Suggestions required regarding a behavioural issue

[ROttmann]

Hey mates, i would like suggestions regarding my rottie. My little boy has turned 11 months today. Its not neutered, not aggressive towards other dogs at all. Even if other dogs provoke or bark at it, my boy just ignores them totally. In general my dog is not food aggressive either.

Coming to the point... my dog in general never barked at people. Which i was quite worried about in the past that it had no guard instincts. Out of sudden in the last 4 weeks, it has started to guard my homes territory. Usually if people are going infront of my house it starts barking. Few weeks ago there was arenovation work going in the next house and my dog started to bark at the workers. Let me also emphasize that i have not encouraged my dog to do such. I live in a country where its a lot of robberies and people break in the house) So please do not judge me that i want an aggressive dog or i am grooming it to do so.

This troubling thing which i have noticed lately is my dog is reacting on a specific thing over and over again. My father is half paralyzed and he needs someone to lift him up from the bed or a chair. Today my brother was lifting my father up from the bed and my dog started to bark at them and out of nowhere jumped at them. Same incident has happened in the past but i was not psyhically present in the room that time. i am concerned about this incident. Any suggestions will be highly appreciated. Thank you in adanvce.

(Note my dog is well behaved with the family members, but my father never touches the dog, in fact he is scared of it and does not like anything to do with it, my brother is more involved with the dog and treats it like a child with lots of love and kindness)

[Bwilson]

My rottie has been pretty attuned to people and if they are not feeling well. He picked up really quickly I was pregnant and was protective during that time and would help me get up at the end. Sounds like your rottie is maturing and doesn't quite know what to do with himself. It sounds like he was trying to protect your father and didn't know what your brother was doing with him. I would try teaching him boundaries for when you or anyone needs space to do whatever. We have done this for our dogs so when we are visiting our older realities or children they don't get underfoot and accidentally trip someone. The behavior can be used in many instances. I allow mine to alert me I check if nothing I say what is that boy in an excited happy voice he knows now through the years that it is nothing and moves on. He even sometimes gets his hackles up and real worked up I can say shake it off and he does a good shake and calms down. I caught that behavior when he was young and just worked it to my advantage. I don't feel him being not neutered is affecting his behavior because we had ours neutered a 6 months old and still had all this occur. He doesnt sound aggressive just doesn't know what his role is in the house.

[Sheera'smom]

At this point he is a "teenager" and teens can be very impulsive and silly. I think Bwilson made some good observations and suggestions. Also yelling at your dog when he's barking just takes the chaos to the next level. Our new rescue dog has just started to bark at passing people and dogs (we've had her for 8 weeks). I will check to see what the fuss is about, tell her she's a good girl, then gently lay my hand on her back and shush her. Work in progress, she's trashed a couple of plants lunging for the front window, but we're all learning

As far as your dad goes, maybe you could convince your dad to give your dog some treats everyday so that they become more comfortable with each other. I'm sure your boy senses your dad's anxiety and is reacting to that. Dogs are very sensitive to body posture and facial expressions, they are better at reading humans than humans are at reading dogs, usually. So your dad's paralysis might be feeding into the situation as well.

Basic obedience training is a must, and maybe you can check into therapy dog training as well. Some of that involves the dog becoming comfortable with wheelchairs and canes and so forth.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[ROttmann]

My rottie has been pretty attuned to people and if they are not feeling well. He picked up really quickly I was pregnant and was protective during that time and would help me get up at the end. Sounds like your rottie is maturing and doesn't quite know what to do with himself. It sounds like he was trying to protect your father and didn't know what your brother was doing with him. I would try teaching him boundaries for when you or anyone needs space to do whatever. We have done this for our dogs so when we are visiting our older realities or children they don't get underfoot and accidentally trip someone. The behavior can be used in many instances. I allow mine to alert me I check if nothing I say what is that boy in an excited happy voice he knows now through the years that it is nothing and moves on. He even sometimes gets his hackles up and real worked up I can say shake it off and he does a good shake and calms down. I caught that behavior when he was young and just worked it to my advantage. I don't feel him being not neutered is affecting his behavior because we had ours neutered a 6 months old and still had all this occur. He doesnt sound aggressive just doesn't know what his role is in the house.

Thanks a lot for replying Bwilson. Well i have thought a lot about it and thought the same that it was protecting my father. But the thing is since it was a pup it has been watching my brother helping my father over and over again with the same thing. So it was not something new.
But i also think my father does create a scene, either by shouting or whining when my brother is lifting him up Maybe that confuses the dog more and the whole situation gets complicated. Yesterday me and my brother mocked a similar situation where he tried to help me get off the chair and the dog gave the same reaction by barking!! And i guess you are right i think i need to start working with implementing boundaries.

