Train your pit bull puppy right

By D E Bradley

Puppies can be a handful when they are young and new to a household.

There is so much for new owners to consider about their welfare, health care needs and personality traits. This is especially true for pit bull puppies as there is a big journey between the tiny, hyperactivity puppy and ensuring they grow into a strong, social, well-behaved adult.

This brief guide will look at how to raise a pit bull puppy via training, health care needs, diet and understanding their personality.

The pit bull personality is intense but once you understand it and work to socialize and train them, pit bulls can become incredible pets.

But if not trained properly, pit bulls can be dangerous and even deadly. According to research compiled by DogsBite.org, a public education website that tracks dog bites, in the 11-year period of 2005 through 2015, canines killed 360 Americans. Pit bulls contributed to 64% (232) of these deaths.

Pit bull pups are tiny balls of energy that require a lot of love and attention. The plus side of this is playtime and family fun. The downside is digging and destruction.

Hyperactivity stems from boredom so play with them by giving them food puzzles and games. These are smart animals and mental exercises are as important as physical ones.

Remember that these powerful puppies can chew through toys and destroy things pretty quickly. Cheap and replaceable is better than expensive and sentimental when giving them anything to play with.

That hyperactive, potentially destructive personality is why it’s critical to develop a strict training plan for your pit bull puppy.

Training regime

It is best to start training from a young age so your pit bull puppy doesn’t pick up too many bad habits.

An aggressive pit bull only becomes aggressive if you don’t control any tendencies to act up around other people or other dogs. Never excuse or ignore aggressive behavior.

Most basic training needs like not biting and house-training are picked up pretty easily due to their intelligence, but you can’t be complacent either.

Correct the behavior in a responsible, positive way. Positive is the only way to go as negative responses can lead to negative behavior.

Their personality also means that they can also respond poorly to inconsistencies in regimes or training commands. Once you have a training plan set up, stick with it.

Finding the right food

The next issue of importance when considering how to raise a pit bull puppy is their diet. Pit bulls require a strong diet that helps them maintain their weight and muscle mass, and puppy options differ from adult ones. There are a number of puppy friendly options on the market that take care to offer an appropriate list of ingredients and smaller pieces.

This guide to the pit bull diet offers some great advice on the different types of food available and some of the most popular brands. The right diet should help with their health and development, such as by providing lots of protein and calcium. This leads us to our final consideration.

Health care needs

Just like all puppies, health care needs and vaccinations are essential when raising these little guys.

Keep up to date to with vet checks and at the same time, look into getting a microchip in case that high energy and sense of adventure gets them into trouble one day.

High energy means a lot of exercise is needed. You don’t want all that stocky muscle turning to fat. It is also a good idea to start grooming your pit bulls from a young age to get them used to human contact.

Grooming sessions are essential for keeping them clean, checking their eyes, ears and teeth, clipping nails and generally looking out for problems and injuries.

Regular checks, combined with the training methods and other welfare needs, should lead to a happy, well-adjusted pup.