My female 8 month old rottie behaviour

[dayna327]

Hello, I have been a little concerned and have been talking to trainers and figured I would get some more opinions on here about my female 8 month old rottweiler, Lexis. For starters, I bought her off a woman who bred her year old male with her 3 year old female and they produced 9 puppies and I adobted the one. They sent her home with me at 6 weeks old and after I had so many people tell me how that was way too young to leave her mother and then the people who sold her to us tell us how they weaned the puppies off their mother before they were a month and separated them. People have even said her dad was too young at just a year to breed. If I had known all of this I would never have purchased her as she is 8 months old and still does the puppy "mouthing" thing and I have done what I know to stop it. When she was young she would even nip at faces but I slowly stopped that as I would nip her back and trainers told me that was the right thing to do and i've been pinching her nose and saying NO firmly everytime and its worked with other dogs and shes still not getting it. I mean I taught her the basics, sit and laydown and such when she was only 10-12 weeks old and she learned them well but she whines constantly in her crate and even howls when we're not home because my neighbors have told us they hear her, ive put bark collars on her when we havent been home and after awhile tested her without it and she continues to bark. I have never owned a dog who didn't listen as much as this dog... I have been very consistant with her and she just doesn't listen at times still. I know shes only 8 months and some people have said shes only a puppy but my god I've never had an 8 month old dog misbehave so badly and still whine in their crate. Most are crate trained by 6 months or less. I am getting so frustrated that I even have to still be getting my dog to stop "mouthing" at 8 months!!!! She whines all the time in her crate and ive given her toys and such to make the stay not so terrible so I am wondering if I should be trying something different or if getting her so young and having her mom taken away before a month plays a part in it????? Opinions please!!!!!!!! We've even had people who come over ignore her for the first while since she runs over and tries jumping on them, we try to make a point of making her sit until people come in or come in our yard and sit with us but sometimes she just doesnt listen. My mom came over and she ran to my mom and kept jumping that my mom knee'd her in the chest like 5 times before I had to step in and maker her laydown. My mom kept kneeing her and turning away to ignore her but its like it doesnt even phase Lexis. My mom comes over a lot too so I don't know why she feels she has to jump on her everytime. Even when I tell her to go lay in her bed, she tries to sneak out a bunch of times and I have to tell her to laydown and stay many times.... argh! Any tips??? I've never had a dog act like this before so thats why I am here. For tips, advice... anything.

[brunie's mom]

Sounds like you have an untrained puppy.
She is mouthy and nippy because she was taken away from her mother and litter too early. When this happens they miss learning bite inhabition from their littermates. You may have problems for a long time. Do you redirect with something else when she tries to bite? Put a toy in her mouth, so she understands that she can only bite the toy. Keep a toy or something on hand all of the time.

Pinching her nose, will just get her more worked up...it's not a good idea.

Have you got her in obedience classes? If not, get into a class right now. It sounds like you must learn how to teach her. Do a search on NILIF, and start implementing it into her life...this will help her to see you as leader.

How much exercise does she get? How much time walking? How much time playing such as retreivin or running around? How much time per day do you spend training with her? Young dogs at this age, need alot of exercise...not only the body, but the brain too. This is a working breed, and trying to keep her occupied with some toys in her crate is not enough. A tired dog, is a good dog.

As for the jumping...let her drag a short leash around (supervised) in the house...with the leash you can control her jumping. Make her sit, before anyone attempts to give her any attention. If she moves...ignore her. Step on the leash while she is sitting...this way she cannot jump up.

Things will get better with more training, more exercise and maturity.

Gina

[dayna327]

Thanks Gina, I appreciate your response... very much! I have replaced toys when she chews as I make sure she has things to chew in the house and out in the yard. We have a big yard and usually gets big play time in the evening. I use to jog on a regular basis but haven't lately so am thinking of doing that again every night for an hour and taking her with me as my jogging buddy. Don't get me wrong she can be a good girl, but her behaviour has changed in the last month. She was listening and such but is now going through a "testing" stage i think. I do try to ignore her and I reward her when shes good and I only pet her when she is behaving aswell. I am thinking maybe she needs to go on more walks and such too.
The leash idea sounds good for the jumping, never thought to put one on when people come over because thats when she jumps the most.
I totally appreciate yours tips and will try it out. My fiacne also was given a number to a trainer so we're thinking of giving her a call too. Youc an never learn too much.:o) About the "bite inhabition" as soon as i brought her home and started typing about her online i had so many people "feel sorry" for me and telling me how much harder she may be to train sicne taken away too young from her family which makes total sense.
Thanks again for your reply! Made me feel more at ease!:o)

[brunie's mom]

What I meant about her mouthy behaviour...is have some object such as a toy or ball or empty water bottle, and put that in her mouth as soon as she comes near you. This way she learns that she can only mouth objects not people.

It does sound like she needs alot more exercise. At 8 months of age, she should not be jogging...wait till her growth plates have closed up around 18 months of age...but you should be taking her for at least two 30 minute brisk walks per day and as much playing in the backyard and running around as she wants.

You should also spend at least 10-15 minutes a day doing training exercises. It really does help tire her out using her brains.

Obedience classes are a must with this breed...and a way to keep on top of the "testing" behaviour. It is common to have dogs listen till 7-8 months, and then start acting up. Time to get on top of things quickly.

Gina