We are having serious problems with a 10 month old rottie who is still biting and jumping at my partner and I. He passed a 10 week Kennel Club obedience course a couple of months ago, will sit, lie down and do commands. The problem seems to be dominance related. We have tried all approaches from squirting lemon juice, leaving the room, ignoring him, throwing loud objects at the floor. Our breeder suggested hitting him which does no good at all. He has done no serious damage up to now, but the attacks are becoming extremely worrying. To add to the problem, new baby is due in seven weeks so the situation is desperate. He hasn't been castrated, would this make a difference? Getting rid of him is not an option. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Please don't use lemon juice or physical punishment;think about it; how would you feel if this was done to you? you would want to retaliate wouldn't you. He is coming into his teenage years and he is now a very large throbbing testosterone zone :). Please get some professional help from experienced Rottie owners/breeders.

Professional advise is a must :)
also check this out http://dogtraining.co.uk/moreinfo.html#testosterone
Best of Luck with Dog and new baby ;)

I know some people will have a go at me probably,but castrating my male rott worked a treat he turned from a total idiot into a gentle big teddy in a a couple of weeks afterwards,it may not work for you but i would consider it as an option.Extra help from a behaviorist would be helpful.My boy tried it on with me badly twice when he was about the same age,i never hit him,but i did get hold of his scruff and lie him on his back until he packed in being stupid,he stopped and then stayed in the submissive position even when i walked off.I always train my rotts to a very high standard and they are beautiful dogs.Your breeder should not tell people to hit dogs it only produces a negative relationship between you and the dog!! good luck!!

Won't have a go but do disagree, castration could make matters worse. What you do needs is training and not mutilation. Try here

i'm apalled anyone would say neuetering would make a dog worse..an intact male rottie with agression issues does belong near a baby........ask any vet or trainer they will tell you to neuter the dog

Sorry you are appalled but it depends why the dog is aggressive. Aggression can’t be sorted over the net and this person needs to see someone who knows what they are talking about before doing anything.

Why are you appalled, Kelly? With all the experience you have with dogs, you will know that aggression has many causes, not all of them caused by too much testosterone! (Or there would never be aggressive bitches!) Nervous aggression, for example, is made worse by castration, not better. Unless the type of aggression has been observed at first hand, it would be foolish to advise major surgery.

Kelly my gsd male was a nasty dog and i was adviced by my vet to have him done to calm him down,,,,,,,,,, what a waste of time and money and pain to the dog as this made him worse and i could no longer keep him and had to rehome him to a man with no children. Now i dont trust vets advice as they are not god.

Hate to say it Kelly, but YES, neutering CAN make a dogs aggression worse....if the aggression stems from nervousness or lack of confidence, removing the production centre of most of the dogs testosterone (naturaly confidence) is going to result in a dog that is more nervous/underconfident.

I konw this cos its happened to ME......albeit with a fairly small, manhandleable dog....i wouldnt like to say what could happen with a dog the size of a rottie!

Em

Hello

Well somebody here might disagree, but i dont belive in castrating a dog unless its needed ie, medical reasons.
If you are thinking of castrating, why not try chemical castration first?
Your vet will advise you, but if you feel you must go in this direction ask your vet about (Tardak, chemical castration) first this will give you an idea wether castrating your rottie will help with his behaviour problems.
Dean

I have a rottie. I had the same problem when he was younger. I had to resort to using a crate. If he acted up I would fuss at him then put him in the crate for 30min. He could come out if he was minding. From that point on if he started acting up I would ask him if he wanted to go in it and he would lie down and be good. It took several times of being put up before it worked. BUT with a baby coming I would consult a rottie professional AND a vet. Then you and your partner will have to descide what is best for you and your baby. I wish you the best of luck.

the breeder suggested hitting him?what type of breeder is he?hitting will make things worse and he may become worse.he needs to know you are the alpha male.my rottie had skimilar problems he needs to know you are the boss.i have to agree neutering does nothing much in most cases.i have been around some really dominant dogs they need to know who is the boss and not by hitting him.make sure he waits before you feed him and onl put food and allow him to eat when you allow him to.make sure you enter doorways first.make sure you massage him and stroke him even if he walks away.try alpha rolling himn on his back if you have any experience dont if you dont know youre dog well or have any experience with this.make sure you go through obedience with him.treat him well with his obedience with sit and down and come here etc.pet him with this as well.dont hit him.in my opinion it will make things worse.email me and i can give you more tips for changing the dogs thinking into you are alpha male.

id disagree with this dominance thing, and i woudl definately NOT alpha roll a dog if there was even the merest hint that it was a lack of confidence issue.

However, id agree that the dog (any dog in fact) needs to know that you are the boss, you are worthy of their respect and trust. When you have a dogs respect and trust, then problems are much easier to sort out, h owever you WONT get it by hitting a dog, nor will you get it by lopping his balls off.

i disagree with the dominance theory in general, a better way to think of it is that dogs do things they find rewarding. You need to find out what it is about unwanted behaviours that are rewarding the dog....and remove them.

Dogs do NOT do things to p*ss u off, get back at you, wind you up or anything else....ONLY because they are rewarding. So, where is the dogs reward in being aggressive? find it and stop it, and the problem should cease.

Em

Alpha rolling tends to come from the wolf pack idea - but in reality, real wolk packs alpha roll for 2 reasons - to KILL or else to actually OFFER the roll to a more dominant individual ...... that is just one reason why i personally would never do it ;)

I would suggest help from a competent behaviourist via vet referral - as has been said, we can't really attempt to "diagnose" or "treat" aggression as it has many causes...... and often (no offence) owner interraction makes it worse.

Occasionally too, dogs can have a medical problem which causes or contributes to aggression - anthing from a tumour to a liver problem to thyroid etc etc

BESt wishes
Lindsay

Hi, my husband and I have also a 10 month male rottie who is very agressive towards us in the evenings, he HAS been castrated but it hasn't made any difference even if he goes out for a 2hr walk as soon as he gets back to the front door he starts playing up...everytime he starts we have been putting him into the kitchen and leaving him there for about 30mins sometimes he wees whilst he's in there but we just ignore it and let him back in when he is quiet. This seems to be working as when he comes back in he lays down and goes off to sleep, our new problem is that he is weeing in the kitchen at night so we are having to go through puppy training again!! All I can say is try removing him from the room, but I do understand it is very hard when they stand there and snarl!! Good Luck,

My 7 month old boxer was challenging me most evenings and nudging my face with his to get attention. He has now stopped. I think for a multitude of reasons. Putting his dinner down for ten minutes making him work for his dinner and walks (ie sit down wait stay etc). I also changed his walking times. We also had a nastey incident with a standard black poodle called Roger who bit me and attacked my dog. He clearly saw me taking control. (I would not recommend this to anyone). Since that situation our relationship shifted. He was quite happy for me to lead. Now he waits for me to go through door, down stairs etc.

Have to say this even if it brings the walls down around my ears. The behaviour described in most of these cases is the behaviour of a juvenile feeling it's feet, to castrate at this stage will just prolong the phase, as the pup will never reach full maturity. If you must castrate, not yet heard a good reason why, do not do it until your dog is fully mature.

I have to add as well that although i feel it is not one hundred per cent clear from the original post, many so called "aggressive" youngsters are just doing the mad bad puppy behaviour ...... they need kind, firm and consistent handling. Sadly some often mentioned techniques such as spraying with vinegar, and so on will make the behaviour worsen :( and then the owner is at their wits end understandably.

Lindsay