His name is Wonka, btw. 😆

 

Please be careful with him gaining weight that fast especially being heartworm positive. That's a lot for his body to cope with. Does the rescue have a vet who is in turn helping you with treatment?

I wouldn't even worry about training at this point. Not as in teaching specific behaviors. Plus he should not be moving around a lot anyway if he's got a heavy heartworm load.

Instead I would work on positive interactions with you and humans in general.
It sounds like he's actually very food motivated (as you would imagine given his state) so I would feed him for "free" in that I would just hand him treats for no particular reason, just letting him know that good stuff comes from you. You can certainly teach him to take treats gently or even let him figure out how to take treats from a hand (some dogs don't actually know how to do that).
You can also encourage eye contact, that's an easy behavior to teach as well, if he makes eye contact, tell him he's a good boy, and reward with a treat. If he starts staring at your hand instead make a noise, and then the second he shifts his gaze to your face, say good boy and hand him the treat.

Other things that are good basics are teaching him to follow a treat lure, then quickly fade the lure and teach him to follow your hand. Teach him that pointing with a finger and a food can show him where a treat on the ground is.
Since he is so hungry, I would do the treat sessions after a meal so he doesn't feel panicked about getting the food. Definitely don't make him work for his meals.

One week is really nothing, honestly I would be much more focused on his health than any sort of training right now.

 

Thank you for helping this boy. I guess I'd need to know specifically what you're trying to train him to do? And, in particular, what are you trying to train him to do that he isn't (apparently) catching onto? At this point, the most important thing he might need to learn is that people are actually important in his world? Maybe work on 'look at me' as a default behavior?

 

I agree with much of the previous advice. Heartworm treatment is not a casual matter. He needs to be kept quiet, and he will probably feel pretty wretched at various times during the treatment. I think the best thing at this stage is to focus on getting him healthy. In so far as you do any training, I would focus simply on getting him to be comfortable and attentive to people. Teach him his name. Teach him Look At Me. Teach him to consent to basic handling: being touched, being brushed, having his paws held, having someone look in his ears.

 

I am doing my 100% best to keep him quiet, but, I hate this, I only can do so much. He has to live outside (he has a heated shed) and I have work and other responsibilities. The main reason I tried to place him with a rescue is so he could find a foster home that better fit his needs. 😅 But no one can take him and I'm doing my best.

I don't have anything in particular I'm looking to teach him. He jumps something awful and doesn't understand anything. I just want to help him understand basic manners.

 

I don't have anything in particular I'm looking to teach him. He jumps something awful and doesn't understand anything. I just want to help him understand basic manners.

If he's a typical pit he's jumping because he wants to get to your level. Just squat down and encourage him to keep "four on the floor" and give him quiet pets when he does. This is also a great time to get him used to handling, so pet him on his face, around his ears, touch his paws... Make it all super positive and pleasant for him.

Teaching him to look at you and take treats nicely is a great foundation for teaching behaviors. And teaching him to make eye contact will probably help the jumping in that it brings some of the connection he's seeking with the jumping. If he knows eye contact elicits physical contact from you he'll like it even more.

 

I agree with the others, it's too early to train anything formally, but there are a few points I want to add.

The chicken killing may only be because he was starving for a while and might resolve itself when he knows he is being fed regularly. But, maybe not - so just use management to keep him separated from them.

I don't believe many dogs are truly untrainable. There are three main reasons they don't do as we ask. First is that they don't understand, second is that they aren't sufficiently motivated, and third is that you are working against a deeply rooted breed trait (why we don't use terriers to herd sheep). But here, as the others said, it sounds like he just isn't ready. It's only been a week, his world has totally changed and he is processing all that so he just doesn't have the mental bandwidth to learn stuff.

