There is a brand new group emerging and I have to share with you. I’m a Pit Bull advocate and could not be more excited that there is a group out there that is promoting positive reinforcement based training for bully breeds. Pits are so smart and benefit greatly from positive training. I only wish that when I was working with Pits that I had been more positive. They loved me anyways, but positive training could have made their training progress much more quickly and it would have kept metal off their necks.
Their Story
“As dog trainers who happen to share our lives with pit bulls, we wanted to debunk the myth that pit bulls and other “strong” breeds require harsh methods to learn. Any of us who have spent a considerable amount of time in pit bull advocacy have heard (maybe even chanted) the draconian mantras: Pit bulls are bull-headed. They’re stubborn. They’ll happily take over your home if you don’t establish a clear pecking order. Some “individual” pit bulls need to be walked on metal collars that drive spikes into their necks (though proponents of such tools rarely frame things so transparently).
But here’s the thing. We’ve trained scores and scores of pit bulls by rewarding them for desired behaviors and removing rewards for undesired behaviors – the same way we train Labradoodles and Pomeranians. And decades of scientific research tells us that all animals learn the same way.”
These two ladies have taken to writing training articles that any dog owner will benefit from reading. Here they are:
- What If? – Deeper thoughts about why dogs act the way they do.
- Proofing Behaviors – How to transition behaviors to multiple locations.
Make sure to “like” their Facebook page to keep up with their latest updates and posts! I cannot wait to see where they go!