My rottweiler gets aggresive when he has high value food such as a piece of raw meat. Also when he gets a rawhide of some sort with some meat on it. Other than that he is the sweetest bundle of fur to walk the planet. He greets you the second you walk in the door and rolls over for a belly rub and lays with you on the couch and puts his head on your lap. But as soon as he gets something high value and you approach him he growls and just kind of stares blankly. He is 2 years old. He was rescued from a shelter and we adopted him at around 4 months old and we tried to socialize him and much as possible by taking him everywhere (mall, parks, etc.) Im thinking he kind of see's me as im not sure, lower then him in the hiearchy or something . He sits, lays, and does trick on my command. If I were tell him to get out of the room he doesnt respond but if my dad comes in and tells him to go out he does it right away. Im just not sure. Would appreciate any advice.
Your assessment of the situation seems to be pretty spot-on. It looks as if in your dogs eyes, you are below him in the pack structure and as such are subject to hostile treatment specifically in the area of possessions. You've demonstrated that you understand what the issue seems to be so I'll just go right into my recommendation to you (if the dog is very aggressive to the point where he has bitten or will bite you then progress through this training very gradually). There is an acronym in dog training that represents very efficiently one of the core aspects of training your canine companion. In my opinion it is one of the most important and effective ways to reinforce good behavior, get rid of undesirable behavior, and overall improve your relationship with your dog. "Nothing In Life Is Free" is the expression, and essentially what you must do is demonstrate to the dog that everything he wants must be earned, and only after it is earned will it be provided by YOU. This reinforces the notion that you are the pack leader and also will show him that first and foremost the possessions he is getting aggressive over are YOURS. Consistancy with this is key. Training sessions to correct this behavior should last 20-30 minutes. If you free feed your dog it is important that you stop that for the time being. Start with regular feeding times. Before feeding, reinforce basic obedience commands. Keep the food dish in your hand and reward the obedience by hand feeding him pieces of kibble. Eventually, your goal is to have him performing a series of basic obedience commands and then simply reward him by allowing him to eat from the bowl while it is in your hand. This type of training is applicable to just about everything. When you let your dog out to go to the bathroom, make him earn it. When you take him for a walk, make him earn it. Most importantly however, when you give him something like a rawhide bone or a high value treat, make him earn it. If you let your dog up on your furniture, do not let him up until he sits or does a trick. You will notice your dogs disposition towards you will change rapidly as he begins to associate you with being the leader. Now, to address the specific issue of high value treat possessive aggression. Put your dog into a sit/stay and stand a little distance away from him. Place a treat down onto the floor and say "Leave it," If he makes no attempt to get it, reward him. If he DOES attempt to get it, give a firm "No" and pick the treat up, starting over from the beginning with a sit/stay. You want to decrease the distance between the dog and the treat as he demonstrates his understanding of the "leave it" command, until you are able to place the treat directly in front of him and he will not take it. It is also rather important that other family members understand that this type of consistant reinforcement needs to be applied by everyone. With aggressive behavior its vital that you avoid setbacks, as it will undo the previously established boundaries that you are setting as the pack leaders. After he shows you that he clearly knows what is expected of him when you say leave it, then move on to higher value treats and rewards. As long as he is not showing aggressive behavior, try rewarding him with good treats while keeping a hand on his back and stroking him gently. He needs to associate your presence with the reception of these treats and not view you as a threat. The key here is that he should be associating good behavior and obedience to you with receiving these high value rewards. This should decrease the fear and anxiety that the dog is exhibiting when he feels that you are going to take away his prized possessions. Hopefully Irie throws in some advice here as well. I've only dealt with very mild cases of possessive aggression and am not too sure how severe the behavior with your Rottie is. Make sure you are paying a lot of attention to the signals your dog is giving off when you do these exercises. Lip curling, deep and drawn out growls, wide eyes and ear position are all very important signs that he may be about to bite. These should be corrected and then replaced with sitting/staying/laying down.
Thank you so much! I will definetly do this with him. He has never bit or try'd to. He just has a low growl to warn you that the thing that he has is his. Which is bad of course so I will be sure to do the stuff you told me. Thanks again.
I have a puppy that is coming up on 15 weeks old. I love him soo much and dont get me wrong I dont mind hearing him bark. But, he barks litterally at everything. He goes through these barking fits too. He seems really vocal, is there anything I can do or teach him that can make him less vocal. Remember I dont want wanna stop the barking all together, I just want it to be less if you know what I mean.
