scared pitt bull

Question
I recently adopted a 1 year old pittbull,he is not agreessive or a bad dog in any way. Although he seems very scared,sometimes he even shakes a bit, what can i do to make him more comfortable and less scared?

Answer
Dear Justin,

Never hit him.  Train him by ignoring misbehavior and praising/treating all good behavior (if he's lying down, you can go up to him give him a tiny treat and tell him"Good Down Rover", etc.)
Get him into a reputable positive reinforcement training class (go to http://www.apdt.com for referrals but get references and observe a class to be sure the trainer is using positive methods).  

Socialize him at the dog park  (remove him temporarily if there are any bullies on a particular day) and bring him everywhere you can, on leash, always reinforcing any curiosity or tiny show of confidence with praise and a little treat.  Do not coddle or comfort fear behavior, just ignore it.  Continual daily proactive socializing in a class or elsewhere along with positive reinforcement (no punishment) will help a lot.

Go to my Submissive Urination page even though he's not necessarily urinating submissively the confidence-building exercises and recommendations will help a lot:  http://www.dogdaysusa.com/urination.cfm

Be good to this dog, and thanks for writing
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysusa.com