I just got a 6-week old pitbull pup yesterday and need some advice on how to take care of it. this is my first pet ever btw:

1) not eating. i bought a bag of blue buffalo pup food but she wont touch it. i also tried mixing it with cream of wheat but still wont touch it.
2) she cries every time i put her in the crate (36", but im using the training divider). i didnt sleep at all last night because of the noise. is there anything i can do stop her from crying? i dont want to let her lose in the apt. as i have a studio and i dont want to wake up to shit and piss all over.

all she does is sniff around and pee/poop on the floor when she is outside the crate. she doesnt even play with the chew toys but instead bites on my bike and tug on my sheets.

thanks guys.

 

try a different food? add a little water to the food?

eventually it will stop crying when it's in the crate h:

maybe block of a section of your place that you can keep it in, instead of a cage, so it won't feel so confined.

 

i got my pit bull at 2 months old from the pound..

I did crate training... worked great. potty trained reallly fast... she wined in there at first but would stop after 10 minutes and just go to bed

dont let her sleep in the bed too much, make her sleep in the crate at night.


I didnt have a problem with feeding mine... because she has an obsession with food..




mine still wines when she wants to get out of my room

shes a year old now... and i dont see it ending.. i've tried many approaches



oh and go to pet co and get a bunch of braided bully sticks... there gonna be your best friend when you need her to be occupied for an hour

 

make sure you socialize it well with other people and animals.

also get it a lot of nylabones to chew on so she learns to chew its toys and not yours.

also, the crying is normal. it will stop in about a week. Try putting a clock or radio near the cage to relax her. make sure you don't let her out when she cries. tough it out and she will be nicely crate trained.

 

^ totally true

 

Crying is totally normal, but can last a few weeks. Whatever you do, DON'T give attention to crying....it's rewarding bad behavior.

As to the food, for future reference, always buy small bags first to test. Go to petsmart or your vet and ask for samples...see what they like.

And, honestly, some great advice...watch that show 'it's me or the dog'. Even after putting one of our 2 dogs through obedience classes, i learned TONS from watching that show (or being forced to by my wife who loves it). Treat treat treat good behavior, stern voice of "no" for bad behavior.

 

Get the pup a warm fuzzy toy that feels kind of doggy...give it something to lay with.

 

1) switch foods. i recommend science diet. a little pricey but i cant believe how much healthier my dogs are than any other dogs we have had (1st dogs we have fed science diet)
2) ignore her, dont even yell because that is a form of attention. when she doesnt get any reactions, she will realize that its not worth crying and give it up

as soon as you see her sniffing like she is going to pee/poop, take her outside, even if it is mid turd. sucks for you too but she will catch on. don't put her face in the accident, it teaches dogs to "hide" it by either finding a corner somewhere or eating it...

if you catch her chewing on something she shouldnt be, pop her on the nose (seriously) dont hit her per se but right on her nose, between her eyes and her nostrils, give her a good tap. she will catch on. if you dont like that, you can spray her with a water mister. she wont like that either... after that give her a toy.

praise her when she does right, be stern with her when she does wrong. she will learn before you know it. also, the stern approach is important to establish yourself as her master from the start...