You said though that he is jumping up. That's annoying for you and not good for him because of his heartworm, so maybe the next thing to focus on is stopping that. Dogs have difficulty learning to 'not do' things (as do we, if I tell you to not think of a yellow school bus, what immediately springs to mind?). So instead of 'don't jump' teach a 'do xxxx' where xxxx is a behaviour that means he can't jump at the same time; a sit for example. He can't jump while he is in a sit.

https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/dogs/training/sit

 

Excellent advice..instead of the No to things, you change that to a command to do INSTEAD..MAKING HIM FEEL SUCCESSFUL, GETS A TREAT,CA GOID BOY,CA WARM SMILE,WHATEVER. Like with kids, too many NOs make them not care to do correct things expected, and they become almost Deaf to all the Nos or the constant No..keep a treat bag with you so you can "Catch em Being Good", when being reinforced with Good Behaviors, more begin.
I DO NOT SUGGEST OR ADVISE ANY OF THIS WHILE HE is ill with Untreated Heartworm or While starting Treatment...I HOPE THAT WAS TAKEN CARE OF NOW IN SEPT when I read this.
I can think of many ways to help with his training, (40+ yrs of training) but not while he's in pain, discomfort and won't train well at this time.

 

I believe that there is no such thing as a dog that can not be trained. Some are most certainly more difficult and challenging, and may take specialized handling, as well as it being a far more protracted process. Our first dog needed virtually no training, she was just a docile well behaved dog, out of the box so to speak. Our current dog is far more challenging, she was not very well behaved, still has some issues, and did and still required constant training. We have had her just about a year and a half, and she is vastly improved, as a result of some specialized handling learned from a trainer we had come in and help, and ongoing virtually 24/7 training.

 

I have never met a dog who couldn't be trained. As stated above, some are easier to train than others, and some are harder to motivate. But any dog can be motivated by something, and can learn something, even if it is just the basics.

The dog in this thread is too overwhelmed by being sick and being in a new environment to have any brain energy left over for learning a bunch of new things, and just needs time to settle in and relax. Think: You have the 'flu and you're a guest in someone's house in a foreign country where you don't understand the language or culture.....you don't want to be asked to try to learn to play the violin right now.
I think, @Moonshot , that once the dog is healthy and has had time to relax and settle in, you will find that there's no problem training this dog.

I found a similar situation sometimes with rescue dogs that came to me for fostering. I fostered border collies for years, and border collies are almost all intelligent dogs. But some of them you would have sworn were completely empty-headed at first, because nothing motivated them and they paid no attention to me. These were dogs, usually, who had just been shuffled around far too many times, or who had spent too much time in a shelter or on the streets.

Training is always all about the relationship between the person and the dog. These dogs saw no advantage to forming a relationship with a human being, as it had not served them so well in the past. In each case, what was needed was just to let the dog take his or her time. I would just be there for them, and make as few demands on them as possible for the first couple of weeks.
In time, these dogs would come to realize that they were in a Good Place For Dogs, and would start to want the attention the other dogs were getting from me. And then, in no time, I was training them and they were doing well and liking it.

 

. (just saw the date..7 months ago..can you give an UpDate??)
I picked up a skin and bones pitbull a week ago. He is very sweet to people and pretty good with other dogs. I can't keep him, but have listed him with a rescue and am caring for him as best I can. (Food, shelter, love, etc) I'm happy to say he has gained about 10lbs in the past week and is no longer painful to look at! (He's also heartworm positive and I am going to begin treatment asap.)

His biggest flaws are he kills chickens (I should have that solved, but we'll see!) and he is "untrainable". I don't believe that any animal is completely incapable of learning, but they sometimes feel like it. I CANNOT afford a trainer. So please don't suggest that. I have trained several dogs with success, including my slightly reactive Aussie. I need some tips and resources for training an unmotivated dog. Like I said, he is very sweet, but does not care or understand enough and is very hyper. He's too distracted by food and doesn't care about toys. He does love praise, but even that is not very motivating. What can I do to train him some basic behaviors and manners?

