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Originally Posted by Big Dawg I think it probably stems from leadership issues. Does he feel as if he is in command and therefore needs to protect you from danger? |
I cannot for one second agree with this. Firstly whilst the dog clearly feels that he can control his own behavior and needs obedience this need not have anything to do with leadership and certainly nothing to do with protecting the owner. The dog most likely does feel threatened (the stimulus for defencive aggression) and the behavior is based in self preservation not in some make believe idea that the dog has some natural desire to protect it's owner. Teaching sound obedience is always the first step to altering behavior and curing dog aggression as the dog must first understand the behavior that is required of it, but this has little to do with leadership and more to do with teaching successful behavior.
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Originally Posted by BigDawg Shock collars/prong collars etc. - BAD,BAD,BAD,BAD ( just making sure you do not misunderstand my opinion!  ) I say this all too often ..rottweilers are extremely intelligent dogs. TRAINING,TRAINING,TRAINING ..show them what is expected of them and they will go out of their way to PLEASE you ..or you can take the LAZY way out and condition a response out of fear or punishment. |
Ok so you don't like compulsion and that is you right but to use emotive terms like fear and punishment and call them lazy is to show ignorance towards them. Compulsion has been a form of sound learning in animals and humans as long as they have been on the planet. It is as much apart of the learning process as +ve re-enforcement. And whilst you may feel that the dog will do what you want becuase they seek to please you often this is not the case and no amount of positive re-enforcement will cure it. I have lost count of the number fo dogs I have had to cure with problems similar to this that have only gotten worse using motivation only. These same dogs often owe their lives to the very equipment that you have labled BAD, BAD, BAD. Many dogs benefit everyday from these pieces of equipment and go on to live very happy, healthy lives because of them, suffering no negative side effects. Just as many positive results can come about from motivational training techniques so can the same come about by adding compulsion to the training technique.
Mick.