Charging Woes

[JimmyDean]

Hello: I just signed up with your board after being referred to it by a friend. Lucky too, because I had an incident yesterday with Razer that scared the crap out of me.

While in the garage, with the garage door open, I had Razer off leash. I usually keep him tied on his chain (long, flexible) when we're outside because I don't want him wandering off (he loves to roam and sniff everything in sight). Since it was such a miserable day yesterday rain wise, and I wasn't going to be too long in the garage, I decided I'd let him be 'free'. Well, all of a sudden he darted out of the garage, started barking intensely and jumping up at the paper boy (some background--this kid delivers to our neighbors and then crosses our yard to get to the next one--Razer has never liked him and always goes crazy, barking and jumping at the window in the house when the kid crosses our yard) In fact, had I not yelled "NO!!"at him to stop, I'm not sure what he would have done to this kid. It looked to me like he was trying to nip at the kid's hand. The kid gave him a grouchy look, swung his hand at Razer to let go and walked away. I ran over to Razer, reprimanded him and then by the time I turned around, the kid was gone. I never had a chance to see where he went or if he was ok. I just couldn't believe it. Razer will be 2 in another month and he's 99.9999% friendly to everyone he sees. He is excitable though and will bark at people if we're outside. This always means the same thing though: hey, get over here, I want to see you and lick you. He simply thinks everyone is his friend. I guess this is why I was so floored when he wasn't friendly to this kid.

Please help, since I don't want to be accused of having a dangerous dog, especially when I know this is so out of character for him. Our neighborhood, being somewhat snotty, has already taken a negative view of my wife and I for having a rotty. I certainly don't want to confirm their ignorant views.

Thanks for the advice in advance.

JimmyD

[Justice]

JimmyDean, I am moving your Topic into our Training Forum, where I believe you will get a better response.

Justice

[JonandMichelle]

JimmyDean, this will probably sound a tad bit harsh, but it's YOUR responsibilty to have TOTAL control over your Rottweiler at ALL times. No matter what the intention is of your Rottweiler (whether it be a friendly gesture) he should NOT be charging people. A Rottweiler is a robust dog and can be quite scary for anyone to see it "charging." Again, no matter the dogs intentions.

In this case, I think you and your Rottie got off very easy and it was pure LUCK. You say your neighbors are already "snoby" towards you for your choice in dog breeds. Let's not give them any excuses to back up their uneducated thinking. It sounds to me (from reading between the lines), you do not have a fenced in yard. I am very against chaining any dog (whether it be a pull or chain or rope, anything) esp. a Rottweiler. To me, this just adds more training problems and can lead to more aggression.

My advise. Fence in your yard. Have your dog on lead at all times. Train your Rottweiler. Get involved in training classes and obedence classes. Socialize him more. He must be trained and know how to meet and greet people. I would also get some Rottie books. I think every Rottweiler owner must have "The Idiot's Guide to Rottweilers." Don't be offend by the title, it's an excellent book, filled with much information for the novice to the expert. Train in your yard. Let your neighbors SEE you training. There is nothing close to educating those who have bad ideas and wrong beliefs in our breed then SEEING a well behaved trained Rottweiler up close and personal. When they see your Rottweiler being a good citizen and see you being responsible, what can they say except, good job!! We as Rottweiler owners accept HUGE responsiblities when we made the choice on breeds. We are more so in the spot light. We MUST do our part in promoting good Rottweiler behavior in the public's eye. It starts with each and every individual Rottweiler owner.

[JimmyDean]

Again, the tie out is our only option to keep Razer safe and in our yard. Most of the time, we keep in the backyard vs. the front since the front has more activity. As already posted, a fence is not an option.

As for the barking, I TOTALLY agree. He must stop it. I have a deep voice and once I tell him, he stops the barking. However, it seems to go in one ear and out the other, because just as he sees someone else, he'll bark again. Again, another stern look and "NO" and all is better again. What am I doing wrong? He always gets reprimanded by both my wife and I when he does something wrong (and it's not a wimpy "don't ever do that again") and he also gets encouragement when he does right. We continuously train him, since we know we own a strong and powerful dog. He gets lots of attention and exercise too. Ideally, I'd like to get a private trainer, but we simply can't afford that. It's up to us to help Razer and I need all the help I can get.

[TrinityRun]

Hi Jim,

Your boy and you need lots of obedience training - enrolling in a respectable class under and instructor well versed in the breed is a good start and I would do that ASAP.

People traveling on bicycles can be too much visual stimulation for dogs with high prey drive. In the past, if your dog barked at this bike as it approaches his home and continued barking until it was out of sight -in the dog's mind he has successfully driven this "thing" out of his yard. He has won. If this happens every day, trust me, this
dog has this imprinted in his head. The *only* reason he hasn't followed up his threat of barking with being physical was because he was either restrained by the chain or in the house. But as he just proved to you, he is more than willing to back it up. Lucky for everyone you were there to intercept.

Please understand that a fence, a kennel, or a chain all of these things heighten a dog's territorial drives. Dogs who are typically friendly and outgoing often act like a totally different dog behind a barrier. (IMPORTANT!)Frustration can work for or against us in our training.

