# Aggressive rottweiler



## subuhi (Jul 2, 2012)

We have a 6 month old rottweiler that has recently started behaving very aggressively. There are 6 people in the house, two are servants that live with us. He was always quite friendly and fond of everyone but recently has started showing a lot of aggression to one of the servants, a 16 year old girl although she is the one who feeds him in the mornings when the rest of us are at work. Over the last two days he has started barking at her and behaves as though he will attack her. 

Seeing his aggressive behaviour our mum has started avoiding him and usually stays in her room. When she has to come out the rottweiler has to be taken out into the back yard. Yesterday he saw her and started barking so she panicked and started screaming and running. He ran towards her barking and bit her. We had to pull him back though he was still very aggressive and took over 5 minutes to calm down. 

I love this puppy and I really don't want to lose him but if we don't get him to be less ferocious we'll have to give him to a pound or worse put him down. What can we do? Will spaying help?


----------



## Phoolf (Jun 13, 2012)

How much exercise does this puppy get?


----------



## Shadowrat (Jan 30, 2011)

whats his typical daily routine, and yes, how much exersize does he get? What training has been done with him so far? What training method do you use?


----------



## Bobbie (May 3, 2008)

I find this a bit of an odd one why would you want a dog like this in the home if as you say your Mum has to stay in her room?? Your Mum has already shown the dog a sign that it can chase/bark then bite her.


----------



## gorgeous (Jan 14, 2009)

I am thinking this thread might be a wind up!

Wind The Bobbin Up - YouTube


----------



## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

My thoughts exactly!


----------



## Lola71 (Feb 23, 2011)

I was thinking the same thing, how many people have live in 'servants' and then only have a back yard???


----------



## 912142 (Mar 28, 2011)

It may be a wind up however in some countries they have what is called a compound in which they have a rather *large* family home and at the back they have what they call the servants quarters which is the size of a detached bungalow so the ground left spare in the compound is usually used for the family cars and the guard dogs that live there.

I have family in Africa and that is the norm there.


----------



## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Lola71 said:


> I was thinking the same thing, how many people have live in 'servants' and then only have a back yard???


Well, I gathered it must be someone from another country. Only the aristocracy refer to servants in this country, and I think even they now call them staff.

Screaming and running away from the dog is going to make him worse, naturally, but if someone is afraid then they are afraid and there is not much to be done. I would like to know where you are in the world, and would suggest a qualified behaviourist, but there may be no such thing in your country.


----------



## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

you have servants? really?


----------



## leighhawkes89 (Jun 1, 2012)

troll alert? or am the only one who thinks this?


----------



## 912142 (Mar 28, 2011)

leighhawkes89 said:


> you have servants? really?


Not me my family do, they have a gate man who checks who is coming into the compound or at least whether the family are expecting them etc. Then they have drivers for the family cars and a house girl who looks after the cleaning of the home, shopping etc and then they have the boys who wash everyones clothes by hand.


----------



## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

Thailand and India still often refer to staff as servants.

On the fence about whether or not this is genuine though.


----------



## Guest (Jul 2, 2012)

Nonnie said:


> Thailand and India still often refer to staff as servants.
> 
> On the fence about whether or not this is genuine though.


were just about to say this! i stayed in Bangladesh few years ago. stayed in a friends villa , where all their staff were referred to as `servants` and were paid less than £1 a day.


----------



## Old Shep (Oct 17, 2010)

He/she has never got back. They sounded desperate, isn't it odd that they haven't checked back?


----------



## subuhi (Jul 2, 2012)

I'm from India. Pretty much everyone has servants. Anyway, besides the point. The dog goes for 3 walks a day that are usually 2 km long. At home we play fetch. 

My mum comes home from work past 7pm so she around the dog only 3 hours of which he is usually in my room. And of course I want to keep the dog. We brought him in, hes our responsibility, I don't want to just chuck him our because we've encountered a problem.

And this is a genuine problem, I couldn't check back because I got busy once I got home. I think the time difference makes a difference too. Please do let me know if you have any suggestions.


----------



## Shrap (Nov 22, 2010)

Can't help but wonder what the servant girl did to provoke a probable fear reaction out of him.


----------



## subuhi (Jul 2, 2012)

The strange thing is that he is not aggressive towards her anymore. He seems to have gone back to his normal loving self. I suppose since the dog is at home with her most of the day she does most of the disciplining and he is still chewing things in the house. That is the only reason I can think of that he doesn't like her disciplining him.


----------



## subuhi (Jul 2, 2012)

He does, however, still bark at her if she suddenly starts running or wears something long and frilly (like a long skirt). And he is like an angel in front of strangers (as long as they don't run).


----------



## lemmsy (May 12, 2008)

subuhi said:


> The strange thing is that he is not aggressive towards her anymore. He seems to have gone back to his normal loving self. I suppose since the dog is at home with her most of the day she does most of the disciplining and he is still chewing things in the house. That is the only reason I can think of that he doesn't like her disciplining him.


