Training

Troubleshooting your Rottweiler’s Sit

Obedience training would be a breeze if there were never any problems and trainers would be unemployed if all dogs would magically sit with the touch of a magic wand! We are humans and can make mistakes and dogs may need some TLC at times when it comes to completing certain exercises. If you are having trouble getting your Rottweiler to sit, please don’t get frustrated, you are not alone. Usually, patience and persistence will pay off, but you might need to do a little troubleshooting first to see what might be the problem. It could be something as tiny as posture and the way you deliver the treat. Here are some common scenarios.

My Rottweiler is Not Following the Food Lure

OK, this can happen and you might need to evaluate a couple of things. Is the area where you are training too distracting? You may need to train in a quieter place. Look for an indoor room in your home where there is nothing going on. Your dog will be more likely to focus on you. Look for high-value treats that are worthy of paying attention. When you move the food lure, do so slowly. You may need to break the exercise in small steps. For instance, click/verbally mark and reward for following the food lure for half and inch, then an inch, then a couple of inches more until your Rottweiler looks upward and eventually sits.

 

 

My Rottweiler Tries to Jump to Get the Food Lure

You may see this in puppies or young dogs.  If your Rottweiler starts jumping the moment he sees the food lure in your hand,  say “oops!” and hold the treat behind your back as you move to another area and try again. Repeat several times.

At some point, your Rottweiler should understand that jumping won’t earn him the treat. When he’s calmer and gets the point, you can try again until you get to have him perform the exercise.

If your Rottweiler jumps when you are delivering the treat upon sitting, you can help your Rottweiler succeed, by delivering the treat low as seen in the picture.

You can even try to do the exercise sitting down on a chair so your Rottweiler is less likely to want to jump up.

My Rottweiler Follows the Lure but Won’t Sit!

Sometimes some dogs may back up rather than sit.  In this case, it can help to perform the exercise against a wall, so with no where to go, your Rottweiler will sit.  You might also holding the food lure too high or too low, watch the video on the training your Rottweiler to sit page to see the correct execution. If your Rottweiler is old or has some spine or  orthopedic problems, consider that the exercise may cause your dog to feel uncomfortable. Check with your vet.

My Rottweiler Sits and Then Gets Up

If your Rottweiler sits and then gets up when it’s time to reward him, make sure that you don’t reward him! Otherwise he’ll be thinking that you are rewarding for getting up from the sit and not the sit. So say “ooops!” and put that treat away. The treat comes only when the bottom is on the floor.  You may need to repeat this exercise a few times until your Rottweiler has it down.

 

Training Your Rottweiler to Sit Through Luring

Training your Rottweiler to sit is one of the most important cues to teach whether you own a puppy or an older Rottweiler who never had any training. Rottweiler puppies as young as 8 weeks old can learn how to sit by using simple training methods. The sit cue will come very handy in many different situations. For example, you may want your dog to sit while you put on the leash or you may like him to sit nicely when you are preparing his meal. The sit cue is also a foundation skill that can come handy in future trick training, canine sports  or obedience exercises you may wish to build on in the future.

In this article, we will be showing you how to train your Rottweiler through a training method known as luring. You can find more about this training method by visiting the section on luring. Please read this page before proceeding so that you are more familiar on how this method works: using luring to train your Rottweiler. After reading familiarizing yourself with luring, then now you are ready to start. Here is a guide on training your Rottweiler to sit in 3 easy steps. For those visual learners out there, there is a video of this exercise at the bottom of the article.

Items Needed:

To train your Rottweiler to sit, you will need only a few items. You should use some tasty treats that are big enough to protrude from your fingers. If you Rottweiler loves his kibble, you can use that for indoor training sessions, but when you later on practice outdoors or around distractions, you may need higher-value treats.  The clicker or verbal marker will be informing your dog that he is doing the exercise correctly and that a treat is on its way. Click the clicker or say “yes” a split second before giving him a treat. Start training your Rottweiler to sit in a quiet room with not many distractions going on.

• Treats
• Clicker or verbal marker (yes!)
• Your Rottweiler of course!

