New (overwhelmed)Rott owner has questions!!

[robbievalentine]

I have so many questions! On Valentine's Day a beautiful Rott literally walked into my life. She is a stray that followed me home! Vet is estimating about a year and a half old.
She is housebroken and knows her basic commands - and acts on them most of the time. (Except she won't come when she is distracted/excited)
I've heard that Rotts are still "puppies" til 2 or 3. Is that so? Yesterday we were playing and she was very excited and bit (nipped?) my thigh. This never happened before. When she gets excited she jumps and runs and does basic "puppy" things. But she is just so big (110 pounds!) Does this mean she is aggressive?
Usually she is the most loving dog toward people. Petting, licking, "leaning" you name it. Very gentle. So this surprised me.

Also, she doesn't seem to want to be social with most other dogs. Some she is very friendly with or even nonchalant towards. But some dogs she "fights" with. Both dogs are on leash and they growl, jump on and try to bite each other. Again, she is very gentle so this surprises me.

She has never growled at a person, but loud noises freak her out. She is very good toward older people, kids, handicapped (my mom is in a wheelchair).

I have tons more questions, but i'll leave it at that for now. We tried a classroom situation but it was overwhelming for her with 18 other dogs. She was on "guard" the whole time and we had to leave. We will have a private lesson this week.

ANY advice on ANY aspect of raising a Rott is needed/welcome. I'm in my 40's and neither my husband nor i have ever had a dog!!

[AngelBunny]

From no dog in the lives of either yourself or your husband, to a young Rottie girl! I'm sure you're feeling a bit overwhelmed.

First things, first--have you checked with your homeowners insurance company that the Rottie isn't on their list of banned breeds??

[robbievalentine]

No I haven't! See, these are the things I need to know! (Also, someone told me i'm supposed to brush her teeth!)

[tla0126]

I don't think the nipping was aggressive. She just might be mouthy and was never trained out of it. I've heard you can make a big deal out of it, and every time she nips you or puts her teeth on you, yell "OWW!" and then ignore them for a moment so they know that behavior isn't what you like.

Wow, 18 dogs in a training session, that's huge? I don't blame her for being overwhelmed. Good for you getting a private training session.

As for AngelBunny's mention of insurance, if you insurance doesn't cover it, I know for a fact that State Farm and Traveler's does, so it is an easy fix.

Good for you taking this sweet girl in. She sounds lovely and reading on these forums will be great for you and her. Soak up all the info you can, you're going to need it!!!

[harleychik66]

What a lucky girl to have you take her in!

It doesn't sound like agression at all, more like no one has ever trained her on what is acceptable and what isn't.

I agree that 18 dogs is far too many. You can't blame your girl for being on edge. You have no idea how much she was socialized before she found you. Many dogs don't get along well with strange dogs and she may be a dog that will never get along with other dogs. Your trainer will be able to work with you an how to address that situation. Just because she is not dog friendly doesn't mean she isn't people friendly.

It sounds like she is a wonderful girl in need of training. You are taking the the right direction with this.

I realize that you must feel completely overwhelmed with everything , but just take it one step at a time.

As far as the teeth, the next time you take her to the vet, discuss this with your vet. They will show you how to do it and set you up with the toothpaste you need-do not use human toothpaste- there is special toothpaste for dogs.

As TLA said in regards to insurance, I have State Farm and they have no problems with rotties and they are very reasonable with their rates.

This site has so much information. Just keep reading the forums and asking questions.
You are a wonderful person for taking this sweet girl in and becoming a responsible and informed owner.

Keep us posted on how everthing is going.

[sweetlee]

Oh wow. I bet you are overwhelmed.
I would not take my guy to a class with 18 other dogs either.
After some private training, and getting a pretty good handle on the basics I would still recommend a group class. It's good for them to be around other dogs for distractions, and to make them focus on you. I would just find a much smaller group.
As far as the nip you received, I bet the dog was just really worked up and actually nipping is play behavior for dogs, watch them play with each other and they nip and mouth all the time.
She just probably hasn't been taught not to lay teeth on people.
Stick around, you will learn lots.
I am glad you took this girl in, and you won't regret it once she is trained. The difference between a trained dog and an untrained dog is unbelievable.
Keep us posted.

Sharon

[amontague]

In addition to the wonderful advice already given, the answer to your question about Rotts staying puppies until they are 2 or 3 years old, the answer is yes. My rescue boy came home with me at 17 months. He is now 3 and a half and he really has only shown a full adult attitude the majority of the time in the past few months. He still has his "puppy" moments, and I love them! It sounds like you're doing the right things for your girl, and with some training she will become a wonderful member of your family!