How does she discipline him? :blink:

If it's anything aversive or punishing I would discourage her! She is absolutely not to do that to the dog. The dog doesn't learn anything other than not to trust her because she is unpredictable. Sometimes she is nice, sometimes she isn't.

I'm against using aversives with any dog for ethical reasons but using them with a large breed who is bigger and more powerful than you is a particularly bad idea because if the dog, is pushed to the point of feeling frightened enough to defend himself, you could have a very big problem on your hands. 

You need to set him up a space where he doesn't have access to stuff to chew. Be very strict and clear with the servant as to how she is to interact with him.


----------



## subuhi (Jul 2, 2012)

We have told her several times that hitting him is not an option and that he will only become more aggressive if beaten. But the fact is that she is alone with the dog all morning and we have no way of knowing how she disciplined him before. She says she has not hit him but I suspect she has. He also gets especially upset if his meals are delayed. His behaviour was good this morning, he was perfectly well behaved but then as it was time for us to leave he started barking at the girl again. It does sound a lot like attention seeking behaviour but why is it directed at the girl?


----------



## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

subuhi said:


> We have told her several times that hitting him is not an option and that he will only become more aggressive if beaten. But the fact is that she is alone with the dog all morning and we have no way of knowing how she disciplined him before. She says she has not hit him but I suspect she has. He also gets especially upset if his meals are delayed. His behaviour was good this morning, he was perfectly well behaved but then as it was time for us to leave he started barking at the girl again. It does sound a lot like attention seeking behaviour but why is it directed at the girl?


Seems to me that you should get rid of this girl and find yourself a replacement who has some understanding of animals. No dog should be bullied, but try this sort of treatment with a guarding breed like a rottie, and you are going to have a vicious dog on your hands.

I believe the outcome will be that your servant will be attacked, and the dog will have to suffer for it.

Get rid of her.


----------



## subuhi (Jul 2, 2012)

thanks for all your help. really appreciate it. We've got an obedience trainer and he seems to be responding well. Over the weekend we spent a lot of time with him which made a huge difference but of course, we have to see how he behaves during this week. 

On a separate note, what effects do neutering have on a dog's personality?


----------



## ozrex (Aug 30, 2011)

> Seems to me that you should get rid of this girl and find yourself a replacement who has some understanding of animals. No dog should be bullied, but try this sort of treatment with a guarding breed like a rottie, and you are going to have a vicious dog on your hands.
> 
> I believe the outcome will be that your servant will be attacked, and the dog will have to suffer for it.
> 
> Get rid of her.


I can see where you're coming from with this but I'd just like to say a few words in defence of the girl.

In relation to _this_ girl. We don't know that she has been unkind to the dog. He may be reacting to her fear. He certainly reacted to the OP's mother's fear. He is only six months old and if she had hurt him he would be more likely to shy from her and any sudden hand movement that she makes. If she has hurt him - when he was a puppy - he would be far more likely to cower and then perhaps growl if she approached. Dogs remember early, unpleasant memories with fear and only become aggressive later.

In relation to servants GENERALLY and I am NOT for a moment suggesting that this relates to the actual OP. I know NOTHING about the OP beyond what is posted here.

A sixteen year old girl may be expected to be the product of her upbringing and not to have had much influence from the "outside world". If she comes from a place where dogs are a dirty, aggressive menace she would have been brought up to fear and dislike dogs. If she is Muslim she may well have been taught to feel about dogs the way many English women feel about snakes or spiders. In either case she most probably has NOT been brought up in an educated family like Subhui's. I doubt that a servant like this girl would have enough education to go on the internet and read about how she should care for dogs, _in English._

She may well be homesick and lonely. She may well be very tired. She might work long hours. The dog may represent more hard work and we all know how hard puppies can be. The dog may be destructive; as my Tess was destructive and she may fear (however irrationally) that she will be blamed for the damage that the puppy caused. (I know my mother-in-law would have beaten her servant for "allowing" a puppy to cause trouble). Maybe a mother or aunt or someone has told her this will happen to her; _I'm sure it won't_ but is she?

"Getting rid of the girl" may cause her MASSIVE hardship. How will she get another job if she is sacked? People will think she is "no good". How will she eat or earn her living?

*How about teaching the girl?* She needs to be able to work with the dog and live with him, so does the mother. Perhaps it would be much kinder to all concerned? The girl is very unlikely to have had the kind of education that allows her to understand dogs but SURELY she can learn rather than be sacked.


----------



## subuhi (Jul 2, 2012)

Thank you for your reply. We understand that the girl has to be taught and since she comes from a small village and a poor family that can barely manage to feed all its children, it is unrealistic for us to expect her to understand the concepts of pet care and training. We have told her not to hit the dog when he was a puppy and also explained to her the consequences of hitting him, now that he is bigger. She is more careful. And we are trying to keep them out of each other's way. Don't worry, no one is going to beat up the girl, and we don't want to lose her. Of course, we understand she is our responsibility while she is away from her family and we are going to make sure she is not harmed.


----------