 

 

How to Train Your Rottweiler to Sit Using Luring

So here we are in the “meaty” part of article. These steps will guide you through the four easy steps that will train your Rottweiler to sit. If you have any trouble in of these steps, no worries, we have you covered! At the end of this article, you will find a troubleshooting guide on how to solve some common problems you may incur into when training your Rottweiler to sit.

Step 1: Hold your treat as a food lure by keeping it between your index finger and thumb. Let the treat protrude slightly so that your Rottweiler can see it or sniff it and acknowledge its presence.

In this picture, you can see how to correctly hold a food lure in the initial stages of luring.  The food lure will be used to guide your dog into the desired sitting position.

 

 

Step 2: Place yourself in front of your Rottweiler with your Rottweiler standing. Present the food lure to your Rottweiler. Bring it close to your Rottweiler’s nose allowing him to sniff it. If he nibbles on it slightly it’s fine.Next, start moving the food lure from your Rottweiler’s nose towards the back of his head. Your Rottweiler should be following your food lure.

 

Tip: do this movement very slowly.

 

Step 3: Finish the upward hand movement from your Rottweiler’s nose to the back of his head.  As your Rottweiler follows the hand movement, he will be looking up and tilting his noise upwards, which will cause his rear legs to bend and start the movement to sit.

Tip: Keep an eye on your Rottweiler’s rear end so that you can notice when it’s about to touch the floor.

 

 

 

Step 4:  Click your clicker or say your verbal marker (yes!) the moment your Rottweiler’s rear touches the floor. This tells your Rottweiler that this is the behavior you wanted. Immediately afterward, feed your Rottweiler the food lure you were holding to reward him. Repeat the exercise at least a half a dozen times.

Wait! We are not done yet! After repeating this exercise about half a dozen times, you should notice your smart Rottweiler is getting a hang of it. It’s now time to start fading that food lure.

In other words, it’s time to stop showing food, otherwise you’ll be stuck with a Rottweiler who will go on strike if he doesn’t see any food. In the next upcoming article we will be showing you how to astutely fade the food lure so that your Rottweiler won’t develop an over dependence on it.

 

Alternatives to Crate Training

There are alternatives to crate training, but they may not deliver the best results. Paper training, for instance, does not work well since it basically teaches your Rottweiler that it is acceptable to urinate inside. It is difficult for a puppy to understand why it is ok to urinate on the paper and why it is not just an inch or two from it. Also, paper training takes double the work: first you need to teach your puppy to go on the paper and then you must teach it to no longer go there and go outside.

Another alternative is to wear an umbilical cord if you are home for most of the day. Basically, attach the leash to your belt or if you have a nylon leash with a loop as a handle, put it around your waist, tighten it by inserting the end of the leash through the loop handle and then clip it on your pup. This allows you to keep an eye on your pup for most of the day so you can recognize swiftly signs of needing to go potty and you can take swift action and head outside. However, you ultimately want to crate your puppy at night.

Finally, a small area of the house may be used. You want to obviously use an area easy to clean up such as a tiled floor or wood floor. Make the area comfy with blankets and put a water and food bowl. You want this area snug so your puppy does not feel compelled to urinate or defecate in one corner. You also want to be able to see your puppy at all times, so use baby gates or other barriers you can see through.

First Night: Puppy Crate Training

In order to crate train well, you need to introduce the crate positively and teach your puppy to love it. Place the crate in a quiet area of your home where you are likely to be in reach during the day. You will have to be able to hear the puppy whimpering or visually see him giving signs it must go out to potty.

Location, is not only the most important factor in real estate. The first night, prepare the crate and make it extra comfy. Place a soft blanket and some safe chew toys inside. Make a small trail of treats that lead inside the crate; and end the trail with a pile of treats inside at the end of the crate. Your puppy must learn to associate the crate with great things.

Once inside, do not close your puppy in the crate as of yet! Let him, investigate it on his own terms. Then as the night approaches, practice getting your pup’s attention and toss the treat inside the crate as you say ‘’inside’’. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Finally, place lure your puppy inside using a Kong stuffed with peanut butter or Kong n’ stuff spray cheese while saying ”inside”. Let your puppy have it and close the crate. Keep the crate near you the first night. Right next to your bed would be ideal since the puppy will feel lonely, being in a new environment away from its mother and litter-mates.

