Originally Posted by BobbiB (Post 4483817)

Sorry, but FFS....pit bulls are absolutely NO different physically or mentally than any other canine in the world. Lock jaw? Myth. Human aggressive? Myth. Harder to train? Myth.

As I am very, very, very well-versed in APBT behavior and breeding, I can't even take this post seriously considering all of the negative connotations involving Pits. It is insane, and insulting, and ignorant (in the true definition of the word).

Originally Posted by BobbiB (Post 4483817)

Sorry, but FFS....pit bulls are absolutely NO different physically or mentally than any other canine in the world. Lock jaw? Myth. Human aggressive? Myth. Harder to train? Myth.

As I am very, very, very well-versed in APBT behavior and breeding, I can't even take this post seriously considering all of the negative connotations involving Pits. It is insane, and insulting, and ignorant (in the true definition of the word).

Originally Posted by gemy (Post 4483766)

The most common complaint I hear from folks who for want of a better descriptive are medium to large dog owners, is that the small or toy dogs, usually are very poorly behaved. They got the nickname ankle biters for a pretty valid reason. And of course many owners do nothing to control the bad behaviour.

And yes there certainly is a pack leader and all humans in the family should be shown to be in charge, and not the dogs!

There are a couple of more dominance behaviours that might seem silly in a way, but trust me they are dominance actions. Your dog always wants to go up the stairs ahead of you or out the door ahead of you. The leader of the pack always goes first, or gives permission for the other member(s) to go first.

Now I never say never ever let them do that, but every so often once a week sometimes more often, I make all the dogs wait at the bottom of the stairs while I go up, or vice versa while I go down. Tripping over a small dog is fun for no-one, and having a large dog bowl you over can be pretty painfull not to mention dangerous on a long flight of stairs.

Another good skill to teach your Yorkie puppy is to move out of the way of human feet. You should not be walking around your dog, but move slowly through your dog, they need to move out of your way!

Second is to teach your Yorkie awareness of doors. That they open and they close, and they don't want to get caught in a closing door.

The head butt especially to your rear end is another typical large dog behaviour that should not be tolerated.

We have a practice that places the dogs outside of the kitchen when we are eating, or when I get tired of them being in my way when I am cooking. All my pups love to be in the kitchen when I am cooking, partly that is my fault, as often when I chop veges fruit etc, I will give them a piece for an obedience command. Not to mention the wonderfull smells from the oven.

My dogs are trained to accept obedience commands from any-one. Many working dog owners don't feel the same way I do. But living in a family, with a sister who is brain damaged they had to learn to obey her too! And not to mention she is not too steady on her feet!

I like the rough rule of thumb, of if you would not accept this behaviour in a 100 lb dog, then don't accept it in a Yorkie!

Originally Posted by chachi (Post 4483767)

I agree.

I dont think every undersirable behavior has to be trained out of the dog it is up to the owner to decide if it is a behavior they can live with or not. I know we would probably do different with a bigger dog but we are not dealing with a different dog. An example of this is chachi humps his teddy bear. Now someone else may think that is a very undesirable behavior and need to train their dog not to do it. I dont see a problem with it it doesnt effect anyone but us that have to see it he doesnt do it all the time and I dont see the harm in it. If he were a bigger dog though I wouldnt allow it. IK know there are other examples of this this was mine. I dont think people should sweat the small stuff

Originally Posted by gemy (Post 4483799)

I do agree with this. If your dog walks out ahead of you, but immediately obeys your command to come to your side, that is fine. At some point in time you will need to reel in your dog very quickly.

But small dogs or not, they should not be jumping up onto strangers or friends legs, nor snarling, gnashing teeth, and or growling at passerbyes on the street. Nevermind their family!

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88 (Post 4483782)

I saw a very happy pit who I think was not a puppy but very young adult and he got really excited to see me and my mom in the pet store and is owner had a pinch collar on I felt so bad for him he was takeing that thing so he could come say hi. I hate choke collars and pinch collars.

Originally Posted by R-Teddy (Post 4484407)

Breaking some of the MYTHS about Pit bulls

[VIDEO] Do Pit Bulls Really Lock Their Jaws? - Just Doggie

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly (Post 4484577)

These big, powerful dogs of all breeds can be frightening when fighting or attacking, especially those bred for their vicious qualities, including holding onto their prey until it stops moving or the dog is pried away, such as the bulldog type breeds have been and still are when they are bred for professional pit fighting.

Dogs bred for police or military work should be bred and trained with the ability to call them off an attack and any that don't or can't measure up to that skill should be placed in a home with a knowledgeable dog handler who knows the danger he's potentially undertaking and sufficient fencing as to keep the public safe.

But when those dogs carrying the genes bred for professional pit fighting get into the public sphere as "pets", it can be potentially very dangerous. I can't imagine anything crueler to do to a wonderful dog breed and the pets and humans who might come into their orbit than breed it for its more vicious, dangerous dog-fighting qualities such as sustaining a death-hold until the prey stops moving and then allow some of those dogs to get out into the public as pets for unwitting families to own!