Hire Personal Trainer Now?

[LakeLover]

We are at our wits end. Our 19 month old neutered male is bullying us by jumping and snapping at us SEVERAL times a day now. We adopted him not even two weeks ago, and have been working extensively to enforce our house and social rules of behavior. We are feeding him last, walking in and out of doors first, consistently and firmly correcting him, etc. We have been taking him out on several 1/2 to 3/4 hour walks a day. We play "fetch" with him indoors with a tennis ball, too, for some mental stimulation. Nothing, though, seems to be helping.

We have four children (as did the family who had him before), and this is getting VERY FRUSTRATING. We read about the breed before we picked him up from the shelter, and we've had a dog before. We knew he'd have some behavioral issues. All dogs do, but this is unbelievable! He's been trying to steal food, eat EVERYTHING, jump on us, mouth us, etc. from day one. And it's not as if he never gets any attention. He does!

So. We start group training on March 4. At this point, I almost can't imagine making it to that point. I can deal with the general poor behavior like begging, etc. but the jumping and mouthing is REALLY out of control. When we try crossing our arms and turning or walking away as someone suggested, he just bites the back of us or goes for our feet. He doesn't stop when we ignore him. I finally end up having to try to reach for the leash (which we leave on to grab him when we have to -- although he now grabs that and whips it around at us), WHILE he is snapping and thrashing about I correct him, putting him into a down stay for a few minutes. I have to stand on the leash and then PRAY that he won't just jump up and do it again.

If we make an appointment to have a personal trainer come out for advice, do you think that would help? Will it confuse the dog later if the advice/commands are different from those tought in the group lessons?

Can anyone think of anything else to do? Yesterday I put him in the crate after the third snapping episode. I was the one who needed the time out. ;)

How long a haul do you think this will be?

[WorkinDogz]

It's really difficult to "read into" your post.

There are many times when the lack of MANNERS will surface in a playful way (manners his former family never bother to teach him.....or if he was never IN a real family situation like he is now...and by that I mean living in the house etc.) and there is "aggression".

YES; there are issues. YES they need to be addressed. NO; I wouldn't venture to say "do this or do that" because I sure don't know in what manner he's doing these things.

The one thing I would strongly advise is to have an evaluation done of his temperament.

The fact that he "had kids" before will NOT mean that your kids are going to be accepted.

Your other post indicates to me that he does show displeasure with "rough" games kids play......and he *could* act on his displeasure.

IMHO his drives become elevated with the activity......that doesn't mean he was showing "protectiveness" of your son or anyone else. Just means that type of activity turns the volume up a bit for him.

Watch that very, very closely.

I sure do wish you the best...

[Soapie&Buddy'sMom]

You might have posted this before, but do you know why the former family gave him up?

I haven't been in quite your situation, but I do have a dog with some major issues. However, I got him at nine months, and he never did what you are describing ---

"but the jumping and mouthing is REALLY out of control. When we try crossing our arms and turning or walking away as someone suggested, he just bites the back of us or goes for our feet. He doesn't stop when we ignore him. I finally end up having to try to reach for the leash (which we leave on to grab him when we have to -- although he now grabs that and whips it around at us), WHILE he is snapping and thrashing about I correct him, putting him into a down stay for a few minutes. I have to stand on the leash and then PRAY that he won't just jump up and do it again. "

I would definitely get a personal trainer, ASAP, in fact this weekend if possible, and have them demonstrate to you what you need to do to correct this guy. He sounds like he has no manners whatsoever. And I don't think it's a matter of how much attention he's getting the rest of the day - he needs to learn that this jumping and mouthing is unacceptable whether he gets a million walks a day, or spends most of the day in his crate.

My experience with a personal trainer for Buddy has been invaluable. She taught me how to train him how to walk next to me on the leash, something I never could figure out on my own.
I also learned from her that I have accidentally trained certain behaviors in Buddy. :(

[TrishB]

One of the things you can try is 'ground tying' him. Always have him on the leash when in the house. Loop the leash through the handle and place it around your waist. That way he doesn't have the opportunity to get too far or out of your control.

When he jumps up, correct him and put him into a down/stay. While you're doing this, stand on the leash (you might want to be wearing solid soled slippers, especially if it's a thin leash). Give him enough slack so that he's comfortable when he's in the down/stay but will be restricted from being able to get up.

