Need advice about Over Protective Rottie/Neutering

[iluvrotts]

I have a 9 month old male rottweiler who is showing signs of being very overprotective. He hasn't been neutered, as I am planning on showing him.

When I walk him after dark, he barks at people. He also barks at people when they walk by the house (he is in a fenced backyard, but he can still see people). This behavior almost always occurs at night. He will bark at people that he knows well at night, and if they see him during the day, he just loves them. He seems to be very protective of me. He is such a good boy otherwise, smart, no food or possession agression, no dog agression.

My sister agrees with me that he seems like a different dog at night. I cannot figure it out. I've thought that maybe he has night vision problems, or that maybe something happened to him at night when he was small. Maybe he saw something that frightened him or something. Or maybe he knows that I'm fearful at night, due to having my purse snatched twice.

I've tried many things, such as greeting the person before he sees them, so he knows I know them. I've tried purposely taking him out late at night for many walks to desensitize him. I've taken him out with a prong collar so I could correct him strongly when he exhibits this behavior. He has never attempted to bite, bare his teeth, snap or lunge at anyone. It is a very deep powerful bark he makes that usually ends in a howl, head tossed back, hair on back standing. Sometimes this is accompanied by a low growl. I try to distract him, and sometimes that works, but usually he just keeps it up.

My pup is from a good breeder, nicely bred and temperment tested. He is not my first rottweiler, I also own a 4 year old female rottweiler.

He is not aggressive in any way other than the problem above. He is a dream with the family, gets along great with everyone.

Which brings me to the neutering question. I have had animals all my life. All of our dogs have always been altered, even our horses were always gelded. I am very unsure of having an unneutered dog. If I weren't planning on showing him, I would have neutered him already. I can't help but wonder what I am getting myself into. I've heard plenty of stories about unneutered male dogs and I'm aware of the statistics regarding that most dog bites are from unneutered male dogs. I may be a little less worried if my boy was a small dog, but he's not.

I know many of you who show do not neuter, and I need advice. Are your dogs harder to handle because they aren't neutered? How bad is the behavior? Do they get very aggressive just because of the hormones?

I probably should have started my showing career with a bitch.

Im actually starting to wonder if I should forget the regular show ring and do obedience or agility instead, so I can neuter him. And the silly thing is, that I have absolutely no interest in ever using him for a stud dog if he does win a championship.

I'm worried that this barking over protection thing will get much worse when he is older.

I would appreciate any insight and advice on my rottie's behavior. Thank you so much for reading my long rambling thread!

By the way, this behavior isn't something new; he has done his barking at night routine since he was about 12 weeks old. I haven't had any luck in breaking him of this.

[Storm]

It is really not unusual for the dog to alert when someone is in the area, IMO it's quite comforting. Your dog may posses a degree of "sharpness" and may or may not have the goods to back up this behavior when the heat gets turned on, this will only be evident through training and appropriate conditioning. But there is a difference between a "bad mannered" dog that tries to gnaw through the fence every time someone passes by, whether nerve related that has escalated into full blown aggression or a mere very civil dog showings strong signs of open aggression. Like I said nothing wrong with the dog alerting but then he should adopt a watch and wait attitude with an appropriate response to that which he alerted depending on how that person "transpires" also your obedience training will enable you to have the necessary control where necessary, whether it be down, wait or what ever and lastly the dog would probably also act on your "vibes" so if it is a non confrontational situation and fido is not behaving himself, he definitely needs a little reminder. Put simply once he has alerted because he has sensed someone and there is no clear visible, threat his attitude should be either, hey everything is cool no reason to go bananas or if friends, a friendly disposition. Just covering basic interpretation here when we go further into protection dogs etc. the fact that someone can initially show signs of friendliness and then turn on the dog etc. is other forum on its own. I would leave the neutering, really get the dog working on the obedience, obedience training is the solution to so many issues. It is imperative and formal training, especially with dogs showing issues. Most DIY training is useless! Your boy is still pretty young he has to contend with adolescence and all other stuff in this big world, give him time to socialize and expose him to as much as possible. Yeah I know a lot of show people don't like to "over obedience" train there dogs as then the dog will sit in the show ring....blah..........blah, blah. If some people can title their dog in IPO, Sch, ITT, TD etc. etc. and still get a "v" rating I'm sure these hop, hop dogs will manage. Ouch! It sounds like you got a very nice dog that does not show any visible signs of aggression that may be nerve related. Also night time brings about a higher level of "suspicion" the dogs thresholds are lower and thus the response. Once again nothing wrong with that. ;)

[Judi W]

There is much written on confidence building, but as long as the dog is with a fearful owner, those exercises are going to be counter-acted. Dogs are hard to fool and your insecurities travel right down the leash. If you are apprehensive at night, then you teach your dog to see the dark as dangerous. For a dog this will expand to other areas. Find a solution even if it means not taking the dog where you are afraid yourself. How can you teach courage and confidence to an animal that can sense your every change in respiration, heartbeat, body posture etc. when you do not have them? Find someone to walk with that will distract you from your worry, a different place to walk, or a different time of day.

