Why is my dog so troublesome and cries a lot - how do I get her to stop? It could be jealously of other pets?
When I got Pebbles (14 months) I never had a dog before. She was well behaved, just pulling at my clean clothes on the washing line. She cried every time I went out, I used to take her for walks but now she is so much trouble - jumping at people - tugging on the lead.
To keep her company I got another puppy about 6 months ago and shortly after a kitten. The puppy was a small breed and Pebbles being a rottweiller cross is a medium sized dog. Straight away there was problems, she was always trying to bite the little puppy, I had to take then outside separately, otherwise she would trample down the puppy and bite her (blood has been drawn).
Now Pebbles has regularly broken things around the home, including trashing my garage several times, bags of sand, cement, rubbish bags, brooms, buckets, plants.
Lately she dug up the water pipe- broke it, pulled the coaxil cable off the wall. I don’t ignore her but she is so strong I am unable to take her walking - we play together daily
We dont go for walks but I have a large lawn, and I take her outside and try to play fetch games with her and tugging games. This is done most mornings and evenings.
Pebbles was obeying commands till Bambi arrived.
The puppy (Bambi) gets attention - usually in the house I train her to sit , lie down and come with treats, she is taken for walks, and I play fetch with her - she returns the ball (Pebbles rarely does). Bambi is easily scared - not surpisingly, but she appears to be trained fairly easily. I’d like to bring Pebbles into the house, thats not possible at the moment - one of my goals.
I supervise both Pebbles and Bambi in the garden - neither are let out of my sight.
I spoke to a trainer yesterday - but her next round of classes is not till 30th June, meantime I will try more exercise for Pebbles and I was advised to get her lots of squeaky toys - although she usually manages to destroy a toy or ball within half an hour. I’ve tried chews she seems to swallow them whole cause they dont last 5 minutes.
Fransisca
February 6th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Chery
Hm.. you might to find an animal behaviorist who can help train her. Rottweiler, even crosses, have always been difficult dogs in my experience. If she gets too much more violent, you might want to consider giving her up.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Leonardo
She needs to be trained. if youi have a petco or petsmart they offer training classes. Good luck
February 10th, 2010 at 10:07 am
May
Well, i think it could be jealousy or maybe your dog just telling you something. i don’t know much about dogs, but my sister has like 2 and the Yorkie is always barking and biting their use to be third dog (pit bull) but that just means the Yorkie thinks he’s bigger then the pit bull and the other dog the chihuahua gets punked around by the Yorkie…but i think your dog the Rottweiler thinks he/she’s dominate, cuz you got it first so it could do whatever it wants
February 13th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Laureen
She needs to go to obedience classes if you ever expect her to become a well trained dog with manners. Dogs aren’t born with good manners, they have to be taught.
February 14th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Dwayne
are you training this dog? thats what you should have done before getting a new puppy and have socialized her taken her to dog parks when she was young, the younger you start the better, puppies training should start the minute you take them home, try signing up for a begginner class made for dogs over a certain age with little or no training
February 17th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Teodoro
Pebbles thinks she’s in charge, not you. Rottweilers can be very dominant dogs and are known for stubbornness. they need firm owners that make rules and train the dogs to understand the pack order and follow the rules, otherwise they can take over the household as they grow up - just as you’ve seen. You need to get her in obedience training right away so she learns that you are the one in charge in this household and she has to follow your rules.
One of the cardinal rules of dog training is never get another dog until you’ve got the one you have fully trained and socialized. It doesn’t sound like Pebbles got socialized with other dogs as a puppy. Pebbles is dominant and not socialized with your smaller dog and because it is a small breed, could hurt it or kill it. You need to keep them separated at all times or find a new home for the smaller dog. Because Pebbles is big and your other dog is small, supervising them together may not be enough - Pebbles could kill a small dog quickly. Also, if Pebbles has strong prey drive, the kitten could be at risk too. Even with lots of training, Pebbles may never be 100% trustworthy around these pets.
You have a lot of work to do and a lot to think about. Getting Pebbles in obedience class is a must. Then you need to think if keeping the other two pets in this household safely is going to be feasible.
February 21st, 2010 at 1:41 am
Bernita
You need to establish dominance. Dogs run in “packs” and right now, you and the other puppy belong to Pebbles. Once you establish the role as the “pack leader” she will stop biting the other dog (she will still play) and should stop tearing up your home.
Put a good leash on her when walking her. Take treats out with you and make her practice several different behaviors. First, NEVER let her walk out of the door ahead of you or walk in front of you b/c she is “leading” therefore, she is the “leader” Second, get a short leash, not a lead, so that she has to stay where you are. When you are not home, and cannot keep an eye on her, put her in a kennel. This is not harmful to the dog and it doesn’t hurt her feelings. This will prevent her from doing more damage to your home.
After a few weeks of establishing dominance with Pebbles and training her how to walk with you outside, incorporate the new puppy on the walks. This will take some patience, but if you keep up with it, they will both do better. My boyfriend and I learned A LOT from watching Caesar Milian on Animal Planet. I strongly suggest that you watch his show and try to use some of his methods w/o hurting the dog. Dogs only want to please us, but we have to define the “good” and “bad” behaviors for them. Good luck!
February 21st, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Huey
Pebbles problems could easily get fixed with more exercise and some basic training. It is VERY important that you find a Positive trainer, NOT one who uses slip/choke collars or prongs. These techniques can DEFINITELY make a dog a aggressive and you don’t need to be dealing with that on top of everything else. This website has some very good How to’s for training:
Here’s another good article on leash training:
I would get an Easy Walk Gentle Leader Harness by Premier. To me, those are the most user friendly, more so then the Gentle Leader which is awesome by the way!
There are many good books out there too. I recommend Jean Donaldson’s The Culture Clash, also Pat Miller has great stuff along with Patricia McConnell, and Ian Dunbar. How to Behave so Your Dog Behaves by Sophia Yin is another excellent book especially for beginners.
I need more info on what is going on with the puppy to help you there. Simply getting Pebbles ALOT more exercise would help tremendously though.
Please do NOT listen to Ceaser Millan!! His methods are animal abuse! Once again, you don’t want to do anything to increase aggression.
Here is a great article on training and on how the dog’s mind works, it is long but well worth it!