# Pit bull terrier likes to snap at face during play



## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

Shes perfect around other dogs and shes perfect until you start to play rough with her all i do is just push her back and let your run towards me it gets her hyped up but sometimes she will snap at my face not in an aggressive sort of way she never gets real close bout 6 inches from my face how can i make her stop.


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

The pushing away she is taking as playful its not serious enough. Get serious very firm NO and remove her or ignore her , turn your back walk away get off her level. Teach her when she does that play time ENDS. Once she is calmed down you can play again but may want to try getting her to play with toys throw balls for her or something avoid rough play. Nip this in the Butt now before she gets bigger or worse yet connects with your face by accident.


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

i take her down to an old horse pasture and throw a kong for her alot


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## KMdogs (Apr 22, 2011)

Simple, theres lack of structure within your connection between you and your dog. You pushing her back and letting her run towards you, especially in a continual manor is, in a nutshell, challenging dominance and rank among the circle.. pack.. family.. whatever you want to call it, it amounts to the same thing.

This is a bit like playing tug of war with a dog, or any activity which can build prey or feed off their strengths.. If you allow them to win, consistently you are signaling to the dog that you are weaker thus giving rank to the dog vs you being in control. If one day you decide you will win, especially on a dog that is naturally dominate, this can result in what you described.. OR in more sever cases, a bite OR in worst of cases the dog will fight over its place in rank with the human handler. Each case is different as there are variables however it can start with much of what you are describing.

You need to establish order, training being the center foundation..

Of course, another option can be lack of exercise and built up energy. If you only walk a few times a week or even every day, maybe throw the tennis ball around or what have you.. Obviously thats not enough for your dog, you need to step up the activity levels. A worn out dog is a happy dog. Overworking, as it gets hotter especially will be a concern however a quick search on here will show you all the answers you need.. As you have a history of not listening to basic sense, I will leave it at that.

Yet another possibility is some dogs will excite bite, hard nibble or snap at their handlers when drive kicks in OR highly excitable. Correcting this really boils back down to training AND a stable mind...

The last option can be an unstable dog mentally.. However if what you are saying is correct and not leaving out any important details, i wouldn't suspect this to be high on the possibilities.

In my opinion based on what you have offered for information, a combination of basic (at least) obedience and upping the exercise should prove to correct the unwanted behavior. Sit, stay, down/lay/floor, off, focus.. Easy commands, extremely basic but can come in handy in a very wide range of situations.


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

what i will do when she gets to hyper is make her lay down sit on her not put weight on her bt sit on her and hold her head down to the floor until she relaxes and they i got after her with a shoe when she started up again and she ran right into her kennel it seems to work i got the sitting on her from the dog whisperer

She is a year and a half old


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## KMdogs (Apr 22, 2011)

courtneyd137 said:


> what i will do when she gets to hyper is make her lay down sit on her not put weight on her bt sit on her and hold her head down to the floor until she relaxes and they i got after her with a shoe when she started up again and she ran right into her kennel it seems to work i got the sitting on her from the dog whisperer
> 
> She is a year and a half old


What you are basically doing is correcting excitement.. Which if done correctly, can work if you are dealing with over excitement.. However if done improperly, can severely damage the spirits and create bigger problems..

You holding her head down and sitting on her or hovering above her is some dog whisperer  that don't work.. Mentally stressful for a dog as this is not a natural state of correction, rather naturally you are sending the message at that point in time, you may kill her or harm her. Her sitting still or her "correcting" the issue based on this is more or less out of fear in most cases.. However like most cases including yours, its not actually correcting the issue rather buying you time until the next scenario.

Theres no replacement for PROPER training and PROPER exercise. Some dogs get pooped after an hour of exercise twice a day, others can go 3 - 4 hours straight and still have all the momentum in the world.. So i can't say how much you need to be exercising her however its apparent what you are doing isn't enough as it stands.

I recall you saying a while back you couldn't do training with trainers around there that you looked at because they don't do 1 on 1 and she won't stay focused on you.. However, you need to find someone locally or another method as it is obvious the current path you are on isn't working for one reason or another..


