Rottie

macadam

I have a year old rottie who was bred for protection work and showing, the problem i have with him he is too placid , i live in the country and he has the run of the garden all walled in,
but he is useless as a deterrant as any stranger can walk up and rub him through the gates .

How can i make him more protective of his territory, i dont want him vicious but need him to guard , have fair knowledge of obedience training he will sit stay and speak has great drive etc but just abig softie, someone said get astranger to put him in a sack and tie it, never heard this before.

PirateShampoo

Im sorry, i thought you just said you want to get your 1 year old puppy and tie him up in sack to make him more vicious?

macadam

No someone has said this to me but would never do that , i dont want my dog vicious but would like him to guard, maybe his guarding instincts have not come through yet .

HOBO 83

At only 1 the dog is still a puppy, as he gets older he should naturely becom more dominant. You should be very careful in what techniques you use with this dog because at the end of the day a 50kilo dog with the wrong intentions can do serios damage. Good luck with him.

p28559

would think the dog is still maturing. as previous reply says i would be very cautious about encouraging the guard instinct. i do see you problem though. you thought you were buying both a pet and a guard dog. and the guard side is underdeveloped.

give the dog six months. am sure you could train the dog to bark (only) at strangers.

any rottie i ever saw always made me walk the long way round....barking or not...

macadam

I have bred and showed GSD , but this guy has me baffled last week a friend who i have not seen in 3 yrs called and was stroking him through the gate, was a bit embarassing with the sign outside MIND THE DOG.

Have anyone a contact for training north of Dublin.

thanks for all replies.

Lobelia Overhill

Generally speaking, people see a rottie, they run ...

stevoman

speaking of experience of having an extremely timid rottie count yourself a very lucky dog owner.

firstly he's only a pup so his confience has still to come through.

secondly as he is timid he will be very very easy to train, good with kids and good with people.

the rottie will eventually mature and get to know his territory. mine is a good deterent and a very good guad dog now and although he may let somewhon he may be wary of in, if your not around he wont let them leave.

honestly count youself ucky. the last thing you want is an angry rottweiller.

campervan

Lobelia Overhil wrote: »

Generally speaking, people see a rottie, they run ...

yup, exactly, people will run because most have a skewed perception of this breed. In reality alot of them are the biggest babies you will meet. Dress them up as a Lab and people would be only too happy to cuddle them. For the love of God, please dont take the advice of that 'someone' - he/she is a complete muppet. Just the sight of the breed will put alot of people off, unless of course they really know what rotties are like. Can dogs be bred for guarding? I would think its more in the training, just dont do anything you regret!

Sigma Force

I don't think the dog should be encouraged to be vicious in any way. If you want a dog that's going to bark even just to let you know someones coming up the drive or whatever then a terrier type dog will.

I would invest in cctv cameras etc. I know some dogs are used as guard dogs but the sight of a dog can be enough to put people off anyway so perhaps that plus cctv and good security lights would be enough?

If the garden is walled and gated then perhaps putting broken glass etc. on top of the wall will stop people trying to get over the wall.
If you are in the countryside is it a particularly rough area that you need the place protected most countryside locations are pretty quiet.

macadam

Hi all thanks for your positive comments, I am an avid dog lover have 3 different breeds and all get treated the same ,training at least once a day each one gets its turn at obeidence, because they are different challenges which i enjoy, but the rott is a disaster he is unbeliveably tame i know i will get the best out of him though.

By the way the guy that told me about the sack has a dog that only he can control, which scares me.

The rott that we have belongs to my 11 year old daughter she can do what she wants with him, you can see both there eyes light up when she gets home from school, its sad to see these dogs getting so much bad press all because the owners are at fault .

The Sweeper

Dude, if your rottweiler belongs to your 11 year old daughter, frankly I'd be doing nothing whatsoever to encourage any sort of aggressive or protective instinct in that dog. His appearance will be enough of a deterrent to most people. As he matures and becomes more confident his guarding instinct may grow, but if he's your daughter's dog and your daughter will then be playing with him, and maybe with her friends as well, unsupervised by you, I'd be thanking whoever's listening that he's a big softie.

looserock

Hi macadam,

I'm not a solicitor or anything so don't quote me on this, as far as I know if a dog injures an intruder no matter what his intentions you the owner will be liable for his injuries.

