gone from calm and cool to being a little nutt case

[braxtonryder]

I am glad to have found this site and have been reading may posts and think the replies are very informative from experienced/educated dog lovers. so, with that said. My boy Braxton is 6 months old now and has been socialized from the day we brought him home at 8 weeks with a 5-year old golden retreiver-collie mix (Logan), and after a month or so we got a 7 week old german shepard (Rizzo), and our friends dogs as well which Braxton interacts very well without a sign of aggression or growl, unless Rizzo comes up to Braxton's bowl and while he is eating and braxton will growl but has never lashed out at him. I hand fed him for the couple months, not the whole time he ate but in sparitic intervals so now I can pet him, put my hand in his bowl and take bones from his mouth and then he gets big time praise from his daddy. The shepard (Rizzo) and Braxton are "always" playing, and I mean always. Logan (the mix) doesn't want anything to do with either of them which is ok, I guess. Logan is my roomates dog so I don't really see the importance of them interacting, is that the wrong way to look at that? Ok, I will sum this up cause it is getting long. I take Braxton for walks on a daily basis, except for the last month or so, its every other day cause we live in Texas and it is too freaking hot. Now we swim together in the pool, he loves the water, always swimming. I came home yesterday from an appt. (I office out of the house) and I went out back to get Braxton and somehow he managed to pull the raft from the siide of the pool and pulled himself on the raft...he was just laying on the raft chillin looking at me to say, hey dad whats up, wanna swim. Ok, now he has a ton of energy all the time and acts like a maniac. He never did before but started jumping up on people when he 1st sees them, but we have put a stop to that. Just a hard NO for a couple days and now he starts to jump but catches himself. I started this week practicing saying a command only once cause he recently would not sit or lay down on my 1st command, so I would say it again and again until he would obey. I read on one of these posts to only say the command once. And for the last couple days it has worked. I will get is attention tell him to sit and he will stare at me for a good 30 seconds or a minute and then will sit without repeating myself. I was really amazed at the intelligence that takes to do, on his part. Now when I put his leash on to go for a walk he wants to play tug-o-war withe the leash and is relentless to stop until we have walkes a quarter mile or so. I also had him healing with a quick jerk of the leash saying heal and he would come right by my side and stay there with slack in the leash. Now, he is pulling me and not responding the the jerk of the leash or heal. He will heal for a second then go right back to pulling. How do I stop him from acting like a freak on his leash and to heal again. Do I need a pinch collar? I don't agree with the concept of a pinch collar, seems a little harsh. I appreciate any feedback on this matter and thank you for taking the time to read this.

[Sargeant_C]

So what you are saying is the cute puppy stage is gone and now you have to work him. Rotts need a lot of work. Three years of training is suggested. Are you signed up for any classes? I would highly suggest an OB class and get him to start listening to you otherwise it is going to get worse.

[gomer9855]

Frau was a hyper maniac when she was young too, and before we could go for a walk I had to let her rip around the yard for a while. She'd just run laps as fast as she could for a few minutes too burn off the extra energy, then we could concentrate on healing and training. Now she's 2 1/2 and still very energetic, but not hyper.

I used a head collar on her for walks for a while because she HATES it. She would walk perfect beside me on her choker and if I started having problems all I had to do was put the head collar on her a few minutes and she'd calm down again. Like "I'll be good! Get it off!" I doubt this would work for a lot of dogs, but it did for her. Now she's great with her choker.

Probably having another dog the same age isn't helping. I was personally never get two puppies together, makes training a lot harder. It's tricky now just when Frau gets playing with my brother's PSYCHO jack russell cross. Pay waaaaaay less attention to the people.

