Rottweiler Puppy Training: Taming the Gentle Giants
Want to start with Rottweiler Puppy Training? Don’t feel intimidated by their formidable size, some have called them gentle giants. Rottweilers are in general good natured, especially with the correct training from a young age. They are eager to please their owners, very intelligent and loyal. Rotties are fearless, self-assured and levelheaded. But if not properly trained and socialized they can struggle with aggression issues.
Tame Your Rottie Before It Is Too Big To Manage
Training a puppy is always important, but when it comes to big dog breeds, it’s crucial to invest lots of time in training. Rottweiler puppy training is especially important if you notice your dog has an aggressive streak. This will be displayed as a growl or snap when you feed it. Or an inappropriate reaction to a stranger or other dog in your home. Once you’ve noticed these aggressive reactions, even while you are playing with your puppy, you need to address it immediately.
Rottweilers got a bad reputation after being used in dogfights and some breeders focus on bringing out their aggressive nature. Make sure you pick a reputable breeder so that you don’t have to struggle with managing your dog. Read this article to find out how to find a reputable Rottweiler breeder
Rottweiler Puppy Training Tips
Each dog has its own temperament to deal with. Although Rottweilers can be very obedient dogs, some have a very stubborn streak in them and might ignore your commands, or simply keep disobeying you. But if you follow a few basic rules, you should be able to tame your wild Rottie.
The biggest dog training trick: patience. Remember, this will be an ongoing commitment, especially while your Rottie is still a puppy. With patience and consistency you will be able to mold your dog’s temperament.
Step 1: Start Young
Before bringing your Rottie puppy home, decide on the house rules you want to teach it and stick to these. Make sure all the members in your household know the do’s and don’ts. For the best results, start training between 6 weeks and 6 months.
If you’re adopting an older Rottie, you need to be aware that the training process will take more time and effort. And lots of patience. But because Rottweilers love pleasing their masters, your dog will soon catch on to what is acceptable behavior in your home. Positive Reinforcement Training will yield the best results.
Step 2: Patience
This step might sound easy, but it will be the trickiest to remain consistent with. Your Rottie will not necessarily instantly catch on to what you expect from it. Repeating the same training steps over and over can become frustrating.
It’s important to remain positive while you are busy with Rottweiler puppy training. Dogs are very sensitive to the moods of their owners. If you become angry with your Rottie because it’s not catching on to the trick you’re trying to teach it, the dog will become frazzled. You need to engage in training when you and your dog have high energy levels. Read this article to find out more about the best time for dog training.
Step 3: Understand Dominance
You might be familiar with the concept of teaching your dog that you are the Alpha in the pack, and it has to obey you at all times? Dominance based training is an outdated form of dog training. You cannot beat your dog into submission.
When dealing with a breed with an underlying tendency towards aggressive behavior, this technique can backfire on you. Being kind and understanding while training your dog, will yield much better results. Remember, your Rottie wants to please you, focus on this natural inclination and it will yield much better results.
Step 4: Socialize Your Rottie
You need to remember that your cute little puppy will grow into a big, robust dog. Whatever behavior it falls into as a puppy, it will continue doing as an adult dog. So think wisely what you allow your Rottie to do. You have the power to shape its temperament into happy and sociable.
Your dog might be fine with interacting with you and your family members, but you need to expose it to strangers from a young age so that it can learn how to interact with unfamiliar people and animals. A very important aspect of Rottweiler puppy training, is to make sure your dog knows how to properly interact with other dogs, for instance in the park. Otherwise taking it for walks will be a nightmare.
Step 5: Positive Reinforcement
This is a much more effective Rottweiler puppy training method. Acceptable behavior followed by a reward, is a language your dog understands. Even using it in reverse, saying “bad dog” and ignoring your dog when it does something you dislike, will work as well. The reward can be a treat, but your dog will be happy with you simply showering it with praise after doing something right.
Turn your training sessions into a game, and your Rottie will become putty in your hand. But beware of too many snack rewards, Rottweilers are notorious for struggling with their weight. And once your dog is overweight, it will be a big struggle to bring them back to a healthy size.
Step 6: Be Prompt With Your Reactions
Dog’s live in the moment. They do not have the ability to connect bad behavior with delayed punishment. For instance, dragging your puppy to the pee on your Persian carpet, rubbing its nose in it and giving it a hiding hours after the incident, will only make your dog fearful of you. It will not prevent it from peeing on the carpet in the future.
With good or bad behavior that you want to enforce or prevent, you need to catch your Rottie in the act and immediately either praise or reprimand it. And your timing needs to be exact, the moment your puppy obeys the command, you need to reward it.
Rottweiler Puppy Training: Teaching Simple Commands
When starting with your Rottweiler puppy training, firstly focus on a few basic commands before you move on to more fun tricks. By using a positive reinforcement style, you can ensure that your Rottie is a well-adjusted member of your family and interacts well with strangers, both people and other dogs.
Sit
This should be the first command you teach your Rottie puppy. It’s an essential tool that will make your life much easier. While you are training your cute puppy, envision a full-grown Rottweiler in your head as motivation to be as strict as possible with your training methods.
Your puppy needs to be completely focused on you for the training to be successful. Don’t just rely on your voice, use a simple hand signal with all the commands you teach your puppy. This way you can grab the dog’s attention both visually and audibly. Keep the verbal commands short, “sit” instead of “sit down”.
Paw
This isn’t just a nice party trick command, it will also be useful should you need to clip your dog’s nails. For this command to be effective, your Rottie needs to first master the basic command of “sit”.
No
Another crucial command to teach your Rottie. You need to set clear boundaries of what behavior is acceptable at your house, as well as outside while you’re on a walk or in the park. For this command to be successful, you need to use a firm and disciplining tone of voice. You can also replace the word “no” with “bad” or “stop”. In the end it’s not the word itself that will stop your Rottie in its tracks, it is the way you say it that will make your dog pay attention. Remember to react quickly so that your dog can make the association between specific behavior and the reprimand.
Down
This is a more tricky command to master. Again, you can only teach your Rottie this one after it is familiar with the “sit” command. In the beginning you can use your hand to gently push your Rottie down into a laying position until your dog understand that you want it to lie down. Use your hand in a downward motion with palm facing down while saying “down”.
Stay
This one can be quite frustrating to teach. Be prepared for lots of repetition and a challenge on your ability to remain patient with your dog. When you start feeling frustrated or annoyed with your Rottie, rather stop the training session and try again the next day. You can either start this Rottweiler puppy training phase with the “sit” or “down” command, whichever works best for you and your dog.
Come
This command follows on the “stay” command. Your Rottie will enjoy this one much more than sitting still in one spot, the breed loves the company of its master.
Conclusion: Effective Rottweiler Puppy Training
Rottweiler puppy training is a joy because you are working with a breed that wants to work with you. Tap into your Rottie’s natural need to please you, and the training process will be much easier. Remember to not use harsh methods, you do not want to trigger an aggressive reaction from your dog. It will only be retaliating out of fear. With lots of patience, consistency and lots of affirmation your little puppy will grow into a gentle giant.
What is your experience of Rottweiler puppy training? Do you have a submissive Rottie or one with a stubborn streak?