A Bull Terrier puppy needs an ideal training session right from an early age. You can begin with obedience training and then advance to other forms of physical training. In fact, obedience training helps the Bull Terriers to learn their role in the family and around different places you take them.
This type of training will help the dog obtain interaction skills with other dogs and other people, either inside or outside your house.
How To Obedience Train A Bull Terrier
Obedience training helps Bull Terriers learn the behaviors that they should adopt and the ones they should neglect.
You should start Bull Terriers training with basic commands such as
- sit
- stay
- stand
- down
- sleep
- and others
But with time, the training level should increase, and also the outcomes.
They need to learn to sit idle while the family is having dinner, without begging for more food.
Obedience resembles manners, and this guide will help you learn how to obedience train a Bull Terrier. So, follow this guide till the end!
Step 1: Observe The Existing Natural Habits Of Your Dog
| Step | Actions |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | Observe the body language of your puppy at first. It might be the most challenging thing to observe when you intend to teach obedience to your puppy. |
| Step 2 | Look for any signs of submission or aggression. In such cases, your Bull Terrier puppy will try to show control over you by standing tall or by showing you an upright tail. If the puppy often growls for you to fulfill its needs, you can conclude that it is aggressive. |
| Step 3 | If your Bull Terrier puppy is barking at almost everyone, in or outside the family, then they need some form of obedience training. |
| Step 4 | Just like barking, if your puppy is often whining to show their distress towards the food you didn’t give him, or anything else, then this is also a sign of poor habits. With obedience training, these dogs will eventually stop whining. |
| Step 5 | Look out for more habits such as digging, biting, stealing food, urinating at home, etc. These habits need control or else will become permanent as they grow up. |
Ensure that you observe all these natural habits of your Bull Terrier. It is better to note them down on a piece of paper to understand the approach. After you are over with your analysis, you can move to the next step of obedience training.
Step 2: Teach The Basic Commands First
Obedience training should begin with teaching basic commands that include sit, stay, lay down, come, etc. You need to guide your Bull Terrier to obey these commands properly.
So, this should be your starting approach. The steps for the same are as follows:
Sit
Teach your Bull Terrier to sit on your command, at first. It is the natural training concept for not just Bull Terriers but for all other dogs. Moreover, it is easy for them to learn and implement!
Take a piece of treat in your hand, and ask your dog continues to sit down.
Use your other hand to move gently over its back to make it sit in a position. And when the dog frees its body to sit, give them the treat.
Now, repeat the process and let your dog do it all on its own. When the dog follows the command, give the treat immediately!
Lay Down Or Down
Training your dog with the lay-down command will allow you to neutralize its energy immediately. So, while your dog is in the sitting position, hold a treat in your hands where they can see it.
Now, push the dog to lie down and repeat the command continuously, ‘Down.’ Push the terrier down until it leaves its body free. Now, you can give a treat to the dog.
Then repeat the process without your support, and let the dog follow the command and treat them. Repeat the same for quite some time, and the terrier will learn the cue.
Stay
The ‘Stay’ command will help you to control your dog on the streets. You can control your dog from chasing other dogs or people in the park.
If your Bull Terrier knows your ‘Stay’ command, then you will be completing 60% of your obedience training. But remember that you should complete your sit and lay-down command training before that!
Take a treat in your hands, and hold it at the place where your terrier can see it. Now, keep on saying ‘Stay’ while you slowly walk away from your dog.
If it moves towards you, then tell ‘No’ and give a gesture making the dog understand that you want them to stay there.
Slowly move backward, and then move forward while repeating the command, ‘Stay,’ continuously.
If your Bull Terrier stays at the place till you reach back to your original position, then give a treat immediately. Now, repeat the process until your dog masters it!
Come
Just like stay, the next thing you should train your terrier is, ‘Come.’ You need to train your Bull terrier puppy to come to you when you call them. In fact, you should repeat the same process as that of ‘Stay’! You need to hold a treat in your hand and call in the ‘Stay’ command to let your Bull Terrier stay at a position.
When you head out to a little distant location, start calling the command, ‘Come.’ Now, show the treat to lure your dog, and to respond to your command, ‘Come.’
When your terrier reaches you, give a treat immediately. Now, accompany the dog to the starting position again, and repeat the process. Let it come to you for quite some time, and then you can treat the dog after obeying the command!
Step 3: Teach Your Bull Terrier To Heel
Heeling is when your dog walks by your side calmly while you are walking on the streets. Teaching your dog to heel will help you prevent the habit of pulling the leash. If your dog can heel, then walking with them will be easy.
Also, this will ensure that your terrier is obedient to you. The steps for the same are:
Steps-by-Step Guide
| Steps | Actions |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | Get the treats that your Bull Terrier loves to eat! |
| Step 2 | You need to call in the dog’s name and then point to the side where you want it to walk! |
| Step 3 | Wait for the dog to come to that side all on its own, and when it does, you must say, ‘Yes! |
| Step 4 | Repeat the process for the other side until your Bull Terrier learns to obey the command. Treat the dog every time they find the position you indicate. |
| Step 5 | You can run around the space and freeze to make it challenging for them to hold onto your position. This will help the dog train more proficiently! |
| Step 6 | Now, start walking, and keep your treat hand at your chest! It is to prevent your dog from jumping to your hand, just for the treat! |
| Step 7 | See if your dog is putting effort into staying at your side. It will take time, but eventually, your dog will learn to walk along with you calmly. |
Step 4: Teach Your Bull Terrier To Get Off
It is also essential for you to teach the dog to get off. This is to ensure that your bully politely gets off from other dogs or people, with a command and without the necessity of any harsh punishment.
Therefore, whenever your bully climbs onto your chest or hops on you for food, you just have to ask them to ‘Get Off.’ Also, you can push the dig down. When it is down, give a treat. If the dog climbs again on you, repeat the process, and your Bull Terrier will learn the command feasibly.
For a better idea of obedience training for your Bull Terrier, check out this YouTube video.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Prevent The Bull Terrier Dogs From Fighting?
If you intend to control your Bull Terrier dogs while fighting, you just have to hold them tight around their neck. But you need to be still while you are holding around their neck. It is because they will be thrashing around and become more aggressive, but you can calm them down.
If possible, you can just lift off both the dogs and end the fight right there. This article will guide you on how to break the fight between dogs.
Do Bull Terrier Dogs Bite Their Family Members And Owners?
No, with adequate training, Bull Terriers will never bite their owners and family members. In fact, they are very protective dogs and love their family members unconditionally. To get more clarity upon it, don’t forget to refer to this page!
How Hard Is It to Train a Bull Terrier?
Training a bull terrier is hard because it’s not as cooperative as most dog breeds. As long as you have patience, you can teach it basic commands.
Conclusion
So, if you have got your Bull Terrier puppy and are unaware of how to train them, this article will be an impactful solution for you. You just have to go through the steps again if you missed it the first time. And then you can just commence with your training approach.
Teaching discipline to your Bull Terrier is the best thing you can do to train them properly.