I have specifically seen these behaviors with chews mostly. Rawhides and bones. Some do it with food some with treats. No-matter its all treated as possession aggressiveness. Everything that ROT mentioned is 100% true and needs to be followed to ensure success. I definitely believe in Nothing in life is free(NILIF). I control everything always. If they get a reward it is because they have done something for me 1st. I like to rephrase this method as "All good things come to those who SIT". Here is a little of what I would do for this dog 1st Solid obedience training. Some dogs are just hyper sensitive to chews and special attention and training needs to be done, however formerly training a dog in quality obedience creates a well behaved well manered dog. It will fix any questions of whether or not you are pack leader and will physically and mentally stimulate the dog. It will create respect and trust. Often obedience training alone could fix this problem. 2nd Get a bone and dip it in a jar of peanut butter and let him lick it off the end of the bone. If he wants to chew or bite the bone thats fine. Do not let go of the bone. You start with the bone and you'll end with the bone. When he is finished licking the peanut butter off and you are sick of holding the thing, tell him to "OUT" and "SIT". After those tasks are accomplished, put the bone away. Repeat this every day for 2 weeks. I put a lot of repitition in this step. The object here is to build trust. Show him that you are the giver of food, not someone who wants to take it (even though, as pack leader, you do have that right) 3rd Change to putting the bone on the ground and stepping on it. If you are worried about your safety, where strong leather boots. Let him chew on the bone while you hold your foot on the tip of the bone. After a while, tell him to "OUT" and "SIT" (These are in capital letters because you need to say it like you mean it. You are telling not asking. You have confidence in your voice when you give these commands). This entire time you never relinquish control of the bone. continue holding it. The point of this is that he will not bite you because he doesnt own the item. You have not given it to him, only let him borrow it for a while. Then you let him know when he is done borrowing it. It is not his bone. Its your bone. 4th After weeks of these repititions, you should be able to tell that things are starting to get better by this point. He should be learning to enjoy his bone time even though he cant totally have it. By this time many of your worries should be starting to fade. If they have not, you are not ready for the next step. The next step is to take your foot off of the bone and let him have it. Dont let him get completely into it though. Put your foot back on the bone after only a few seconds of ''Free" chewing. Then tell him to "OUT and "SIT". Take the bone away. If you dont get bit at this step, repeat it. If you get bit, go back to the previous steps. Keep repeating until you are confident that you can step on and off of the end of the bone freely without a problem. At the end of each chewing session always step on the bone and make your dog "OUT" and "SIT" This is him relinquishing control. A problem like possession aggression is never 'fixed'. It reminds me of an alchoholic. Everytime that object is in front of them, they are going to have trouble not bringing back old habits. Always. Forever. So, you do thing properly from here on out and stay consistant to keep him humble. Make sure that you know where all the chews are in the house. If you have a bone on the floor and a child crawls by, you could have a tragedy. NILIF and proper obedience training is essential in a case like yours. Good Luck
This little guy is just a puppy. Let him grow up a little. If it is excessive, a cup of water splashed in his face while saying the word "quiet" will do the trick. Make sure to say it like you mean it and repeat the correction until it stops. A squirt bottle can work sometimes, but if you squirt it in his mouth you will teach him that it is just water and he will not fear it like you want him to. Oh you wont. Aint nothing you can do that will get that dog to stop barking altogether. We just want to reduce it.
Hey Friends, I'm curious about knowing that... What type of collars have you used when training your Dog? Thanks! pet drugs online
I have two year and a half old Labrador/pitbull mixes. I keep them in the backyard but bring them to the garage, and the front on the house sometimes but they will often run off down the street. How do I train them to stay near me without a lease on?
lol lease on also wondering how you can do this though, i have an english lab thats around 2 and a half
This is not good. Are they fighting? Are they neutered/spayed? Could be breeding hormones if not. Could be a Thyroid disorder can cause aggression. Get a full blood panel done. You have pitbulls and pitbulls have fighting tendencies. There is a chance that your dogs are just coming into maturity and remembering who their grandpa was. What I mean is that their fighting instinct could be starting to show. Many people think that these breeds are sweet little golden retrievers and that as long as we socialixe, we'll be fine. I do agree that in many cases this is possible. I also love the breed and have met many responsible, lovable pits who love kids. However, Pits are bred to fight dogs not bite people, so if you have aggression issues, it will usually be focused on other dogs. This could possibly turn into a very volatile situation. I would hire a quality dog trainer and talk to your vet. Your vet can prescribe a drug (clomacalm or reconsile) to sedate them which will stop the fighting until some of the training has a chance to start working. Edit:When it comes to dog breeds, IMO, the prettier, closer to the look of the dog that you have, the stronger his natural instincts will be. So if we get a german shepherd with excellent bloodlines, he will have more guarding/working instinct because his breeders have tried to create a beautiful specimen that is what the breed is supposed to be. Same with your pitties. The prettier they are, the more instinct they come hard wired with