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

*pics of my pit exercising in old horse pasture*


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

the horse pasture is actually at the place where i got her from some people where the parents accidently bred. which now both parents are dead they only have her 2 brothers and sister.. They moved but told me i can use the old horse pasture for my dog until they take it down


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

it works for her when i was done she stayed calm she layed down and went to sleep. it lets her know that i am the pack leader and im in control they say its what the mother would do. and i never really sit on her i just get on my knees and stay above her and keep her down till she relaxes it. its the DW method


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

getting after her with a shoe? to me thats abusive you shouldnt have to use a tool other then your tone of voice and vocal commands to get your point across. Her running for the kennel is more fear then listening to you. You really need to work on basic commands like KM said, sit, stay , lay down, watch me I would start with those. You shouldnt need to sit on your dog and hold them down , you do that with my dogs they would get pissed off even more. It isnt a sign of dominence in some dogs that action would have you in a heap of trouble. If they respect you as the dominent one you only need to use vocal commands. I would put a choke chain or martingale on and a lead and work on commands, if need to correct something give a quick pop on the lead and correct her. I would also really suggest you work with a reputable trainer who has experience with this breed. Sounds like your taking advice from the dog whisperer and dont yet have a basic understanding of training. What you see on TV is not even half of what is involved ,and they dont show you how to react or correct in all situations and each dog is different so it wont always go how it shows on TV.


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

i never hit her with it i just make her think i am


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## cEElint (Oct 6, 2009)

courtneyd137 said:


> i never hit her with it i just make her think i am


smh......

dont worry, she's not gonna bite you.. she's just making you think she is


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

what i never touch her with the shoe i just chase her with it


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

thats how i discipline her and it works for me


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

The issue with that is its fear based , you are scaring her into what you want and that can backfire BIG time and cause issues later on. There is no reason to make a dog fear you and infact its dangerous to do this. You are worried about her biting you now , wait until she is bigger and decides she is so scared an possibly not in a position to run somewhere she WILL bite from fear , fear aggression is more difficult to fix then doing it the right way now. And if chasing her with a shoe is truely working for you , you wouldnt be posting on here now asking for advice when she is still trying to nip you.


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## fishinrob (Apr 14, 2010)

You just gotta be firm when you feel it's getting too rough. I have rough housed with every dog I have ever owned and we wrestle hard. They've been taught their limits with me and don't even play rough with my wife because she doesn't like it. You just have to set your own ground rules and limits. Firm deep voice with a "NO" attached usually works.


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

1st of all shes not getting any bigger the vet said she is going to stay the size she is now


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

I thought she was young? at this age this is not good behaviour. I would really look into working with a trainer? is this new behaviour or has she always done this and been allowed to get away with it?


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## KMdogs (Apr 22, 2011)

courtneyd137 said:


> 1st of all shes not getting any bigger the vet said she is going to stay the size she is now


Vets are not breed experts nor are they behavior experts, genetic experts, etc.. Hell most vets don't even know what an APBT is, they go by what the media portrays them as in terms of size and over all appearance.. You have a mixed breed, yeah i know you say you don't but you have an unknown, the vet can't possibly know what the matured weight and size will be.. If i'm not mistaken shes under 2 years old therefore there is the potential for more growing, not a LOT but some.. Generally dogs are fully matured by 2 years with some of your smaller breeds maturing faster and some of your larger breeds maturing slower..

You "pretending" to hit her with a shoe as a means of "correction" is all fear based. She fears you will hit therefore she reacts according to instincts.. Hell if thats how you've been doing it paired with everything else i'm surprised as hell you haven't been bit already.. It is no wonder you are having problems and its all a matter of time before it goes south..

You need to quit "training" yourself and seek a professional trainer, ideally one that specializes in "bull and terrier" type breeds since you may have some type of Bulldog.. Again, you disagree with me as you know it all even though you don't know the sires side.. So on so forth..

Get off your pride run and look at the big picture, regardless of what you think she is you are obviously failing as a "trainer" with her as you are having more problems and will continue to do so until you have someone with the experience help you at very least get on the right path.

I swear i don't know how many people i've worked with whose situations started a bit like yours.. The last lady had to put her GSD from working stock down because she was soft.. Kind hearted and sweet but no matter what angle i approached, in any baby lingo.. She just didn't have it in her to follow through.. What happened? Ended up needing 40 stitches in her arm after she went back to her old ways because she got frustrated.. I was making progress with her and it was the day before our 3 day a week session when i get a call saying she left the ER and she unfortunately decided to put the hound down and explained what happened.. Thanked me but she learned her lesson the hard way. Instead of using a shoe she would use a fly swatter, motion like she was going to hit but never hit the dog at all.. "Quick fix" as a puppy but as the hound got closer to maturity all hell broke loose..

Stop watching tv and stop listening to whoever else your listening to because it ain't working.. You have two very REAL options.. Rehome the dog to a breed specific rescue OR swallow your pride and get some REAL help and now.

