Pitbulls and little babes

stephanieslush · March 2016

Hi ladies! After doing some searching through the archives and coming up empty handed, I've decided to post in hopes of getting advice/personal experiences on how you've prepared your pit for the baby. My Daisy girl is almost 3, and thinks she's a small lap dog. Constantly giving kisses and snuggles...but she also LOVES to jump. We've been though training and we can't seem to break her of it. We've had my 4 year old nephew a few times, and she tries to jump up on him (she's way bigger) and lick his face off. She never nips or swipes, just kisses aggressively. I'm worried she might try to do the same with the baby.

Have any of you had similar experiences? If so, how did the dog react to the baby? Or where you able to break the dog of the negative habit?

FemShep · March 2016

You should speak with a trainer about how to break the jumping habit as well as how to prepare the dog for baby's arrival. We can share personal experiences, but a trainer will be able to specifically help your dog.

I know trainers can be expensive but it's well worth it to take great care of your dog and baby.

purelex · March 2016

Seconding the trainer... we have German Shepherds and they are the same way, 90 lb lap dogs always in your face.

The only thing you can do is break her of the habit. Some of this may be familiar if you have had past training... if she jumps, you ignore her.. that means don't say anything, don't look at her or make eye contact, nothing. Turn around and walk out of the room. Any feedback, including yelling, is attention that she wants which essentially rewards her for bad behavior. You can also work on reinforcing Sit and Wait commands and only pet her when all four feet (and/or her butt) are on the ground. An "Easy" command might be helpful for giving treats where she learns to take them slowly and gently and then use that to teach her to lick less aggressively. It's really important for you and your SO to be consistent and on the same page. Mixed signals makes training impossible.

Also, it sounds like she probably has a ton of energy. Tire her out with walks (or a treadmill if you have to!) and she will be much more likely to stop jumping around and listen to commands you are giving her.

Good luck!

mrskratt · March 2016

Agree with the trainer idea and also wanted to add socializing her with as many babies/little kids as possible with your supervision.
I have 2 crazy, hyper 60 lb lap dogs that jump on us when we come thru the door. They listen very, very well and did very well with DD when she was born and they have never jumped on her.

kmtz89 · March 2016

darn. I was totally expecting this to be a thread of pictures of pitbulls and their puppies

(sorry no advice from me)

CopperBoom86 · March 2016

Here's an article on the issue I pinned a while back: https://iheartdogs.com/5-tips-to-prepare-a-dog-for-a-baby/

br0co1ii · March 2016

I don't have personal experience with this, but my sister has a Siberia husky that is the same way. She calmed down a lot after the baby was born, but one day, she got excited and tore thru the house, knocking down my sister. While she was holding my niece. The baby was okay due my sister's protection, but my sister got a concussion for hitting the ground.

I'm not telling this story to scare you, but just to say that anything can happen. I'd definitely go the training route again. PP'S have said all there is to say on that. You really have to be consistent or it'll go right out the door. Good Luck!

Koalamomma3 · March 2016

@purelex had great advice. We got our pit mix after already having 3 children so he has always been really great as far as being gentle around kids. BUT omg his barking. I would finally sit down after getting kids to sleep and work on some schoolwork and he would just sit and bark at me quite loudly. What finally ended up working was just turning my back to him and completely ignoring him anytime he barked. I wouldn't look at him or say his name. I taught my kids to do the same. Turns out my yelling at him only got him more hyped. After about a week his barking episodes completely stopped. But like pp said you have to be very consistent with it. GL!

mtgreen21 · March 2016

Our pits (3) did the same thing. Our trainer had us keep them in leashes at all times while in the house and in a down position. When someone would come over we had them next to us in a down position and if they tried to jump we were able to correct it right away. Our youngest pit who is 2 still jumps especially when we get new foster kids so she still stays on the leash. The other 2 have learned not to jump, but on occasion they will get really excited and forget. Goodluck.

