>He should have been fed FIRST because Pits like being first in line.<
No, I beg to differ. Feeding a dog first gives it the very wrong impression that it is the leader. Dogs need to understand in no uncertain terms that they eat after the leader, which in all cases, from chihuahua to Saint Bernard, must be the human being.
Google the “Nothing In Life Is Free” method of dog ownership, which is recommended by knowledgeable dog behaviorists specifically for those with dominant dogs.
Funny you’d post that.
Odin just got his daily, raw bloody steak.
For an inherently sharp, very dominant Euro Dobe, “behaving himself” when surrounded by 5 other dogs *also* wanting the steak is very difficult.
To “earn” his steak, he must not only *not* show aggression/posessiveness to the other dogs, he must sit/give paw/lie down no less than -3- times and *then* he is ~allowed~ to *gently* take the steak and go eat it with no hint of bad manners on his part.
He did very well today except when he got done and only the center bone was left.
He’d finished with it, didn’t really want it, dropped it on the floor and one of the other dogs picked it up which caused him to get ‘snippy’.
I took the bone from him his mouth in a very intentional manner and pointedly handed it to the other dog, right in front of his face.
He was not allowed to take it back or get upset about it.
Neither the steak or the bone are “his right”; they are his privilege.
At breakfast and supper time, the dogs’ bowls are set down randomly, in no particular order.
They eat when and where I give it to them and no one is allowed to molest another dog’s meal.
If they break my “commandments”, they find themselves without their bowl until they “get their mind right”.
To my dogs, I am God.
~I~ giveth and ~I~ taketh away.
Period.
I practice “positive reinforcement”.
There are no “punishments” for bad behavior; there are only rewards for good behavior and the -absence- of reward [or attention] for bad behavior.
For dogs who desperately desire their master’s loving, *happy* attention, simply being ignored drives the point home very quickly.
With any breed considered “aggressive”, aggressive treatment only breeds more aggression in the dog and they
-will- learn to suppress the overt, normal signals such as “warning growls” and go right to a bite if they have been “punished” for growling.
Rewards for right behavior are far more effective _in the long run_ than punishments for wrong behavior.
Do well and you get what you desire.
Act like a kook and you don’t.
Very simple.