I have not taken any lessons on teaching my dog how to behave properly. I have only had my dogs for less than 2 years and the one was already trained when I got him. My pit bull is only 8 months old and I am trying to get her to stop peeing in the house and chewing everything up when we leave her alone. The latter is probably never going to go away but I am hopeful. I do not have a lot of time to train them to do tricks. I figure that as long as they are good and do not tear the house up then they are behaving properly.

I suggest you give you Pit Bull more exercise. Pent up energy is making him ultra aggressive and chewing up things. Maybe get him a few play toys to bit into. If he doesn't have a play toy, he's is going to find something of your that you value to bite into. Daily walks, with proper leash and commands will slowly make him understand that you are in charge.

The last dog training class I participated in, I was referred to by a groomer friend with several dogs of her own. I took the two dogs I had at the time, a lab mix and Papillon, but forgot to bring an extra human to help me handle and work them. The lab responded best to the training, but it would have probably gone better all around if I had maintained our homework practice with more diligence. These days I would probably check out YouTube for tips and make a class, as well, just to make sure I'd covered all the bases. And next time, I will take one human per dog and make more of an effort at the homework practice.

My dog was older when I got him. He was house broken already. I did teach him to wipe his paws when he comes in. I didn't teach him this on purpose. I think he watched me wipe my feet. At one time I had a pit bull. She was a bit more energetic than my Japanese chin. I would take her for long walks each day and allowed for a lot of play time. She was naturally very mellow around the kids. She house trained fairly easy. My biggest struggle was teaching her not to chew things. Like a child though I just had to baby proof until she learned only to chew on her own toys and treats.

I learned to train my dog from a mix of my friend's dad and a bunch of youtube vids. He had a hunting dog, so teaching those commands is MUCH more critical because the dog needs to be extremely responsive, especially if it might accidentally enter crossfire.

My pup on the other hand is just a lover, so he needs less intense training, but it definitely taught me to be more stern and critical of behaviors that put him at risk. I used to HATE any violence whatsoever towards animals, but now I've come to realize that sometimes if a dog does something bad that might cost him his life in the future but doesn't have an immediate punishment, the only way to fix the behavior is to immediately give him a good slap on his bum and look him dead in the eyes and tell him "NO, NO. NO." until you recognize guilt/understanding.

I haven't had to spank him in over a year because he expects it as punishment, so now all I have to do is say "NO" and he associates my seriousness with physical pain and I don't even have to spank him anymore to let him know that his behavior is dangerous. I also always made sure to hug/cuddle him after a spanking so long as he expressed guilt/understanding in his behavior, after that it's all gotta be love <3

There are so many helpful videos posted on the internet from people who know how to train dogs. I think that you can easily find information about how to train your specific dog, or overcome hurdles that make it seem difficult. Most of what I know I learned from my mother. She was very good at training our dogs, but you may have to look around for resources that work for you.