Your dog needs obedience and then a lot of socialization. First the obedience to gain control and then gradually introducing distractions. He should be socialized around bikes, darting children and other pets in the park, whatever his problem is. He should also be neutered if he isn't already. He's at the perfect age to really start showing how buff he is.

Our dogs are notorious for indicating to us where they need a little work. All we have to do is pay attention to them. It's a never ending task.

Best of luck and happy training. Keep us posted on your progress.
:D

[WorkinDogz]

Excellent advice Lauren! All of it!

JimmyDean,

Just as Lauren told you...obedience in mega doses is in order. You don't need a $75/hr. private trainer to achieve sound and excellent obedience. In fact; in your boys case..he might well benefit from the distractions (and the corrections!) of a small class.

Consider yourself lucky *this time* and remember that a TRAINED DOG doesn't bolt out, roam around sniffing everything or not stop dead in his tracks when told to. ;)

Tieing your dog out is only reinforcing his displeasure with passersby...please rethink this practice. It's not doing him ANY good.

[nick teifke]

Originally posted by JimmyDean:
<STRONG>As for the barking, I TOTALLY agree. He must stop it. I have a deep voice and once I tell him, he stops the barking. However, it seems to go in one ear and out the other, because just as he sees someone else, he'll bark again. Again, another stern look and "NO" and all is better again. What am I doing wrong? He always gets reprimanded by both my wife and I when he does something wrong (and it's not a wimpy "don't ever do that again") and he also gets encouragement when he does right. </STRONG>

IMO a stern no is only one step above a whimpy dont ever do that again. You are nagging the dog and not correcting him.
I dont think you have a bad dog, and I dont think you are a bad trainer. But your dog is pushing you and you are not stepping it up. I dont mean you should beat your dog into submission but you need to work on a better relationship. Obedience work is probably the best way to do that. I would take the advice of others and either enroll in a small class, or make a dedicated effort every day to do some work with your dog. And big time socialization, also like others have mentioned.
And hey, it happens, so dont get discouraged! Im going thru almost the same thing with my 19 month old male. He's starting to think he is cool and can get away with crap so now he is in doggie bootcamp :)

[JimmyDean]

Great advice about the fence, but totally impossible in our neighborhood. We have 1/2 acre lots and the entire neighborhood is without fences. And besides that, it's also completely unaffordable for us. He has been trained, that's why I'm concerned. He's never acted negatively towards anyone/thing. If anything, he's too friendly. I realize I should have kept him on his chain(which by the way is over 50' and allows him lots of mobility; he's also on it when he needs to do his 'business' outside and after that, he's away on a run with my wife and I, or for a walk--he's certainly not on at all hours of the day) and it's 100% my fault that this happened. I just want answers on how to stop this--and also why this happened. Thanks.

JimmyD

[Karen J. Reece]

I would say the 'reason' is the bike. I have had dogs all my life and I have never had one that liked bicycles. I don't know what the reason. As for the solution, I'll leave that to the ones on here who have more experience in training matters.

[Mojave's Mom]

Originally posted by JimmyDean:
<STRONG> My issue with him is that I don't think he'd have a clue what to do with a dominant breed. He seems to deal alot with labs, beagles and smaller dogs. Is something like this actually going to help us out?
JimmyD</STRONG>

JimmyD-

My trainer breeds and shows Shelties. However, she's judged (and trained) in all breed/specific breed agility, obedience, and conformation showing for YEARS. Up until the past two sessions, all of her classes included mostly smaller "less dominant" dogs. It has NOT impacted her influence on helping owners such as myself, two other Rottie owners, a Doberman owner, and a St. Bernard. Go check out one of his classes. See how he conducts it and helps owners overcome hard times. It's the METHODS you should concern yourself with, not what breeds of dogs he's taught. One thing is for sure, your dog will greatly benefit from a group setting...PLEASE don't pass that up for 1-on-1 training or "do it yourself" training. Good luck! :)

[JimmyDean]

Mojave's Mom: Thanks for the inspiring words. I'll give the trainer a call tonight and see what we can do for Razer....and us!!

JimmyD

[LucyJ]

Lauren's definitely right about leaving Razer in the kennel while you're gone. Who knows, maybe this regression is due to kids comming by and teasing him? He's much safer inside when you're gone and you know that no one is bothering him.

And I don't see a problem with the tie out as long as it's being used the way you've described. That's better than letting him roam while you're out there and risk another incident like the last one, even if you're only a few feet away.

Just keep up with your training and use common sense. Good luck. :)

[poohbearsmom]

Jimmy Dean , Training is a life long responsibility that you owe your dog. It is ongoing process. It creates an animal that is a pleasure to live with. It creates a controllable animal. It creates a bond between you and your dog. JonandMichelle couldn't have said it better - it is your responsibility to have TOTAL control over your dog 100% of the time. If that means tethering a leash to your wrist, so be it.
You are the human. He is the dog.
Not trying to sound harsh here, but as you already know, your boy is capable of doing some real damage to someone. Don't become a statistic, become educated. Training classes teach YOU how to handle your dog. The incident SHOULD have scared the crap outta you. Learn from it.
Best regards - Elisabeth