Be conscious of where you are guys: Protection Breeds of Dogs » Rottweiler. Don't veer off too much. Enjoy.

*Cowering* Sorry Vince....

*Clearing Throat*
Rottweilers as a breed need 1/3 veggies in their diets to maintain a healthy protection temperment along with 2/3 raw meat etc...if one omits this simple additive in diet, the temperment and drives will surely diminish from this handsome and top competing breed.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Better? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Can someone please enlighten me? What is Vince talking about? I fail to see how anything posted so far in this thread by any of us is NOT linked to Rotties and their role as protection dogs.

Should I be posting elsewhere?

Ok. I have some more questions:

1. A friend of mine tells me that giving my dog egg whites may inhibit his absorbtion of calcium, but the yolks themselves are ok. Thoughts?

2. Injections - he's had them all and I'm wondering if he needs boosters soon or not.

3. Leads - are Flexi leads suitable or should I stick to static leashes? What about muzzles?

4. At what age will he reach maturity? What about sexual maturity? Will his behaviour change noticably between now and then, and how so?

Regards 2 all

A

Andy,

I understand what you are saying but I think what Vince meant was the thread was veering off into other areas such as nutrition. If the questions were in regards to training Rotties in protection then they would belong here. Once it veers to much into health and nutrition questions then the thread needs to be moved to that section. That's all. There are a lot of members with a lot of threads on many different topics and thats why Vince needs to keep things organized by topic otherwise the threads become unreadable. Vince is a good guy and will always help a new member navigate through the board. Feel free to private mail him with any questions. Hope this helps. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Hi Andy, I’ll try to answer a few of your questions. Most of the guys who feed raw give their dog the whole egg. I mean the whole egg eggshell and all. Eggs have been discussed before and I never read about the calcium robbing properties of egg whites.
Your questions about leashes, I use both depending what I want to do. If I’m training or want to have control I use the leather lead. There is nothing to compare to leather. Other times where it is not suitable to have my dog of lead, I will use the flexi to give her more freedom. I recently had to make the same decision you are facing as far as boosters. I read what I could about vaccinations trusted the knowledgeable people on this board and chose not to. I was surprised when the vet didn’t give me an argument. I also asked the same question about maturity once. The answer given to me was 16 to 24 months.

I really don’t understand why you asked about a muzzle? Do you feel that your dog is a threat? It didn’t sound that way in your previous post. I can only tell you this as far as basic OB don’t fool yourself thinking that the dog knows it. You have to work hard at it everyday in every situation. You have to proof your dog with every distraction you can think of. And lastly I think Rotts are gorgeous dogs only when they are lean and muscular. The best looking dog I ever so was a well-muscled Rott with its shiny coat glistening in the sun.

milt

Hi guys,

Thanks again for the many, many replies and advice on how to teach my mutt to bark on command. This board is indeed the best!

For the last four days (not continuously!) I've had him tied to a tree, tempting him with food, his ball, a promise of 'walkies!' - everything!

He just stands there with a big grin on his face. I swear he knows what's going on and is choosing to be noncomplient. Typical....he obviously takes after my wife!

Like I said previously, he'll bark when cars drive past or when the ice cream man comes (he digs the music). Should I be waiting to pounce - waiting until he barks and then run outside, say 'speak' and reward him?

Perhaps he's one of these dogs who'll never bark unless he wants to?

Yours ponderingly

Andy

p.s Don't laugh. What if I were to 'woof woof' myself and then say speak. Is this a sound suggestion or pure insanity?

Andy,

Your best bet is to find things he will bark at reliably, then give the command and reward. After he startes to get the idea reverse the process, command just before he barks and reward for barking. Then work on it with out the stimulus. If your goal is to use this "trained" bark as a protective mechanism, use a watch command rather than a "speak" command. When I teach a watch command for my PP dogs, it is the only command I teach in English. I want the person to know that the dog is being told to watch the person. The rest of the commands I teach in German. This has worked well, people recognize that the dog is being told to prepare to protect, see the dog respond, and think better of what ever they were doing. Usually they leave.

Richard is right as usual, My Rott was the same way, only barked at certin things... I did just as Richard suggests, except in my case he light up at anyone in uniform, lucky I have a few RCMP friends so I had a couple come over to the house in uniform and we trained that way. It took about 4 times for him to understand the comand.

Actually his uniform problem came in handy a few times... I have been given a free pass at road checks becasue of the spit flying, truck rocking "I wana eat you" defensive barking at the window 2 in from your face in the middle of the night drives. To bad I don't drink and drive <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Andy. Check your PM. I sent you a link to an article that Ed wrote.

My rotti is not very vocal either. But when he decides to vocalize WATCH OUT! It is like a thunder clap. Remember, rotts are not a high strung breed so they won't bark as much as say a belgian malinois. Don't worry though, it might just be he has such good nerves that he keeps to himself until someone starts trouble. Good luck. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />