Just in case you ever do have a dog fight Ed has a good article on that too. http://leerburg.com/dogfight.htm

Re: Training excitement.

To me there is a difference between offering and being pushy. And there are times I allow them to offer and there are times that they are not allowed to do this. When the time is not to, the knock it off phrase works well to take the excitment down a couple notches. For the younger ones that are overly excited sometimes our time is done for a bit. Could be the level of treat, may down grade to something not so exciting.

Pushy may require some more information of what you're seeing and input from others. I'm not sure I could explain in a way that makes sense and that is safe.

I appreciate your concern about the fighting. When I have them both and I am by myself they are separated. I have talked to my husband about the article on dog fights and he agrees that it would be the best way to break them up if Tank ever decided to fight back.

 Quote: Steph Schneider

... it would be the best way to break them up if Tank ever decided to fight back.

Always good to have this info. But a dog fight will probably have permanent effects on at least one dog -- even aside from possible serious injury (or death). You really don't want one to happen.

Separation and

 Quote: aimee pochron

 Quote: Steph Schneider

He gives a warning, but it is body language, so it is hard for most people to see.

Welcome!

I know I am on the paranoid side and very extra cautious, but please be very, very careful with the assumption that you can catch the cue or stop him in time. Dog fights are very dangerous and not as easy to stop as one would think. Ed F. has a lot of pictures, stories posted if you haven't seen them, check it out. My apologies if you already know this and have a plan if a fight were to break out. Like I said, when it comes to possible fights I error on the way side of caution. I would hate to have something happen to you, Felix or the pit.

(IMO, the only body language warnings are the worst type)

are crucial.

If you have not seen a dog fight, please believe me when I tell you that you don't want one to happen, regardless of a plan for breaking it up.

I think that Felix was attacked by a dog before I got him. Felix and Tank are not together all that often. I am more concerned about his behavior on walks. He stares at everyone, even if they do not have a dog with them. I have to use a prong collar in order to walk him and I think it makes the dog aggression slightly worse (he has shown no aggression towards humans). He doesn't lunge at anyone and he never has, but one time when we were walking away from a lady and her collie he started vocalizing. Should I use the DD collar to correct this behavior or should you only use that if they are being extremely aggressive? Should I allow him to stare at people?

If Felix was attacked or threatened previously that could be one of those permanent effects that Connie posted about.

Staring is not allowed, not to a person and not to another animal -- no focusing. He should be focused on the handler. Does he know look at me, watch me or whatever word you use to have him make eye contact with you? When wearing the prong another back up collar should be on as well.

He knows watch me, but he doesn't always listen to it when we are outside. I need to work with him more on his excitement and around distractions.

 Quote: steph schneider

I think that Felix was attacked by a dog before I got him.

...he has

 Quote:

scars on his face and arms.

Maybe even lots of times. Poor baby has so much emotional scarring, it's going to take some pretty special care to bring him back, I'm afraid. With some dogs, they never get all the way there either. Some of them can function pretty well as an "only" dog in a household in which the handlers are patient and consistent. It's going to be awhile before this dog should even be around other dogs, in my opinion. Dog parks are an absolute NO NO.

Unfortunately, what you are describing is a breeding ground for dog aggression in the pit bull pup as well. Random attacks from an aggressive adult dog doesn't do much for the pups development. Doesn't matter that the attacks don't require vet care. They create emotional scars that dogs can't "talk out" like people can, and can have permanent effects on the pups future interactions with other dogs.

This article may have some information for you for managing your dog: http://leerburg.com/pdf/dealingwithdominantdog.pdf.

The prong collar can ratchet up aggression and make it worse. Ed uses the dominant dog collar for these dogs.

This is some very serious business, Steph, for you and for your dogs. Don't forget about the liability of your dog biting another dog, or person trying to break up a dog fight. Judges don't care how badly a dog was treated as a puppy, they only look at consequences of the dog owners actions.

Good luck and BE CAREFUL.

 Quote: Steph Schneider

I have a problem with controlling his excitement during training. Sometimes he will just do everything he knows, before I ask him to do anything, in order to get the treat. Has anyone had this problem before?

Kasey still does this sometimes, and he did it a lot in the beginning. The dogs who are chow hounds do this the most! Try using a lower value treat, one that he isn't so excited about and see if that helps. It helped with Kasey - I sometimes have to use little kibbles instead of steak, for example. I also have gone to giving the treat 75% of the time, and then verbal praise and petting the other times - in the same session, I mean. Are you using Marker Training, or just using food as a reward if he does what you ask him to? Like the other posters said, there are great DVD's and earticles on this site to train you how to do the marker training.

 Quote: Steph Schneider

He knows watch me, but he doesn't always listen to it when we are outside. I need to work with him more on his excitement and around distractions.

Have you read any threads here about desensitizing work (done outside the edge of his reactivity zone)?