Rottweiller - growling issues

AnnaghdownEye

I've a 4-5 year Rottweiler, he was bought 6weeks ago for security purposes.
Depending on the time of day, if I pat him, he'll growl and the hair rises on his back, if I produce a treat, he becomes my best friend! Any ideas, is he gone past training.??

Cherry Blossom

I've split this into a new thread as the other one is a year old and people are likely to reply to the original person instead of you.

andreac

AnnaghdownEye wrote: »

I've a 4-5 year Rottweiler, he was bought 6weeks ago for security purposes.
Depending on the time of day, if I pat him, he'll growl and the hair rises on his back, if I produce a treat, he becomes my best friend! Any ideas, is he gone past training.??

Where did you get the dog? If hes 4/5 years old and you bought him for security then he hardly knows you and is trying to figure out who you are, ie a threat or a friend.

Id tread very carefully with this dog if this is how he is reacting with you, his owner.
If hes growling with the hair up then hes def not happy, Rottweilers are a grumbly breed in general, they are known as the talking breed as they are very vocal. But you have to know if its a happy rottie grumble or a different one.

Id be looking more into this if i were you. As an older dog who is just used for security he probably hasnt had much socialisation and human contact so he probably doesnt really know how to behave around people and enjoy their company.

AnnaghdownEye

Hi,
Thanks for the reply,
I got him in wicklow/wexford area.
I bring him for walks most evenings, he doesn't react to any other dogs or people at all & he's not a problem to walk.
If he's asleep in his kennel & I call him out, it's like as if I've annoyed him or made him grumpy because I disturbed him. He's 80% liable to growl in this situation.
If he's out and about on his own accord & I go playing with him there's no hassle I can push him down onto the ground & role him over without any growls. He loves playing football, he growls a little when I take the ball from him but it's a harmless growl.

lrushe

First I'd get him checked out by a vet to make sure he has no pain causing him to be grumpy.
I'd say the most likely reason though is he's been used as a guard dog for 4-5 years & he only knows you for 6 weeks therefore he is still determining whether you are friend or foe especially when he's still groggy from just waking up when his wits might not be 100% about him.
I wouldn't be so quick to rough play with him at this stage, neither of you know each other well enough to pick up the signals if one of you are uncomfortable plus if the lines are already blurred as to what is acceptable behaviour rough play can blur those lines even further.

are you serious

Rottweilers are visually absolutely great security/guard dogs but generally they are actually not great at doing that job...

What is the backround of this dog, what kind of life did he have before you bought him? What was his owner like, how did he treat him?

If you want to have this dog as a pet and then also dog for protection, your going down a whole other line of training and work. If he is going to be your pet and his hair is rising as your rubbing him then you will need to put in serious time in getting this aggression out. If on the other hand his job is primarily for protection then you can not expect him to come over tail wagging as his job is to be agressive towards everything....

As andrea has said this breed of dog is known as the talking breed and if they are not grumbling/moaning about something then you should be worried!!