Is my dog vicious?

rottie 11

I'm starting to get worried tbh. He gets all excited when he sees dogs/cats when I'm walking him , I don't know if it's excitement or if he wants to attack them but I'm afraid to introduce him to strange dogs incase he bites.

He is such a pet with any human he comes in contact with and all my friends dogs he gets on great with but he gets wild eyed when he sees strange dogs or cats

My question is should I take the risk letting him sniff stray dogs etc

andreac

How much socialisation have you done with him? This is really really important that it is done and even more so with breeds like Rottweilers. If he doesn't get to see other dogs regularly then it is probably excitement but you still need to make sure that he is good around other animals.

My dogs are great with other dogs, but in saying that, they wouldn't take too kindly to a strange dog running up to them and being all over them and even more so when they are on the lead.
My female rottie does not like cats at all but that is quite normal for most dogs, so i wouldn't be too worried about that.

I def would not be letting him off the lead to sniff stray dogs, that is asking for trouble. Who are these stray dogs?? Do you mean people out walking dogs that are off leash?

rottie 11

He sees my mother's dogs nearly every day. I also walk him with a friends dog but not very often tbh.

I never let him off the lead but there are lots of stray dogs where I live , no owners with them. Just dogs wandering around alone. There was a king Charles living here but the owner moved out so it's just me and him now so maybe he just misses having other dogs around him all the time

Hildred

rottie 11 wrote: »

He sees my mother's dogs nearly every day. I also walk him with a friends dog but not very often tbh.

I never let him off the lead but there are lots of stray dogs where I live , no owners with them. Just dogs wandering around alone. There was a king Charles living here but the owner moved out so it's just me and him now so maybe he just misses having other dogs around him all the time

This may well cause a storm in a mug, but would you consider trying him with a soft muzzle for a couple of "intros" to these dogs he wants to meet? The reason I suggest this is because my sister's dog is mentally challenged (read I think he's schizophrenic) and has been known to go a bit psycho. My two dogs he knows (after four years of sniffing butts, etc., they'd better get along!) so there's no problem there. However, I tarted fostering a beautiful lab mix with mast cell cancer in April and he didn't appreciate her or her lumps, no thank you. No muzzle first time he visited and he was most unfriendly, quite aggressive and had to be removed for fear of damage! So the next couple of times he came, he wore a soft muzzle and had a chance to get used to fosterbabe & her (I imagine) peculiar cancer smell. This gave both of them the opportunity to suss each other out without risk to either. The muzzle was used only twice and they are all happy and good friends now.

Slightly different circumstances I know, but it might be worth a shot, and if nothing else it will determine if your dog is antagonistic towards the other dogs, (in which case the soft muzzle will have been a godsend) or just wanting to be friendly.

Win win situation for you, and, hopefully, your dog. Good luck, whatever you decide to try.

maggiepip

I remember a couple of months ago one of your posts mentioned you had shortened his walks because he would start limping after a long walk. Did you ever find out what was wrong? If he's sore with something going on with his leg he will feel vunerable, which in turn could lead to fear aggressive behaviour towards other dogs.

tk123

If you're going to try a harness muzzle OP just don't make the mistake some people do and think it gives the dog carte blanche to run amok!!

rottie 11

Hildred wrote: »

This may well cause a storm in a mug, but would you consider trying him with a soft muzzle for a couple of "intros" to these dogs he wants to meet? The reason I suggest this is because my sister's dog is mentally challenged (read I think he's schizophrenic) and has been known to go a bit psycho. My two dogs he knows (after four years of sniffing butts, etc., they'd better get along!) so there's no problem there. However, I tarted fostering a beautiful lab mix with mast cell cancer in April and he didn't appreciate her or her lumps, no thank you. No muzzle first time he visited and he was most unfriendly, quite aggressive and had to be removed for fear of damage! So the next couple of times he came, he wore a soft muzzle and had a chance to get used to fosterbabe & her (I imagine) peculiar cancer smell. This gave both of them the opportunity to suss each other out without risk to either. The muzzle was used only twice and they are all happy and good friends now.

Slightly different circumstances I know, but it might be worth a shot, and if nothing else it will determine if your dog is antagonistic towards the other dogs, (in which case the soft muzzle will have been a godsend) or just wanting to be friendly.

Win win situation for you, and, hopefully, your dog. Good luck, whatever you decide to try.

Thanks I never really taught of that. Il give it a try.

rottie 11

maggiepip wrote: »

I remember a couple of months ago one of your posts mentioned you had shortened his walks because he would start limping after a long walk. Did you ever find out what was wrong? If he's sore with something going on with his leg he will feel vunerable, which in turn could lead to fear aggressive behaviour towards other dogs.

