Ok, this may end up kind of long, so please bear with me. Fair warning, lol!

About a month ago, we adopted what was listed as a 2 year old pit bull cross from the local shelter. He was a lovely boy in the two meetings we had with him, but of course, that is really not remotely enough time to know what he will really be like. We, being the ignorant dominant dog owners that we are, let him have the run of the place fairly soon after bringing him home and then some things started to show up. Our fault entirely. We have had many dogs over the years, but apparently have gotten lucky in not getting a dominant one before. We brought him into our house with out car and pekingese, who I now know also has no idea of pack structure but got away with is because he is small and low energy.

So, the behaviors that showed right away were leash pulling, no big deal, got a head collar which helped quite a bit. Then he started to get a bit aggressive with play. That escalated to the point of when either my husband or I were in the yard alone with him, he would begin to nip and bark and growl at us and we were in fear of getting seriously bitten. But, it wasn't like he was being aggressive, it was like he was being dominant, then it escalated to aggression when we didn't respond the way he wanted us to. It reached the point of thinking we had to return him to the shelter, but I started researching the web for training methods. I knew I didn't agree with some of the others I had seen and then I stumbled onto Leerburg. Eureka, I do believe I've found it!

But, now I am trying to put into practice what I have read and learned here and I have LOTS of questions. I purchased the streaming video about pack structure with family pets and have watched it through once. I have read the article on that subject multiple times. I think I have determined that first off, Hank is an am-staff cross, so a bully breed. He is not dog or handler aggressive, but is dominant with a high prey drive. He has not hurt our cat, but I would not leave them together unsupervised without a lot more training and maybe never. He is not very food motivated, but I have found a couple things he loves, cheese being the best so far.

Of course, right now he is in social isolation. So, my first question is, how long do I give him for a potty break if he seems to not be interested in going at all, and how long a leash do I use for potty breaks? I have ordered a prong collar for him with the leash and dd collar and I think that is going to be an invaluable tool. He is smart as a whip, so consistency is absolutely a must with him. He does know a few basic obedience commands but I am not working on those right now, as my understanding is that needs to wait until he knows with certainty that I am the pack leader. What I normally do is take him out every couple of hours and I learned early on that I have to walk him in circles around the yard or he will spend all his time sniffing and never get around to going. If we are moving, he gets down to business much quicker because he isn't so distracted. And, sometimes he lets me know right away that he is only interested in playing, so we immediately come right back in. I don't take toys out but he loves sticks, so if he starts to pick one up, I take it away (he is never aggressive when I do that) and we move on or come back in. He is in his kennel in a corner of the living room the rest of the time. Tomorrow will be one week and he is definitely not ready to come out yet. He is much better, but nowhere near calm submissive 100% of the time. He still has tantrums about being in the kennel, but they are getting less and less in length and intensity. Yay!

I had not realized until a couple days ago that grooming is also part of this time, and I am wondering how often do I do that? Is it just once a day or more often? Should it be a separate time from potty break or exercise?

I have millions more, but I will pause for now and wait for some replies before I continue on. I really, really want to be successful at this because I think this dog has the potential to be a great pet. He just hasn't had the opportunity to show that yet. I don't want him to be a statistic and I have a feeling that is what he is. He was picked up as a stray, already neutered and with some basic obedience training, very healthy. I think someone didn't know how to deal with his dominance and just let him go and I don't want to do that to him again.

So any help or advice is welcome! I am a total beginner at this and want to learn everything I can. Once we get through this portion of training, I want to move on to the Basic Obedience training and then the sky's the limit. He is smart enough to do almost anything. Thanks in advance for wading through this and any feedback you can supply.

Hi. Welcome to the forum.

You will get more suggestions (some maybe even better), but I have a mature adoptee and here is my take. Every two hours may be too often for a mature dog who can hold it longer. If you're sure he needs to go, keep walking him in circles and redirecting him away from what he wants to sniff. I would suggest that a good reward for going on command would be to let him fart around a bit AFTER he does his business.

If needing to go is iffy, I put my dog up if she starts farting around (especially if it's cold outside). It didn't take her long to figure out that she better go while she has the chance.

