my rotty keeps lifting his leg on all of my furniture

[emmyliz5]

i need help i cant figure out what to do with my rotty he is 16 mo old and will be cut next month. i know that getting him cut will possibly calm him down a little, but will it stop him from marking his territory on all of my furniture? we have only had him for a month. i understand moving to a new home would be a big change for him and he would mark his territory. but he continues to do it. especially in my spare room where my cat sleeps, and in my daughters' room. he also poos in the basement how can i stop that. he was potty trained at his old house. so why is he having such a problem at our house. how can i tell if he was abused. for example when he comes in from being out side he will almost crawl in and have this look of terror in eyes. i constantly praise him for being a good boy, but how can i show him that i am not going to hit him if that is what he thinks i am going to do. and is that a sign that he was abused. or is that some other type of behavior that we should be conserned about?

[Karin]

Originally Posted by emmyliz5

i need help i cant figure out what to do with my rotty he is 16 mo old and will be cut next month. i know that getting him cut will possibly calm him down a little, but will it stop him from marking his territory on all of my furniture? we have only had him for a month. i understand moving to a new home would be a big change for him and he would mark his territory. but he continues to do it. especially in my spare room where my cat sleeps, and in my daughters' room. he also poos in the basement how can i stop that. he was potty trained at his old house. so why is he having such a problem at our house. how can i tell if he was abused. for example when he comes in from being out side he will almost crawl in and have this look of terror in eyes. i constantly praise him for being a good boy, but how can i show him that i am not going to hit him if that is what he thinks i am going to do. and is that a sign that he was abused. or is that some other type of behavior that we should be conserned about?

WOW! You have alot on your plate to deal with! First and foremost is the neutering. That is going to be done. 16 months is about and near the social maturity age for his breed, he will mark more, you do need to get a handle on this....are you sure he was housebroken at his previous owners? Try plain white vinegar, dogs hate it. Clean all the places he marks and let him smell it. After his surgery he will be more responsive to housebreaking and the new rules of the house.
Keep praising him ..you can never praise a dog too much in my opinion.
What history do you have? About abuse...only you and the previous owners where he came from knows. Do you know the people well?
If he cowers like you say, he needs time and special consideration, love and leadership will get you everywhere with him. Take the time, his rewards to you and your family will be worth the patience.

[emmyliz5]

how do i teach my rotty 16mo whos the boss. when i get on the floor to play with him he trys to lean on me causing me to fall over. he pulls me all over our yard when we use the leash. i want to try to take him to the park to meet more people and other dogs, but i am afarid who will be walking who. he is very HUGE for his age and strong i have a hard time holding on to him because of his stregnth. my children would love to walk him but they are 4 and 2 there is no way they could hold him. he really trys to stay with me but he will slowly moves faster and faster till we are running. help!!!

[raingirl]

First of all, enrole him in a positive based obedience school (not one that uses leash tugs, chokers, or anything like that). If he was abused, a negative based school won't help at all. The obedience school will help you two bond and teach him how to behave properly.

Second, don't let him win at anything. And don't praise him when he is being submissive. If he is being shy or anything, just ignore him, and reward him when he is bold and coming near you. And for the leash, get a leash that has clips at both ends with holes down the centre. That way you can tie the least around your waist. As soon as he starts pulling, stop, and walk the other way. If he is tied to you, he shouldn't be able to pull you over. Keep walking in the right direction as long as he is walking nice. As soon as he starts to pull or run, stop, and walk the other way. Keep doing this EVERY time he pulls and he will get the idea. Also, make him work for everything. For food, he must sit. For a walk or to open the door, he must sit. This way the dog learns his place in the pack quickly and will feel better faster. A dog that doesn't know his place in the pack will be unsure and unpredictable.

Hope this helps.

[Karin]

Originally Posted by emmyliz5

how do i teach my rotty 16mo whos the boss. when i get on the floor to play with him he trys to lean on me causing me to fall over. he pulls me all over our yard when we use the leash. i want to try to take him to the park to meet more people and other dogs, but i am afarid who will be walking who. he is very HUGE for his age and strong i have a hard time holding on to him because of his stregnth. my children would love to walk him but they are 4 and 2 there is no way they could hold him. he really trys to stay with me but he will slowly moves faster and faster till we are running. help!!!

First off, a 4 & 2 year old child should never be left with the responsibility of a unknown dog that out weighs them 100%. At 16 months your Rotti is large but still growing. If you cannot control him, you need to control the situation.
Forget about dog parks for now.
Rotti's are "leaner's"..and "sit on your feet" dogs. *Heavy on the leaner part*
You missed out on the puppydom part, you are starting new.
What about his history? What do you know about the previous owners? Any backround?

