Hi there.

We have a 6 month old pitbull. We adopted her when she was 3 months old from the same rescue that we got her sister. We cannot teach her anything, she's now housetrained. We can't even get her to sit. When we come towards her with a treat to train her... she backs up and runs off. We've never hit or even spanked her. And to my knowledge neither did the people at the rescue (they got her the day before we adopted her). Is there someone that can provide some insight into her behavior and how we can teach her to trust us more when training?? She's fine in all other aspects. She kisses and cuddles and plays with us and her sister very well, but she seems afraid when we try training her. HELP!

Have you taken her to an actual trainer?

No, we don't have money for a trainer.

How about if you sit (and not be coming toward her or looming over her) and teach her to sit. Do you know the fundamentals of how to teach her to sit? Alty and some of the others can walk you through the steps, and there are good web sites with detailed instructions.

I find with feral cats, as I am working on socializing them, sitting or even lying down at their level and speaking softly makes a world of difference.

Trainers really aren't that expensive. You don't need to go to Cesar Milan.

You should try and go to a trainer for these problems. Teaching sit and stay at home is very different when you are in group. Training in a group teaches bonding and also gets the dog more socialized.

The problem with avoiding a trainer and/or training class is that these issues will never be resolved. In home training with no guidance on the humans part really doesn't go very far beyond sit, stay and come.

On top of that... You really can't make a dog bond with you if it doesn't want to. That's a hurdle you need to over come and without someone physically there to asses the situation and see the dogs reaction to what you are doing, it's near impossible to improve this behavior.

I'm going to stress a training class. Anything will do.. Petsmarts training classes are pretty affordable, check them out and save up. I realize money is an issue, it's an issue with everyone. But if you want to get this under control, you need to set aside some money, time and will power to get your dog the help she needs

There is no problem with bonding. She is sleeping on my lap now and loves and cuddles us all the time. Training her is the problem. I will try sitting and training her to sit while other pup is outside. Socialization isn't an issue either, she loves and plays with her sister all the time, and we have friends come over and we go places with other pups. She just doesn't want to learn to sit. I'm sorry if this next part comes out rude but you don't know my financial situation and I truly cannot afford it. I have more things on my plate currently than I have the money for as it is. I want the best for my babies but I need to learn to train her at home. They are very well taken care of, they are both rescues who are both spayed, utd on shots, microchipped and eat well. But there simply is not money for professional training. Are there perhaps some YouTube videos that anyone knows of that could help?