The first few nights, it does not hurt to reassure your puppy. If he whines, let him know you are there. You may wrap an alarm clock in a blanket to mimic the mothers and litter-mate’s heart beats, but be careful if your puppy decides to use it as a chew toy!  Some like to warm up a Kong in the microwave and wrap it in a blanket.  Wrapping a warm water bottle in a blanket helps mimic the warmth of your pup’s litter mates and mom.

You must be very careful in noticing sings your puppy must be taken outside. Waking up, whimpering, moving around the crate, sniffing, are signs he may need to go. Quickly take your puppy outside and see if he goes. If he does, praise lavishly and give a treat right away. A great training method is to start immediately teaching the terms ‘’go potty’’. Right when your puppy squats, say ”go potty’’ so with time, your puppy learns to associate those words with the act of squatting for number one and number two. If you want to be methodical, teach your puppy to differentiate the two: when he is having a bowel movement say ”go poop’’ when he is urinating say ”go pee’’. When he grows, he will learn to pee and poop on command, valuable training that will come handy when you must take your dog on long trips and must take him to take potty breaks in odd and unfamiliar places!

Do not Overdo it: Understanding Training Burnout

As much as training is important for your Rottweiler consider that it is important to avoid arriving to the point of burn-out, since your dog may then associate training sessions with the burn-out episode. This can put a dent on your future training sessions, since your Rott most likely ended on a negative note and may start resenting training. This is why dog trainers like to end their training sessions with the dog eager to do more: this makes the training session end on a positive note with the dog asking for more. Next time, the dog will very likely look forward to training since it was so much fun!

 

Ignoring Your Commands

This is the most obvious sign that your dog may have had enough of training. You catch your Rottweiler looking elsewhere with a blank stare or he may have been heeling beautifully until he starts insistently sniffing a spot. If your dog is ignoring your commands, don’t presume right away he is being stubborn; rather consider he may be suffering from burn-out. Trainers are pretty good in catching signs of burnout and will generally give the dog a few moments to cool off and then resume a bit later asking a simple command the dog knows well to end the training session on a positive note. This form of burn-out if often seen in the initial stages of learning when the dog is ”absorbing” too much at once (this is why dog trainers who ”split” an exercise in small steps are better than dog trainers who ”lump” asking too much, too fast).

 

Displacement Behaviors

These are complete out of context behaviors that cause dog owners to often wonder what is up with their canine companions. For instance, you may be asking your Rottweiler a command when he suddenly has a terrible itch and starts scratching, and scratching and scratching. Or you may be heeling when your Rottweiler has a sudden onset of unexplainable sneezing or a sudden urge to sniff a spot on the ground. These are not casual behaviors; rather they are often early signs of stress.

 

Calming Signals

If your Rottweiler is starting to feel a bit intimidated by your requests, he may start sending you calming signals. These signals were studied in depth by Norwegian dog trainer and dog body language expert Turid Rugaas, author of the book On Talking Terms of Dogs: Calming Signals. Just as displacement behaviors, calming signals are out of context behaviors as well, but some may be hard to detect, as they are often casual and happen quite quickly. Common examples of calming signals are: yawning, a quick flick of the tongue, turning the head to one side, lifting a paw, sitting down, or performing a play bow.

 

Remember: when training your Rottweiler be a splitter and not a lumper! Make your initial sessions short and sweet, and always end on a positive note!

Considerations About Training Commands

One important factor to keep in mind is watching what names you give to your commands. You think it may be funny that some trainers teach their dogs commands in German and that some use some unusual names, but there is often a reason about this. I discovered this the hard way, here is my experience.

Since both my Rottweilers Petra and Kaiser always used to greet guests a bit too enthusiastically, as they grew bigger and older, we thought we had to curb this enthusiasm a notch because not everybody ultimately loves Rottweilers, and most of all, some people may feel a little bit intimidated by being greeted by two large dogs at once. So we decided to teach them a solid ”stay’’. This command worked pretty well and when we were living in Italy guests were amazed at how well behaved they were in staying in their spot, even though we knew they were dying to come say hello. After the guests reported to actually like dogs and our dogs appeared calmer, we would tell them “Come!’’ and they would initiate their greeting ritual which was a big party of licking and wriggling butts.