Sorry for the book, but please read all of it before responding. View attachment 261944

** just saw date..7 months ago..please Update*
I'm not a vet, but I'm a nurse,worked with vets for many years for large animals( horses) and have trained dogs for over 30 yrs, and never had a failed pupil..but now. To sum it up, my dude is 97lbs+, been my rescue since 6 mo old, extremely smart, attached to me and food,treat motivated..he learns Fast, doesn't forget, but stubborn when he's being one minded.. steals food and empties garbage can..all doable with creativity keeping it away.
I would Never think to Train Levi, if he was sick, not feeling well or Needed Care..THAT WOULD BE MY 1ST PRIORITY..HE CANT LEARN AND BE MOTIVATED OR SUCCESSFUL IF HE'S ILL...NOBODY COULD.
He's too hyper,hates being outside and I can't run or walk with him as I'm injured with additional diagnosis of Osteoarthritis in my hip..an amputee and Crohn's that won't stop in a flare over a year. We are working on these issues but he's got to be trained better and I too, am looking for a trainer to please train him,as I'm a FT grad student, on SSA and daughter on SSI..there's no money and nobody who would help 2 disabled( I'm a nurse but that career ended with my leg gone, so that's why I'm in grad school to work again)
FEELING AS BADLY AS I AM, ITS GOING TO BE HARD FOR ME IN GRAD ACHOOL TO LEARN WHILE FEELING SO POORLY..AND EXAMPLE OF MY POINT WITH YOUR DOG✔

✔My 👉🏾POINT.....he's Heartworm POS...you must take that Major Fact into Account. Do you know the effects of this horrible issue on dogs? Not being rude, some ppl don't get all it effects while not treated, being treated, and even after treatment.
He must be treated STAT..heartworm is destroying his Everything especially Motivation..he Feels Horrid, MOST likely having pain and discomfort 24/7.. THIS IS NOT PUT ON HOLD TREATMENT..HIS HEART AND MAJOR ORGANS are all Involved.. breathing, oxygen to blood, lungs and BRAIN..KIDNEYS, STOMACH, (digestion) including his intestines..all get bothered by HeartWorm..too involved to explain all here. WITHOUT HIS HEART PROPERLY FUNCTIONING, NOTHING ELSE WILL✔
**HE MUST BE TREATED TODAY . IMMEDIATELY..AS IM SURE YOU WERE InStrucTed..I know it's expensive but when you took this poor guy under your care, you knew that..just Know .He is Suffering greatly, and May not Get thru this IF HES NOT TREATED NOW AND AS LONG AS NEED ME ON HEARTWORM MEDS.
Is there Anyone, Who can help with expenses on this..?? A local vet, Rescue, Shelter, Animal Organization?? Family or Friend??
If you can't Find Someone to Help Quickly, ***PLEASE SEE WHO IS WILLING TO TAKE ON THE RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SO..TAKE THE DOG AND GET HIM THE CARE THE MEDS HE DESPERATELY MUST HAVE TO GET BETTER AND FEEL BETTER.

📝PS HEARTWORM IS PREVENTABLE WITH CONSTANT PREVENTABLE MEDS TAKEN Consistently. .IF ALREADY POSITIVE..MEDICATION FOR THIS MUST BE Consistently GIVEN, AS EARLY ON AS POSSIBLE..
THERE MAY BE HELP IN YOUR AREA FOR THIS, ID REACH OUT IMMEDIATELY TO EVERY POSSIBILITY, AND TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY..
ONE MOSQUITO BITE FROM AN INFECTED flying vampire insect, can cause HeartWorm..in the South ESPECIALLY, OUR MOSQUITOS ARE YEAR ROUND, MOSTLY, AND WE HAVE VERY HIgh Rates of Heartworm..MONTHLY administration of these preventatives keep your pet SAFE from this Terrible Situation that will have the pet Suffer and possible Expire from HeartWorm..