Hi,
I have a 5yr female spayed pit bull, she was spayed at 4 months of age. I am "pack" leader and she it trained to the Tee. except for walks when she sees another dog and she hasnt gotten enough exercise. She doesnt growl at them just that high pitched whiney thing that pits have. I have noticed that if I can find a field and run her out she has less pent up anger towards other dogs. The key is to somehow get to that point. She has a pinch and choke collar i use together when out. Anyone have any thoughts on shock collars? I just dont want it to channel more negativity.

Michelle

I would probably use a dominant dog collar on this and really work hard on leadership exercises at home. Since you already have a great relationship it won't take too long. Basically, tether the dog to you or in a crate for a while while you drive it home to her that YOU are ALWAYS in charge. Also work on "doing" something when they walk past - like a sit stay. Sometimes when they are stationary and SEATED the other dog seems less interesting. Start at home, no distractions, work up to other dogs.
As for the Dominant dog collar, you probably won't have to use it fully, but as a pit bull enthusiast and someone who has worked with rescued fighters, I can tell you that even lifting the front feet slightly off the ground for a second when they show "that side" towards other dogs, it gets through pretty quick. Exercise helps too, and is key, but correcting the behavior (if it seems like dog aggression) will really need to happen sooner rather than later. IMHO a prong can sometimes elicit a MROE aggressive response from the dog, where as the DD collar makes it clear YOU are the one correcting and YOU won't tolerate it. Once you get that point across whatever training collar you use will simply continue that point, and you will have a better foundation by establishing an even stronger leadership role.

Michelle,
It's not readily obvious to me that your dog is displaying agression. Are you sure DA is the issue?

If I'm not learning, I'm not paying attention.
Randy

One thing I thought about this morning: if the dog is not "getting" something, or behaves perfectly as long as________ (fill in the blank) I usually go back to the basics (leadership) rather than trying harsher methods, stronger collars etc. I'm not saying that an e-collar is harsher, but that if you are not getting the correct response from a fairly harsh correction a new collar may not change that. Start over with some leadership stuff, refresh OB work in a distraction free environment. If you are still having this issue and it looks to be dog aggression, then address that. If it's simply a lack of respect or leadership/understanding, the leadership type exercises will sort that out. Make sense?

Ive tried the sitting down and staying when that happens. She sits and the yelping gets more pitchy. It only happens when she sees other dogs walking, with their owners. Ive also tried redirecting, she stops for a second then goes right back to staring at them. I couldnt tell at 1st either if it was DA or not, but the second she heard the noise of a dog chain, that is when she started looking for them(dogs). Once spotted high pitched whines. I had an incidnet 8months ago in a national park. You can take your dog of leash if you want its like a forest with trails. I was walking my pit and my teacup chihuahua. She always carries a tennis ball on walks, someone had their uncontrollable 80lb golden charging at us of leash. I have lifted the teacup over my head to avoid a slam and the pit dropped her ball then hackels came up showing teeth growling. My pit was on a leash so she was trying to jump at the dog. Ive never heard such noises come from my dog. Someone else had grabbed the golden before it actually got to us. The owner leashed the dog and the golden then tried to sniff my dog(pit). My pit then tried to snap at the golden. All she got was a tuff of hair because i pulled her back as that was happening. I can she her trying to be protective of us, but i cant walk her without her just sniffing another dog. I cant get to that piont, it turns into high pitched noises then snapping when they get close

I don't know that I'd necessarily see this as aggressive behavior towards dogs, but I think you definitely need to go polish up the OB stuff. Get the OB work 110% with no distractions, then move through corrections/distractions. For the proofing phase you can just go on a walk. But I'd start from scratch and go through it all again. Sometimes the dog gets rusty and needs a little refresher... and sometimes the dog may just not understand that NO MATTER WHAT you look at me, pay attention to me etc. You can also try teaching your dog TO bark, as well as to stop barking.

The no distractions is kind of hard seeing as we just moved to the city (boston). They have tons of dog parks, but those can be scary, being a ER animal tech ive seen alot of lacerations and proptosed eyes. Also, having a pit bull im sure everyone would run out. Ive tried the sit and you look at me approach and she looks then looks right back at the other dog coming down the street while she high pitched whines. How long do I make her stare at me, til the other dog walks by? How do I keep her staring at me, hold her head? Treats work for a bit but not long. When I bring her to my parents house with open fields and on one around she listens fine. Wont chase squarrals, stays by my side when we walk. Sit, stays on command someone walks by will still sit and stay. If anything is in her mouth drops it on command. When we go back to my house there are tons of people walking around outside all the time. She tries to sniff them as they walk by, its just when she hears a dog chain clinking high pitched whines start. All this happens on the sidewalk so how should we stand when this happens?

I have a pit who does this as well (high pitched barking at other dogs) and in those circumstances, aggression is not the issue. Its excitement and wanted to get to them, unfortunatly, if the dog wasnt socialized enough he may not know exactly how to go about approaching other dogs. Our Pit was extensivly socialized BUT one mistake was made; the older dogs werent allowed to discipline him (afraid that he might get aggressive) and now all he knows is "Run, jump in the middle and start the hard core play" that will start a fight in 99.9% of cases.
Of course after being approached so unceremoniously your dog may have got the idea that he has to fend for himself.
Mainly I think he/she doesnt know how you want it to act around other dogs with that extra energy to control. Go with the extensive OB and when you start to proof him/her around other dogs use high value treats to get it to sit quietly and focus on you. After awhile the habit of sitting and looking to you when they see another dog coming will be drilled in

All you need is to get her attention, after that you'll need the "leave it" command. when the dog ALREADY knows the command (teach it at home) use the leave it the second the dog looks at the distraction, and keep doing it.

I work at an ER animal hospital so she came with me to work everyday since she was 3months old. She was socialized everyday with other employee pets. Yes, she does play rough. When she got to be about 2.5yrs old she started challenging every dog in a cage the second she walked in. Acting like she owned the place. I tried to correct this issue by making her sit and stay everytime we walked it and she started the high pitched yelping. She would run in front cages to see how the animal in the cage would react, claiming her dominance. A Dr who I work with has a rotti who one say she went to let my dog and hers out. My dog tried to dominate her rotti. Her rotti was not having it, so tried to put my dog in her place which lead to my dog not backing down and trying to claim rank. Needless to say we stopped letting them out together just in case. My dog seems to be fine with puppies and old (like 14yr) dogs. My dog doesnt try to claim dominance over me or family members just dogs and she is fine with cats. I hope bringing her to work didnt cause this behavior and if so, how do i stop it? Im fine with her not being able to "play" with other dogs. I jsut want to be able to walk without an issue everytime we see a dog.

I would still go with taching the "watch me" and "leave it" commands, starting with really short disractions and working sloowly up to a sort of permanent indifference
Since the dog did this since it was a puppy (dominance, perhaps being the issue? would the dog leave off if the other dog showed submission?) either way, teaching it what is to be expected; ignoring the dog, looking to you... Is what it seems like is in order. no matter what it is; aggression or excitment, the self control will have to be taught...and good luck!

oh, somethings I forgot, I wouldnt practise while the dog has any pent up energy until your sure of her training when shes already physicaly drained. Its just alot to ask and it will be 20x harder for the dog to think about anything your saying; Id rate it as a level 10 distraction-to have pent up energy and that kind of stimulant to master at the same time...