[Judi W]

Well, there was so much text I was having trouble finding out what the question was. I believe it was:

"Now, he is pulling me and not responding the the jerk of the leash or heal. He will heal for a second then go right back to pulling. How do I stop him from acting like a freak on his leash and to heal again. "

Delaying training until there is a problem makes things much more difficult. The answer however, is to get this dog and the other one both in obedience training classes. You have created an environment where the two pups bond to each other which makes pleasing you secondary. If the idea of getting a second pup was to allow them to raise each other, you have been successful. Unfortunately, they do not raise each other teaching one another leash manners and obdience.

[Ninasmom]

IMO - You need to start obedience classes immediately. Your dog needs manners. He is no longer a puppy and will continue to test his limits - you need to show him what those are in clear terms or this will not get better.

[SABELLESMOM]

Well, consistency would help. Get into a formal class and work every day with him on "something!" You'll probably have "homework" anyway. Both pups would benefit. And let the "honeymoon-easy going-puppyhood" be over! It's time they learn to act like adults.

It's great to come home and relax by the pool. But do some work with him during that time. You've allowed the two pups do do as they please. Now they're making their own decisions about how they choose to behave.

[braxtonryder]

Thank you for all of your responses and I am going to start him in obedience classed this week, probably at pet smart. I have heard some good things about a specific trainer there. And you are correct that his cute puppy stage is ending and it is time to step it up. Getting him to sit and lay down was very easy when he was very young, lay down took a little more time along with stay. Now that he is rebelling I am in need of professional guidance. He has calmed down since seprating the two of them and is focussed on me again. Now their playtime is supervised and am looking forward to the obedience training. Rizzo, his same aged partner in crime is our roomate's pup and the situation is temporary. Again, I appreciate your advice and anymore you choose to give.

[RottieMom51503]

You need to go to OB class like the others said. AS far as the leash I problem I understand as Daphne was quite the puller herself. My trainer taugh me to walk in the other direction. For example If we are walking south and she starts to pull I turn without warning to her and head North. This worked great for us and she wound up always staying right with me and watching to see if I was going to turn or not.

[fostermom]

Glad to hear you will be taking your pup to obedience classes...one suggestion for teaching a pup to heel (slight variation on the above post)...when the pup starts walking ahead, as soon as he starts pulling on the leash, STOP walking...just stand there...when he looks around (and he will), tell him in a happy voice, "heel" and walk the opposite direction. He will want to catch up and as soon as he gets along side of you, offer him a treat and praise. If he stays at your side, keep offering at short intervals treats. If he moves ahead, just repeat the above exericse. Please make sure your trainer uses POSITIVE reinforcement....treats, praise....make the learning experience a happy one for him..you'll both enjoy it.

[braxtonryder]

Rottiemom and fostermom, very good idea, thank you. We just returned from a walk and he did better, so I am ready to go for another walk and try what you guys mentioned. I have a question about weight. He is 6 months and I feed him :Wellness/Liver flavor, 2.5 cups, twice a day. He is approximately 75 lbs, and our vet says he is not overweight, healthy with a good tempermant, and disposition. My concern is that I was reading some other posts and someone mentioned their Rotty was 6 months and 70 lbs. Some of the replies were that he/she was overweight. Braxton has really started to fill out within the last couple weeks, and it is not fat, i am sure of that as you can fell his ribs with a gentle probe and when he walks you can see his muscles working. My question, is this a normal weight for his age, and will/does his weight make him more prone to hip/joint problems?

Thanks again, what a resource I have found.

[fostermom]

Since I make an effort to adopt only adults, I'm not an expert on weights of pups but it sounds like he is a good weight....my understanding is you should be able to FEEL his ribs but not see them. The current thinking is to feed adult food to slow growth down a bit and I'm not sure if Wellness is an adult or puppy food but it is an excellent food. Since there seems to be quite a variation on the size of an adult rotti, there probably isn'ty a correct weight at 6 months....my adult male rotti is maybe 75 lbs and my adolescent is 70 (which is small for a rott). Many others mention adults weighing well over 120 so logically, you''d expect those as pups to weigh more at 6 months....I'm not sure when they reach their adult weight...maybe others will offer that.