According to your post, this is pretty much the routine you're in, so, in your own words, consistency is a must. Stay the course. It may not seem that you're making progress, then almost overnight you see a marked improvement.

Regarding the rough play, there are several layers to this (the old onion analogy). A large, otherwise active dog who is crated most of the time is certain to have an abundance of energy. Taking him out is like uncapping a soda bottle; there'll pbly be a burst of energy. You'll have to find a way to counter it, or as Peter likes to say, you have to satisfy his drives. Rather than tussle with him, some long retrieves or an exhausting game of tug may help. Also, you'll have to find a way to teach and enforce the principles and rules of play. He cannot be allowed to play in a way that may cause harm, but if he's truly dominant, correcting him for it won't help, either.

Thank you for the response. For right now, we aren't playing at all, but I am taking him on long walks to get energy out. And I do realized he is going to be somewhat energetic because of being cooped up and I don't mind the energy. But the nipping, growling, barking is NOT okay. The second he starts, right back in to the kennel we go. It is just hard to find a balance between letting off energy and keeping him in the kennel. He sometimes does a lot of licking and yawning, which I have read are signs of stress. I am wondering if I take him out when he does that, will it reinforce that he gets to go out when he is stressed and is that a bad thing or a good thing? Seems like it's not good. Like I said, I am brand new to figuring this out and hopefully with time and feedback I will start to really understand this dog, because we really do want to keep him in our family.

Will he chase a ball or stick?

Yes, but from what I understand that is not something I should be doing while we are doing the groundwork for pack structure. That is also the type of play that escalates into the aggressive behavior, so until he knows I am totally the boss, I am not comfortable doing those things. Right now, my biggest concern is really how long a leash he should be on for his potty sessions, and when I should be doing his grooming. By how long a leash, I am wondering if it should be his walking leash or a long line.

 Quote: Ria Neubauer

Yes, but from what I understand that is not something I should be doing while we are doing the groundwork for pack structure. That is also the type of play that escalates into the aggressive behavior, so until he knows I am totally the boss, I am not comfortable doing those things. Right now, my biggest concern is really how long a leash he should be on for his potty sessions, and when I should be doing his grooming. By how long a leash, I am wondering if it should be his walking leash or a long line.

Yes, for now I would stick EXACTLY to Ed's "groundwork for establishing pack structure in the family pet" regimen & routine -- And while training the potty trigger & response, I use a regular 6-foot lead ... But I walk the dog rather briskly Back & Forth in fairly short 180 degree About-Turns instead of circles, which works WELL

Thank you! I will try that. We do go rather briskly but just back and forth might be better. I was wonder how to keep it at the far end of the yard. A little bit slow, I guess, lol!

And, I am wondering how I know for sure he is ready to move to the next stage. Obviously, this is all very new to me.

just my .00002 cents, bonding activities.

as afar as biting and nipping you can imo you can achieve a lot more by selective ignoring. big deal about the good behaviour and disinterest with the undesired, has a big behaviour modification impact, displaying disinterest does not mean locking in kennel.

most nipping imo is a dog wanting to play and please you in the only way they know how, it is the equivalent of holding hands with a close friend while out on a walk, you know some light physical intimacy thing.....or maybe not?


try understand without breed stereotyping how your dog is genetically programmed/wired, genetics is not inevitable per se but it will help you understand where your dog is coming form.

ETA, nice looking dog.

He is not gently nipping as he plays. He is viciously barking and trying to bite within seconds of the nipping at the beginning. I faced him down and very slowly backed into the house, but he followed the whole way without stopping, and continuing to try to get within reach of me. Once he is in the house, he stops completely. But right before I found this site and started the groundwork, he did it in my living room. I immediately sent him to his kennel and when he was calm, I let him out and he was fine.

He is not being kept in his kennel for punishment. I am trying to follow the program for building pack leadership.

PS: Thanks, that's why we call him handsome Hank.

You may need to Q&A Ed, since he is the author of the program that you're working. I don't think you're going to see much improvement until you find a constructive outlet for all that energy.

JMO