nick&erica

hi don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure it's about 4-5 months they start teething, this may vary with breed i'm not sure, this is when my rottweiler started. I think it may take a couple/few months for it to finish, he's been going for a month now edited: because i've just been thinking about it and i'm not sure if i'm right lol.....oh well fingers crossed

Thank you both, I didn't ask this question because it's a problem with me, heck I spend all day downstairs with him nearly with my two sons, but i've never seen him do this till recently hence why I thought it might have been something other....than play. But then in saying that I have also been a little busier with my boys than normal so not having as much time with him. So obviously he's getting more excited when I am downstairs. Hmmm...it's all making sense to me now lol... I don't usually growl at him as he isn't hurting me most of the time. He's just skimming my skin, but if he gets too full on he can give a good hard nip which in my books is not on, my 2.5yr old wouldn't class a hard nip and anything less than "oh my god my dogs hurting me...mum..." and the last thing I want is my son becoming afraid of him so I will continue to growl if he nips too hard. This has only happened twice mind. I throw balls and sticks and squeekies and empty coke bottles etc etc but it's me he wants lol...so yeah that doesn't really work. Thank you though now I know that it is a submissive play thing...so no need to worry

I can't find a post which answers all my questions sorry. But just lately my boy has been acting a little differently, I think his hormones are kicking in so maybe he's challengin me again? I don't know. I'm unsure of what all the submissive signs are? And what the dominant signs are. Here is what he does sometimes with me... If I am gardening or washing clothes and wants play/attention he comes pegging at me, he doesn't come closer to me than about a meter but bounces around my feet in circles, yaps a lot (I wont say bark as it's very short, quiet, yaps) and as he yaps his puts his upper body down on the floor and sticks his bum in the air, and then bounces around me again. I ignore him as I will play with him when I want to...which is when i've finished putting a load on. (someone told me not to make him think he can demand I play with him) so when I ignore him he will come closer and nip my ankle or foot (only softly) i'll continue to ignore untill he calms down, once he's quiet and sits i'll praise and then play with him. If, for what ever reason I walk up to him when he's doing this, as I will give him a growl when he nips me, he immediately flops and rolls onto his back and stops yapping?!? I have no idea if he's trying to be dominant with me but when I growl and approach him he cowars into submission.....any suggestions? oh and he's a4 month old male rottie entire

just curious but how often and for how long is he in the workshop with your OH?

Great to hear she was well behaved with your nephews...I hope she continues this for you. My pup is about the same age and has recently given up mouthing and nipping... maybe this is about the time they start growing up... ....only I wonder whats next...

we are getting our rottweiler de-sexed. We have talked to our vet about it and she recomends atleast 6 months old, to ensure his balls have dropped etc etc 10 weeks is deffinately too young, consult your local vet. My dog is also dry humping the air a lot lol...but it's something to deal with untill he's old enough to get done. :D

yeah I definately suggest the same as sway...we also use coke bottles etc if we have any or we had a large hard plastic cup which my son kindly gave to sam....needless to say that's his favourite "toy" to chew on!

carli: sam was doing this also jumping on my back when I turned and he's a big pup and nearly knocked me over a couple of times! I didn't turn back round again unless he came round to the front of me and jumped again. I just continued to completely ignore he could jump all he wanted but wasn't even getting eye contact with me. And my arms were folded. He's soon give up and sit down...only then would I praise and continue walking. It is hard when they jump up and you have to struggle to find your balance but put your legs apart a bit get a firm stance and prepare yourself for it! lol.... my sam is still jumping a bit but now it's only in the mornings when he soooo....happy to see me... vetassisst: I have the same problem! with my OH and step daughters...my son is good as he watches me do it every day so when they get too close to him he says "ahah" and lifts his arms up and stands still untill they sit or go...and he's 2.5yrs!!! my oh and s.daughters always encourage him (unknowingly) despite me telling them exactly what they have to do and how important it is....I have no idea how to get around this! Eeek... Sas: Yes when he gets 12 months and they can find out exactly how severe he is we will be looking at our options depending (medication etc) we don't want him in any pain, he seems comfortable enough at the moment and keeping him really lean has helped a lot for his energy.

sas: Yeah we've been told to do a few things by the vet to help with it esp. over the first 12 months, he's on a strict diet, vit.c, glucosamine, and of course his serving of mackeral or sardines. Also no vigerous exercise, no going up stairs and NO JUMPING! EEk which is what he's decided he likes doing over the last 2 weeks but we're getting it under control Hopefully all these things will prevent his hips getting any worse ;)

