Im afraid of my rottie...

[domez]

My boyfriend and I have a 4 month old rottie boy called Igor. Generally hes good. Hes learning. He sits, stays, lays, hi fives on command.

My biggest concern is his aggresiveness towards me... Its happened about 6 times now. The first time he was protecting food whilst I was cleaning up around him so I understood why... but all the other occasions he has been aggresive to me have been for reasons I just cant fathom.

For example today I was stroking his belly and he was very calm and was enjoying the affection. Then totally out of the blue he changes, he snapped, snarled and went to nip me in the face. He deffinately was NOT playing.

The time before that he was outside recieving attention from my boyfriends father i went to join them and he went for me again, really aggressive... i shouted him told him no, and suggested that he was ignored and not given any attention for at least 10 minutes... later i returned with ham, ready to do some training. He responed well to the training of course because of the tasty treats but as soon as the trainging was finished and i went to pet him he turned on me again...

I just can't figure out what I am doing wrong? or why he is like this with me...

I have an idea its a dominance issue, and my family believe its becasue i am afraid of him that he has no respect for me...

I feed him, i walk him, I play with him, I train him, I give him affection, im never rough, or agressive to him in anyway apart from vocally telling him off when he is aggresive to me.

Some people have advised I need to show NO FEAR and be more firm, okay but I can only show no fear when I have none...

Can anyone offer me any advice please, because i must be doing something wrong i just dont know how to rectify this.

[Obelix]

[QUOTE=domez;927196]My boyfriend and

I have a 4 month old rottie boy

That still a puppy

My biggest concern is his aggresiveness towards me...

Its happened about 6 times now.

That is five times too many.


.

Then totally out of the blue he changes, he snapped, snarled and went to nip me in the face. He deffinately was NOT playing.

A firm correction (CTJ meeting can do some good at this point.

The time before that he was outside recieving attention from my boyfriends father i went to join them and he went for me again, really aggressive... i shouted him told him no, and suggested that he was ignored and not given any attention for at least 10 minutes... later i returned with ham, ready to do some training. He responed well to the training of course because of the tasty treats but as soon as the trainging was finished and i went to pet him he turned on me again..
.

put this pup on NILIF.

.

I have an idea its a dominance issue

,
I believe you are right.

its becasue i am afraid of him that he has no respect for me...

This four month old is in charge and running the show.

Some people have advised I need to show NO FEAR and be more firm, okay but I can only show no fear when I have none

..
If you are afraid of your own dog, something is absolutely wrong.Find a traier or behaviourist who can help you to sort out things..

[mftrider]

I agree with Obelix. You definitely need to do something as of yesterday.
Just imagine your rottie as a full grown dog, weighing 90-120 pounds and doing the same type of behavior towards you, you'd be in big trouble.
Get the help of a qualified trainer, one who has experience with rotties or the like, and one who can work with you, before things get worse than they already are.
Definitely use the NILIF methods and be firm.

[Tyler31]

I have never hear a 4 month old dog snarl, In one of Cesar's books he says to hold the dog down gently with one hand on its neck region and the other controlling the body. It has been working for my 3 month old so far.

[bdragonladyt]

my husband has had 2 rotties before vic. when we got vic he told me to not show any fear(my 1st big dog) and DO NOT let him get one up on me. i HAD to show him i was in charge..not him. we got him at 14 wks. it has worked . he did something that made me mad. as i walked in the kitchen he backed up so far that he nearly crawled on top his dog dish. now i never hurt or beat the dog, just too clarify. lol what we do notice is...if he's reprimanded by "pop"...its like ..hang his head..i got in trouble. if i do it...its like...mom...mom...she was mad at me...life cant go on. lol he's loves me to death and does not like making me "mad". in fun my hus. says were are pathetic. please listen to obelix and anyone else with alot more experience that posts. most people here have had rotties for a long time and no what they are talking abt. :)

[chrisnmilly09]

have u always been afraid of dogs if so then he might see u as the weak link in the chain, or did it just start with this dog and how did u become afraid of him what happened

if i was u i would get a trainer to train ure dog and help u out with issues like how be mor dominate as it sounds u lak it if i was u i will get some help as this could become a big problem as he gets older so keep us informed.

[vale]

Originally Posted by Tyler31

I have never hear a 4 month old dog snarl, In one of Cesar's books he says to hold the dog down gently with one hand on its neck region and the other controlling the body. It has been working for my 3 month old so far.

Please do NOT follow this advice. Chances are your puppy will get even more angry and aggressive towards you.

I'm sure other people will come and reply to your post, but if you want something to start with (besides looking up NILIF), search the forums for "resource guarding".

Something sounds weird with this puppy. Is he just acting like this with you? If you walk, play and train him, he shouldn't be acting like this.

[moz205]

Originally Posted by Tyler31

I have never hear a 4 month old dog snarl, In one of Cesar's books he says to hold the dog down gently with one hand on its neck region and the other controlling the body. It has been working for my 3 month old so far.

Absolutely, do not follow this advice! Your dog will feel the need to defend himself from you and can/will become more aggressive. Cesar is using outdated methods of "training". You want your dog to respect you, not be afraid of you. Get yourself a trainer who uses positive training.

[Obelix]

[QUOTE=Tyler31;927210]

I have never hear a 4 month old dog snarl, In one of Cesar's books he says to hold the dog down gently with one hand on its neck region and the other controlling the body. It has been working for my 3 month old so far.

This is not what i wanted to say.
It is an outdated method and even dangerous to try with this dog at this moment.


Just start with NILIF and a behaviourist to sort out what is going wrong.
Do not use force at this moment because the dog will not accept it from you.

[harleychik66]

This may sound harsh and it's really not meant to, I just don't understand.

