Predatory aggression can be a serious behavioral problem if not redirected. The dog could injure itself by chasing cars, bikes or people. Fast moving objects seem to trigger this instinct in most dogs. It is your responsibility to recognize this behavior and prevent its expression by confining the dog in such a way as it cannot be harmed or do harm. If the dog chases cars, a fence or a runner will keep him away from the road. If your dog is inclined to chase running children or animals, the dog must be kept on lead or crated when small children are present. It is also wise to teach children to holding motionless whenever the dog comes running toward you. This stops the chase that the dog is engaging in.
Resource aggression is the guarding of prized possessions, toys or food. Guarding behavior should not be confused with dominance aggression, as even the most submissive dogs will guard resources. The best way to deal with guarding behavior is to prevent it. Take away favorite hiding places or make them inaccessible. Don't allow the Rottweiler things it may guard. Teach the dog that giving up a possession is rewarded with a game, treat or a different possession. To take a guarded object from your Rottweiler, do not bend over the dog and reach for it. Call the dog to you and distract the dog with something equally as pleasing, a treat reward, a game, petting for coming to you. After the dog is distracted and has forgotten the object pick it up and put it away. Continue to retrain the behavior out of the dog with fun relinquishing games like fetch. One solution to food aggression is to approach the bowl while the dog is eating with something really tasty. Give them a kibble by hand and then add the rest to the bowl. Soon the Rottweiler is delighted to someone approaching their food bowls.
Irritable aggression usually has roots that can be traced to a health-related problem. If your dog suddenly becomes growly or obstinate, particularly if it occurs regularly under the same conditions, suspect an illness as being the source of the aggression. Take your Rottweiler to your veterinarian to determine the cause.
Dominance aggression This should not be something you ever encounter if you have done your bonding and training exercises. If your dog respects your position as head of the pack, as the alpha dog, it will never challenge your right to lead. This is a behavior you may see if you adopted a dog aggressive dog. He does not want to relinquish status to another dog. Common dominance behaviors are mounting a dog or person or placing a paw in your lap to gain attention. While this can also be viewed as submissive posture it can lead to the placement of both paws in the lap with a large dog standing over you in a truly dominant position. Nudging or pushing for attention are both dominant gestures as the alpha can demand attention from pack members. Failure to obey a known command on the first request or yawning or grooming under these same circumstances indicate an unwillingness to submit. The dog should be gently and firmly place in the appropriate position. Reinforce and reward submissive posture from dominant dogs as often as you can. Dominant dogs resist being petted on the neck or head, as it is reminiscent of another dog asserting dominance over him. Again, reward submissive behavior, however, only after the grumbling has stopped and the dog is truly submissive. Make dominant dogs earn rewards of petting and feeding by working for them, such as a sit or a down command. If confronted by an aggravated dominant dog, do not keep eye contact and back slowly away. Call your local animal control officer and report the dog.
In all cases, aggression needs to be addressed by a professional trainer. Consult your veterinarian for a behaviorist in your area or call WCRR for help. Following are ten rules for dealing with aggression:
1 Train the dog on a regular basis to establish your rank as alpha.
2 Give no freebies. Make the dog win every award by working for it. He must complete a task before he gets any attention, treats or food.
3 Limit petting to fifteen-second intervals that the dog must work to earn. Do not pet the dog mindlessly at his insistence.
4 The dog must never walk ahead of you or anyone else. You must go through all doors and upstairs ahead of the dog.
5 The dog can only be allowed a single toy of its own. All others are yours and he may only play with them if you wish to share them and then only after he earns the right.
6 The only game you may play with the dog is fetch. You must not engage the dog in any contest of strength such as tug of war or wrestling.
7 The dog must practice five long downs a week for the rest of his life. Start with three minutes and work up to fifteen.
8 The dog must be given daily grooming sessions, during which the dog must stand, sit or lie still. Start these short and lengthen them to ten minutes remember to praise lavishly.
9 Never walk around or step over the dog. Always make the dog move out of the way when he blocks your path.
10 Take things slowly and have patience. Never engage the dog in a battle of wills, and end all lessons on a winning note.
Shyness
Under-socialized dogs are quite often shy. The key to overcoming shyness is socialization, exposure to a variety of people and situations. It is important though, not to over stimulate a shy dog as often it can lead to severe behavioral problems and fear biting. Here are a few hints to help the dog overcome its shyness and for you to help others understand the dog's behavior.
build trust.
build self-confidence.
never use force.
eliminate stressful stimulus, initially.
avoid face-to-face confrontations.
position yourself the person the dog is shy of about three feet from a wall, stand sideways to the dog and crouch down.
position yourself near the dog's escape route without blocking it.
ask someone else to move toward the dog so that it moves toward the door. The dog approaches you, look away and extend a hand with something really yummy in it. Feed the dog without making eye contact while speaking softly
don't attempt to touch the dog until the dog approaches you readily for the treat.
Be patient and always let the dog come to you.
If the dog does trust someone, use that person to build the dog's trust in you. If the object of its trust trusts you then it may also place its trust in you. Have that person shake your hand; smile and chat with you while neither of you focus on the dog at all. If you need to take the leash of an untrusting dog, always have the trusted person put the leash on the dog and hand the leash to you. The dog will recognize that transfer and it will help build trust.
Chewing is a natural behavior in dogs. Chewing is a natural means of removing debris from the dog's teeth it also helps to alleviate boredom. Your Rottweiler is a powerful chewer and can be very destructive if his behavior is not modified. Correct the dog for chewing undesirable objects by first reprimanding the dog verbally, taking the object away and saying “MINE” then replace the object with an acceptable object to chew. Remember to praise the dog when it chews on acceptable objects.
