Rottweiler attacked owner

[TLR]

In a local paper today there was an article about a rottweiler that turned on his owner.
A police dog trainer comments: "things like this can happen when the dog can´t attack the threat". (The dog was on leash and got corrected when he tried to attack another persson)

Is this common behaviour??

I would guess that this was caused by poor leadership/training. Am I right or have any of you been exposed to this kind of behaviour?

[Goniella]

You are right TLR... The dog was reprimanding a lower pack member who tried to control/correct it. I guess another opinion could be that the dog was in such a high state of prey/or defensive drive that he turned towards the closest target...but it still shows total lack of disrespect for the owners leadership.

[moondog]

Sounds like a critical building block was overlooked in the relationship between the dog and the owner. I'll bet the signs were there all along. What a shame. :(

[ILoveRotts]

Sounds to me like there is more to the story that is being told. There usually is.....


My guess is that this was not a well trained, socialized, loved family pet.

[Mick Trainer]

This can indeed show a problem in the pack hierachy but also can happen with redirection.

Mick.

[Jamie & Odin]

Mick, can you elaborate on the redirection comment?

The first thing I thought of when I read the quote of the officer was my neighbor's dogs. The boxer and large, mix breed are behind an undergound fence.

When I walk my dog by the house, they bark, jump, growl etc. I know what they want is MY dog, but what inevitably happens is the boxer turns and takes her frustration out on the mix breed when it becomes intolerable for her. Is this similar to what the officer spoke of?

[Mick Trainer]

Redirection is a term used to describe when a dog is loaded and through frustration directs that aggression onto an object other than that with whch it has originally become aggressive towards.

Your Nieghbours dogs fit into this in some way but in this case I would say it also bleeds over into a domiance display as well. However the frustration spoken of above definatly has an effect.

Mick.

[Jamie & Odin]

Makes sense to me. So the boxer is apparently dominant, and redirects her frustration to the mix breed. While the mix breed is also frustrated, wouldn't cross the line of taking it out on the boxer.

So, in the original post, the dog may have redirected it's frustration to it's owner, but only felt able to do that due it's perceived "right" to do so?

[BIGWRIGHT]

This may help it is a known fact that Rottweilers are High drive dogs that don't like heavy correction much. I think we have all had situation when we are correcting are Rottie and the big bad rottie comes out instead of the loving rottie we see al the time. No I don't know what happened here but I have been in plenty of situation when my dog is in his fierce roll and I tell him something he listens with allot of growling like a child getting scolded and talking under his breath. My wife had a problem with it as well my Rottie was barking at the door and she told him OUT and he wouldn't and then she said it again louder and still nothing so she reached for him and he barked at her. Well that wasa a big mistake for him because she lit into him badly grabbing him by the collor looking him eye to eye and yelling at him plus some time out. I explained to her that he was in a defensive drive and sometimes when a dog is like that they forget everything and just turn into the big bad rottie under the bed. Same thing when walking down the street with the dog and another dog approaches the crazy let me at him syndrome. Well the only way to keep all these in check is training. Don't assume that when a dog is trained it doesn't need refresher training, before my boy hurt his leg three times a week we would train and play train and play keeping him fresh in his commands so that their was no thought just reactiona nd the right reaction.

[Mick Trainer]

Originally posted by Jamie & Odin
So, in the original post, the dog may have redirected it's frustration to it's owner, but only felt able to do that due it's perceived "right" to do so?

Sounds about right.

[Storm]

Originally posted by BIGWRIGHT
........... it is a known fact that Rottweilers are High drive dogs that don't like heavy correction much.

Within every breed there is a variation "of dog". Sure the general disposition, irrespective of what facet of training, of various breeds is characterized by certain "behavior". Yet "high drive" alone may mean nothing without considering many other inherent aspects of that specific dog.;)

[godfreyc]

Well IMHO what BIGWRIGHT's wife did was absolutely the right thing. No explaining needed. I am a small female and also the rottie fanatic in my house. I love my dogs, but if they are not absolutely sure of their place in the food chain I could be in trouble. Having said that we're all one step away from the moment when our dogs while completely out of character take a nip that goes to far. That's why with my brood, the rules are strict. NO growls, showing teeth, not minding, or any other sign of, as I like to call it Bucking Up. If it happens to me or any member of my family I come down like a ton of bricks. (mostly theatrics) VERY loud voice "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" etc. etc. Looking Straight in the eye and moving forward. No backing up no sign of fear. I usually get a remorseful look and a lick on the hand. If my bitch is in a particularly bad mood she'll turn and leave. I allow her to do so because I figure she's probably having one of those days. IMHO, this guy had some other issues going on. My dogs have, in the heat of the moment, touched teeth to human skin; but they have a strong bite inhibition and have never truly caused injury, just a little bruising and it was never aimed at me but each other.

[Storm]

Dominance is a behavior that is handled in many ways as is the "ability" to be "presented" at a show. And all the stuff that progressively moulds a dog, preparing, conditioning etc. etc. A dog definitely should not shows signs of dominance towards it's handler and in no way is acceptable, but indirectly many people are responsible for there dogs behavior. They are not consistent, the foundation is shallow and poor and they are manipulated around every corner, unknowingly. At the end of the day it makes a difference.

[luvmyboy]

I too am the main handler in my family of Gryffindor. I will do the same if he crosses a line (depending on what it is), I will grab him and yell right in his face. When I am done, I always give him a kiss on his face though, because I never want him to feel that threatened by me being all "up in his face" and I don't want him to ever get the idea that I am scared of him, nor that that may be a good time to bark back.

If I yell at him from a distance he may bark back at me, but then he gets the "talk to the hand routine"

Re: that day your rot was at the door barking, I have noticed a big change in my Gryff when he is roaming the house as opposed to being in his crate. If he is in his crate for the night, he is more passive, if he is in a "good boy behavior" mood and he isn't crated for the night, he will not be stopped from being on "patrol" I generally talk to him when there are normal activities going on that he needs to recognize, (the neighbor starting the truck at 5:30 everymornig) and I let him go if it is not. That is part of his job to notice things I do not.

I do not have enough experience with rots to know much about the "attack the owner" issue in the original post, but I would think that if the owner had been better prepared for redirection, it may not have happened. How exactly to be prepared for it, only training I suppose. Or some other type of distraction.

Kathy