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I think they go through a stage between 6 mos and a year. Out of the blue my dog (6 mos) has started doing stuff that he knows better, chewing up plants and he chewed my rug!!! I had thought we were well passed this. We took him to the beach this weekend and all of sudden he would not walk well on the leash or respond to any commands. I actually tore the skin on one finger from him pulling so hard.
My next session with the trainer will involve us taking him somewhere so we can work on this.
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I think they go through a stage between 6 mos and a year. Out of the blue my dog (6 mos) has started doing stuff that he knows better, chewing up plants and he chewed my rug!!! I had thought we were well passed this. We took him to the beach this weekend and all of sudden he would not walk well on the leash or respond to any commands. I actually tore the skin on one finger from him pulling so hard.
My next session with the trainer will involve us taking him somewhere so we can work on this.
No, sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread. He is a Rhodesian mix, from what I read they tend to be pretty independently minded.
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I did read what you wrote. I stand by what I wrote. i will iterate some of it here.
It is unfortunate that you dismissed my advice out of hand because you interpreted it as snarky because there was a lot of solid advice there.
I would say that 20+ years working with dogs, attending conferences and seminars by world-class behaviorists and trainers, and 15 + years actively training using reward-based training methods gives me a certain expertise. I have absolutely no attachment to whether you take my advice or not.
It's beaut that you have such a high opinion of yourself but the fact that you have a huge hole in your understanding in how to communicate with people, makes one question where that flaw overflows into your understanding of dogs.
You may think that it's 'unfortunate' that I dismiss your advice 'out of hand' but when someone speaks condescendingly & rudely I just tune out.
It's unfortunate that you're unaware of this typical human behaviour.
Bookmarking. I was looking at getting a rottweiler, and this is super informative!!
Sorry, I forgot about this thread.
Rottweilers, IMO, make the best companions. Raising a Rotti pup however, if my boy is the norm, is quite challenging.
Due to health issues, it pushed me to my limit for a while there & had me questioning my decision to get a pup, especially a Rotti pup.
Legion is pushy, demanding, can be as stubborn as a mule, very sensitive to correction, loves sharing his slobber & extremely affectionate. He's my shadow, follows me everywhere.
From what I've been learning from research, Rottis are known to be late at maturing. Apparently this is the same for many large breeds.
As you'll read in my update, my boy is getting better as he grows. He's turning into a lovely boy, who's becoming quite protective.
To raise a healthy Rotti, one needs to be firm, patient & consistent.
Rotti's take their position in the family very seriously & need to be close.
A Rotti who lives by himself in the backyard, is usually an unhappy dog who'll find their own form of entertainment, like digging, destroying the garden, escaping to explore the neighbourhood, for example.
Good luck whatever breed you decide on but if you think you can cope with an overgrown boisterous puppy until he matures, I'd highly recommend a Rottweiler.
No, sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread. He is a Rhodesian mix, from what I read they tend to be pretty independently minded.
No you didn't derail the thread, lol. I'd forgotten about the thread & then didn't know how to find it to update, until I realised I could click on a reputation comment.
As you'll read in my update, Legion has started a new behaviour that's not welcome. I guess it's sometimes 2 steps forward, one step back with pups as they push their boundaries.
Legions' leash tore some skin on my hand as he caught me unawares also. So I now wear finger-less mechanic gloves when he's on the leash.
Being at my wits end with Legion pulling on the choke chain, I was seriously considering a suggestion I received in a PM to get a pronged collar. Although I didn't want to even use a choke chain, sometimes one has to do what one needs to do to keep their dog safe.
A good example is a couple I met with a male & female French Mastiffs. Beautiful large animals.
The husband who walked the dogs, hurt his back in an accident & could barely walk much less handle these powerful large dogs. The wife is a slight 5' tall waif. The only way that she can safely walk the pair is with pronged collars.
Although they're perfectly behaved on these collars, I could see that they were a bit shy & hesitant to move.
Despite complaining, I do like a dog with spirit & I'd hate to see Legion like that.
So I decided to try walking him in his car/walking harness & it's worked like a charm. Now when we walk, I grip a looped handle on the top of his harness & the lead in one hand while he trots alongside my mobility scooter. It gives me much better control of him.
Now when we go for walks, he's fairly well behaved & it's rare that I have to get off my scooter to get him under control when he decides he wants to check something out, usually another dog.
The main thing is that he's no longer straining against his check chain.
There's 2 spots on our route where I allow him to sniff & mark. He now 'leaves it' 99% of the time when told.
We go for at least one 35-40 min walk a day, 2 if it's not too warm in the afternoon.
Now that he's behaving most of the time, walks are much less stressful & more enjoyable.
