Behavior

Rottweiler Begging at the Table?

Rottweilers can be quite food-oriented dogs, and if your Rottweiler has started begging at the table, think again before pointing the finger at him. Most dog begging behaviors have been literally taught by their owners. The secret therefore to stop a dog from begging is to stop rewarding dog begging behaviors in the first place!

If one day you sat at the table and your Rottweiler gave you that “Oh, that looks so good’’ look and you gave in by passing just a tiny piece of that juicy steak you were eating, chances are high, at your next eating session, your Rottweiler will be closer to the table, looking at you while drooling buckets of saliva. To better understand why this is happening, simply think of this basic rule: behaviors that are rewarded are reinforced and tend to repeat and increase.  It’s ultimately the power of positive reinforcement training.

If you have already given in to those pleading eyes supplicating a tiny piece of your meal, consider that you will be stuck with a big Rottweiler glued to your leg, looking at you as if he didn’t eat for decades while drooling like a Saint Bernard! Don’t feel bad, even though your Rottweiler may try to make you feel guilty. You must ultimately think that some of your foods aren’t that healthy for your Rottweiler and you definitively don’t want him to put on some pounds. So, stop “feeding” the behavior if you want your Rottweiler to stop begging at the table.

Something to be aware of when stopping a behavior that has been a habit for some time, is a phenomenon known as “extinction bursts.” If you always gave in when your Rottweiler looked at you at eating a steak by giving him some morsels, the day you abruptly stop feeding him, you will see an increase in the begging behavior. He may bark at you, paw at you, to inform you he is there waiting for his tasty morsels. The dynamic is similar to a child who throws a tantrum at the store because mom one day decided not to buy him candy.  The best way to deal with this is to totally ignore the behavior.  An extinction burst as the name implies, means the behavior is about to extinguish, so if you don’t fuel it by giving more food, the behavior will eventually stop.

We often tell our dogs what not to do,  but it’s also important telling them what to do instead. If you want to eat in peace at the table you can train your Rottweiler to lay down in his spot while you eat (see the ”go to your place’’ section on how to train this) and let him keep a long stay until you are done eating. Then, you can release him and reward him with a healthy snack. If you own a young Rottweiler or a Rottweiler who is unable to hold a long stay, you can keep him occupied by giving him an interactive toy, like a stuffed Kong or a safe chew bone. This way, you get to enjoy your food and your Rottweiler gets to stay occupied while working on the Kong. If you do this every day, it will become a routine you both look forward to.

 

→Did you know? Extinction bursts are a good thing! It’s a sign that what you are doing to extinguish a behavior is working, so keep it up, ignore the dog begging behavior and it will soon be gone for good!

Rottweiler Puppy Urinating When Scolded or Excited?

At times, during puppy-hood you may notice your Rottweiler puppy leave a puddle of urine upon being greeted by you. This is known as excitement urination and is the pup’s way to simply say: ”I am so excited to see you!”. If your puppy urinates upon being greeted after you have been out for some time, try your best to make greeting low-key, no looking at your pup, talking to him, or touching him for the first five minutes, just go about your errands. Then take your puppy outside and after he goes potty, praise and say hello without much fuss. Make it a habit to come home, run your errands and call your puppy straight outside so he can go potty, and if you wish, you can finally greet your puppy outdoors.

Another good way to re-direct your pup’s mind set about acting excitingly towards guests at the door, is to have the guests ignore your puppy (no eye contact, no talking, no petting) and casually drop a few treats on the floor. This should redirect your pup’s attention to the treats turning his enthusiasm down a notch. After calming down, your puppy may feel less compelled to sprinkle and the best part is that this exercise will also confirm in his mind that ”good things happen” when guests come over!

If your puppy urinates upon being scolded, you may be dealing with “submissive urination“. Your Rottweiler puppy is basically trying to say “”I respect you please don’t hurt me.” To tackle this problem, try to be less intimidating. Your puppy is literally telling you to act a bit more subdued as you are appearing intimidating. Puppies, even belonging to a breed like the Rottweiler, do best with positive reinforcement training: a training method that rewards desired behaviors.

Despite what you may have heard, it’s untrue that certain dog breeds need a heavier hand.  Canine behaviorist and author Nicole Wilde says  And the good news is that with gentle methods, puppies overgrow this problem as they build confidence and grow up. The ones that do continue exhibiting this behavior as adults, are often sadly, dogs who never had an opportunity to bloom because they were treated harshly.

 

→Did you know?  The urine emitted by a puppy urinating submissively advertises the puppy’s age so that other dogs know they’re dealing with a young puppy who just doesn’t know any better. This makes the older dogs more likely to accept these”unruly” behaviors compared to how they would react if they were dealing with an adult dog.

Rottweiler Puppy Biting: What Happens in the Litter

At six weeks, a Rottweiler puppy’s sharp milk teeth start irritating the nursing mother which becomes reluctant to nurse and the weaning process begins. It is around this age, between six and seven weeks, that puppies start understanding the basics of bite inhibition. The Rottweiler puppy starts playing with its litter mates and if he bites too hard, the other puppy will squeal sharply and withdraw from the game. This ‘time-out’ basically teaches the puppy that in order to play, he must be more gentle with its teeth; a very important lesson in bite inhibition. The same happens when the pup bites too hard when nursing; mom will likely stand up and leave.