Being sued by some scumbag who was trying to rob you is bad but what would be infinitely worse is if some child came in after a ball or something and was mauled.

You're much better off with a dog who is a visual deterrent rather than an actual danger to intruders.

helimachoptor

Op you may find as he gets older he becomes more dominant.

Having a pretty big GSD myself and one that is friendly to nearly everyone (he's the family pet and not a guard dog though). When out walking he can sense bad people and he shows his strength to them by standing taller puffy chest etc. Dotn start beating him or trying to make him mean or it may literally come back to bite you in the a$$!

Skillie

macadam wrote: »

but the rott is a disaster he is unbeliveably tame i know i will get the best out of him though.

its sad to see these dogs getting so much bad press all because the owners are at fault .

Please re read what you have posted and see how horrible it sounds i'm surprised people are being so polite to you. These dogs are wonderful and have a bad reputation due to people who want to appear tough and want a big ferocious scary dog.

macadam wrote: »

a friend who i have not seen in 3 yrs called and was stroking him through the gate, was a bit embarassing with the sign outside MIND THE DOG.

you want to encourage a dog that sounds like a good well balanced dog to become a pirhana fish should a hand come through the gate. I hope you decide to alter your views because as has been touched on; these dogs are trained to be dangerous and you could be playing with fire especially with kids.

I live in a remote location and have been burgled but have CCTV and an alarm now. my dogs play no part in security, but people are usually put off anyway once they know a dog is there.

MsFifers

Your dog sounds perfect. I can't believe there are people out there who suggest such stupid and cruel things as tying a dog up in a bag to make it "hard".

Many of my friends say that their dogs can sense the difference between an intruder and a friendly visitor. You may be surprised some day to find your placid dog suddenly shows its protective instinct if your home or family is threatened.

Discodog

I am amazed at the conflicting info in the OP's posts. You claim to be an experienced & caring owner yet some of your replies indicate the exact opposite. You have an 11 year old & you want to encourage a Rotty to be more aggressive. So what happens when one of her friends pops in one night ?. Are you going to give the dog a photo album so that he knows who is a friend ?.

Imagine how other parents will feel when your dog guards & they are then worried about letting their kids in your house. Meanwhile you will be saying that he is fine & wouldn't hurt anyone. Dogs don't need licensing but owners do.

macadam

Sorry Discodog , but I think you should read over the post's again never said i wanted an aggressive dog in fact i said the opposite, I want him to at least bark which my GSD does, ans as stated the house is walled in the gates are electric so always closed , i have signs up Mind the Dog etc so noone can walk straight in.
Also each dog has individual galv pens with insulated kennels, I live for my dogs as does each family member, train obedience at least 4 days a week as a hobby , maybe this dog is spoilt, he has me baffled.

Irish-Lass

I am sorry - I own a rottie and she is just over a year old she is very placid and by jesus I hope she stays this way - you say this dog belongs to your 11 year old daughter and yet on the other hand you want to make it more protective.

Rotties get enough bad press as it is - you should be thankful that you have such a placid one cause I am, I count my blessings as she came from a puppyfarm and was an unknown risk - she is decked out on the sofa beside me with a cat sleeping between her legs and this is the way I want her.

If you are going to train your dog to be more protective they you are going to have to take the risks that come with that.

I am sorry but I really can't get my head around this if I am being honest

Discodog

macadam wrote: »

Sorry Discodog , but I think you should read over the post's again never said i wanted an aggressive dog in fact i said the opposite, I want him to at least bark which my GSD does, ans as stated the house is walled in the gates are electric so always closed , i have signs up Mind the Dog etc so noone can walk straight in.
Also each dog has individual galv pens with insulated kennels, I live for my dogs as does each family member, train obedience at least 4 days a week as a hobby , maybe this dog is spoilt, he has me baffled.