It will only end badly and its a matter of time.


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

parents are registered with reputable registrys.. ive tried to register her but cant due to the fact father and mother arent with same register. and its a new behavior she only does it during rough play shes fine any other time and is the PERFECT dog


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

and KM IT HAS WORKED SHE IS THE PERFECT DOG SHE IS PERFECTLY TRAINED EXCEPT FOR THAT OCCASIONAL SNAPPING DURING ROUGH PLAY. IF I DONT PLAY ROUGH WITH HER SHE IS PERFECT I HAVE NOT 1 PROBLEM.. SHE RELAXES IN THE HOUSE, SHE WORKS PERFECT ON THE LEASH SHE IGNORES MY OTHER DOGS, SHE IS THE PERFECT DOG THE ONLY TIME SHE SNAPS IS WHEN WE PLAY ROUGH AND NOT VERY OFTEN DO I PLAY ROUGH WITH HER


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

*walks not works


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

Id suggest addressing this behaviour with a trainer or stop rough playing with her until you learn how to address it properly.


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## KMdogs (Apr 22, 2011)

Then don't learn and continue the way you are, you have received great advice from plenty of people here from day one.. Since you know it all stop wasting the forums time in asking useless questions you already "know" the answers to, i'll be the first one that says i told you so when the shit hits the fan and you attempt to get sympathy..


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## courtneyd137 (Jan 30, 2012)

Im just saying shes the perfect trained dog besides that one behavior and she doesnt do it that often just once in a while. 
Your trying to say idk how to train my dog its kinda funny my dog is the perfectly trained dog besides that


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## Sucker For A Rednose (Sep 11, 2011)

Parents are reputable?
Thought you said this was accidental.

What were her parents registered through?
& you should beable to paper her is she is pure regardless of is parents come from 2 diff registries. Proof of lineage and parents pedigrees would allow that.


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## American_Pit13 (Apr 23, 2007)

courtneyd137 said:


> thats how i discipline her and it works for me


If it works for you why are you asking us anything? Is there are reason you ask anything at all here? Is it just to tell us you already know and don't need us to tell you anything? If so why bother making a thread, just to tell us in everyone how shes bred and that shes not dalmatian, which we have all formed our own opinions on and really don't care how you"think" she is bred..............


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## Sucker For A Rednose (Sep 11, 2011)

American_Pit13 said:


> If it works for you why are you asking us anything? Is there are reason you ask anything at all here? Is it just to tell us you already know and don't need us to tell you anything? If so why bother making a thread, just to tell us in everyone how shes bred and that shes not dalmatian, which we have all formed our own opinions on and really don't care how you"think" she is bred..............


Oh but *American Pit* didn't you know;
these dogs were an accidental breeding of dogs, both of which are from *REPUTABLE* registries.

:angeldevi


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## circlemkennels (Aug 29, 2010)

cEElint said:


> smh......
> 
> dont worry, she's not gonna bite you.. she's just making you think she is


:rofl::rofl::rofl:


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## Firehazard (Dec 4, 2009)

@ KM .. :goodpost:'s great words for any novice to learn by.

@ op w/ question at hand~ KM has answered your questions and it is most common for people to ask "whats the problem" or "what do I do" .. they expect some sort of pat on the butt. The reality is PEOPLE; you need help or you wouldn't need to ask and the solution is always something we don't want to do or takes "BIG WORK" which intel shows love in action. BITING AT YOUR FACE .. IS NOT OKAY with ANY BREED let alone a bulldog or bull and terrier breed. 

Chasing your pet as if your going to hit it does nothing good for your relationship with your pet. This is why I quit helping people for free; people have to pay for knowledge or they just think its an opinion... Im not delegating my time to be poo poo'd off only to have the owner and pet fall into a bad situation because of ignorance which is simply limited knowledge and refusal to better ones self cause they know better. 


NOTHING CAN BE SAID THAT HASN'T BEEN SAID: IF IT CAN BE SAID, IT HAS BEEN SAID

Cut OFF your EMOTIONAL GUARD and realize the BRUNT of the problem lies WITHin and is corrected by the HUMAN. IF you watch Caesar Milan then you should know, REHABILITATE DOGS and TRAIN HUMANS  You .. YOU .. have to be opened to being trained as you don't know it all yet and no matter how far along you get "we're" always green. I can assure you a dog that snaps in the face of the owner is far from perfect. THE FIRST FACE TRANSPLANT EVER was done in ENGLAND because a LADY's LABRADOR SNAPPED HER FACE>while she was IN BED! (Food for Thought)


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