In both cases the Rottweiler puppy learns through negative punishment, basically, his naughty behavior decreases because something a puppy likes is taken away. In this case, the puppy likes to play, but his license to play with other puppies is abruptly revoked when he bites too hard. However, when he bites gently, his play mates continue to play, therefore his kinder biting is rewarded. Soon the puppy learns to put 2 and 2 together: if I bite too hard, good things stop, but if I gauge my bite pressure and just nip lightly, I get  to play with my litter-mates, yay!

Because bite inhibition lessons take place when the puppy is in the litter, you should adopt your Rottweiler after eight weeks of age. By this time, he/she should have grasped the concept of bite inhibition, but the work does not end here. The puppy must learn that the same principles apply in the human world and must be generalized to just about everybody the puppy encounters.

 

Rottweiler Puppy Biting: What Happens in the Human World

Upon being adopted, the puppy will still have a tendency to bite. He has learned to inhibit his bite with his litter mates, but now he must learn that humans have very delicate skin. A Rottweiler puppy should ideally learn the basics of good bite inhibition by the age of three months, and the training should be reinforced throughout the dog’s life. A Rottweiler has very strong jaws capable of doing lots of harm,  so if one days despite all your precautions your Rottweiler will bite, it imperative that he does so doing minimal harm. This is something that needs to be taught early, as soon as your puppy comes into your home.

Puppy classes are an invaluable opportunity for socialization and to further reinforce and polish the concept of bite inhibition. Rough playing pups will soon learn that their favorite games end abruptly if too much force is used. The pup will further learn to calibrate his biting forces when playing with other puppies.

In the puppy’s interactions with humans, humans must apply the same principles as the litter mates. If the puppy happens to bite, the person must make a sharp ‘Owww’ followed by sudden withdrawal. In other words, the person must withdraw the hands, place them under the armpits and turn around making no eye contact, totally ignoring the pup. More negative punishment will enforce the ”no biting” policy.

Once the pup calms down the person can try to initiate play again, but if the puppy bites hard again the same process is repeated with withdrawal and even leaving the room if the puppy further bites to solicit play. Obviously, the puppy must be offered appropriate chew toys to play with so alternative chewing options are given.

It is important to point out that the puppy must be given the opportunity to inhibit his bite rather than prohibiting biting completely. If the puppy is never allowed to bite, in the eventuality of a bite, it will bite strong and likely cause injury. Therefore, the puppy must first learn to inhibit his bite and then reduce the frequency of biting.

→Did you know? Tapping a puppy on its nose or squeezing its muzzle, or any other form of physical punishment may in the long run encourage defensive mechanisms which can turn into aggressive behaviors. Several studies report that training procedures based on physical punishment techniques can have negative consequences.

Rottweiler Jumping Behavior

Many Rottweiler owners think that their puppy jumping up is cute, but with Rottweilers growing to be often over 90 to 100 pounds or more, you do not want to encourage such behavior. As an ambassador of the breed, it is in your best interest to have an adult Rottweiler that does not jump on everybody he encounters. Many people feel intimidated by a large jumping dog that cannot contain his excitement and feels compelled to greet everybody this way. Not to mention, the upset created by making people’s clothes dirty after Dante’s romp in the muddy yard!

You can start early to teach your young puppy not to jump by simply turning your back and withdrawing all the attention when the puppy is jumping.  Like bite inhibition, this method is based on negative punishment, you are removing your attention from your Rottweiler when he’s acting in an undesirable way. If your Rottweiler puppy still attempts to jump on your back, leave the room. Your puppy should soon catch on that his jumping behavior makes people turn away and even leave the room!

As always, we often tell dogs not to do, but they also need to know what to do instead. You and all your family should strictly abide to the basic rule that puppy gets pet only when all four feet are on the floor. Make sure you tell your visitors to do the same upon meeting your puppy. This is the biggest challenge: most people feel compelled to give attention to a dog while it is actively jumping. “Hello!” followed by lots of pats will encourage jumping through positive reinforcement.  The pup jumps up and gets all the nice attention. Behaviors that are positively reinforced, continue and put roots, so expect to see more and more jumping behaviors in the future. It’s not a bad idea to tell your guests to act pretty boring when entering the home.  If they act too exciting this may elicit jumping behaviors as to a dog’s eyes it’s as if the people are asking to be jumped on and greeted. Yes, you can add excitement into the mix eventually as your puppy learns more impulse control, but for the first tries, better help him succeed by keeping your guests calm and quiet.

Once upon a time, dog jumping up was thought to be an act of dominance, but more knowledge on dog behavior, reveals that dogs jump simply in an attempt to say hello and lick their owner’s faces. It starts as an innocent behavior during puppy hood, but persists into adulthood if allowed to flourish. Your Rottweiler therefore is likely simply trying to get closer to your face and say hello, (of course, if he’s barking and growling while jumping he’s likely not saying hello, consult with a professional if that’s the case!) but this is one of those behaviors frowned upon and highly discouraged. Best to nip dog jumping in the bud during puppy hood before it gets more persistent and difficult to eradicate!

 

→Did you know? Dogs tend to chain behaviors together. So if your dog jumps on you and then you tell him to sit and reward the sit, you may be teaching your dog to jump first and then sit. Not good! To break this behavior chain, prevent your dog from jumping in the first place or refrain from rewarding all those jumps followed by sits.