Its not the collar that matters, its the method that matters. I can use many different styles of collar with my method and the method will work fine. This is a common mistake for most owners. Folks think they can strap on a storebought item and it will fix the problem. Not the case. Your dog can still pull after putting a correctional collar on if it is used incorrectly. In most cases, using a correctional collar with the wrong method can cause damage to the dogs body. I do know a lot about collars though so I'll exp[lain my opinion of each. 1st- nylon or cloth buckle collar. - These collars are not to be used for training purposes. They hold tags. When you clip a leash to the back of a buckle collar, then the dog pulls, it puts all of the pressure on the front of the dogs neck. Which puts pressure on the trachea. These can cause a trachea to crush. Slip collars- Cheap rope leash/collars combos, martingale collars, choke collars. - These collars are a little safer because they tighten all around the neck. The same pressure is applied on the back of the neck that id applied to the front and sides. This lessons the pressure on the trachae. However, if used incorrectly, these can still crush a trachea. The martingale is the safest of the three listed. It is a chain / cloth combo. Pinch collar- This is the one that looks like a midevil torture devise. However, it is the safest collar on the market. These collars pinch the surface of the dogs skin when he pulls. This keeps all of the pressure off of the trachea and allows the owner to be able to give lite corrections instead of heavy ones. This is one of my favorite collars to use, specifically because the risk of crushing a trachea is present with the other collars. This collar will pinch the dog, not injure a dog Gentle leader/halti - I am not a fan of these collars. Most dogs hate them and thrash around when you try to use one. A dog can be taught to wear one, but usually its a struggle. Also, the collar is designed to work like a horse halter. So when the dog pulls, his neck gets twisted backwards. For some dogs, the pulling will stop, for the ones that fight it (and many do) it is really bad on their spine. I will say that there are some trainers out there that swear by these, and I say more power to them. If you get to know a tool and it works well for you, by all means, fix the problem with the tool that you are comfortable with. Like I said, its the method that is important, not the tool. Im just saying this one is not for me. Although, if I ever had a chance to work with another trainer who enjoyed them, maybe they could show me how to safely get results with this collar. Until then, its not in my tool box. E-collar / Shock collar- This is a collar that comes with a remote control so that you can send signal that the dog will feel. I believe this is one of the best tools on the market. However, EVERYONE uses them incorrectly. These tools shuould not be sold in stores to the public. I feel like only trainers should be able to sell them, because there is a lot of technique that comes along with these tools and if done incorrectly you could have bad results that create a fearful nervus dog. If used properly however, it will strengthen the bond between owner and dog and give the owner 100% obedience reliability
First thing is to use a leash and never let them escape again. Many people give their dogs too much freedom and dont use leashes when they really should. This is dangerous. They are an animal and will run if they get a chance. This is simply a case of a lack of obedience training. A solid heel/ sit-stay/ come command will gain you the respect to be able to call them back. I will not recomend a shock collar for you because I am not there to show you how to use it. The general public should not be able to buy these collars because EVERYONE uses them incorrectly. A solid properly trained come command will take a few weeks to teach and takes a lot of repetition.
i have a dog who'se about 2 and a half years old now. she likes to sit on the back of the couch in my house and look out the window. anytime she sees any sort of movement including people or other animals she starts barking loud enough to hear throughout the whole house. a friend of mine who works at a pet daycare suggested getting a shock collar, but my mom refuses to use one because she thinks it's abusive. what's the best way to get my dog to stop being so loud?
I have a black lab a year old. Every time I leave the house she chews up my stuff. Not my girlfriends stuff but only mine. She is my dog an follows me everywhere. Is this some sort of anxiety from me leaving? What can I do to help her calm down when I leave so I can trust her enough to leave her inside while I'm gone. She loves playing ball so I try to leave her with her ball to play with while I'm gone but that doesn't work. She's destroyed some very expensive things. Ps3 controllers an iPod my wallet and even a few of my hats. Help!
Alright so my cousin is having me watch her dog for a few months, its an English Bull/Terrier and its the biggest pain in the ass on the face of the earth. Its still a pup (about 6 months) but it has no respect for anyone in the house. It pisses on my belongings and only my belongings, it tears up anything that is touching the floor. This includes my furniture. But wait there's more! It jumps on you when he wants attention, nips at your hands when you aren't giving him attention, and he shits so much you'd think there are 4 dogs living here! Now I don't even know where to begin to correct this dogs attitude. My cousin doesn't know how to discipline a dog and apparently neither do I. So! What would you suggest to a novice dog trainer to correct some of these behaviors? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Oh god mate...this sounds god awful, and i think u need more information than these few kind trainers will be able to provide....do some internet research on training techniques in general. Im no trainer, but id say first step is to establish authority before rooting out some of the bad behaviors. Make the puppy respond to commands and shit, read up. Best of luck!
I've been looking up documentaries on dog training. Its informative and all but its applying these lessons is what I'm struggling with. I can't be harsh to a pup. Its not in me.