I just adopted a new girl today. She is a 1yr old purebred Rottweiler, AKC registered, the most adorable little stubby girl ever. Her name is Maddy. I assumed when i got her that she would need some training, being around all the new animals and stuff. We already discovered that she gets overexcited when the ducks run or flap. She was friendly, but shy of the cat to begin with but when the cat ran, Maddy ran after her...since then she has wanted to chase the cats everytime. I THINK the previous owners said she was around cats but I e-mailed them again to make sure. She has had obedience & protection training. she's trained to take all her commands in German, but i plan to work with her on English commands too. Her previous owners said she responds very well to a Prong Training Collar, I checked online and found some with and w/o rubber covers on the tips. I have never used one of these collars before so.... Which kind is better? tipped or non-tipped Hert neck is 18", so do I need to buy the 22" collar? Does anyone have experience with breaking a new dog of chasing cats/birds/other things? Do you have any tips, tricks, or methods that worked or helped? Thanks everyone, I really appreciate any help!
The previous owners may have very well rehomed her because she chased their cats. It is going to be really hard to break chase instinct and prey drive. Usually dogs that are put up for rehoming have issues of some sort. If they were the perfect dog I'm sure they would have been kept. Also, I have found people who are not committed enough to their dogs and do rehome them frequently aren't too up front about the reason they don't want to keep the dog. I agree. Talk to Redyre.
First off I want to applaud you for seeking guidance! Rotties are a powerful breed and just like pit bulls they are misunderstood and do not do well in 'weak' hands. I got a Rottie/Lab cross puppy who was a growler at 8 weeks old. We brought her STRAIGHT to a training dog school in Berkely run by a retired police officer who was a K9 worker. I cannot stress enough how well the training played out. We went from this growly butthead puppy to a beautiful, calm dog who we could walk in downtown Berkely OFF leash. She was WONDERFUL. When we got our first chickens we instilled the commands Don't Touch and Leave It, both of which she knew well. Everything was fine I am glad you have this girl, they are wonderfully loyal and protective dogs and once trained can be a WONDERFUL ally to your chickens and ducks.
I got a mail back from them. They had no cats but she visited their mothers house where there was 1 cat, she knew that cat since she was 12wks old though. I agree that it's going to be hard to break her of it but she was actually pretty good last night when i had to move my rescue momma & kittens to the bathroom in front of her. of course she was behind a baby gate though. I did let her smell one of the babies and she calmed down a bit after that... momma cat didn't seem too bothered by her presence either and kind of came close. hopefully it was a little progress anyway. I boguth her one of those fat bully collars last night & she seems to mind a little better with it but i still need to get a new, bigger leash before i let her come out by the ducks with me again. she did stay on the outside after i closed the gate to put them away, and it wasn't even locked/latched. I am Really going to try with her, it is so great to have a dog again(especially a rottweiler!), been pretty lonely around here since I lost my rotty girl in February.
I am also considering looking into another (probably basic) training class for her, i am not sure how long ago she had training and she seems to not know some of her basic commands that she should know. Besides the chasing, she is otherwise a very sweet, happy dog & not alpha at all towards the other dogs, submissive kind of. I think she may be coming into heat though, she wasn't happy about my moms pitty sniffing at her hind end last night, lol.
Taking a training class with her is an excellent idea. You can visit my website for links to more resources regarding Rotties. There are several good groups/email lists at Yahoo groups. Let me know if you have trouble finding them. Prey drive is very common in Rottweilers, and it is better to work around it than to try to quell it. You might consider taking some herding instruction with her to teach both of you how to channel and control her herding/chasing instincts. Feel free to email me if you ever need more info or advice. [email protected]
Thanks so much Redyre Rotties.. I have taken her out by the ducks with me twice now on a leash, and again this morning, she was definitely interested in the birds but didn't get all excited like the first time. I walked her, next to me, around them as i 'herded' them into thier yard last night and she was still pretty excited but like i said, stayed outside of the gate when i let it close. I think her previous owners maybe were slacking on enforcing the commands or something, Oddly enough, she does not know "No" but will sit(seetz), lay down(plotz) & "Stay". I have been giving her commands in German and English at the same time, I will tell her "Seetz, Sit" and now she sits when i tell her to in just English. She's a very smart girl but it seems like there was maybe a lack of discipline or something before. Here's the little booger
