Pit bull mix sometimes grabs the leash, tugs, shakes her head violently? How to stop it?

im so sick of people saying "oh my gosh!! you have a pit bull!!!" not all pit bulls or pit bull mixes are vicious!!! i have a pit bull mix and she is the sweetest dog ever!!! as for your dog... like another poster said be very stern. if you need to you could try spraying her with a water bottle or litley spank her. good luck!! and... NOT ALL PIT BULLS ARE MEAN AND VICIOUS!!!

1

I have a really hard time believing the dog though a CHILD was a chew toy. Dogs are incredible at reading humans. Better than any species studied- dolphins, chimps, whatever. A dog knows the difference between a human being and any other object- living or not. I agree that most pits don't kill that way, but we know nothing about this pit. Most dogs won't attack babies, either. Who knows what this dog was thinking, but in a legal sense, the dog was the proximate cause of the death. Lots of things can be said about the mother (and are being said), but the dog is the reason the child died. This is why the propaganda that "all dogs can be rehabilitated" and "there are no dangerous dogs, only negligent humans" are dangerous. Yes, the mother was negligent, but a dog fit for human society isn't going to kill an infant regardless of how negligent the owner. People can hardly be blamed for going to the shelter and adopting a pit mix of indeterminate origin and bringing it home to their household to live side by side with an infant. You see every show on animal planet praising the virtues of adopting, how pits just have a bad rap, how they can be a savior by rehabilitating the poor, sweet creatures. It's ridiculous. I don't have children, so I have feel comfortable taking a gamble with shelter dogs. When I have children, my dogs will be old and trained, and any new dogs will come from a breeder who I trust and respect.

Personally I don't think people who aren't 'dog whisperers' should be alpha rolling dogs, nor do I agree with a lot of things Cesar does... but that's just me.

She's just being a brat and trying to get you to play with her again because she's amped up and the leash is the nearest thing.

Emily had some great advice about bringing another toy and using that... don't try and shove the toy in her mouth, but YOU play with the toy like you just found the most fun thing in the world...and completely ignore the dog if she has the leash in her mouth. The second she drops the leash, let her play with the fun toy (I find our pit bulls all LOVE things that squeak, and that can break thier concentration on whatever they are doing to misbehave). She'll soon learn that being bratty and grabbing the leash gets her nothing, and dropping it gets her playtime with you, which is probably what she's trying to get anyway.

You've only had her a week, she's still trying to learn her place and what's acceptable and what's not. Try not to give her any attention when she's being bad like that, any attention is good attention to a dog.

Well looks like you got alot of great answers by well trained trainers. This is my pitts worst behavior issue she had. First I had to change out the leash, to metal chain, then every time she tried taking the lead with the leash I would tell her no then short chain step on the leash. Then if she did this while we were still in the yard I would two leg walk her back to the front door and start the walk all over again. She now does not put the leash in her mouth unless she is bringing it to me while I put on my shoes or something to hand me the leash. I had neck surgery at one time and couldn't let her pull on me so I took the leash and put around my waist, this automatically made it a short leash, so when she pulled it didn't allow her to go more than three steps ahead, Instead of no I said slow. Don't know if this is proper training but this is what worked for us. Maybe this is what you are calling scuffing.

ALL dogs can be aggressive when play, but ya pit bull are a little more...The leash pulling is going to happen til you show the dog she cant do that. My dog did this and the "biting on the hand". What I did was keep the leash pulled back as hard as you can with one hand and use your other to grab the harness. Then lay her down on her side by the harness keep her down while saying no til she gives up. Take the leash away and then give her a treat. Shell probably nip at your hand but if you back away she wont learn. Pit bulls are naturally "bossy" dogs. You'll probably have to do this a few times. I used to also grab my dogs mouth/nose and hold it shut when he would bite at my hands. Just for a few seconds while saying no and telling him to look at me. He stopped that pretty quickly. Good Luck :)

There are a few real keys to dog training, whether you are trying to train your dog to come when called, sit, stop barking or any other behavior. Understanding their importance is critical to achieving rapid results that are long lasting and help develop the bond between you and your dog. Read more here https://tr.im/s0crv

The first is simple; you must win your dogs mind. If you don’t achieve this first then you will be struggling the all the way. When I talk about winning your dogs mind what I really mean is that your dog looks to you for all the decisions. Before you do anything else watch one of the amazing video sites that show you the 5 Golden rules to establishing yourself as the pack leader. If you aren’t putting these in place then you are setting yourself up to fail. Just at the crucial point where you really want your dog to listen they will go and do their own thing. For sure your dog may play ball occasionally or even most of the time, you may even have a dog that is obedient 99% of the time, however if you want a dog who always listens to you and does as you ask then you need to win your dogs mind.

The second key to success is to motivate your dog. It is really important that you discover what it is that your dog enjoys both in terms of exercise and play but also in terms of a reward. If you can make the experience enjoyable then you will both achieve more and look forward to training.

Some dogs love to fetch, others love agility, and other dogs simply love obedience training, or swimming out into water and retrieve. At least to start with find out what your dogs love is and help them develop this, what I am saying is work with your dog. The other point to recognize is to make training enjoyable reward your dog.

I wouldn't recommend scruffing her or any other kind of harsh correction - you don't want to end up with a leash aggressive dog. I recommend bringing along a toy that looks different from her leash but she still enjoys playing tug with. Keep it out of sight but somewhere you can easily reach it. If she tries to grab her leash, quickly hand her the toy and tell her to "Tug!" Praise her if she tugs the toy, and let her carry it for a bit if she wants to.

Pitbull Tug Toys

First toss Cesar's book,it is worthless for most novices and causes alot of bites.He is ok for advanced training but for basic his methods are pretty hit and miss for most people who do not know a dogs subtle cues.

You must learn to be domiant to your dog at all times, if you need to scruff your dog you have already shown you have lost control.

Ditch the harness and work on actual lead training, it will probably take you 2 hours to go a half a block but do not let the dog pull or lead, keep turning away if she pulls.

If you yell no more then once,you have shown the dog that No does not indeed mean NO it means, i will keep yelling at u dear doggy.

Use a different toy other then a rope, pits love tug of war its their joy in life. If you want to exercise them with a tug put a rubber ring attached to a length of chain onto a tire and let them tug that about.

Until you gain dominance do not play tug of war with your dog.

I could write volumes more to help you but space here is limited, I would contact a real trainer who is trained to instruct your type of dog.

Pits are one of the easiest breeds to train but you must be the dominant person in the relationship.