[robbievalentine]

thank you all SO MUCH! I'll be reading all of the other posts and learning as much as i can. Please keep the info coming if you have anything else to add!

[AngelBunny]

While all the forums here are chock full of info, perhaps the most useful to you right off the bat might be the postings in Rescue, Training, and those here in Behavior.

I'm assuming your vet scanned her for a chip?

[robbievalentine]

yes, no chip nor tags. just a pinch collar and a beautiful doggie!

[fostermom]

Originally Posted by robbievalentine

Also, she doesn't seem to want to be social with most other dogs. Some she is very friendly with or even nonchalant towards. But some dogs she "fights" with. Both dogs are on leash and they growl, jump on and try to bite each other. Again, she is very gentle so this surprises me.

Some dogs are leash aggressive, fine off leash, but defensive on leash, so that's a possibility. Also, what was the demeanor of the dogs on leash that she had problems with? In other words, who started it??? She may be reacting to something they're doing. What was the sex of the other dogs...some dogs are same sex aggressive, particularly females. She may never be able to be social with all dogs...ultimately you may find a few dogs she's fine with and be able to socialize with those...nothing wrong with that either as that would apply to a lot of dogs. You may be able to teach her to focus on you around other dogs to improve her behavior though.
If you know that she gets so wound up when playing that she starts nipping, you might want to end play when you see her getting too reved up.
She sounds like a very nice girl...good for you for taking her to obedience classes, and thank you for rescuing her. Best of luck.

[Cherry Heart]

I wanted to add the dogs she "fights with" what exactly is happening? Arwen is fine with most dogs, doesn't pay much attention. There are some dogs she raises hackles and will low growl at (some females, or a male trying to mount her). Then there are the dogs she looks like she is "fighting" with. In fact she is playing. Your average dog owner thinks a Rottweiler is aggressive by nature and is already on edge. When my dog barks and pounces they freak out and think she is trying to eat their dog (we don't allow her to play with other dogs except my fathers for this reason).

Rottweilers play hard. Arwen will bow down her front legs, I can clearly see her nub wagging, her hackles are down and I know these to be the same things she does when playing at home with a toy, or with me and DH. She will bark, pounce, nip, grumble. It sounds like an all out brawl when she is having a really good time. Hopefully your trainer has some experience with Rottweilers and can watch your dog interact and see if maybe this is the case. We don't see her lack of interaction with other dogs as a problem. We play with her and give her lots of excersize, are involved with training and dog sports so she isn't really "missing" anything.

Good luck with your private training sessions, you made a good choice as it sounds like your class was WAY to full.

[robbievalentine]

it seems like a lot of what you describe... but then sometimes she'll bite at the other dog. just happened the other day and the other owner was very very upset.
i agree that people do freak out about rotts! but sometimes it looks aggressive... but what do i know??? (NOTHING!)

[webangel2b]

Your trainer will help you a lot. Good work on that, and don't be afraid to change them up if you're not getting the knowledge and help you need.

I just had to comment on her following you home, I'm so happy for you.

Rotts love their people and are happiest in the house with you at all times. Rotts are characters, Dixie is 4 and still has plenty of puppy in her. Best of luck to you and your new friend, don't know what I would do without mine.

[natesmom14]

Congrats on your new girl!

Our Nikki was 18 mos. old when we rescued her as well. We were new to Rotties as well and this forum was a lifesaver!!!

Nikki was a huge pain in the neck when it came to other dogs (besides our Daisy who already lived in the house when we brought Nikki home- she was great with her). It didn't matter what size, shape or sex the dog was, she barked and lunged at them- even if they were on the opposite side of the big main road in our neighborhood!

I apologize that I can't remember exactly step by step what we had to do in regards to training her- but I do remember LOTS of positive praise and treats to reinforce the behavior we wanted from her- it started just with trying to get her to keep walking and pretty much ignoring dogs on the whole opposite side of the road- to progressing to her nicely sitting when another dog passed us by on the same sidewalk! She now has no problems in that regard and we can even take her to PetSmart where she will virtually ignore the other dogs- or at worst if they are close by she will sniff, etc. and that's about it. She doesn't even pull at the leash to get to the other dogs let alone bark at them.

It didn't take more than a couple months to really get her behaving well in that regard (Nikki is VERY treat/food motivated and learned QUICKLY- LOL!)- though it did take time and effort on our part- but it was SO worth it!!

Good luck and congratulations on your new girl!!!