I know a lady who has two pitbulls that are 11 months old, one male and one female. We'd met at the dog park a few months ago, and her dogs and Murphy got along pretty well, chasing each other and wrestling. She didn't want them to get too rough though so I made sure to give Murphy the "off" command whenever I saw things escalating. To her (and admittedly, my) surprise, he listened to me every time and turned and went to me or walked away every time I said "off" and asked if I trained him myself, etc. I did but with the help of everyone here! That was the day one of her dogs jumped the dog park fence (which is far too low anyway) and she had to chase her down the street while her friend stayed with the other one in the dog park. I took Murphy out immediately after that because I didn't want him to get any funny ideas.
On a couple of different occasions I've seen her on the street with both dogs having a difficult time handling them. They looked leash reactive and triggered by dogs as far away as half a city block away. Once her husband was with her and one of the dogs had gone toward Murphy as we went by with him running alongside my bike. He screamed at her "I told you ten times to hold him!!" I can only imagine what it's like when he trains the dogs!
Well yesterday there was a street fair in our neighborhood so my partner and I were out with Murphy. We saw her from across the street trying to hold the dogs back as they lunged toward us, poor woman. Some time later we ran into her (dogs weren't with her anymore) with a friend of hers and a Yorkie walking off leash - which worried me because the streets were busy with people and vendors, but the Yorkie was very well behaved and stayed very close to them. We stopped to let the dogs greet each other and she recognized me from the dog park. We talked for a bit about the problems she was having with her dogs and she said they'd hired a trainer but it "didn't work". She mentioned that they were told (before getting the last trainer) to smack the dogs to get them to listen, put choke chains on them, etc. She was always scared to take them out because people are afraid of pit bulls and the dogs keep lunging toward other dogs.
We ended up talking for quite a while, I told her how much work I'd put into Murphy with information I got online and from books. I told her that her yanking her dogs when they lunge won't work and told her the money analogy: If you saw your girlfriend down the street and your husband punched you in the arm, you would be afraid to see your friend on the street. But if every time you saw your friend and your husband gave you $50, you would be happy to see your friend and you'd look to your husband first, wouldn't you?
I had some chicken in my pocket so I showed her the "watch me" command. I told her to practice inside the house, then the yard, then the stoop, then just their street, etc. I suggested she train her dogs separately and next time she calls a trainer, to make sure it is a positive reinforcement trainer and anything that sounds like it would be uncomfortable for the dogs she shouldn't agree to. I told her to google "positive reinforcement" and learn as much as she can. She seemed really encouraged by our conversation and I hope that when she sees her trainer again she'll be more prepared with questions.
She watches both Cesar and Victoria and I told her to be careful with Cesar's methods and use her own judgment when handling her dogs; if it seems like it'll hurt the dog, don't do it. I repeatedly told her that she wants her dogs to TRUST her, not fear her. She loves Victoria so hopefully she'll make wise decisions when she tries to learn from the programs.
Meanwhile I was at a party Saturday night and got to talking to another pitbull owner who told me her 9-month-old keeps pulling on the leash and I told her about Mattie's method detailed in the sticky thread in the methods section. She was also really excited to learn of the method and said she'd try it out.
Now my partner tells me I should be a trainer. I told her I'm no trainer, I'm just nosey.
For now I'm just going to keep working on my dog and helping out owners who ask for my opinions.