Jumping Up A jumping dog is an out of control dog and a threat to the safety of people, particularly children and the elderly. Dogs jump for a couple of reasons. The first is a joyful greeting jump. The focus of the jump is to gain access to the person's face. Dogs learn to identify people by their breath as well as their body odor. Dogs also associate human communication with our faces, thus dogs jump up to be near our faces for greetings. When your dog greets a stranger, have him sit still for attention then ask the stranger to bend down to interact with the dog. The dog receives no attention until he is sitting quietly, no vocal greeting, no eye contact, and no petting. The reward is the greeting. If your dog is a chronic jumper, and will not sit appropriately then other measure need to ensure the safety of guests are warranted. Until the behavior is under control the dog may on be introduced on lead with his training collar on. The dog is allowed to approach for the greeting and is asked to sit. If the dog jumps, give a strong correction and say OFF at the same time. Place the dog in a sit and reward for the sit, even if the sit is only a couple of seconds long. Only reward for the sit and the dog will eventually get the idea. If your Rottweiler is jumping on you in greeting an extended arm with the palm out in the traditional stop position accompanied by a good firm STOP command usually halts even totally untrained dogs in their tracks. Follow that by a good dog and then just walk on past. After the dog settles down, then you can give a greeting. If your dog persists and refuses to OFF or SIT, you may need to use a little more forceful means to prevent an injury. At the same time the dog launches himself for the jump, raise your knee to his a height where it will catch him hard in the chest and say NO, OFF. Ask for the sit and praise a good sit. This will mean that you may have to stop what you are doing and praise or correct but that's what owning Rottweilers is all about. This method works and should only require a couple of enforcement before you see results.
Digging is another natural and somewhat undesirable habit. Dogs enjoy digging to prevent boredom, to make a comfortable sleeping area, newly turned earth is much cooler than the surface temperature, and to leave scent. Give the dog a good place where digging is acceptable and fill in undesired holes with his own feces. This usually does the trick.
Counter Surfing again prevention is the best method. Keep food and other dog attractive items put away when an adult cannot supervise them. Another option is to crate or confine the dog in an area where it can't make mistakes. set up the dogs with soda cans that have pennies in them and are taped shut. I stack a few cans on top of each other so they will fall over with the slightest nudge. Put something behind it that smells good to the dogs. And just wait until they scare themselves.
Barking This is a most undesirable habit. It is annoying not only to your family but also to your neighbors. A barking dog is reacting to a stressful stimulus, thus excessive barking can jeopardize the health of the dog. This habit can be one of the most difficult to retrain. In order to curb barking behaviors, it is important to determine when they occur and what initiates barking. This redirection technique can be used in a variety of situations and works well with dogs that may have a history of abuse or harsh treatment. Abused dogs don't respond well to physical punishment and abuse has no place in our homes. Motivational and redirection techniques are the way to train a dog that will trust and respect your authority. Consistency and attention are your keys. If a dog is on lead and barking at a passerby, you need to redirect the focus of the dog's attention to you and away from the passerby. You can do this by saying the dog's name, showing it a treat or toy, or giving a quick tug and release on the dog's collar. Once the dog's attention is on you and you become the focus, you may reward the dog. Give him the treat or toy or praise and pet him. Do Not Ever treat the dog or praise the dog until the behavior is completely stopped or you will end up reinforcing the bad behavior. Timing is everything in motivational training. It is harder work than compulsory methods and that is why many people don't use it and even shun it. Don't be a lazy trainer. Use motivational methods and you will end up with a dog that is more dependable and trustworthy than a dog that responds only because it fears painful stimulus. There are some cases where a swift, hard correction is called for. These are situations where the dog is in danger or the dog is putting someone else in danger. It is then your responsibility to use whatever means necessary to prevent a problem. Similar to breaking up a fight, there is no right or wrong way to go about a serious correction over a serious issue (e.g. a dog in drive, chasing a child). You must use whatever is at hand to accomplish what needs accomplishing. Just keep in mind that whatever happens, it was your fault. You put the dog in the situation in the first place. You must always be responsible for thinking ahead of your dog and anticipating what may happen. Rottweilers are extremely intelligent and will keep you on your toes. Don't let your dog down. Dogs bark for a variety of reasons: territoriality, signaling other dogs, barrier frustration, fear, separation anxiety, inactivity and boredom or paranoia. You'll need to determine which is the cause of your dog's barking and work from there to curb the habit. There are a number of devices that can be purchased for the purpose of teaching the dog not to bark, some use an electrical stimulus, a noise stimulus or a citronella spray to discourage barking and are activated by barking. The only trouble with these devices is that they do not distinguish between acceptable (e.g. alarm bark) and unacceptable barking. he best way to discourage barking behavior is to prevent the situation that causes the dog to bark. Keep bored dogs active, retrain separation anxiety or eliminate things that cause fear and stress. Barrier frustration chained and fenced dogs and territorial dogs should not be left outside to disturb neighbors. Dogs will bark at the fence if they believe the fence is theirs to protect. These dogs need to be kept from visual stimulus. Prevent them seeing or hearing other people, animals or objects on the other side of the fence. You may need to keep some dogs crated inside the house where their barking cannot disturb neighbors. Tying a dog is only acceptable if you are within eyeshot of the dog and a fence is not available. Many dogs strangle to death each year because they are left tied without supervision. A tied out Rottweiler is participating as a family member, and as such does not receive the socialization he needs. Rottweilers should never be left tethered and unattended for any reason. It is your responsibility to your dog and the public to make sure that your dog is supervised at all times.