll up a section in the newspaper not the whole news but a SECTION!Then whip her just a puny bit on the but so it does not hurt her but threaten her.And now when ever you come around with a PART of the news she will know she did something bad!:)