Biased Rottie??

[Imre0538]

I have my male rottweiler in his first obedience class now. He is currently 10 months old ( I know it's VERY late but I am his second owner and I had to wait on my trainers next class to start)
However, he is doing well with the basic commands, sit, down, stay, and heel.
He has a BIG problem with distractions..........
example #1: If doing distraction work and another dog in the class is walking down the line (to encourage no sniffing, aggression, etc.) If that dog is to start acting out, as in fighting the lead, refusing to do the command, etc. HE in turn starts acting out as if the dog is threatening him........this also occurs during heels excersises too.
example #2: He seems to have a particular problem with GSD's. There is an intact male GSD in the class and he seems to be fine when the dog is about 3 feet or more away from him but once the dog enters his "cubicle" all bets are off, he goes after this GROWN GSD with an almost venemous hatred.......... despite PINCH collar corrections.......I took him to work with me and dogs are frequent passerbys he has no problem with them, GSD female walks by and he is about to break his cage down..........
WHAT IS THIS?? Can dogs tell the difference between breeds?? I don't know what else to do the trainer advises me to switch to corrections with a chokechain and I did but he continually does this in every class and its getting real old, real fast.......and it's not like I can work with him on this because I don't even know someone that owns a GSD....What to do? What to do?

[debbiej]

I hesitate to answer because I am just getting a handle on this kind of behavior from my dog, and barely feel experienced enough to offer advice, but here are a few things that helped me. I adopted my dog as an untrained young adult.

my dog was not paying any attention to me when we were around other dogs. you cannot get anywhere with a dog that won't pay attention.

the more worked up he got, the less confident I felt, the more anxious I became, the more he got worked up, sensing there really was a threat in the situation.

so, here is what has worked (so far) for me.
part of everyday training is teaching "watch me" commands with praise and treats. this alone (probably) won't work in a situation with distractions, but the dog needs to know what it means to give you his attention. Everyday practice manners and obedience training--in every area of life. dogs think it is a great way to spend time with you, and they learn the basic things they will be doing in class.

doing what Judi W called warm ups before class, walking to the area, have dog heel a few steps then sit, few more steps then sit. continue until dog is calm and paying attention.

make sure your dog knows that you will not tolerate him acting aggressive to other dogs. I used to try to figure out why he did it. finally it sunk in that it doesn't matter why he does it. his intent is irrelevant. He just can't do it.

ok, so my dog knew how to heel, sit, stay, give attention but the minute he saw another dog-bingo, radar on, I ceased to exist. he ignored me. he is a strong dog, and scared people.

I thought I knew how to use a prong collar, when in fact, I had it too loose. it slipped down on his neck and obviously gave no correction at all. I knew how to correct properly, but it had no affect on him--he just ignored the correction. so, on good advice, I took out a link, and it was tight, tighter than I would have thought it should be. the first time he started visually locking in on a dog in class, I gave him a pop, and he yelped, looked at me and I had his attention. He had never yipped with a correction before, I'd only been nagging him. now I never have to 'nag pop', even a small pop corrects and changes behavior. I find he is needing very few corrections. I am now able to get his attention and use rewards way more effectively because he is paying attention to me.

So are you able to give your boy effective correction for behavior you won't tolerate? I am not advocating a prong for your dog, I don't know your dog. but effective correction is a must.

[Mochasmom]

Originally Posted by Imre0538

I am currently paying $200 for a 4 week course- meeting twice a week, individual sessions included per request.........but like J.B. says, you get what you pay for, and I have been completely satisfied and impressing with my female (trained by him) for 1.5 years now

Does your trainer not have any advice other than changing his collar?

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by Imre0538

I have my male rottweiler in his first obedience class now. He is currently 10 months old ( I know it's VERY late but I am his second owner and I had to wait on my trainers next class to start)
However, he is doing well with the basic commands, sit, down, stay, and heel.
He has a BIG problem with distractions..........
example #1: If doing distraction work and another dog in the class is walking down the line (to encourage no sniffing, aggression, etc.) If that dog is to start acting out, as in fighting the lead, refusing to do the command, etc. HE in turn starts acting out as if the dog is threatening him........this also occurs during heels excersises too.
example #2: He seems to have a particular problem with GSD's. There is an intact male GSD in the class and he seems to be fine when the dog is about 3 feet or more away from him but once the dog enters his "cubicle" all bets are off, he goes after this GROWN GSD with an almost venemous hatred.......... despite PINCH collar corrections.......I took him to work with me and dogs are frequent passerbys he has no problem with them, GSD female walks by and he is about to break his cage down..........
WHAT IS THIS?? Can dogs tell the difference between breeds?? I don't know what else to do the trainer advises me to switch to corrections with a chokechain and I did but he continually does this in every class and its getting real old, real fast.......and it's not like I can work with him on this because I don't even know someone that owns a GSD....What to do? What to do?

