Potential resource guarding issues with new rescue?

[andre's mom]

I just adopted a rotti. He is 7 months. He has been really good so far. Its been a three weeks. He had a bit of food aggression but I got him out of it. He has his bones but he just got a new one today and I walked passed him and he was growling at me not an I am going to bite you growl but a warning with his ears back. I don't know what I should do. I wont back down from him. I sat beside him and gave him an ice cube to show him I am not going to take his bone. Also my husband was calling him over When he (the dog) had the bone and he peed all over the floor. Please help me what I should do. I want Dre my rotti to be comfortable and happy here. We have two children 6 and 4.

Also is it normal for them to growl in general? He grunts alot. He just came up to me and I pet him he was just grunting and growling at me. I corrected him and than he was fine.

Thanks in advance,
Melissa

[crazyonehuh]

Not an expert, but maybe the bone isn't such a good idea at this point! It sounds as if he is trying to protect what is his and as a new member to your family this can be a very trying time for all. If your not 100 pecent sure on his behavior as a pup (previous to getting him) then you need to really focus on introducing him to things. Take it slow and don't just asume that what ever you give him will be alright to have.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by andre's mom

I just adopted a rotti. He is 7 months. He has been really good so far. Its been a three weeks. He had a bit of food aggression but I got him out of it. He has his bones but he just got a new one today and I walked passed him and he was growling at me not an I am going to bite you growl but a warning with his ears back. I don't know what I should do. I wont back down from him. I sat beside him and gave him an ice cube to show him I am not going to take his bone. Also my husband was calling him over When he (the dog) had the bone and he peed all over the floor. Please help me what I should do. I want Dre my rotti to be comfortable and happy here. We have two children 6 and 4.

Also is it normal for them to growl in general? He grunts alot. He just came up to me and I pet him he was just grunting and growling at me. I corrected him and than he was fine.

Thanks in advance,
Melissa

With two small children in the house, the FIRST thing I'd say is to only give him a bone (or any other item he wants to resource guard) in a crate. Always be present and supervising when your children interact with him. He's a new dog to your family and you don't really know him yet and won't for awhile.

Find a good obedience class in your area and sign him up. He likely hasn't had much training, and training is a must! It will help tremendously in helping him make the transition into your family and it will help you learn how to work with him to establish a strong and healthy bond.

Without seeing the growling when you were petting him, it's hard to say what that means. Get him into a class where you can get hands on help in understanding him and helping him to be happy and comfortable.

[SABELLESMOM]

So, hold off on the bones. If bones bring on the problem stop. Give him several more months of living with you and learning to trust and bond further with you before you go there again.

Give him time. Manage the obvious problems with fairness and consistency. Supervise interactions with your children.

He needs to feel relaxed and comfortable with you. Yes, even more than you think you have already. Getting into some Obedience classes, will help him build confidence. The more a dog understands there are expectations, directions, commands...that he understands and complies with...the happier and more confident he will become. He will think of it as gainful employment, and Rottie's being working dogs... like to have jobs! ...so to speak.

He is still far too unsure of his role in your home to have that bone just now. So, he's reverting to what worked for him before. Classes will help. They will also help him build up and strengthen the bond between you. Get there, before working on such high value treats.

[fostermom]

Thank you for rescuing this pup. Some rotti's "purr" when petted...does he seem happy when you are petting him or does he seem tense?
I foster and usually don't give new dogs high value items, and especially if they try to guard the item. Sometimes when an item is new, the dog will be more "guardy"...once it's been around a while, it looses a lot of it's value from the dog's perspective, but there is a way to train a dog to give up valued items... the dog is given an item it values in exchange for the item it is guarding, and then the original item is given back...the exercise is called "trading up"...you can do a search either on this site or on the net for a more detailed explanation. I agree with others...please carefully supervise the dog around the children, and get this pup into training. Best of luck.