Please Help...I am having a problem with respect.

[eliguns84]

Bear is a rottweiler/lab (or maybe doberman?) mix. He is about 7 months old now, and he is the love of our lives. However, I am having a problem with respect. He does not obey me AT ALL, and he even snaps and growls at me if I try to take something from him. He follows my husband around and does everything he says, but he is just not learning to respect me at all. Since he was tiny, we have been sure to get up in his face, touch his paws, take toys, food, and bones from him randomly just to get him used to those types of things, and they don't seem to bother him. But he does not seem to be outgrowing his "puppy phase" when it comes to respecting me. He even hiked his leg and tried to pee on me once! He has never hurt me or anyone else, and he is still young, but we are expecting our first child in late July/early August and we want to be sure that he is well-trained by that point. We took him to obedience school for a while, and that helped with sitting, lying down, walking on a leash, etc., but we are still having this problem. Any advice?

[jlaack]

Yes find a trainer and/or behaviorist to work on manners and obedience and take him through more classes. While in a group setting dogs learn to perform commands there is other learning that goes on; socialization, being around distractions, being in a new environment, etc. I would do both classes and in house work with a trainer. Since he is probably bigger and stronger than he was when you got him as a five week old pup you need to address this sooner rather than later, especially with a human baby on the way. When you first got your pup it was recommended that you rehome him to rescue (if I am recalling correctly) I hope you are committed to this dog that was sure to be a challenge to raise based on the circumstances of his coming to live with you at such a young age.

[Maxxx]

Who took him to classes? You might want to consider taking him to another set of classes, just you and him. That will teach him to listen to you. And more importantly, it will teach YOU ways to get him to listen to you. Do you follow through with commands? Do you baby him? Do you practice NILF? Do you give the commands or does your husband?

[eliguns84]

We both took him to the classes together and took turns with him. I like the idea of going to obedience school, just Bear and me. Maybe I'll look into that if this pregnancy doesn't exhaust me too much further. We do take a lot of time with him, and we make it a point to play with him after work at least for a little while. He really isn't aggressive any other time except when he has something that he should not have (a ponytail holder, a piece of paper, etc) and I try to take it from him. He has come an extremely long way from the aggressive little thing he was when he was tiny. He has always listened better to my husband than me, but the aggression part is a recent development. Could it have something to do with the fact that he was just neutered a few days ago? He never snapped at me until today... so I wasn't sure if there was a correlation there.

[Obelix]

Here's a link to an almost similar situation as the one you are in .Read it and then ,if you got questions left,feel free to ask.

http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/beh...peeing-me.html

[Shelby427]

Besides getting into classes, you need to learn how to read his behavior. If he has something he shouldn't, you should NOT take it away from him. You should teach him how to trade or "drop it" - of course by removing it from his mouth he's not going to like it.

You also need to stop taking his food away, taking toys away etc without trading for it because that is CAUSING him to possess his items. He thinks you're going to take it away because you HAVE in the past just taken items away from him.

Get enrolled in classes with him, his behavior is completely unacceptable. To have your dog try to MARK on you? I too think you need to implement NILIF in your home ASAP.

Good luck.

[JaniceH]

I agree with the others. This boy needs to learn that you are in charge. You can do that in several ways eg. obedience classes (I apprecaite this may be awkward for you in your condition) and practising NILF all the time. Do a search on the NILF (Nothing in Life is Free) which basically means that Bear has to do something for everything he wants to do. YOU dictate what that has to be. Here are some examples:

He must sit, wait or lie down, whatever you choose, before being fed, being petted, going for a walk, going through a door, playing, or being given a treat.

Also he must be shown you are the leader by you always going through a door first, you always eat first, only you are allowed on the settee, bed etc.

The privalages of being allowed on furniture can be relaxed if you want but only when he has learnt to respect you and even then only when you allow it.

These are just some ideas. Take more control of Bear yourself. Be firm,fair, patient and consistent and mean it.

He may also be a bit sore from his op, which may make him a bit crabby, but start upping the obedience and NILF NOW.

Good luck.

