Aggressive Behaviour

[Louise123]

My Rotti, Diesel, is a 2 year old male who perceives everything that we drive by or anyone walking by our house as a threat. When I walk him anyone coming near us seems to make him behave aggressively (crouches low and appears to stalk). He hasn't tried to lunge at anyone but I'm afraid he might. He was well socialized as a puppy and went to obedience classes and he gets along well with other dogs if they are not dominant with him and just want to play. It's mainly people coming too close around us on especially if on bikes or if they are moving fast. Also if anyone comes up to the house or vehicle he starts barking and growling and won't listen to any commands. At any other time his obedience is great, only when someone or something comes too close will he ignore me and take his own initiative. I'm wondering if he is trying to be over protective of me or doesn't feel that I'm dominant over him and therefore doesn't need to listen to my commands. Any ideas or tips in training would be a help. Thanks

[Sargeant_C]

Have a CTJ meeting with him.

Is he left alone outside at all?

Is he in training?

What about his parents how were they? Titles or BYB or petshop?

Let him know that under no circumstances will you tolerate this. Be consistent at this.

[debbiej]

you have probably identified the problem when you say he dosen't think he needs to listen to your commands. Do you still socialize him? I adopted a female that did this when I first got her, she was a real embarassment. you want to take the dog where it will see lots of people. take him everywhere with you that is possible. Start by keeping a distance from people, and when you see him start to show too much interest in a person, tell him in no uncertain terms to knock it off. change directions, Strongly correct when he goes off on people. gradually get closer to people as he becomes less reactive. If he gets lots of exposure to many people and positive situations, treats and praise for remaining calm and meaningful correction when he isn't, he should learn better manners.

[Louise123]

Hi,
Thanks for your response. Yes, Diesel is now starting back in training. We did stop for a while after the obedience classes ended and just worked him on our own. Like I said, his obedience is great when we work him alone or even if other dogs/people are around as long as they are far enough away. Now we are working with a trainer, however, it is private sessions and I'm wondering if we should get in with a group as well. Diesel is the 4th Rotti we have had in the past 20 years and he is without a doubt the most extreme! He is the most affectionate, most playful, & most aggressive dog we have had. He also had a high prey drive, goes nuts when he sees cats, squirrels, etc. He gets lots of exercise, usually 3 walks a day. I take him once a day to walk the dyke along the river here where it is very wide and you can see far ahead. I let him off leash to have a good run and he always listens to me and comes when I call him. We don't usually meet very many people so maybe I'm not getting him socialized enough anymore. We did more of that when he was a puppy but not much now. The other walks are in our neighbourhood and again we don't run into too many people.

The other issue is when someone comes to the house, he barks and growls and I'm worried when my daughter has her teenage friends come over, so, Diesel gets locked in the garage. I have never had that problem before, our other Rotti's have always been fine with visitors. They may have barked or growled at the sound of the doorbell but, they have taken their cue from us and if we have been freindly with someone they have been too! Any suggestions on this problem?
Thanks

[Tracyd]

What actually happens when someone comes in your house that is greeted by you or a family member as a friend? Is he all talk and no action, or do you have to put him up because he may bite?
Our Cannon has aggression issues, mainly fear. We are in the same situation as far as not seeing many people in the neighborhood or on walks. Over the holidays we had many family members and friends coming in and out over the course of two weeks. I was pleasantly surprised that although Cannon barked and growled, he was all wiggles when he saw us give happy hellos and welcome people in.
I would say the safest bet is to just put him up when your daughter has friends over. Why risk it? Giggly teenage girls may make him nervous.
This is also our first aggressive Rott, and have had many sweeties come before him. I have learned to never let my guard down with this guy. He also has a high prey drive, cars, squirrels,etc.
I am learning to live with Cannon, he's just wired wrong, but he's manageable.
How is it going with the private lessons? Does he want to eat the trainer, or does he respond well?

[Louise123]

Hi
Diesel seems better with adults than kids or teenagers and I don't understand why he is like that. I just don't feel comfortable so I don't take chances and he is put into the garage when people are visiting especially teenagers!

He so far is fine with the trainer, seems to like him okay, and the last session went really well. The trainer was impressed with him as far as the obedience was concerned, but, there again it was just us there and no other dogs or people. As with you I have not had a Rotti before that was like this (our past Rotti's were all pretty friendly) and it's disconcerting to me to have to deal with this. When it is just the family together at home he is so much fun and such a character. He is very affectionate and always wants to be touching. I'm wondering if he has some insecurity issues and he is like this out of fear.

Thanks

[Sargeant_C]

Try having someone you know in a park or somewhere far away from you and then walk the dog past them. Say 40 feet away. Then if no reaction try 30 then 20 then 10 then 5 then 4 then 3 you get the pic. Slowly do this and praise when the dog does not react at all. When the dog does react give the no command such as AHH AHH and keep working to reach that distance.

If you do not have him around other people you will never be able to have him out and about. This is called desensitizing and you work slowly at it.

[frontierrots]

Rottweilers are a breed that socializing as a puppy is not enough. They have to e exposed to whatever you want them good around and socialized for life or they backslide

Have a good talk with the trainer about maybe meeting them in the real world and working with him under those sitations. Around here there's a place that does that and they call the class roaming rover. They meet in different places in town each week

[Louise123]

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by a CTJ meeting. Diesel is never left alone outside in our yard. We have started training again and seems to be going well. When I walk him I put suggestions from the trainer in use, I am only just starting this so I haven't seen any real improvement yet.
We got to see both parents from the breeder. Both parents have their championship papers and were well behaved when we visited them. Not overly friendly, but certainly we detected nothing to indicate any aggressive
behavior. We recently met some people while walking Diesel that also have an 18 month old male from the same breeder (same mother...different father). This dog is super friendly. So I suppose just like people they each have their own distinctive personality. When I questioned them on their socializing and training it appears that they haven't done anything much different than we have!
We are going to try your suggestion of having someone in the park and we'll see how this works. I realize that it will take a fair amount of repetition and consistancy. The other problem is when we are driving he barks and growls lik crazy when someone is too close (generally that means anyone on the sidewalk) or if we pass a bycicle or motorbike.

[BigBark]

Originally Posted by Louise123

Sorry, I don't know what you mean by a CTJ meeting.

ComeToJesus meeting! To get in his face! Let him know who's running the show! That's what Sargeant C means by a CTJ meeting.

Sometimes our wonderful dogs need a little tough love. I don't know enough about your boy to know if that is what he needs now. But if you haven't had to have one with him, at 2 years old it seems like he may be due for one!

[Louise123]

OK Thanks! Yes, I think we are due for a CTJ meeting. The last time I corrected him he growled at me so I told him "NO" very firmly and made him go into the down position. He listened to me and was much better after that. We have a session booked with the trainer this weekend so I'm going to bring up this issue of him trying to be boss over me!