Hmmm...it sounds like it would be good if you were able to buy trial versions of dog food before having to commit yourself to a whole bag! In saying that I bet some companies do?!? I would say yes to the food but i've only recently bought an 18 kg bag myself...so I dare say it would end up going stale sorry ;) I really hope you find something for him which he likes soon! How is bailey going with the teething? Sam is being a bit grumpy and sooky at the moment! Understandably and CHEW! Luckily we've got a dining room set down stairs which he's hooked into...luckily it was free! lol

uhhhh....I know what you mean i'm just explaining myself wrong. I don't mean importing it herself personally, I mean buying it off a retail that does import around her area....anyways It is a shame about the cans! I was actually thinking about trying some but oh well thanks for the heads up!

I know thanks...I assumed nacster got nutro kibble imported as I do. No where imports the stuff near me so a breeder I know imports it for us. I assume she would also be able to import the canned food also if I wanted it, but have not looked into it properly. I may be wrong

I just bought a child safety gate from target! Coated steel so it doesn't rust and they aint chewing through it! It works great for me as I have a toddler so it stope him getting down there without me wanting it also. I think I paid about $60! and if the area is wider than a door frame you can buy extensions.

hi chibella so sorry to hear what has happened! I pray for your dogs sake that it will not harm him. Sardines dont come boned as the bones in them are too fine so most companies opt out of doing this. It is quite easy however to de-bone most of it. If you get the sardines which have been marinated in their own brine preferably. They split in half length ways very easily and by taking the spine out most of the small bones come out with. Then it's just a case of wiping over the rest with your finger and removing the left over ones. I personally think you should stop waiting and go...go with your instincts, you will end up stressing yourself sick. Atleast this way you can put your mind at ease quicker. GL

You can get nutro choice in can form...i'm not sure whether the qual is as good and the ingredients I dare say the ingredients would be the same...but it's a thought...maybe give him some of the canned nutro if he likes untill he's better? I'm not sure what the consistency is like but it should be nice and mushy Glad to hear he's ate something though. chicken necks are sams favourite also...and mine lol....they're a good nibble you know...make sure you cook them first mind if you try them yourself lol

sas: We did contact the owner but he was not interested in speaking with us. I'm not sure if i'm the same person your thinking of but anyways...he was basically like "and....what do you want me to say and uhhh...whats that?" So needless to say he can go and get stuffed. He has been predicted he will have hip dysplsia but of course they will have to take x-rays at 12 months ;) he is only 5 months now and has problems well he's had obvious problems since we got him so I dare say it's going to come back pretty bad But he's family and a lovely natured boy and is a perfect example of why people should not BYB esp. if they have no idea about the defects it can create in the breed

sas: Yes we brought him from the paper...though we knew a lot about rottweilers (husband is a previous owner) we were completely oblivious about pedigree'd purebreds etc this is way before we had the net and had no idea about BYB vs Registered reputible breeders. But hey that's not sams fault that's ours We love him none the less and now we have found this site and have educated ourselves on the matter we are now passionatly against all BYB puppy farms etc and have strongly passed this on to all we know

good on you for sticking to your no eating between meals rule. I'm only a newbie when it comes to dogs and found it very hard to start with to not feed him between meals. And then I slapped myself and got serious about it. It's the best thing i've ever done My boy is teething at the moment too...none have come out yet but I can see his adult teeth pushing his front babies up so the other posts are good tips for me also. Just thought i'd add that I have tied one of his tug toys on some string and hung it up. This way he is able to chew and pull for easing and also helps them on their way. This is something recomended to me by my breeder. It is good for in the middle of the night when no ones there to tug with him

He may be finding it sore to crunch the dry food. We use Nutro also, when my boy was younger I used to soak it in either water or if you want to use milk ensure it's a no lactose or low lactose UHT milk. Water should be fine though. Don't make them too squishy though soak then for about 5 mins. Also make sure you don't feed him in between meals so he will deffinately be hungry at meal time. What I would do is if he did not eat his breakfast this morning I will not feed him untill dinner with the soaked nutro, if he doesn't eat that try breakfast if he still doesn't eat that give him some soft meat i.e. dog mince and if he doesn't eat that! Go to the vet as he should be checked out if it goes on longer that 24/48hours IMO There may be something bothering him besides the teeth. A vet would have a better idea of what to do. Hope it works