He's been an alert watch dog from early on. He's now growing in confidence & showing signs of being a good guard dog. Whereas before when there was a knock at the door, he'd bark & run half way to the door, then back to me to alert.
Now when he hears a knock at the door, he runs growling straight to the door. Visitors say he sounds scary but as soon as he recognises who it is his whole body wags with his stumpy tail, lol.
He's also arced up at a couple of blokes who were coming at me from the other side to Legion, where he's stood on my lap with hackles up.
He's got used to his enclosure & going out for toilet on his lead (because he has PICA - he eats & chews anything. Rocks are his favourite.) It is inconvenient but now that he can't run amok & zoom free, he no longer limps after resting. So on the bright side, it's protecting him from damaging his joints & ligaments.
He'd been improving to the point where I thought that we were over the worst, but lately he's started to paw at me (why I can't stand it when people want to teach him 'shake hands') & tries to lick my skin repeatedly.
When he ignores me I stand up & ask him if he needs a 'time out' (which basically means leashing him to a piece of furniture within sight of me)
Up until the pawing started, when I threatened a time out, he'd hide around a corner or under a piece of furniture, while peeking at me. But now he just ignores the threat & paws at me again. So I give him a time out, where he'll quietly lie down until I release him.
When I have to leave the house, I block off the hallway (with flimsy barriers that he could easily push over) with his bed & a few favourite toys, & he's been really good. Nothing chewed or out of place. The longest has been 2 1/2 hours & he doesn't show signs that he's been fretting on my return.
Legions almost a year old. At 11mo he weighed 45kg (100lb) He's a long Rotti whose head is at my hip (I'm 6'2" tall) with a typical broad head. Looking forward to see him fill out.
He's a really affectionate & sweet boy. Recently I had an attack of nerve pain. Cannabis usually treats it so he's not used to seeing me gasp & flinch (The nerve pain is like being stabbed with an electrified hypodermic needle) He lay quietly nearby & once the attack was over (It lasted nearly half an hour) for several minutes, he came over & plonked his head in my lap, looking at me with big soft eyes.
So apart from his recent pawing & licking obsession, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Although raising a Rotti pup is hard work, he really is worth the effort.
He'd been improving to the point where I thought that we were over the worst, but lately he's started to paw at me (why I can't stand it when people want to teach him 'shake hands') & tries to lick my skin repeatedly.
When he ignores me I stand up & ask him if he needs a 'time out' (which basically means leashing him to a piece of furniture within sight of me)
He's a really affectionate & sweet boy. Recently I had an attack of nerve pain. Cannabis usually treats it so he's not used to seeing me gasp & flinch (The nerve pain is like being stabbed with an electrified hypodermic needle) He lay quietly nearby & once the attack was over (It lasted nearly half an hour) for several minutes, he came over & plonked his head in my lap, looking at me with big soft eyes.
So apart from his recent pawing & licking obsession, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Although raising a Rotti pup is hard work, he really is worth the effort.[/quote]
When you meantioned him pawing and licking you obsessively/ out of the blue it made me immediately wonder why you use a scooter.
Then you went on to mention your nerve pain.
PLEASE Note when this happens (keep a journal), he may be trying to tell you he "knows" sometjing is happening, or about to happen. When he does the pawing, or licking he may know inflammation is stirring up. Or that you need to use your cannabis, etc...
Choose which behavior you prefer, or actually teach him to do it more gently instead, when he wants to alert you read about medical alert dogs, and use his natural behaviors to help you. He obviously wants to help.
Ok, so maybe that is just my opinion, but worth a thought. It got me a little teary eyed reading about him trying to tell you something important in another language. I think it happens all too often that we see a behavior as unwanted, or making no sense, when in fact if we really think about it and try to understand where it comes from we can really accept it, and learn to live happily with it.
Also, I love his cheeky peeking at you when you give him a time out. He is NOT letting you out of his sight when he "knows" you need him.
Even if he doesn't see you gasp and flinch he knows better than you might know. You have mentiontioned that he is highly sensitive and aware. So now maybe read about natural born service dogs.
Also REALLY glad you now know he has PICA and isn't just a pain in the butt
I was lucky in the way I was able to train my dogs because I had a heavybag in the basement of the residence I was staying in at the time. I had two pitbulls during the period and they were both trying to disrespect me, so I took them downstairs and beat on the heavy bag and stared them down.
They both looked scared, so after that they realized who the dominant dog was in the house. I feel like with aggressive dog breeds, you have to show them who is in charge by the display of strength and aggression.
This is ridiculous. Dogs will instinctually follow a leader that is calm, consistent and predictable. It has very little to do with physical aggression or posturing.
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