Talk to your trainer about backing up in your training. Ask him/her to help you with attention exercises, teach you how to work your dog in drive more so that he is charged up on you, and paying attention to you, rather than the distractions around him.

It will probably take a lot more work at home, and in quieter environments, and perhaps allowing distractions to be a bit more distant from him, so that you can correct him - or better yet - allow him to succeed with obeying your command, before he's all keyed up.

My oldest boy does have a propensity to pay attention to male rotties and other big black dogs more than others... likely because they're the ones that will posture at him at shows, etc...but in the end, this is a training issue, or lack thereof.

There's no shame in backing up and slowing down the training process, because in the end, the fundamental understanding that your dog has is the most important issue. Generalizing the training, and proofing the behaviors all go hand in hand, but he must be able to handle the distractions in order to do this, which is why I suggested the distractions be a little further away from him - if he's only having success at home, and class sucks for him, it's going to be harder for both of you to learn what you need to.

As well, keep him far away from the GSD and it's owner... neither one of you will get your money's worth out of the class if you're constantly hassling with your dogs. In addition, make sure that your pinch is fitted properly, and your corrections are issued fairly and properly when they are needed. It's only a correction if it extinguishes the behavior, otherwise it's just nagging.

Good luck.

[Imre0538]

Originally Posted by debbiej

So are you able to give your boy effective correction for behavior you won't tolerate? I am not advocating a prong for your dog, I don't know your dog. but effective correction is a must.

I had him on a prong collar; and even with STRONG corrections with a prong collar he still went after the dog......that is why the trainer told me to switch to a choke chain in the proper position so that way if he continued in his pursuit he would recieve pressure and cut off his own air supply so he had no choice but to relent........It's only with the
GSD and I don't even know how he differenciates between breeds but it is only GSD's and male or female doesn't matter.

[Imre0538]

Originally Posted by Mochasmom

Does your trainer not have any advice other than changing his collar?

There is nothing else to do really......other than to change the collar and now doing more distraction work during class focusing on the GSD........there is nothing else to do, I cannot work on it at home.........and I don't want him to take him back to his kennels with him.

[justin]

Have you ever done a walk where you constantly change directions? It is ment to get your dog to keep his eyes on you when he is walking so he dont pull on his leash. This may be a good time to walk off and change his attention from this other dog to you. He wont want to go buty ou will have to be firm I know he is strong. I am not sure this is the answer but I did this to both my rotties and never had a problem with them and another dog. He will learn to keep his attention on you not everything elsa. Ask your trainer if they think this may help. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Imre0538]

Originally Posted by justin

Have you ever done a walk where you constantly change directions? It is ment to get your dog to keep his eyes on you when he is walking so he dont pull on his leash. This may be a good time to walk off and change his attention from this other dog to you. He wont want to go buty ou will have to be firm I know he is strong. I am not sure this is the answer but I did this to both my rotties and never had a problem with them and another dog. He will learn to keep his attention on you not everything elsa. Ask your trainer if they think this may help. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

while working the heel, yes, I do do this and just change directions, also when he is sitting, or on a down if he is paying too much attention to something else I take off in a heel. It is while working the down/stay or sit/stay while say you were trying to have a conversation with someone else that has a dog, or while in a vet clinic and he is supposed to be sitting at your side, during this distraction work is when the GSD is the closest to him, in his "cubicle" and when he acts out, he is getting better though, i am happy to report.....however now he stiffens up when another dog walks past, but baby steps i suppose.

[justin]

If he is 10 months old he is a little set in his ways, he will be bull headed but it sounds like you are making head way. Keep it up and good luck.

[Alfonso]

No doubt that dogs can tell breads apart, my rottie HATES Cairn terriers, han can spot them from a far distance and acts like he's crazy when he sees one. We've tried to work on this because it's a very common breed where we live. He was attacked by a male cairn when he was young and that's why he hate them. My rottie is very used to small dogs, and now, with a LOT of training he like the female cairns, but the male, I'm still sure that if he ever get a hold of one he'll take him! It's a big problem for us, but we've learned to see the signals from him...

[ElsasFamily]

I'm dealing with this problem also. My girl hates GSG . We have 4 in our neighborhood. The owner of two of them takes their dogs right by our house to use as a toilet several times a day. When she smells them coming she acts like a total fool. Barking and whining. I've been working on the "no bark" command. It has helped to some degree, but I think it will need to take a while. For Elsa there is just something about this breed. She has yet to meet a GSD that she likes. Oh wait I'll take that back, there is an all white one that she is good with. I forget that one is a GSD because she is completely white. But point is they can tell the difference between breeds. We just need to work on them obeying us and ignoring their own intentions.

Good luck, there some good advice here. I'll be using some of it myself.
~Kim