[ROttmann]

At this point he is a "teenager" and teens can be very impulsive and silly. I think Bwilson made some good observations and suggestions. Also yelling at your dog when he's barking just takes the chaos to the next level. Our new rescue dog has just started to bark at passing people and dogs (we've had her for 8 weeks). I will check to see what the fuss is about, tell her she's a good girl, then gently lay my hand on her back and shush her. Work in progress, she's trashed a couple of plants lunging for the front window, but we're all learning


As far as your dad goes, maybe you could convince your dad to give your dog some treats everyday so that they become more comfortable with each other. I'm sure your boy senses your dad's anxiety and is reacting to that. Dogs are very sensitive to body posture and facial expressions, they are better at reading humans than humans are at reading dogs, usually. So your dad's paralysis might be feeding into the situation as well.

Basic obedience training is a must, and maybe you can check into therapy dog training as well. Some of that involves the dog becoming comfortable with wheelchairs and canes and so forth.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks for the reply Sheera'smom. Lol i wish i could convince my father with that, to date my dad has not even touched it. The problem is even when i brought my pup home last year. My father was really reluctant to be around it. Time passed and my father was a little bit comfortable being around it. I have come to a point where i do realise my father does create a situation in this whole scenario. Months ago my father started whining and yelling as if someone was beating him, when i ran to his room, i saw my brother was trying to help him get up so i guess if i got concerned and was a little bit worried as a human? For a dog this whole must be complicated.
I did basic obedience training and also my dog learnt few commands at an early age (Oh yes of course he ignores the commands outside the home). Would love to get some kind of therapy dog training but that kind of training probably does not even exist where i live. Several months ago i had problems with walking my dog, so i hired a professional dog trainer to resolve the problem. After letting him take my dog for walks for 2 days...i decided to join them on the 3rd day. In which i realised the trainer was a bloody moron as the dog was not walking he slapped my dog on its face which i think was totally unacceptable and pathetic. It makes me more hesitant to hire trainers.
As majority of the people here are ignorants and do not believe in positive reinforcement. Instead of that most of the people here think hitting a dog is the way to teach a dog how to behave and act!!

[Bwilson]

I am glad you got to see how the trainer was dealing with your boy before to many sessions. It is hit or miss with a lot of trainers out there. We went to petsmart training it was a complete waste of time and we were both bored but he meet some new puppies to play around with. It takes a rottie a bit to mature into instinctual protection and alertness. He may have been used to seeing you lift your father but now feels the urge to intervene and keep it in order. My in laws rottie when he started maturing had to tell the babysitter not to make the kids cry even in play because he would intervene. The husband had to be prepared if he was chasing them around and they screamed that a 125 lb rottie could be on top of him. Not doing any harm but putting himself in the middle. I hope your father will one day grow into have a rottie around and warm up to him. Such a wonderful breed. I wish I had done some therapy work with my boy he has a great temperment for the work but it just didn't match up with my work schedule and moving. I hope you can find a trainer, class, or a club to join in your area.

[ROttmann]

Yes i suppose i was lucky that i got to see how he was treating my pup. I have to agree with what you are saying and i must say you have a good observation, rotties need to be a bit mature before they get into instinctual protection mood. Lol i hope that my father will be comfortable one day with having a rottie but i have doubts about it.
Rotties are a magnificent breed...they are adorable. I do not understand why in general people judge rottweilers. I have these neighbours who were so scared of my boy...when i brought him home. Every time i saw my neighbours they would tell me how vicious and dangerous rotties are. I think its a pathetic statement to be honest. I would be more concerned or scared of a human being. I mean all the henious crimes humans commit around the globe and then we judge a rottweiler and label them dangerous.

Anyway i guess i will have to step up and start further training my boy

[Sheera'smom]

My dad was the same way when we first got our Sheera. He was convinced she would savage the family. And this from a man with the meanest hunting dog ever! Pepper (the hunting dog) chewed up more people and dogs than I can remember, including me.....and Sheera NEVER bit anyone!!

Pepper had a reason for biting me, she was old and hurting and I was young, stupid and teasing her. I deserved it. Makes her sound like a horrible dog, but she was a good hunter and loved my dad. Pepper just wasn't pleased with the rest of the world

[ROttmann]

How old is Sheera now? Lol so that means i am not the only one whose dad has issue with a dog. Oh well as kids we humans do mess up at times, i have a friend who use to provoke his neighbours dog all the time and ended up getting bitten unfortunately. Lol btw i would not blame Pepper not to be pleased with the rest of the world. Planet earth and its inhabitants are pretty messed up in my opinion

[Bwilson]

My in laws parents thought they were nuts to get a rottie. They lived in Holland and would bring him home for visits back to the states. Well he changed their minds on the breed and they adored him. Now when I bring my boy they don't even bat an eye about the him. I have been on many walks people will cross the street to avoid and some even go back inside until we pass. Just have to laugh about. We took a road trip with the in laws I had my rottie and she had her bully pit people really avoided us. One man I overheard talking said I may pet a pitbull but never a Rottweiler. We had a great laugh because both of them are big babies with such easy happy temperaments that just love everything.