Can anyone help with my Rottweiler?

Question

I rescued a 1 year old female rottie on Monday, she is very fearful and continuous flinches and cowards, with me she is coming alone leaps and bounds, I also have a 5 year old little boy and she is a little frighten of him but overall not to bad, the problem is that tonight when my boyfriend came in, she really barked at him as she was backing away from him, he didn't talk to her just sat in the living from with me, she was very worried about him and just sat watching him, he done NOTHING to reassure her he wouldn’t hurt her but also didn’t pose a threat as he just ignored her, but when he got up to go in the garden, he raised his hand to his back and she went up to him sort of jumped up and tried to bite his hand, she didn’t even leave a tiny mark but I don't think it was just her mouthing, I don’t think she wanted to hurt him but she did make contact with her mouth, I have asked him to try to reassure her but he is saying no she has to go, am I doing the wrong in keeping her?

Answer 1

We rescued a 1 year old Rottie ***** 2 years ago.
She was also very nervous at first and would growl if you stroked her head or tried to cuddle her.
She also didn't like men.
You seem to be doing the right thing, but remember that she has to understand that you, your son and your boyfriend are pack leaders and she is ranked bottom.
Neither praise nor scold her, but be authoritative in your movements, never showing anxiety or fear.
At the end of the day, she is an animal and thus needs to be treated as such.
Do not humanise her.
Whatever happened in the past stays there.
Move forward and she will learn to relax and trust you.
Its taken us nearly 2 years to get to that point with ours...and it was worth every moment xxx

Answer 2

The suggestion of an obedience class is an excellent one. Read here https://tr.im/Oy0xT
It will help your dog learn to behave around other dogs, and help keep your training moving forward as you'll want to be prepared for the next class. Also, a good instructor can be a wonderful resource, someone to help you with any questions or concerns about your dog. Leash training can take a LOT of time and patience, depending upon the dog. I'm not sure what you mean by 'horrible on a leash' but my basic suggestion is that you take a lot of yummy treats with you on walks. When your dog behaves well on the leash (not pulling) praise her and give her treats. Change direction a lot so that she learns to pay attention to YOU and where you are going. It's also helpful to teach a "Watch Me" command such that whenever your dog looks at you you praise her and give her a treat. About chewing, yes a Kong is a great chew toy. Some dogs also like Nylabone brand bones. I suggest also teaching a "Leave It" command. You use this when she shows interest in chewing on something she shouldn't. Then immediately give her something she is allowed to chew, such as the Kong stuffed with somethig yummy. This same command will be helpful on walks when she wants to sniff or eat something she shouldn't. Again, when she does leave the item alone, be sure to give lots of praise. I would look into an obedience class right away. I think that you'll find that a good obedience class can help enormously! Good luck and enjoy your new dog.

Answer 3

This is not good. Behavioral training ASAP. A dog should never do teeth on skin. Even though she did not leave marks without the proper training she will only get worse. Dogs that bite out of fear can do a lot of damage. My rescue German Sheppard would also react out of fear. She never bit me or my husband or any of my friends or family however if a stranger would try to approach her on walks she would react. With a lot of training and time I'm happy to say that she is no longer the same dog. On walks she now reacts appropriately to strangers but she is never off her leash. She understands that I'm the one who makes the decisions therefore she's alot happier and alot less stressed out, if you plan on keeping her you will have to get a behavioral trainer to work with both you and her

Answer 4

I agree - this dog has been abused by a man. ALL is NOT lost. This dog needs training. First and foremost, it is great that your bf is ignoring her and not trying to push love.

Second, it's been 3 days!!! Give the dog a break!!!

But, she just needs to know that he is not going to hurt her. Treats work very very well. I would have your bf feed her. I would have your bf carry treats. I would have you work on making her sit and your bf to drop the treats for her. That way she will associate something pleasant from him (thus feeding). I would NOT have him offer a treat from his hand at this point.

I would also ask him to walk her. There is NO greater way for a dog to bond with someone than through a walk. Dog are migrating species, migration is natural for them and a walk is a great way to bond.

And finally, she needs to be kept on a leash - even in the house - at all times. That way if something happens, you have a very easy way of taking control.

All of the interaction that you have with her needs to be positive. NO NEGATIVE right now, unless she does something bad. That way she will learn what is acceptable and what isn't.

Your bf is right about not reassuring her - you never reassure an unstable dog, it reaffirms the instability. You never reassure a scared dog, it reaffirms being afraid. You never reassure an aggressive dog, it affirms aggression. But your bf is wrong about giving her away.

Finally - get her into training immediately - preferably with a male trainer who can directly help you with this.

And by the way - if she doesn't have issues with other men, then it's not the men, its your bf and does are VERY intuitive just so you know!!

Answer 5

Keep her separate from your son - Rotties are good dogs and most are pretty smart - but if she is scared she could do some real damage to your son.

Time and patients is the only thing that is going to help, make sure she is always aware of her status in the pack. (on the bottom).
Since the dog does not like men and your boyfriend isn't willing to help you might be doing the dog a favor by finding her another home.

Answer 6

This dog has definitely been abused by a man.
You've had her for such a short time, won't your boyfriend give the dog a chance to go for training?
Positive reinforcement training did wonders for my dog that was afraid of men.
All dogs are different but you should be especially careful to protect your little boy from possible harm. Rotties are big and can hurt a child easily, even if they are not trying to do harm. A large dog that gets scared can also do harm while reacting to another threat.
I'd ditch any boyfriend that acted like yours, but I would approach this carefully for the safety of your child.

Answer 7

I am sorry, but without your partner backing you to the hilt and helping with this, you are doomed. Your rottie behaves like my German Shepherd did when I first had her. (She HATED my ex with a passion - and turned out to be right! :-) )If your partner does not train, and train hard now with this dog, you are storing up serious problems.

Your saving grace is that you chose a female dog and not a male one if you decide to keep this dog around your kids. She has to understand her position - and understand is clearly. Bottom of the ladder and nowhere else.

Not a choice I would have made I'm afraid. Not without the backing of the other half...he doesn't seem to want to know!

Answer 8

I am no professional, professional guidance is of course best but life is not always perfect. With every feral pet my family has rescued treats and lots of them helped those that were shy of Men. If BF gets on board and the child is taught not to be too rambuncious until Rottie is settled I hope your family has as wonderful a pet, friend and security helper as ours does w/ Ms. Angel, our Rottie rescue. When in doubt always call the vet. Good luck.

Answer 9

It sounds to me as if you're not very experienced with dogs and a Rottweiler is the sort of dog that needs to be owned by somebody who knows about dogs and how to train them. There's a very good programme on one of the Sky channels called 'The Dog Whisperer' - you could watch this and pick up all sorts of tips on how to sort out your dog's behaviour - it's usually the owners that need to be trained how to handle the dog! This guy also has a website that you could look at, here's a link: http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com/
I really think you may be out of your depth here and that you should consider taking the dog back.

Answer 10

I would take the advise of redyrerottweilers - These are very large dogs that need a lot of training, which must be difficult with a 2 year old about - She needs to be with someone who has experience in this breed.

I had simular problems with my German Shepherd and although my heart was in the right place, I had to conceed that i was just not experienced enough to cope with her.

If you do not know how to address this situation, you may actually make matters worst.

I sympathise with you - I know how heartbreaking it can be.