[emmyliz5]

thanks for your advise. i am with my children when we walk the dog and they would like to hold the leash when we walk him. i dont let them beacause i know he will pull them and hurt them not that he means to. thank you on how to stop him from pulling me all over. this will help and soon my children will be able to walk with us. all i know from the owners is that one person was "slightly mean to him" i couldn't get much more out of them. and when i heard that i had to take him away from that person. they said he was potty trained, but i'm thinking maybe they lied about that he is having some problems. for example we have a dog run right off our garage. he can come in and out as he pleases. we leave the door from the garage to the house open at all times so he has full use of the house, garage, and run, but yet he still pees in my spare room and poops every once in a while. will the crate idea work even though he is no longer a young puppy? i have tried some of the tips i got off this site and they seem to help with his jumping and biteing too hard when we play. also he wont come threw a door way if you are in it as if he is scared. sometimes i know he has to go to the restroom but he wont come out into the dog run unless i move out into the run then when i go towards the doorway he bolts back in and wont relieve himself and if i stand there with him he just sits on my feet. then i come back into the house and then he goes. what is his problem and why is he so weird about dorrways. he listens very well and sits, stays, and comes when called he is a good dog other then those miner details that i hope to cure with some good advise.

[Lizzie]

One thing to consider is that since this dog is bascially a puppy to you, you might not want to give him full reign of the house yet. For his own security and comfort you should try only giving him access to a smaller space for a while, unti he is housebroken. If he has full reign you won't be able to watch him for cues that he's got to go "potty."

[honeybee4]

I had the same problems when I got my rottie. He 13 months when we got him and newly neutered. I wouldn't take him until he had his surgrey. However I do know his previous owner, it was my sister. He was house broken, but other than that had no training whatsoever. He was left alone in a small aparmtent all day. when we got him we basically had to re potty train him, he started messing all over the house, when we went out we had to put him in one of our spare rooms. He also pulled on the leash and was quite rambunous(sp). Rotties are fast learners, if you put him in the obedience school I am sure he will do great. He is not to old to learner, it will just take some time. We have had Harley now for 1 1/2 years, and he is doing great now. He loves the kids and has learned to be gentle well playing with them. They are also able to walk him for short periods of time, with my help of course. When people come to the house he will lean on them to be petted and he will sit on your feet when you are sitting down and also try to sit on your knee, he thinks he is a lap dog. Good luck and hopefully we will get to see some pics of him. I am sure he is a handsome fella.

[Eleni]

I think it is unreasonable to think that your 4 year old would be able to hold the leash.

i myself have a 4 year old daughter, she weighs about 37 lbs and she would be unable to hold the leash for my 15 lb bichon/podle cross.

A rott is just too big, and young children just arent big enough or responsible enough to handle a dog without parental help in my opinion.


Eleni

[Dukieboy]

When I got my Wizard(BT) he was eight months and not neutered. He would mark everything including his supper bowl. I don't know if it was just the neutering or that and settling in but he no longer marks in the house and mostly just goes pee to eliminate when outside, unless we are street walking.

I know I don't have to tell you, Rotties are big strong doggies so you better get a handle on him now, find a combination of training collar and training method that works with him. If I were you I would consult with a trainer one on one. IMHO, give it up about the kids walking the dog until a)you can walk the dog confidently and b)they reach the age of 16 years.

How do you manage walking an out of control dog and 2 small children? I wouldn't even try that. Good luck.

[Karin]

With a ton of love, patience and understanding you will have a fine new four-legged family member.

Thank you for taking him on, you will not regret this. Patience and gentle training is the key.

He will always be a leaner and sit on your feet kinda guy, it's the Rotti in him. I'm sure he will knock your kids over by doing this every so often but he means well. You just need to supervise the kid interaction part. Rotti's are far from graceful, they are big, clumsey galoots! (With a huge heart to match)

[Natas]

Rottis are extremely fast learners. you will be amazed at how smart they are and how eager they are to please you. The only advice I can give you is spend lots of time with him and tons of praise. The walking away while walking him is the best way to train him not to pull. We did that with ours and in no time he was able to walk beside us no problem. We used the 'Heal' command that let him know to walk on the right side by our hip. Once fixed he won't even want to leave your side. they are very loyal. As far as house training the crate was very effective for us the first couple of months then when we weren't home we kept him in one area of the house with toys to ensure he didn't chew furniture and it didn't take him long at all to get fully house trained and to stop chewing. They do tend to play a little rough and love to lean. My rotti was 145 pounds and evertime I sat on the floor he curled up in my lap like he was a baby he never realized how big he was. like I said they are so eager to please i'm sure in no time you will see great results! good luck and enjoy him!!