Hannibal is now 13 mo and is a joy to walk on a leash. He struts next to
me like he has been in the show ring for years and I hardly even feel
the leash in my hand. Bring in any distraction..a car passing by..another
dog, especially our Boston, and he gets so excited. He has never chased
any cars, he just feels very tense like he could bolt any second.
I have to admit, this is a new training concept to me. I have spent
years training hunting dogs that seem to thrive and become more focused
with distraction, birds flying, rabbits running, guns blasting, other dogs in the field, etc. I am thinking now that this is something inherent to the breed and I never had to train it in or out. So I admit I am at a loss here.
I have tried the obvious of slowly bringing in the distractions, but he just seems to have an "all or nothing" switch. He will remain in a "down" when I introduce a distractinon, but he is a coiled spring. I am really hoping that its still "puppy energy" and it will just take more time. I would love to get more involved with showing and weight pull but right now I think he couldn't pass a CGC or be around other dogs at a show. Its not an aggressive energy, he just gets excited, pulls like crazy, is very hard to redirect and just seems to be in a "zone."
Is this the "drive" that just comes with the breed? Do I need to allow him
to get excited and try to redirect it rather then extinguish it? This is
my first pitbull so I am open to suggestions.