If your GSD barks why do you need the Rottie to ?. Now think hard about your training. It should be based on praising desired behaviour. You make your dogs think that you are the head of their pack & now you want one dog to take over protective duties ?. The Brits use the phrase "house dog" which means a dog that will bark & "guard" the home. Dogs will often do this better when they are indoors.

For example I adopted a greyhound & one night she barked at 2 am. I got up & instead of telling her to shut up I praised her but explained that it was enough. I did this everytime she barked & now she is a good "house dog" in that she barks if she hears anything. But she would lick a burglar to death !.

The worrying thing is that you got a dog, like a Rottie, as a guard. The burglars will just throw either drugged or poisoned meat over your gates. As you have gathered many dog lovers here think that you are barmey please don't prove us right.

macadam

Have been involved with working dogs for over 25 yrs both showing and obedience, so i know all about praising desired behaviour let it be tit bits or toy, I am not an novice.
I have taken a gsd to high standards , even went abroad to breed a bitch.

This is our first rott maybe the gsd are just easier/cleverer.Also I thought male dominence might have been the prob , but since ruled this out.
I am just baffled with this dog thats all , when we have visitors the lads go to bed, never ever take a chance with any dog no matter how well trained.

In 25 yrs and numerous working dogs i never had a complaint of any type against my dogs.

I wont let him best me i will get out of him what i got out of all my others
and believe me i dont use any cruel methods.

The Sweeper

macadam wrote: »

I wont let him best me i will get out of him what i got out of all my others and believe me i dont use any cruel methods.

You seem to be missing the point.

The people who post here don't believe you should be seeking aggressive behaviour in your large dog. We think you should be discouraging aggressive behaviour in your large dog, especially since he is a close companion to your 11 year old daughter.

You do know this is a dog, right? Domesticated animal, limited intelligence, not renouned for its capacity to reason?

It doesn't understand that all you want it to do is pretend to be aggressive.

If you believe that by not exhibiting aggressive behaviour it is somehow trying to best you, then mate, you're mental.

macadam

When did I say anything about aggressive behaviour:(

Skillie

The dog isn't trying to "best" you he just has a good sane temperament and is the Rottie most decent dog owners would want to have. What you want him to be is the "big bad dominant alfa male protecting his pack" this is agressive no matter what way you try to poorly window dress it here with the odd "someone told me" or "i'm a dog lover" comment.

any chance you'd try and rehome him to someone who deserves him?

Discodog

I have read an awful lot of posts on here & this OP is in a class of his own. Like many of you I am totally baffled. But it is clear that the OP did not come here for advice as he has dismissed all of it. He is going to "best" his dog. He is an expert of 25 years. He locks his dogs away when he has visitors. I give up !

Irish-Lass

I really can't figure this one out - you have 25 years of experience - and yet you see this as the dog getting one over on you. I don't think its the dog that needs to be trained I think the owner needs to be retrained.

Rotties by nature are herding animals - I really think you should think seriously about rehoming the rottie to a home where his placid nature is something that is encouraged not frowned upon.

andreac

Firstly, your dog is just a baby, and of course he wants to be friendly to everyone, thats the way they should be.
I have a rottweiler, my first one too and hes a complete gentleman. I show him too. I made sure i had him well socialised from day one and it made such a difference.

Rottweilers are not know to be barkers anyway, they dont bark like german shepherds do. My fella rarely barks at anything, even if he senses something thats not right.

Once he turned 2 though he has changed slightly and is very much aware of things going on around him and loud noises outside etc. So once they mature they do get a little bit more protective, but i never encouraged it, it just came naturally to him.

My fella is over 47kg and trust me, you do not want a dog of this size being aggressive, esp when theres kids around. My fella loves kids.

I think you should be very careful with your rottie and dont encourage any type of aggressive behaviour.
The guarding and protective streak will come naturally to them once he matures which is around 2. At the moment hes still a baby, and tbh, id be very worried if a baby was barking at things and people at this age.