Puppy Training

Question: Help on rottweiler puppy training, how to teach to growl and show teeth on command?

(Posted by: Jordan C on 2010-08-12 12:54:09)

I have a 7 week old male Rottweiler, he is and will always be a family dog and a best friend first, then a protector of myself and my property, he will always have access indoors and air conditioning, furthermore i am a very responsible loving owner and i have been and will be spending many many hours in training with him. I also understand the risk involved in training to growl on command, this is solely for a bad situation to intimidate a threat. He will never be taught to attack or fight. EVER. I am a very responsible owner and i would never alow this. Also this task will never be abused at any time, its a serious trick. Anyways, i do know he is young, but he is very intelligent and he already knows, sit, stay, lay down, speak, and on the snap of my fingers he makes eye contact with me for how ever long i ask for even with distractions. I do not know how to begin training to get him to show teeth and growl and some tips would be appreciated. Don't waist my time telling me how this is dangerous because i am educated on the subject and i know for a fact a dog of this intelligence will do as trained. I train in a 100 % zero physical contact and 100 % positive loving reinforcement environment, he has never been hit, slapped or even lightly patted as punishment. He understands "no " and immediately sits down and makes eye contact with me when i say it. No exaggeration he is that smart and obedient for his age. For a trick such as this should i let him mature more? Regardless, where do i begin in teaching this trick. Don't wait my time with opinions on why i shouldn't do this or why i am a irresponsible owner. I will look past your message. Thanks. I am educated because i have trained several Rottweilers but never this type of command. I have done all my training via online shitzhund videos and other types of sources. The reason for me teaching him this is because with my last rottie who was 14 years old i was robbed while walking him and the dog was scared and submissive. I think if he were to have growled the situation may have ended differently. I am posting this because i dont have all the answers and i want some more educated people to answer it positively. Not like some of you have answered. Also he is and will be very socialized with kids, other dogs (big and small) and adults. I take him to my office every day and he is played with by all the kids who come in. (after sanitizing of course)

Posted by: lookat on 2010-08-12, 12:56:33

You might type in Rottweiler puppy training in Google. Yea, just Google it! Man's Best Friend is a place probably also you should Google it. Good luck with your lucky little Puppy.

Posted by: Rayven ~ Here we Go Again on 2010-08-12, 13:00:29

Do I think you are irresponsible? No not yet. I do however think you are naive if you think you can train your dog to do what you want without the help of an experienced or qualified trainer or that you think a byb bred dog is going to FOR SURE have the proper temperament for such training. Contact your local or nearest Rott club to get references to trainers. ETA: You know the fact you don't realize your previous dog did NOT have the temperament for this sort of training behavior gives me even less hope that you yourself could train a dog properly on your own. Hell the fact that your question wasn't simply how do I go about finding a good trainer to for this sort of thing goes a long way. DeeDawg: I actually do see a problem with this because someone determined enough is going to figure out that the dog is "all bark no bite " ETA: " i want some more educated people to answer it positively. Not like some of you have answered " Thats part of the problem you aren't looking for someone to tell you the truth. You want someone to agree with you and just spoon feed you information. That is not the point of YA and it certainly isn't the way to get EDUCATED and CORRECT answers. At 7 weeks old your concern need to be basic obedience. When this pup is older have them evaluated by a a qualified trainer and go from there.

Posted by: Carly on 2010-08-12, 13:01:05

If your so well educated on the subject, why don't you know how to do it? If your asking for advice, seek a guard dog training facility. The only way that you are going to get your dog growling and showing teeth on command via positive reinforcement is treating him when he shows those behaviors. I really don't reccommend that. This sort of training lays along a fine line, and it's something I would never learn via the internet. Even if you feel just fine with a Rottweiler growling and showing teeth as a "trick ", what if something happens to you? Obviously, a Rottweiler who is growling and showing teeth at strangers is probably not going to live long in any rescue or shelter.

Posted by: Brian on 2010-08-12, 13:01:41

I dont know. I guess i taught my dog to be protective and vigilant in a playful way without trying. Maybe you should do that too

Posted by: GreenBean on 2010-08-12, 13:03:16

Well lets see look past this

Posted by: TopDogRescue777 on 2010-08-12, 13:05:57

I don't know if this will work, but you could try getting his favorite toy, then when he growls playfully for it, say the word you are going to use for that command, then say good boy. I have never tried to teach a dog that. so im not quite sure how to. You could also try to talk to the police K-9 section and see how they teach their dogs how to do that on command. Hope i helped!

Posted by: DeeDawg on 2010-08-12, 13:06:44

I'm not going to try to talk you out of it, but it's FAR too early to try to teach your pup to display this. what you CAN do, is as he gets older, encourage him to bark at the door. use a command like "watch " or "speak ". to teach him to do this, you will have to get very excited. you may even have to bark like a dog, to get him to imitate you. when someone comes to the door, you can call him to you and say "watch! " and get him to bark (he'll learn to growl on his own, later on) when you want him to stop, use a release, like "enough " and send him to his bed or crate to eat a cookie. if you are playing tug with him and he growls, say "good speak " and reward the noise he makes. IMPORTANT- always well socialize your pup. after you let the company in, let them love on him. let little kids, old people, adults pet him in public. you don't want your dog to appear dangerous in public, after all, and you want to socialize him well so that he doesn't bite someone- all this socialization will NOT interfere with him appearing to be a very ferocious watchdog at home. and any burglar won't know that if you open the door he'll lick them to death, and we won't tell them, will we? there is NOTHING wrong with teaching a dog to bark and growl, just as long as you are making sure that it's taught as a TRICK, not by using real aggression. I have an APBT, who if you approach my gate, would act like she would like to eat you for breakfast. i taught her to bark at intruders, because we used to have some shady drug addict neighbors. in reality, if you opened the gate, she'd lick you to death. she's not barking because she wants to eat someone. she's barking because she wants a cookie!! but who would take that kind of chance?