I'd almost say "ditto" for concern about owning an intact male. I've always owned intact males and adore them. Just because they have testicles doesn't mean they don't have brains and their inborn temperament. Yes, I show in conformation and that sure doesn't mean they don't have a life other than standing around eating liver and being cute. They acquire their CDs while waiting for the body to mature and get going on to further obedience as well as what other activities I'm enjoying with them. (the group I have now are doing herding).

Anyway, the same applies. If you are concerned about your ability to deal with a whole male, you likely should not own one and should seriously consider neutering. Most of leadership is mental and if you see a whole male as "different" and a potential threat, that will interfer with your relationship.

Remember that this is a breed whose heritage is to work "with" a person, following their lead in their endeavors and tasks. This is a very young dog and his view of the world is being formed daily.

[Storm]

Also what you are interpretting as being "protective" is more likely a response by the dog as a result of the effect which that causing the reaction, has on the dog, not necessarlily a reaction because of you. Remember the dog's age. But still a degree of sharpness is not always directly related to uncertainty, fearfulness etc. Dogs with this trait can grow up to be formidable dogs showing good strong defense drives.

[Judy Chrusch]

I have an intact 18 month old male and I have my husband walk him at night, I admit I'm not comfortable walking him at night therefore my hubby does the night and I do the daytime. Your pup is just starting to get into that sometimes difficult age but sometimes their behavior is due to us, not handling it when things FIRST occur. Just today someone walked past with a dog and Czar decided to act like a biiiiig boy and showoff, hop and lunge at the fence like an idiot, followed by his big boy bark, well, I went out corrected him, said Hi to the woman with the dog and made sure he didn't repeat that behavior as she walked further past. After the correction he behaved as a gentleman and politely watched her continue by, plus it shows other people that we don't except that kind of behavior. We already know he'd protect us if need be, we don't have to show that off. Maybe I missed it but is your boy or was he in any kind of obedience class? He's at a crucial age to make corrections and enforce proper behavior, it's an on going thing for some dogs. My male is also shown and is very well behaved inside and outside the ring but when he's home and feels the need to protect he does, but he needs to know when and how to react properly if need be. What other things do you do with your boy and how much exercise does he get? When we're not at shows Czar's in OB training and he just started agility and when he's finished with shows we're REALLY gonna get down and get somemore titles:D. This is a working breed and they must be kept busy and sometimes with a variety, but things will only escalate if he's allowed to behave a certain way. Though I didn't read all the advice given I'm sure it was helpful, Judi's is always just that!! Like children they look for guidance and discipline.

Judy

[Robby]

When Czar (above) was acting like a bigshot,
Judy mentioned that she "corrected" the behavior.

What are some common correction techniques?

Thanks!

[Judy Chrusch]

Robby, I can only tell you what I did and that it worked. I'm not an expert nor am I a trainer or professional. As far as correction techniques, I'll leave that up to the pros. When I give advice it's usually what I've done and it has worked. As soon as I saw what Czar was doing, I immediately went out, said NO, ENOUGH, he looked at me so surprised bc I came out the door saw what he was doing and immediately reacted. Czar also knows that I mean business and from day one we have been consistent in EVERYTHING we do and say bc in the end it pays off. What might be cute one minute could be a disaster the next, plus I don't want anyone to think we enjoy certain behaviors. So I think one has to know what works for them and the best tool you can have is being consistent and fair:D. I sound like a broken record but having 2 others before and each one being different, you learn to do what works, not to mention I still continue to learn and take advice.

[Leader]

:D iluvrotts,

Here in France if a dog is listed with the Kennel club NOBODY neuters (rotts I mean) for work....like ringsport and Sch etc...Mine is whole and a beautiful bundle. Just my two cents' worth...your pup is starting to enter that obnoxious teen age period where he's showing his mettle (?). Don't let him choose, just say no or stop. Secondly, dogs can not see well and night and tend to get a little "spooked" when they're younger. He'll just have to learn what he can and can't do and maybe he doesn't need to stay outside alone at night? Or does he live outside?

I'd say that even if you wanted to do agility, you should definitely start obedience classes cause he has to really listen for that sport (although here in France agilitists are known for having dogs that don't listen 100% of the time. They think they're all so nice and friendly.....let them all run and play together which doesn't always work for a rott);)