Raising a Healthy Pit Bull

Pit Bull is one of the most misunderstood dog breeds in the world. True enough, there have been reports of Pit Bulls attacking children in recent years. While Pit Bulls are considered as America’s most dangerous dog breed. However, scientist have claimed that while dogs have certain traits in their genes that decides on their deposition, it is really down to the upbringing process as well as the raising of the Pit Bull. Of course, it will be important to raise a healthy Pit Bull to ensure that they can lead a fulfilling life.

Here is the complete guide to raising a healthy Pit Bull.

Getting a Pit Bull for the first time

When you first get a Pit Bull, there will be several things that you will need to start off right so that your Pit Bull does not grow up to be the stereotypical Pit Bull that is aggressive.

Socializing

Pit Bulls can be loyal and protective of their loved ones. But with the lack of socializing, their world view might be narrow, and anyone that appears as a stranger might be attacked upon. It is like a vicious cycle. You see, many owners tend to keep their Pit Bulls at home because of the public perception that they are aggressive. But they did not factor in that if the dogs have been socializing since young, they will not appear to be aggressive.

For starters, if you wish to socialize your Pit Bull, we will suggest that you bring your friends over to your house so that they can get used to having a stranger around them. It will be good if you invite other dogs to your house too. This will allow the Pit Bull to be slowly eased into an environment that has multiple ‘strange’ elements.

Once they are comfortable with this, you can start to bring them out to the public. Before you do that, do note that it will be imperative that you keep them on a short leash so that you are in control of the situation at all times. Bring the dog out to the park (not the dog pen) whereby there can be many chance encounters with humans their pets. Be sure to note down the various signs that the dog is displaying aggressiveness so that your dog and the public is protected.

Positive reinforcement

One big mistake that Pit Bull owners do is to use negative training methods such as using shock collars for the Pit Bulls. While the Pit Bull can be stubborn, it will be detrimental to their health as well as their character when you use negative training methods. Some owners even use choke collars, which does cause pain to the Pit Bull.

We will strongly encourage you to use positive reinforcement training methods when it comes to instructing your Pit Bull. Always encourage them and lavish praises on to your dog as it will help to keep them happy and less aggressive. You can always give them treats to reward them for good behaviour. But do this in moderation as excessive giving of treats can be detrimental to their health.

In order for you to be completely positive when it comes to training your dog, you will need to be patient, consistent, and open to multiple forms of training. A closed mind will only result in repetitive training methods that might not be working on your Pit Bull. This will only cause further problems as your Pit Bull might feel stressed and hence develop a negative outlook towards training.

Wholesome diet

As the Pit Bull is a naturally well build dog, you will need to be extremely mindful of the type of dog food that they eat. Pit bulls do require a diet that is rich in protein as it will help to build up their muscles as well as to hold up their strong frame. Some of the common health problems that Pit Bulls might have include hip and elbow dysplasia. If the dog is fat, it will further exacerbate the problem. Hence, if you wish for longevity for your Pit Bull, you will need to watch their diet.

When you choose dog food for the Pit Bull, make sure you read the labels properly. We will encourage you to get dog food whose first ingredient is listed as a meat rather than grains. But do watch out for your dog’s allergies, if they have any.

Spend time

One issue that is common amongst many dog owners is that they aren’t spending enough time with their dogs. As such, the dog will result in many other methods in order to gain the owner’s attention. This includes displaying signs of aggression since the dog knows that it will surely get your attention. To relate, it is the same case when it comes to having a child at home. In most cases, children turn to be rebellious when the parents do not spend enough time with them at home. As such, it will be imperative that you spend quality time with your Pit Bull to ensure that they will grow up to be healthy dogs.

There are many ways at which you can spend quality time with your Pit Bull. One such way is to bring them out to the park and play a game of fetch. This does help the dog in many ways. In just one such session, your Pit Bull will:

• Be happy since they get to play
• Get to socialize with the environment
• Keep fit since playing does require them to run quite a bit
• Bond with the owner

So you see, there are indeed multiple benefits that you can reap in just one short session. There are other ways at which you can spend time with your dog too, so do explore and make full use of the time.

Wrapping things up

As you can see, growing a healthy Pit Bull is not as difficult as how others make it to be. All you need is to show the dog love, be patient to them, and to treat them like your own child.