Once we were back to the States, something must have happened, as they both were more and more frequently breaking their stays. The moment the guest was invited in they got up from their stays and came to greet. Of course, we were upset about this and needed to do some troubleshooting. Perhaps it was due to the fact that we recently moved and they were not generalizing their commands well? We knew that upon moving dogs at times require some settling and may engage in some testing behaviors. Or perhaps was the house too small, and with the guest being so close they felt they had the need to go greet? We found out it was none of those when hubby and I tried to recreate the whole scene. It took a careful analysis to figure out exactly what was going on.

So hubby played the role of the guest and went outside. I put the dogs in their stay, this time at a farther distance than usual, just in case lack of space was what was causing them to break their stay. Hubby knocked on the door, I went to open .Hubby made a funny voice replicating a female guest. I said ‘’Well hello!  How are you?’’ and then after chatting a bit I said ‘’Come on in!’’ Right upon inviting this silly guest inside, both my Rottweilers got up and came to greet enthusiastically.

It took a bit of thinking and a close analysis but we figured exactly what was causing the the issue: Upon saying ‘’Come on in!’’ my dogs were only hearing the word  ”come’ so they were actually obeying a command rather than breaking one! You really have to do some thinking with this smart breed!

Same seems to go on with owners who like to use the word ”Ok’’ to release their dogs from a sit or lay down. They may be training in class. when the the instructor gives them a piece of advice and the client says ”Ok!’’ and in a second there comes their dog!

Another common scenario is the dog owner who uses the word ”down” interchangeably for different scenarios. He may say ”down” to have the dog lay down and then may say down as well , to tell a dog to get off the couch or to stop jumping~! How confusing is that?

So, yes, it does make sense to use to some extent some unusual words, such as those you do not typically use in a conversation. Some people instead of saying ”Ok”, prefer to use the herding command ”That’ll do’’. No many people indeed will say ”that’ll do” in their daily conversations! Other options are German words such as the famous and effective word ”Platz!’’

Training Your Rottweiler: Getting Started

Training Gear

A good training session requires some gear so you can train easily and effectively. I like to train using scientifically approved training methods following the rewarding philosophy of positive reinforcement training. You will therefore not see choke chains, prong collars or  electric collars in my training classes. Items I would recommend for training your Rottweiler are the following:

1. Tasty Treats

There are treats, and there are tasty treats. You may need to experiment a bit and figure out what treat works best for your Rottweiler. Generally, you want high-value treats worthy of motivating your dog, but you do not want your dog to be too aroused by the treats that his brain goes into a stall.

Kibble for most dogs is not enough motivating, especially if you must work under distractions, but can work well when you are training indoors. For outdoors sessions, try slivers of  hot dogs, freeze dried liver crumbles, chunks of roasted bone-less and skin-less chicken,  or some types of store-bought treats that may motivate the most lazy dogs.

In order to work well, you want treats that are small (bite-size) and easy to eat. A crunchy cookie can be messy, take too long to be consumed and can be hard to divide in small portions. When using treats to train, consider accordingly adjusting your Rottweiler’s meal so he/she does not ingest too many calories. Many trainers will suggest bringing your Rottweiler to class on an empty stomach if he or she is low on motivation and gets easily distracted.

2. Treat Pouch

Most training centers will not allow you to bring along a plastic or a paper bag full of treats. Why? Because dogs get conditioned to the noise produced by such containers with the end result of getting distracted when you need them to concentrate. Your dog may be working on a stay and he may break his stay early if you accidentally touch the bag or if you touch the bag to get the treats before delivering your release command. So invest in a treat pouch or a fanny pack. I like the ones you can place  around your waist or attach to a belt so your hands are more free  when you are walking your dog on the leash.

3. Collar/Harness/Haltis

Obviously, you will have to invest in a good collar or harness. Collars must be fastened properly or your dog may slip out of them. Two fingers should be able to fit between your dog’s neck and the collar.  A flat buckled collar or martingale collar are common choices.

Regular harnesses are good but they can encourage pulling. A harness with a front leash attachments such as the Easy Walk by Premier, is preferable since it  can work wonders if you are training your dog to walk nice on a leash.