His leg is fine now , he spends most days horsing around with my mom's dog and no problems with the leg.

rottie 11

tk123 wrote: »

If you're going to try a harness OP just don't make the mistake some people do and think it gives the dog carte blanche to run amok!!

Do you mean muzzle?

tk123

rottie 11 wrote: »

Do you mean muzzle?

Ooops sorry - yes a muzzle. Don't let the dog off lead if it's muzzled because it won't be able to defend itself if anything happens. I've had over excited muzzled dogs come after one of mine and it's a nightmare because he doesn't like muzzles and will get annoyed with them...while the owner looks on annoyed at me.

DBB

One other thing to bear in mind... I don't know if you'll be able to get a fabric muzzle to fit a Rottie, but in any case, you should not exercise a dog when he's wearing a fabric muzzle, as they can't lose heat quickly enough by panting normally. A basket muzzle is the only option for use when exercising dogs.
It sounds to me like frustration OP, and you could be building a problem for youself here, in that on-lead frustration in young dogs often escalates into more serious stuff, particularly directed towards dogs he does not know.
It is by far the most common dog-dog problem, and one which owners often don't spot or prepare their young dogs for: they socialise their dog with a small group of dogs with whom he becomes familiar and comfortable, but this lulls the owner into believing they've dog-socialised their dog, and the owner doesn't give their youngster enough opportunities to practise the art of meeting lots of unknown, unfamiliar dogs.
This causes the youngster to be curious, wanting to investigate, becoming frustrated that he can't as he's on-lead, he starts making frustrated noises and gestures, which confirms to the owner not to let him meet strange dogs... It becomes a vicious circle.
I'm not suggesting for a minute that you now let him off lead to investigate other dogs, but you may find it very beneficial to get him into a daycare/group setting once or twice a week to allow him brush up on his "strange dog" skills, and to give you more confidence in him. Another option is to get a good trainer or behaviourist to visit you, assess the dog, and perhaps give him and you the opportunity to learn how to approach strange dogs appropriately and safely.

rottie 11

tk123 wrote: »

Ooops sorry - yes a muzzle. Don't let the dog off lead if it's muzzled because it won't be able to defend itself if anything happens. I've had over excited muzzled dogs come after one of mine and it's a nightmare because he doesn't like muzzles and will get annoyed with them...while the owner looks on annoyed at me.

I don't let him off the lead anyway out in public:)

rottie 11

DBB wrote: »

One other thing to bear in mind... I don't know if you'll be able to get a fabric muzzle to fit a Rottie, but in any case, you should not exercise a dog when he's wearing a fabric muzzle, as they can't lose heat quickly enough by panting normally. A basket muzzle is the only option for use when exercising dogs.
It sounds to me like frustration OP, and you could be building a problem for youself here, in that on-lead frustration in young dogs often escalates into more serious stuff, particularly directed towards dogs he does not know.
It is by far the most common dog-dog problem, and one which owners often don't spot or prepare their young dogs for: they socialise their dog with a small group of dogs with whom he becomes familiar and comfortable, but this lulls the owner into believing they've dog-socialised their dog, and the owner doesn't give their youngster enough opportunities to practise the art of meeting lots of unknown, unfamiliar dogs.
This causes the youngster to be curious, wanting to investigate, becoming frustrated that he can't as he's on-lead, he starts making frustrated noises and gestures, which confirms to the owner not to let him meet strange dogs... It becomes a vicious circle.
I'm not suggesting for a minute that you now let him off lead to investigate other dogs, but you may find it very beneficial to get him into a daycare/group setting once or twice a week to allow him brush up on his "strange dog" skills, and to give you more confidence in him. Another option is to get a good trainer or behaviourist to visit you, assess the dog, and perhaps give him and you the opportunity to learn how to approach strange dogs appropriately and safely.

That's makes sense actually. I did socialise him with friends dogs etc but I had awful problems with worm when he was a pup so that part of the reason I didn't want him around strange dogs. I think il try the basket muzzle thing first but around this town it's hard to find a calm friendly dog to introduce him to

Ashbx

rottie 11 wrote: »

That's makes sense actually. I did socialise him with friends dogs etc but I had awful problems with worm when he was a pup so that part of the reason I didn't want him around strange dogs. I think il try the basket muzzle thing first but around this town it's hard to find a calm friendly dog to introduce him to

What I did aswell was stand where there was a high volume of dogs coming and going (same road as a groomers or outside a dog park) so that my dog (who was a puppy at the time) would experience a whole range of dogs and not just my friends dogs. I would just sit and watch them go past, treat her when she was calm and then slowly and slowly moved closer over a couple of weeks. After time she didnt react as much when dogs past us and after a couple of more weeks, I was comfortable her greeting other dogs without the fear that she would snap.

My dog is 4 and I still wish I socialised more than I did. Like you, she got on very well with the dogs I know so assumed she would get on with every dog but this wasn't the case. Keep working at it!