nlane0723 · March 2016

Also a vote for a trainer. We have a rottie and we just welcomed a GSP to the family. Bentley, our rottie, is the most gentle giant and it's because of the training we did while I was pregnant.

jillianpardo · March 2016

definitely get a really good trainer. I just love pitties. they are wonderful dogs and so great with kiddos once they understand they need to be gentle. does she just get excited at the first meeting or is it anytime anyone even looks at her? Pitts are very smart. Dogs definitely need physical exercise but mental exercise it great for tiring them out too! I taught my roommates Pitt to crawl, dance, touch, and roll over in one 20 minute session. they love to use their brains. I recommend getting those freeze dried liver treats for trick/obedience training. They are super smelly tasty treats and you can break them into really tiny pieces (don't give huge treats when doing training).

I would suggest working on "place", "down"(where she stays until you release her), and "gentle or easy". Place is great because you can take it anywhere and in just about any situation. The place is a towel/blanket/bed that is easy to transport to different spaces.Grab your itty bitty liver treat and let her sniff it/nose it but don't allow her to actually have the treat yet. Guide her to the place (towel) with your treat hand. As soon as all four paws are on the towel say "place", give her the treat, and praise her calmly. Have another treat on standby. If she removes even one paw correct her verbally(ssst, back, uhuh) and a little poke in the chest/neck.GUide her back to her place, again as soon as all paws are on the towel say "place", treat, and calmly praise.When its ok for her to leave her place give her your release command (whatever you choose). You should reward her in random time intervals for staying longer and longer in her place. I love place because it gives your dog a spot to chill. They don't have to sit or lay. They do whatever they like as long as they stay on the towel.

Down is useful when she is over excited and you don't have your "place" with you. Anytime she is getting too excited let her go to her place or just down her. Down can be taught in the same manner. Down should be accepted as completed only if your dog is completely down (tummy on the floor). Sometimes excited dogs will hover and not fully lay down. If you notice that, just give your verbal correction (ssst, uhuh) and say the command again. Pup needs to go into the down immediately, wherever and whenever you call it. It will be a fun game if you practice it throughout the day at completely random times too

"Gentle" will be trickier for you because it will require fast reflexes and really good timing (a clicker might be necessary). I would keep her in a down when first practicing this to help her keep in control. While she is downed get close to her (make sure she stays there and if she doesn't correct her) allow her to sniff/lick. This will probably get her very excited and happy but stay calm. As she pulls away (perhaps to reload for her next kiss, haha) say "Gentle" and treat her, calm verbal praise. Do that a few more times. As you work on this she will learn that gentle means to dial back the energy. You can practice that with her standing, sitting, or anytime she goes in for big pittie kisses.

Some other tips/things to keep in mind:
Keep training sessions 15-20 minutes at a time but feel free to practice the skills during the day as well as needed.

Say the command once and ONLY once. You want your dog to execute the command on the first word and not train to sit sit sit.

Be commanding. Don't question yourself or ask your dog to do something. Sit? No. Sit. OR Sit!

Timing is super important. You should treat/reward as soon as you see the desirable behavior particularly when first learning a trick.

Once your dog has learned the behavior phase out the treats randomly so your dog doesn't always expect a reward. Humans fall into patterns easily sometimes without even realizing it so be aware of that. You can stop treating when your dog does the command every time without hesitation. If you notice her slipping bring back the treats on a very limited basis and random timing intervals.

Make sure your dog has a good play at the dog park or long walk before training sessions.

Good dog trainers are training the humans. haha. They are training you how to work with your dog and be more observant/intentional with your interactions with your pet. Its really helpful to have a skilled trainer work with you. They can give you feedback on your execution, timing, and tips specific to your dogs personality.

Hope all of this makes sense and is helpful to you. I have been working with dogs for about 12 years and enjoy it very much. These tips are from my own personal experience and research. You may find that all of this comes naturally to you once you learn the HOW of training. There are tons of helpful youtube videos too

Best of luck!!