[jlaack]

I agree with the others. This boy needs to learn that you are in charge. You can do that in several ways eg. obedience classes (I apprecaite this may be awkward for you in your condition)

While it might be difficult to train a dog while being pregnant (I have no experience with this so I cannot say) it is absolutely essential that the training starts yesterday. It will be far more difficult to care for a dog exhibiting these behaviors and a newborn. Further the longer the dog gets to practice unacceptable behaviors the harder they will be to change.

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by jlaack

While it might be difficult to train a dog while being pregnant (I have no experience with this so I cannot say) it is absolutely essential that the training starts yesterday. It will be far more difficult to care for a dog exhibiting these behaviors and a newborn. Further the longer the dog gets to practice unacceptable behaviors the harder they will be to change.

Amen.

In addition, we've had one member here who went to agility trials until just prior to delivering her first baby. Unless your pregnancy requires bed rest, the exercise will do you good, and you learning how to communicate with this dog in terms he can understand, along with learning how to be honest with him is essential.

If you're not going to put the effort into this dog, please find him a home that will. It's not fair to the dog, it's not fair to you, and it's not fair to your new baby to have an unpredictable, unreliable dog in the hosue. If you don't do it now, you certainly won't find the time when baby comes.

[eliguns84]

I appreciate all of the advice. I think our first step will be to enroll in an obedience school. There is an excellent one near here that is a bit pricey, but from what I hear worth the money. By the way, I have never once indicated that I did not intend to invest the time/effort toward my dog. I like these forums and the advice you can find, but I do not like that every time I come here with a question at least one person acts like I am not willing to do what it takes to train my pet. If I did not intend to train him well and keep him around, I would not ask for advice. To those of you who sincerely gave advice, thank you. To those of you who seem to be a bit abrasive, please reconsider your approach to advice giving. My husband hates me coming onto this forum for advice because someone upsets me every time by indicating that I am not capable or willing to learn how to handle my dog.

[jlaack]

If I did not intend to train him well and keep him around

On another thread you were given advice to keep your dog in training, there are plenty of other threads that recommend that dogs stay in training for one to two years, but you only took your dog through one class. You also stated in your first post on this thread that your not sure if you can train your dog because you are pregnant. All of which makes me wonder if you intend on training your dog.

[warrior1]

If you want to take your dog back to training it certainly can be done. Isn't there someone who can go with you? My friend is due to have her baby this coming Monday.
She adopted a pit bull puppy a few months ago. Now that she is about to give birth, I go with her to every class. She does the training with her dog, I step in and give her a hand if I see she is becoming physically uncomfortable. None the less, "Jack" has not missed a class due to her condition. Next week, when she is in the hospital, I will be taking "Jack" myself so that he can finish his current class. Best of luck to you.

[fostermom]

Do a search on "trading up"...and start working on that. Everyone is correct that simply removing an item from the dog teaches it to be protective of it's food/toys...in the meantime, if you need to remove something, either call the dog away from the item, or place something the dog really likes (usually treats) several feet away and the dog should leave whatever it has to get the treat...you can then walk over and pick up the item.
Please do take this boy to obedience training. And I think I'd also try leashing the dog to me for awhile..it should help with bonding and enables you to easily and in a non-confrontational manner enforce whatever "rules" you want the dog to abide by (like not rushing out a door before you or not getting up on the furniture). I do that with all my new fosters and within a couple of weeks they really do have wonderful "house" manners.
Best of luck and congrats on the soon to arrive baby!

[fjones]

hi i have much experience with dominate dogs rottys bullmastiffs etc.and in my experience its behavour traning you need .you need to be shown how to dominate him .have you ever watched the dog whisperer .he has great ways to dominate strong large breeds and i swear by his methods .good luck

[Maxxx]

Originally Posted by fjones

hi i have much experience with dominate dogs rottys bullmastiffs etc.and in my experience its behavour traning you need .you need to be shown how to dominate him .have you ever watched the dog whisperer .he has great ways to dominate strong large breeds and i swear by his methods .good luck

IMHO, it's not about dominating a dog, it's about building a relationship of mutual respect. There are ways to build that respect without performing alpha rolls and making your pup run on a treadmill.