Dog Health Questions: How can I train my GF's dog?

She has a 14 month old male rottweiler. He's very hyper and aggressive. He's not vicious, but he gets overly aggressive unintentionally. He's never hurt anyone, but when my girlfriend gets on the floor to play with him, he jumps on her (and it hurts because he's a heavy dog) and he bites her. He doesn't bite her hard, because she has never bled, its more like a "play bite", but he can get out of control sometimes and get too aggressive and its difficult to calm him down. Now don't get me wrong, he's a good dog, he would never intentionally hurt someone, but he is SO big and SO strong and he has SO much energy that he can be hard to handle sometimes. The only thing he knows how to do is sit, and he doesn't always listen. Another problem is that he wants to chew on EVERYTHING. For a few months, we thought it wasn't that bad because we got him when he was 4 months old and we thought he was just going through a teething phase, but now he's 14 months old and he still thinks everything is a toy that he can destroy! We always take the objects away and say "NO", but he get angry and tries to take them back. Sometimes he bites our hands unintentionally when stealing objects from our hands. Help!

This dog is the love of my GF's life, literally. He is her "baby" and giving him away is not an option.
My GF has watched a lot of training videos and has tried to teach him some commands, but he just doesn't listen. I don't think she is willing to take him to obedience classes because we are busy people and we are on a budget, I'm not sure she is willing to spend hundreds of dollars on dog training. Help?!

Dog Training Basics: 3 Golden Rules

Recommended Answer:
You do not have to pay $100s of dollars for training. Check your local parks & rec. Many times they offer low cost dog training. Check with animal control get some referrals. You can pay a little now or you can pay a lot later when you are sued.

If you are too busy to put in the few minutes a day and one hour a week for training your GF does not have time to own a dog. The money and time spent on a basic Obedience class will be the best time and money your GF will spend the entire life of the dog.

You and your GF are also in denial. The dog is the boss, He knows exactly what he is doing when he "bites you accidentally" trying to grab things out of your hand. He sees not point in obeying you or your GF as he finds you both inept leaders and beneath him.

Rottys are large, powerful and opinionated dogs. They will take control if they are not trained. They can also do a lot of damage and injury if not under control. This dog is not a "baby", It is a potential loaded weapon with no safety. When trained they can be wonderful pets and members of the family. When untrained they are a liablity. At 14 months old he is still a puppy and already he is establishing his dominance over you both. What do you think he is going to do when he reaches maturity at 2-3 years old.

BTW. If your GF continues on the path she is on and does not train this dog, Giving him up is not going to be your GF's choice to make. He will be taken from her when he ends up hurting someone.

Dog Training Tips

• You should hire a professional dog trainer.
  You should exercise him more.
  You should take a private obedience class.


• You dont' have to spend 100's on training classes, you can buy videos or books on basic obedience or positive dog training methods.
  
  I'm sure it's not that the dog won't listen it's that she's either drilling him and he's bored and feels like he's being punished or he's simply not motivated to learn and lastly she might not be teaching him in away he understands. Do you use treats? Is the dog treat motivated? A dog that is treat motivated will do anything for a treat, so if he is then it'll be easier to train him. Pick up books practice 15 minutes a night that's it and work on one thing at a time. Also getting him exercised is the first place to start, simply walking him on the leash for 20 minutes will do nothing, so he needs at least an hour of running and playing. Try training him to run beside the bike, you can get a walky dog that attaches to your bike keeping you hands free and that'll help to reduce his energy level.
  
  Your G/F should NEVER lay on the floor and rough house, that makes him more dominant over her thus he sees himself as the alpha dog not her, this is a no no especially for such a dominant breed as a Rottie. No more rolling on the floor you are giving him the wrong impression. When he does nip she needs to squeal loudly and immediately cross her arms and not look at him, she needs to ignore him. When he's calm then try again, every time he nips she squeals and ceases all play even so much as leaving the room.
  
  Dogs chew for years, not just while they are teething but for several years, unless taught that chewing is a no no then they will keep doing it. When he gets something of yours don't just take it away, no wonder he snaps eventually he'll run and not give it back because you end his fun and besides having you chase him is a game. Play the "trade" game, when he grabs a shoe grab his favorite squeeky toy or preferably a NEW squeeky toy that has been hidden in a closet that gives it more value, play with the squeeky toy and when he is interested offer him the new toy as a trade for your shoe. He drops your shoe he gets a new toy you pick up your shoe. He will not snap at you and he will learn that giving up your stuff gets him better stuff so he'll be more likely to give it up next time. What you are doing is redirecting him to a behavior you can reward. When you see him chewing on his toy praise him and tell him he's a good dog so he knows when he's doing something you like.
  
  Most people are so busy telling the dog NO NO NO, that they fail to tell the dog YES, YES, YES when he's being a good boy what happens is they get ignored, so they figure ok this is no fun so let's be naughty, why? Because being naughty gets me attention, laying down gets me ignored this is no fun. See the difference? If he gets praised for being good and given treats he will understand that this is what you want and doing this gets me yummy stuff so lets do it again.
  
  Training isn't difficult it's just learning to think like a dog. Books will help with this a LOT, especially the Total Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training.
  
  My Weim is well behaved, not food or toy possessive, passed her Canine Good Citizen Test and she was trained exclusively by me, I have not hired a trainer nor have I taken training classes. This is my first dog I have just read a lot of books and watched Victoria Stillwell on Animal Planet's "Its Me or The Dog" extensively.
  
  It can be done but you've got to put in the time to exercise and train or it'll get worse. Right now I can see the biting becoming dangerous and the toy possession escalating.
  
  Good luck