Do I have a tempermental teenager?

[berlyak3]

Our rottweiler, Domino, is 16 months old, and is the most tempermental dog we have ever had!!! She is worse than a hormonal teenager. We have had her hormones checked, had her on estrogen, changed her food in case she had an allergy - and she still has her moments. She is not aggressive toward humans and she is very loving - but she "grumbles" as someone pets her and it scares the crap out of everyone...I used to get nervous when I would hear her doing it with our 9 year old daughter, but it is how she talks. Because she "grumbles" all the time, when she is around other dogs, she just sounds mean - she does try to dominate, but not aggressively (although we have a 10 month old saint bernard that Domino just tortures when they are in the yard together - Zulu does not seem to mind, so I know she is not being hurt, but neighbors will come over to say that Domino is "beating up" Zulu because of how Domino sounds). We also have a 17 month old rottweiler mix that we rescued and, except for the occasional mounting (that would be Domino, the fixed female, to Foster) she seems to accept him alot more.

Any ideas? Domino is a beautiful dog and very outgoing, but I get nervous taking her out in public, because she likes to be pet, but then when she starts "talking", it makes people (and me, because I do not know the people) nervous.

[jlaack]

Are you sure your dog isn't purring????? Our eldest dog also does a low growl particularly if you are scratching his but or his ears. It is NOT a threat nor linked to any kind of aggression, it is simply his vocalization of his appreciation for the scratches. His true growl is quite different.

[Anne]

You mention hormones, food, allergies, dominance etc., but you make no mention of what training you are doing with this dog. How much training have you done with this 16month old dog?

[berlyak3]

Yes, the grumbling is considered purring. It is just that she is SO vocal with it, that it makes people nervous.

[berlyak3]

She has gone through obedience training (prior to the new female addition to our family), 2 months after we got her, our older rottweiler came down with cancer and died, so Domino was an only pet - and although trained, I was super paranoid after Ojo, so we was like a first child for most families, run to the vet with every "problem". She is very obedient in regards to humans, but when she wants to lay down and relax, she makes it very clear that she is not to be bothered by other animals and hates our female in HER back yard - the male dog is fine. We had another rottweiler that never "grumbled", so that is why we started training, because when Domino started the noisy responses, we thought she was growling and we were very concerned.

[hokisteph5]

Beyond what's already been added, here's a thread with a description of a Rottie Purr. My male only does it sometimes and it's usually after he's been asked to get some "rottie loving."

I've also found that when my male and female play together, they play rough and they play loud. The owner of the place I use for boarding, swimming, and now Rally training said her rotties play the same way.

My female is the more vocal of the two. Based on the training classes I've gone to and the trainers' comments, I watch their body language sometimes.

They do "play bows" to each other, each may roll the other, etc. My male will sometimes just lay there while my female dances around him, trying to engage him in play. That usually triggers my female to take off on a zoomies run in all directions.

[BeauandShan]

My Beau used to purr when he was being petted there was no sign of aggression at all, it was just appreciation for the attention.

[bliss7373]

I agree with the posts on "purring" - some Rottweiler are just more vocal than others. It can be a little alarming if you aren't prepared.

I noticed from your post that you have two female dogs very close in age? A 10 month old and a 16 month old? You might want to watch this situation closely. It sounds like your Rott wants to be in charge of that situation - while your other girl may be tolerating the pushiness right now, that could change quickly. Rotts are often prone to same-sex aggression.

I'd have BOTH of these girls in ongoing training, to add structure to their lives and reinforce the idea that you are the benevolent leader in all ways. At 16 months of age, your Rottie is still young- more training can only be a good thing!

[berlyak3]

Thanks for the reply - we do watch the situation closely, although the 10 month old is a 110 lb saint bernard and she has NO aggresion whatsoever, that would require too much energy!! Domino is just setting the boundaries with her...Domino is only 76 pounds, a very petite and high energy dog.

[Teresa]

I used to own a notorious talker - my Ripley (now gone to the bridge). She was also dominant with other girls, and I had to take the "overlord" approach to the house of girls to be sure nothing escalated.

She would growl on both inhale and exhale - we still laugh about her very loud and signature purr.

But, since it made some people nervous, we did some training to minimize it. Sit down with her, and start petting - the minute a growl comes out, pull your hand away. Wait a few seconds, and try again. Works especially well if after you stop, they seek more petting. As soon as you can manage a couple of seconds with no noise (work up slowly) - priase with "good quiet". She eventually learned that we would stop petting as long as she was growling, and became MUCH quieter. Once they associate the "not growling" with the "quiet" command, you can gently chide/correct if they start growling excessively when loving on them.

We went slowly with this, and used nothing like correction (remember this is when we wanted to love on her!)...but after a few sessions we made much progress and could eventually pet her in public without it sounding like a den full of bears!!!

Teresa

[berlyak3]

Thank you for your response! I have been doing something very similar to this and it has been helping - but my husband and daughter love to hear her talk, especially when my daughter is petting her and saying 'I love you Domino', she almost starts squealing and talking at the same time. She does it at play time, only a little lower, but her "tail" is wagging the entire time. And I agree with you for not correcting her, that is what we were doing when she was a puppy...nothing like watching your 7 year old pet on a rottweiler puppy and the puppy starts "talking" which I took as growling!!! Oh well, at least we know better now! Sorry about Ripley...our Ojo went January 2007 and it still affects us - especially when Domino is acting up...Ojo did not have a dominant bone in her body!!

[JaniceH]

I happen to think that rotties have a variety of vocals of which the purr is only one.

Teazle, my 4 1/2 yr. old bitch, has a few. She purrs in greeting or when she is in a soppy mood and we are having a loving. This is quite a low consistent sound.

However she also growls sort of when in a happy stimulated situation. A new neighbour rushed to the gate once asking how she could help or should she get a man. The incident...I was towel drying Teazle after we had been out walking in rain!!!! The noises which came out of her were horrendous and the neighbour who did not really know us at that stage, thought I was being savaged. Teazle spoilt this display when she sneezed right in the middle of the "attack".

She has an excited squeaky growl when she is excited after being told someone she knows is coming. It must be the tone of my voice because she then gets all of a dither and makes this funny noise. It gets louder wehn that person arrives but hasn't come through the door yet.

Then of course there is the tug of war growl that comes whilst playing and one when she wants attention which starts off lowish and can end in a bark.

Moving to the more sinister noises, she has a funny short sharp growly bark when she is irritated suddenly.

And finally there is that low menacing growl when her attention is focussed on something she is unsure of, like the other night when it was going dark and she was lying looking out of the patio window. She was very foccussed on something which I couldn't work out what, and started growling. I was a little worried and wondered if I should let her out. I didn't because I then saw this large leaf hanging from the bird table and moving in the breeze slightly. Her attention on it was electric. She obviously thought it was a big threat to her !!!!!!!!

Wonderful stuff.