Growling and Bearing his teeth!

[swelch]

We recently (this past Friday) got our first Rottweiler. A beautiful pup we named Bear. Last night we got to see a side of him that we were a little surprised to see. When he was picked up, or something was taken from him, he growled, more than a growl, more like snarled and showed his teeth at us. He did make a half hearted attempt to bite as well. It appeared that he had turned into Cujo. This is a 9 week old puppy that we are talking about.

Bear has exhibited nothing less than perfect manners up to this point. We did not back down and held him firmly while telling him NO, using the gruffest voice we could come up with. Like I said before, Rotties are new to us and everything we have read/researched talks about showing who is the Alpha dog etc. but, is this normal behavior? I have NEVER heard of a 9 week old puppy that displays this type of behavior. Is this aggression or was he just having a bad day. We met the mother when we got the puppy and she was one of the sweetest dogs I have met. We understand that he (Bear) is of German lineage. I had heard that Rotties of German lineage are more aggresive. I don't know if that is true or not. If anyone can give me suggestions on how to proceed from here, I would appreciate it.

[gparcels]

I had the same issue with my 9 week old female, and from talking to trainers, my vet, etc. it seems to be the norm with this breed. I had concerns when we first got her because my 6yr old male is so mellow he never demonstrated this behavior. We started at about 4months training her and just working with her every day as much as possible and she is improving greatly, however she is definately going to be the boss she is already at 6months of age dominating my 6yr old male Bear. I have a feeling this is why so many rotties wind up back in shelters because most people don't realize how difficult this breed can be. It takes some time an effort on your part but once you get over this stage I can't say enough good things about our breed. Good Luck.

[Dogfolks]

You are describing normal, untrained behavior. Training starts today, all day, every day in every interaction you have with your new puppy. Do not wait for puppy kindergarden to start your little boys education:D

The archives have a lot of info for you and buy at least the book "The complete Idiots guide to Rottweilers" by Beauchamp
ISBN#1-58245-041-2

Good luck and welcome to the Rotweiler "family"

[JonandMichelle]

You have a new puppy that needs to be taught what is acceptable behavior and what is not. You have to lay out the ground rules in your home. Remember, this is a new puppy that knows nothing. You must teach him. You are not alone in this. For the novice owner, these quite normal experiences can be quite scary and make one rethink ones motivation to aquire this breed. For example, my new puppy (Eiko) pulled this crap on me on the second day he was home. I gave Eiko his new puppy Nylabone. I went to take it away after a few minutes of him chewing on it. He did what you have just described. I held my ground and took it away while giving the correction. It took a few times working on this with him (I call it our "Coming to Jesus meetings"). Now, he gives up his bones (anything he has) with much joy now;)

IF I had not known about these behaviors, yes, I would have been all freaked out.

Being from a "German Bloodline" has nothing to do with more "aggressiveness." There are different temperament levels of dogs. Period. If one does not know what one is getting into with a certain puppy, Yes, this could be too much for the novice owner. This is why people MUST buy from Ethical breeders who conduct Temperament testings on their litters. Experienced breeders will know their lineage inside and out, and will know which pup is best suited for which home. Puppies have different levels of drives, dominance, ect.

I highly recommend you start researching our archives and buy plenty of good educational books about this breed.

I also suggest heavy socialization and early conditioning. Good luck and please don't be coned into myths about this breed.