The advantage to this is two fold:

1) Your entire weight is on the leash, so it will be difficult for him to budge you.
2) When he pulls, he won't see a reaction from you (keep your hands crossed, don't react).

Only when he settles does he get the "Good Down/Stay!" in a happy voice and a treat. As long as he's struggling, no reaction. He'll learn that the only 'good' thing is the down/stay. This technique uses very little 'negative' training and only reacts to positive acts.

I would recommend calling your trainer. The vast majority will be only too happy to help you. Many will even come over to your house to take an assessment and to give you some tips of how to deal with his behaviour. They may even have another class that may be earlier / more appropriate.

There are many other techniques that may help.

Good luck!

[LakeLover]

Thanks again. As always, I respect your advice.

"The one thing I would strongly advise is to have an evaluation done of his temperament." by WorkinDogz

What is entailed as far as an evaluation goes? Do you think I should do this ASAP? I suppose it would definitely give some insight as to whether or not our particular family situation is right for this dog.

"You might have posted this before, but do you know why the former family gave him up?" by Soapie&Buddy'sMom

They had to move to military housing, and they don't allow Rottweilers. The only negative thing that thye had written was that he was "pesty." -- that's all, but they had it in quotation marks. The children were very young -- I think the oldest was 5, so I can't imagine he was included in all indoor activities. His kitchen behavior leads me to believe he might have been crated (although he cries and barks sometimes) or put outdoors. We don't have a fenced yard, but because we always intended to give him plenty of exercise, the shelter thought this was fine.

"I would recommend calling your trainer. The vast majority will be only too happy to help you. Many will even come over to your house to take an assessment and to give you some tips of how to deal with his behaviour. They may even have another class that may be earlier / more appropriate." by TrishB

Thanks, will do!

[LORHEL]

It sounds like your new boy may have a high prey drive.

You definitely need to have him evaluated asap by a professional. It doesn't seem he has been taught good manners and had enough time spent with him. Especially if they crated him, or he was outside alone alot, its hard to say. A temperament test will be a big help.

I am sure you are going to go through a period of adjustment. You have an almost two year old dog, who has been in one environment with a family, living a certain lifestyle (sounds like maybe not the best) and is now going into another enviroment. Anytime, you do that, there is going to be an adjustment period. But that is not to excuse what is going on with his behavior.

Maybe a private trainer would be good for those issues. When he is temperament tested/evaluated, talk to that person, ask him what would be the best thing for this boy right now, being in a obedience class, group setting, or does he need one on one training with you guys at home, so you can work directly with him on these problems....whatever they think is best...

Good luck, keep us posted.











:)

[Judi W]

When talking to the trainer, make sure you give "full disclosure". Remember this is not just the interaction with you in the family and the episode at the bus stop. This is the dog who threatened the neighbor lady and the contractor as well. No, this is not just prey drive. It sounds as if he needs some real training and perhaps believes that he was invited into the home to run things. I know he has virtues or you would not be working with him as you are, and you don't want those virtues to become buried under the "taking over" that he is attempting.

Before having the trainer over for an evaluation, make a list and some notes so you don't forget anything important. Not just notes of his misbehavior, but also of where he does well. (you might need to think of those for a while as he appears to be escalating in his bad behavior). The trainer needs to know how he responds to corrections and praise as well.

It would be irresponsible for one of us to advise much in the way of correction without a hands-on evaluation of the dog, that is why the recommendation that you get someone experienced over sooner rather than later. You don't have enough knowledge of this boy to go very far in that respect without the possibility of it backfiring. I suggest that you keep things calm when he is out and that any discipline be done very calmly. If that is not possible, then yes, pop him in the crate rather than him having even more experience of bullying misbehavior.

The other thing that is most critical is that you not look for excuses for him showing aggression. (the old lady "smelled funny", the contractor wore a hat, he was being a good dog by wanting to protect your son......) and don't allow other people to promote that idea either. He was doing all this on his own decisions, not respecting your direction. If you secretely believe he was doing the right thing, and then don't want him making his own decisions within the family, you are giving him mixed messages as to your expectations - and not messages designed for safe living with a large dog such as a Rottweiler. So you need to mentally decide who is going to be the leader. That is half the battle.