A four month old puppy and your are afraid of it? When he snaps is he leashed so you can issue a correction?.....and no the old alpha roll, just don't do it. Bad recommendation.

While I can understand respecting any dog because let's be honest, they all have teeth and the potential to bite, being scared is a totally different matter.

I have never been afraid of any dog that comes into my house. Actions speak louder than words. A no nonsense attitude is a must with this breed. If this little pup knows at only four months old that he can push you around, you are in for a long hard road.

I commend you on looking into yourself and admitting your fear, now to get past it. My stance....if a dog wants to challenge me that's fine, but the dog will not walk away the victor. I do not beat, yell or holler at them. I run the show fairly and non of this crap is tolerated. Maybe that's why I've never had issues like you.

You work on training...good.

Now put his little butt into boot camp and make him work for every single thing he gets. From a pet, to feeding, to walking.

Not sure how common dog trainers are in Greece or obedience classes are but I would get the two of you enrolled in classes ASAP.

[Moosemom]

Sorry guys, I'm a Cesar fan-I think outdated is beating a dog, hollering, scaring him, etc. and I don't see this in any of Cesar's teachings-just one opinion kinda like nubs or tails.....

[vale]

Originally Posted by Moosemom

Sorry guys, I'm a Cesar fan-I think outdated is beating a dog, hollering, scaring him, etc. and I don't see this in any of Cesar's teachings-just one opinion kinda like nubs or tails.....

Well, what about forcing the dog to the floor to "show him that you're the alpha"? How is that considered a good method to teach your puppy something, nowadays?

I do not think it's appropiate for such a dog as the OP's to practice this kind of "techniques", and I do believe that positive reinforcement would work much better in building a relationship between her and the puppy - a relationship that would include trust and respect (and I'm pretty sure that using Cesar's method here would NEVER make the dog respect nor trust her). In fact in her situation I tend to think that the puppy will only accumulate frustration and anger.

[whynotnaveen]

If you want ur dog to afraid on seeing you, then follow the outdated punishable training methods. If you want ur dog to love you, respect you & have strong bond with you then follow the positive reinforcing training methods.

Which place you are petting? Whether he feels any pain while petting? Does he allow any other family member to pet him?

Many people give so much room to the dogs by always caressing, petting & scratching their butts. In the wild all subordinate submissive dogs lick & praise the Alpha Dog. The Alpha dog never goes to any subordinate dog and lick their body or genitals. What I mean to tell is, if he obeys your commands then only u have to pet or scratch.

I am not telling this is the cause for his agression. But this may be one of the reasons.

[nashyboy]

Bond with your dog more often, i think this is the best way to gain his trust and respect, it might took weeks or even months but with each time you spent together you will learn things about him and understand his actions.

[domez]

Thanks everyone for your comments...

unfortunately on the island we live on there are no dog training schools, well there is one but there methods are out dated and believe that is a good idea to install fear into your dog... something we do not agree with, we want him to respect us not fear us.

A friend of ours is a dog trainer but lives in Athens, so its not possible to enroll him in to a school, or classes in corfu. The trainer has provided us with lots of tips, for posotive trainning, and came to visit us when our pup was about 2 months so show us basic training and trust exercises. I really hope he can come again next month becasue I fear that If I dont gain his respect now, it will get worse and I just wont be able to control him when he gets bigger.

I have no fear of dogs in general, and im only afraid because of hes been aggressive to me, he has very sharp teeth and if he got me good he could do me damage, plus i fear that if he can do that to me... who loves him, feeds, plays, trains etc, would he ever show this unpredictable behaviour with other people? Most times hes been aggressive iv had no warning from him so it totally takes me by suprise.

Hes been very well socialised from day one that we got him, and gets on great with other dogs and other people. Iv never seen him act like this towards anyone else other than me.

Im quite sure that the occasions in which hes been aggresive to me that iv not hurt him or been to rough in anyway. Infact the last time he did it he was calm and relaxed on the carpet and really enjoying his tummy being stroked... he has tickilish spots and when he really enjoys he stretches and his leg moves it like he is scratching him self... So im sure i wasnt causing any discomfort to him. He allows everyone to pet him and doesnt mind at all.

another occasion when he went for me was when he was in his bed and i was passing by with a small plastic bag full of rubbish... Some paper fell out the bag and i went to pick it up. He was simply laying in his bed... He wasnt sniffing the paper, and I wasnt disturbing him... as i picked the paper up he went to get up out of his bed and go for me...? Again i wasnt taking anything from him that he was interested in... so it was in my opinion un-provoked... i was talking to him so he knew i was there and I didnt scare him...

I dont want to use force and agree with the comments saying this could make him more aggresive... the times he has gone for me he hasnt been on a leash...

I totally understand he is only a baby, and its down to us to guide him and show him the right way to bahave... We are working on the leave command, which he isnt so hot on,if he takes something he runs off and chews it in a corner or under the table... and if we try to take it he growls at us... The trainer suggested he was afraid becuase in the past if hes taken something hes no allowed weve stood up straight away to take it from him and now he feels he has to protect what he wants. So now when he takes something instead of marching over and taking it, we pass by and drop a treat next to him then walk further and drop another treat on the floor, when he has the treat we take what we dont want him to have and re-direct him to a chew toy. so hopefully he wont feel the need to protect things... also when playing we have 2 or 3 toys and exchange with him one for the other which he does well... But he still hasnt mastered the leave command...

I hope that answer most of the questions you all asked. And again a big thank you for all the replys...

I will try to spend more time with him as im sure that will help build the realtionship between us... but in the back of my mind... I worry that he might just switch on me... this makes me feel very uncomfortable and Im sure he can sence that...

All the best to you all and any advice is appreciated.

X