[Angie]

Very long…but hopefully won't require much more explanation.
We have a 3 ½ month old Rott (our first) who has a tendency to get very “hyper” at times. I’ve looked throughout this site and couldn’t find anything that seemed to match our problem exactly. If there is some information, please point us to it. We have been reading the discussions and using some of the advice given. Because we are first time owners, we know there’s a good chance we might be doing some things wrong, but we are open to suggestions (please don’t just tell us we’re doing something wrong). The problem is that almost on a daily basis, Ollie gets riled up and gets to the point of being out of control. She is excellent 90 percent of the time. She has been to puppy school (I know some might not agree with this method, but it helped a lot) and we go with her to training once a week. She knows her basic commandssit, down, stay, come and heel so far. She also knows to chew on toys and not our hands, legs, etc. Before puppy school, we couldn’t walk in the same room with her without her play biting our legs multiple times. Now, she lets us love on her, scratch and rub her belly, and a simple “no” keeps her from biting most of the time.

The problem is that she gets too hyper and starts trying to bite/jump up in a more serious way at times. We are trying different methods, but wanted some advice regarding what has worked for others. Our trainer uses the word “stubborn” to describe her, and the vet said she is very strong willed. He said that we need to make sure that what we are learning from our trainer is most appropriate for her because some methods can cause more harm than good. Our trainer is a general dog trainer, not specifically for Rotts. (If we had to do it over, we’d definitely find one trained specifically for Rotts). So, we are looking at all the options out there to make sure we raise our puppy to be a great dog. Things we do now that work MOST of the time are: bitter apple, saying no firmly, correction collar, and when her “mood” seems to be starting, we go for a walk or into the backyard. However, sometimes her “moods” hit while she’s in the backyard, and she starts running around, grabbing anything that she can grab and she runs away or when inside she’ll put her leash in her mouth and run. When you try to get it out, she gets very testy (growling/biting).

Also, we’ve seen several people mention “bad temperament” and hope that isn’t the problem, but thought it might not be a bad idea to have someone who is specifically trained regarding Rottie behavior to look at/evaluate her. We live in the Dallas, TX area. Does anyone know of anyone we could take her to?