Head halters are another choice, but some dogs may have a hard time adjusting to them initially, but they work well since they control the head, and use pressure points to which dogs seem to respond well. These work well as aids for behavior modification programs.

Most of these training tools need gradual adjustments, this means you will have to give your dog some time to get used to the feel of these accessories and pairing their use with treats is one of the fastest ways.

4. Leash

Nylon leashes are popular but they can cut your hands if you are dealing with a hyper Rottweiler that pulls. Leather leashes may be tough at first, but they soften over time and may last quite a long time. I have owned the same leather leash for over three years and it looks like it still has many more years to live!

5. Clicker

Clickers are  small noise making tools that are great markers for wanted behaviors. They are a wonderful tool for opening up shy Rottweilers that need to build a tad bit their confidence. Your clicker will turn out being your best friend for teaching your Rott some cool tricks.

6. Long Line

A long line is similar to what horse trainers use for horses. It is just that, a long line that attaches to your dog’s collar giving you control over distance. A long line may go from 15 to up 30,40 feet or more. It works great for teaching recalls or for training your Rottweiler to track.

7. Muzzle

All Rottweilers should learn how to wear a muzzle. You may never know what life brings you. You may be at the vet’s office and your dog may dislike getting handled in a certain way, or you may have to walk him in an area where there are laws where dogs must be muzzled. A good way to introduce the muzzle is to feed treats through it before being worn, so that in order for the dog to have access to them, he has to put his nose through the muzzle.

8. Attention

Of course, no training session can ultimately start without having your Rottweiler’s attention. Of course, you must start your first training session in a quiet area with little or no distractions.

One important note:  an important way to get your dog’s attention is to pronounce your dog’s name immediately  followed by the command. So say you want to tell your Rottweiler to sit, then you would say ‘’Petra, sit’’. Make sure you make a brief pause between your dog’s name and the command. When your dog hears her name she will be putting her listening ears on and await the command.

Be careful on the sequence and be precise. If you say ‘’Sit’’ without the name or ‘’Sit, Petra’’ she may not get it the first time and this is one of the primary causes of owners repeating commands. The name will ensure your dog is receptive to the command, the mechanism is similar to pushing the ‘’push to talk’ button on a walkie-talkie. Push it prior to talking and the message will be loud and clear, push it too late and the message will not come through 🙁

Positive Reinforcement Training

You may have noticed that there are different schools of thought when it comes to training methods. Trainers have their own philosophy, but more and more trainers today are approaching the marvelous world of positive reinforcement training. These are training methods based on rewards. In the previous decades, training was more based on the principle “you obey because I say so’’. Today it is most likely “ you obey because you enjoy so’’.

But what are ultimately rewards in the eyes of a dog? Close your eyes and think as your Rottweiler for a second. What do you think will make your Rottweiler most happy? Is it a piece of juicy steak? A ball tossed across the yard? A pat on his favorite spot on his tummy? Regardless of what came to your mind, these are all rewards if your Rottweiler is eager to have them.

Don’t be fooled by the Rottweiler’s tough looks! Most of them are eager to please if you give them clear instructions using positive methods. No need to choke, tug, shock, kick, grab or alpha roll! These are outdated and even potentially dangerous methods that can trigger defensive aggression.

Not all rewards are necessarily tangible. For instance if you are heading outdoors and your Rottweiler manifests the desire to come out with you, the reward for asking him to sit prior to opening the door is the simple fact of being allowed out the door with you. For most dogs, a door unveiling an intriguing outdoor world of sights and smells, is a big reward per se, especially if it translates into a fun play session! These rewards are often referred to as ”life rewards”.

Training using rewards therefore does not mean you will be stuck in carrying treats with you every where, every time, all your life, even if your Rottweiler will certainly love that! Training positively does not translate in being permissive and spoiling dogs. In a good training program, treats are gradually weaned and given at random intervals, so to increase motivation and teach your Rottweiler that it must also work for the simple goal of pleasing you. And pleasing you can be equally rewarding!

If you pair the words ”good girl’’ or ”good boy’’ with a treat, your dog will learn to love those words, and later on, even if not always followed by a treat, those words will still be music to your dog’s ears!