I have a wonderful 4-year-old female Rottweiler that doesn't know
what is acceptable doggie behavior or acceptable behavior to humans
when greeting them. I need help dealing with this. How do I get her
to greet humans in an acceptable manner? She is so excited when
someone approaches her and even though she is on leash, she can't
contain her excitement and eventually lunges at them. She is totally
non-aggressive and very sweet. She was on her own for the first year
of her life and didn't learn what acceptable behavior is. I've been
teaching her manners for the past three years and it has been quite
a challenge. How can I keep her from lungeing? Please help!

welcome barb, i too have rottys. Imho i would make sure the dog didnt great people in this way with a firm pull of the lead and a NO. It takes time to train a dog not to dive at somone. If i point my finger at bud and then point my finger down to the floor, he will sit and then lay. Mine know not to dive at somone now.

I hope you get the problem sorted soon as a big dog can be very dangerous when diving at people. There are alot of people on here that can give you better advice than me, so sit tight and they will be along soon.

debbie

Thank you, Debbie. In the house, I can point my finger and she will lay down. Outside, everything is a different story. Another thing: She is not discriminate about strangers at all. She seems to accept everyone. This, I understand, is not a typical Rottweiler trait. I wonder if she will always be that way. I did have an experience though about a year ago. It was evening and we were walking in my neighborhood. A young man was driving his car wrecklessly. He almost ran over us. I called for him to slow down. He stopped his car and opened the door, and started raising his voice. My Sophie, who was on leash, came to my side and just sat there very quietly. This was the one time she didn't lunge. She sat so still. The guy never got out of his car, finally left, and we continued on our walk. I was proud of her for this.

I would say that sophie has an excellent temperament which is typical of many well breed and raised Rottweilers of my aquaintance. The breed standard says 'not aggressive'. As you have found out a dog that is freindly to all and sundry can still be an excellent protector, as they know when there is a need to protect you. The very fact of her being so well disposed to people means that she senses the4 ones that are up to no good.

Thank you so much for this affirmation. It will help me every day as I work with Sophie, and will help me remember that she can be discerning.

Although she is 4 years old, she's not too old to go to training classes. Meeting lots of people in a controlled environment would, I think, be of great benefit to her, and reassure you.

Perhaps your vet surgery would be the first place to ask about local classes.

Good luck - she sounds like a sweetie! :)

walking her on a halti would give you control of her head, so if she pulled it would mean shed end up facing into your leg!!!! if you try this use a double ended leash, and a flat collar too, then youve got her fastened up well :D

I have been using a Halti on her for over a year now and I couldn't have gotten this far without it. I will try the double-ended leash and see how that works. Thanks a lot. --Barb

Thank you for your reply. I plan to take her to classes in March. Up to now, I couldn't handle her well enough to take her to classes. When I got her, she was a total "wild child." Now, I can stop her dead in her tracks. I'm amazed at her loving nature. She has accepted all my corrections, even though, at times, she is quite pushy. I believe she has so much potential, and I have learned so much by having her.

Has she got a reliable 'sit' to command? Can you ask her to 'sit' when somebody approaches so they make a fuss of her when she's sitting but not when she starts leaping around? Some doggie friends might be able to help you with this.....

This is such an important point and I am now working on it in the house (as it is quite cold here). As a matter of fact, yesterday we worked on it for about twenty minutes. Sophie was the one that kept it going. She would sit on her "blanket" and I would show her the treat and make her sit/stay. It was so interesting to see her initiating the training. I thought she would get tired of it after five minutes. After each treat, she would rush back to her blanket and sit/stay for the next one. Thanks for reinforcing how important this is. I appreciate it very much.

Another thing you could try is telling (don't ask) whoever you are talking to NOT TO LOOK AT YOUR DOG! Very difficult I know but to a dog, soft eye contact is generally treated as an invitation to come, if they will fold their arms so much the better. If necessary to help you do this set up some friends and paint something silly on your forehead so that they have something to look at and act as a reminder not to look at your dog.

In the mean time you will be giving her the commands you want to use, sit -whatever and praising her for not jumping or lunging (providing she is not doing so) or correcting her if she does.

Christine

This is another excellent point. I will try to set some of these situations up. I do know that Rottweilers have the ability to look you in the eye. (Sophie does this a lot when she's on her blanket beside me while I'm working on the computer.) Thank you. I will try this.

My breed can be quite boisterous in greeting as they are so people loving, and built comactly and sturdily.

When I got my oldest bitch as an 11 week old pup my son was only 14 months old, and she could knock him over evn when sitting and wriggling.

I taught her to lie down before she would get any attention. I kept a lead on her when the baby was around initially, and she learnt that to great someone you had to lie down.

As the children have fotten older I have let things slide a bit with the younger ones, as most visitors to the house are dogy folk, or the kids freinds. The youngest bitch needs her collar held, and I use the water spray bottles to stop them mugging visitors, as even though they don't really jump on them they do crowd tound and push and jostle for the best petting positions!

Enlist the help of a couple of people. Arrange tomeet in the street park, car park, wahtever.

Get them to approach in a friendly way speaking a greeting. Get her to lie down as they approach. If she won't stay down then the visitor should ignore her and stay beyond reach (but show a relaxed and happy demeanor talking to you), as soon as she is settled asgain then have them approach and stroke her, if she gets excited the fuss should stop.

The idea is that she should get to realise that she will get the attention when she is calm.

Also you should practice the leave it c ommand, even if she so mush as looks at a person catr dog, whatever say leave, and praise, and possibly give a treat when she looks up at you.

Just some ideas, sure otherds can come up with more.

Thanks again. These suggestions are also great and ones I will try. I will be working more on the down/stay. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. They are beneficial.

Although my Labrador is probably nowhere near as big and strong at your Rottweiler, I totally understand your concerns.
I rehomed my dog when he was 10 months old, and whenever we came home, or had people to visit, he would barge right up to them, trying to jump up and smell and lick them. This was not acceptable, expecially when elderly people or little children came to visit as he would nearly knock them over, so imediately we started to ignore him when we entered the house.

He soon then realised that we were not excited to see him (although secretly we were) and although he intially would be excited, he did then soon calm down.

He now never jumps up and although can still be excited, he does not jump or barge into people.

Whenever someone comes round, I continue with the regime, but no longer restrain him, and just tell the visitors to just ignore him, and as soon as he is relaxed and calm we can then go up and greet him.