My 7 month old dog seems to be testing me a lot lately and I usually show him who's by boss by pinning him to the ground. I need specific advice on how to deal with this.

Question

I have a male Rottweiler who is seven months old. I have started obedience training him since eight weeks old; for the most part he is well behaved and knows the basic commands. He seems to be testing me a lot lately and I usually show him who's by boss by pinning him to the ground by the scruff near is muzzle as well as firm pinching. I usually get a small whine and a submission after some time. I have your video on basic dog training and another on dealing with dominant and aggressive dogs; I like to believe I have a basic understanding of pack structure from watching your videos and others, although this is my first dog. I always try to assert dominance and correct him the majority of the time even when he tries to play bite with me.

So here is my problem: Although I can put my hand in my dog's food bowl with no problem... I do this on rare occasions... and take away the food bowl... or tell him to "out" on a rag we play tug with.....or take foreign objects out of his mouth, all with no problem... I found out today I cannot take food out of his mouth. He got a piece of turkey out of the garbage can when I wasn't looking... I have never tried to take food he was chewing from him before and he bit me and caused a slight cut on my finger... of course I had to correct... I pinned him against the wall and ground and shook him and other things too...

I am not afraid of getting bit any other time... but I don't feel that I will ever be able to take food from him again... it's like he would've fought to the death for it, even though I had just fed him.

Please respond with specific advice... I respect your professional opinion, but I need real and functional solutions...

Ron

Accepted Answer

I’m going to first say that I disagree with the way you are handling your dog. Pinning, scruffing and pinching isn’t pack leadership, it’s bullying. At 7 months old your dog is not even close to being mentally or physically mature and if you continue with the way you are handling him you are going to completely destroy any chance of a balanced relationship you wish to have with him.

We also don’t agree with putting hands in a dog’s food bowl, real pack leaders don’t ever do this. Once you give the food to the dog, it is his food. Messing with him isn’t fair. The fact that your dog took something out of the garbage when you weren’t looking means your dog needs more supervision and more training. Why did he have access to the garbage? The vast majority of 7 month old puppies are not reliable enough to be loose and unattended with such tempting distractions. Personally, I would teach him the YUCK command, which basically means to spit out what you have in your mouth. I’d teach your dog that if he drops what he has, he’ll get a fair trade (in the teaching process). Wrestling a dog and trying to physically take things away only teach him not to trust you.

I’d suggest you read more about pack leadership and learn about marker training so you have a fair method of communication with him, instead of physically bullying him.

I’d recommend The Power of Training Dogs with Markers and The Power of Training Dogs with Food.

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I hope this helps.