training a pit bull

[ballpythonluvr]

I am watching my friend's pit bull for five days. She is an eight month old puppy. She is a brindle and she is very hyper. She likes to chase my cats and she constantly chases my dog. I have been taking her for several walks to try and tire her out. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get this girl to calm down a little bit? Don't get me wrong, she is a great dog and I know that puppies are a little bit hyper. I just need to find a way to calm her down a little bit. I would really appreciate any advice that any of you my have. Thank you in advance.

[GoFride]

Are there any dog parks near you?

[ballpythonluvr]

Yes, there are a few dog parks near me. I think I will definitely try taking her there and let her unleash some of her energy. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Soil_Herper]

In 5 days I don't think you have much chance. The one I had years ago never really did calm down. Great dog but high strung. I don't think my wife's pit would have ever calmed down either if he hadn't got sick. He was hyper like a puppy when he was 10 years old. Again great dog just very high energy. I'm not an expert by any means but I think it tends to go with the breed. On a side note... mine loved to fetch...so you could try running her legs off like that. Being so young probably won't bring it back but at least there might be lots of running. Good luck!

[Ben Biscy]

you might find some useful tips here...

http://petcaretips.net/dog_training.html

[sekaiNdobes]

Yes, there are a few dog parks near me. I think I will definitely try taking her there and let her unleash some of her energy. Thank you for the suggestion.

I would never recommend a dog park to someone who has only had the dog for a few days, especially a pit bull - that's a disaster waiting to happen.

Please understand that I am NOT anti-pit bull. In fact, I'm quite the opposite. I love them, they're wonderful dogs in the right hands. However, one cannot ignore what instincts have been bred into them since Day One.

Yes, I've seen some pit bulls do very well in dog parks, but they have always been there with their own owners - experienced owners that have put a lot of training into their dogs.

[frankykeno]

I agree. A dog park is not the place for an untrained puppy, especially one that you may not be able to control and may not have complete shot records for. I think it would be far better to have her off leash in a tightly controlled situation like your own fenced yard or in the house.

[sekaiNdobes]

You won't be able to train her in five days, but you can help her burn off some energy while she's with you. Physical stimulation is good, as is mental stimulation. If she knows how to fetch, use this to your advantage. If you don't have a fenced yard, you can play this inside with a softer toy.

Pit Bulls usually have fairly decent toy drive, so even if she doesn't know how to fetch now it could be easy to teach her. Roll a toy on the ground, let her chase it, etc.

If she has any obedience training, "pushups" can tire a dog out pretty well... sit, then down, sit then down, make it a game. There are some other more advanced training games you could play, but if you're not experienced in training dogs I wouldn't recommend them unless you've got a lot of time on your hands to teach yourself.

Do you keep her confined in a crate or room? Sometimes "time outs" with a nice stuffed 'n' frozen Kong can do wonders. If the cat-chasing is a concern, I'd recommend keeping a cheap leash on her that she can drag - that way, when she starts to chase a cat you can stop her and redirect her attention to something else (maybe a toy, or treats... anything to break her focus on the kitties.)

[ballpythonluvr]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I didn't take her to the dog park. I did have some concerns about how her behavior so I decided not to do it. Overall, she is slowly calming down and not chasing my cats anymore. Again, thank you so much for the replies.

[_Venom_]

A treadmill