LizaKate1213 · March 2016

Great info @jillianpardo! Any tips on leash walking?! My 7 month old puppy is great with most commands but is super resistive to leash training.

jillianpardo · March 2016

@LizaKate1213 how so? what are you trying to achieve? what breed is your dog? what type of leash and collar are you using? what methods have you tried to leash train?

stephanieslush · March 2016

@jillianpardo Yes! We have worked through all of those commands, successfully (well, most of them) I think the main issue is I'm supper consistent in using the commands while my bf is not. "Gentle" is my favorite command with her. She just gives little butterfly kisses, it's hilarious! I've reached out to the trainer we had used, but it's been about a week and I haven't heard anything back from her.

@mtgreen21 I LOVED keeping her on the leash while we had started her training. Initially it was effective, but after a week or so she developed an aversion to the leash itself, and that made it nearly impossible for me to keep her in "working mode". Eventually, with A LOT of treats I was able to make her and the leash friends again, haha. I'm happy it worked for you though!

@femshep I agree, training is the way to go. However, oftentimes others could possibly have little gems of information/tips/tricks that worked for them that the trainer might otherwise not have shared.

@purelex We are very familiar with the ignore technique, it just doesn't seem to work for her. She'll then go off and grab dvds/remotes/beverages/whatever we last touched and run off with it to get our attention. You are 100% correct about consistency! I'm definitely bad cop to my guys good cop when it comes to...just about everything. (I can't wait until we have to discipline the little bean

) We also do tons of walking and agility work, she just has endless energy it seems, haha.

Thank you to everyone for your input! This reply is getting long, so if I didn't personally respond to you I'm sorry--but thank you for sharing your ideas!! I'll keep you posted on how she does

wegme27 · March 2016

We adopted a pit who was about 3 years old before I was pregnant with my last and she was great with my stepson right away and was a big cuddle dog. When I had my son she was good with him and we had no concerns of her behavior. Unfortunately after a few months she started acting out by going to the bathroom in the house even after we had literally just left her out, chewing things and then started losing weight even though she was eating the same amount as our other dog. We determined she was overly stressed by the situation of a new child in the home and not getting quite as much attention as before so we made the hard decision to give her back to the shelter where we got her. It was a tough choice but the shelter is a no kill shelter and I know she is well loved. Our neighbor goes to the shelter on a regular basis because she does fundraisers to help the owner.

blaf322 · March 2016

Do a search to see if you have a Dog Wizard location near you. We sent our 50lb dog there for jumping and just general poor behavior. He came back a different dog. I can off leash walk him and when guests come over he doesn't jump, among other amazing things. Plus, the training has a lifetime guarantee so if we ever let things slip we can bring them back to help.

mauishay · March 2016

Have any of you had a problem with your dog being weirded out by babies? Our dog has no problem with kids but met a baby for the first time the other day and acted like a total weirdo. Wouldnt stop whining, wouldn't let the baby out of his sight, was on full alert and trying to get to the baby (which his dad was holding). I've never seen him act that way and it just worried me

sportiegrl1213 · March 2016

We are trying so hard right now to train our pit. Tank, he's almost 3 yrs old, he's smart and listens when he wants. The jumping thing is bad for us too. He's learning not to jump on me when I get home. But I'm hoping with some more training, we can break him of that habit. That's really my only when it comes to Tank. Pit Bulls are known to be "nanny dogs" so I don't see him being hurtful or harmful to the baby. And my MIL made him his own new bed, so we put in on the end of our bed and he's been sleeping on that, instead of on me! So that's one thing done.

dam0ne4 · March 2016

My dog is part Pittie and she was around 4 when my daughter was born. We did make sure to buckle down on her training, especially when it came to jumping before she was born.

Also my dog was somewhat scared of the baby even though we did all the stuff they tell you to do. She would bark when my daughter would cry, but that calmed down after a week or so. Make sure your dog has plenty of exercise and praise the dog for being gentle with the baby. I was pleasantly surprised. Once she got used to her, she was really good. Now they're best friends

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Pitbulls and little babes

Re: Pitbulls and little babes

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