carlibud: I'm no expert but sam was doing this also. I tried everything from growling/turning away etc but nothing really worked. Now when I go down and play with him as soon as he nibbles too hard I growl and stand up and walk away completely. and keep walking away not looking at him at all untill he loses interest and walks off. Once he has calmed down I will go back to him and play. Sometimes I have to go upstairs so he has no contact what so ever. He is still nipping occasionally but no where near as hard. The key is consistentcy. You don't need to yell at him, just give him a strong growl and remove yourself from the situation immediately, completely ignore him untill he settles. He'll soon learn that biting is unacceptable. Also make sure that you growl and walk off AS SOON AS he bites. Don't delay or you will miss your mark and he'll be confused. It's took sam 1 week to start catching on. Hope this helps. Oh it's important your kids do the same, how old are they? If they are old enough to understand just tell them if he bites give him a growl and come upstairs immediately. It may be a pain in the arse at first but worth it.

thank you bruno I really appreciate your kind words...a lot of people tried to tell us to give him up as he potentially could cost us a lot of money but we love him regardless. The way I see it is no person is perfect so why should we expect our canine friends to be? thank you again

hi bruno I respect your advice but i'm not concerned about his meal it's the jumping He has a strict diet he has to be on due to potential hip problems (he's severly cow hocked) and struggles with his hips left mainly. He finds it difficult coming to a stand and will not sit for more than a few seconds due to it being uncomfortable though he is too young for a diagnosis the vets (second opinion also) recomends we feed limited amount of food as he was over weight when we got him. Once he's down to the recomended weight we will increase his food bit by bit. Good observation though

Hi vickie Apart from between the hours of 10 and 12 we spend all day with him. There is the odd day i've got a heap of house work to catch up on so he doesn't get as much attention but that doesn't happen often as I do most of my work when the boys are in bed. The 20 minute walks don't even make it out of the street lol...i'm only familiarising him with the neighbourhood so if he wants to sniff the ground for 5 mins he does there isn't a lot of walking going on at the moment. When I start lead training next week walks will be cut to 10 mins morning and 10 at night as I will be expecting him to venture a little further by then. Also with a toddler walking with me we walk at snails pace as you could imagine. some days I only do 1 walk depends. So from 6.30 till 10.30 and between 12 and about 5 we are all down stairs playing/training/chilling whatever...my kids are happier down stairs when the kids are in bed and I finish cleaning I go down and spend 1:1 time with him for 30-45 mins. I will pop up to BF my youngest then come back down when i've finished (approx. 5 mins per feed every 4 hours) so I highly doubt he's getting lack of attention. We have a high set house so he can not see our living area, and he is strictly outside dog for numerous reasons besides the stairs he would have to climb. Hence why we spend as much time as possible with him. He has a very good food drive which I have noticed while training, he has also figured out numberous tricks involving trapped treats he has to figure out how to get so I dare say he is just very excited to see me and a big huge bonus that I have food in my hand. I personally am unsure of how I feel about off/on leash parks. Esp. With 2 young ones I don't like the thought of them being around a heap of dogs where I have no idea what temprement they have around kids. Also I only socialise my pup with other dogs I know. i.e. a rottweiler breeder I know lives 2 streets from me I take him there sometimes. My friend has several dogs that are very well socialised vacc. wormed. etc I take him there too. I know they are good with my kids so I don't need to worry. Also I have sufficient enough space in my yard to run him if I wanted and to play with him. Thank you though for looking at it from another angle

Thank you so much for all your responses! He is a well trained dog and very smart so I have no doubt he'll pick up this quick. Doghouse: I make a very strong point of never feeding sam unless he sits, I have done this from day one it's just the between bit me getting to his feeding area that's the problem I have adopted the method of completely ignore which I have been doing for a few days now. When I reach the bottom step I stand still (bowls in hand) and don't look at him he jumps once initially now then sits immediately as he's not getting any attention. Then I open the gate if he moves I close it and repeat the process untill he stays. He knows sit/stays very well so this is a bonus. I may need to tell him stay once and he will. I've got this process nearly down to a T. He only moves once now before he stays put. Then when I get out and close the gate is when he jumps. I lift the bowls out of reach and completely ignore again standing still. He now stops and sits immediately. Then and only then do I start walking. If he jumps I stop, the majority he is trotting along side me though since I started this. Basically any unwanted bahaviour I stop and stand still no attention completely ignoring him when he does the right behaviour I walk. It seems to be working he's calming down a lot! As soon as he gets to his feeding spot he already know what to do so he sits in his place immediately I put the food down and he stays (he has stayed for 5 mins or more!) he will not move untill I give him the "word". One thing I don't do though is walk away and leave him alone when he eats, I kneel there and stroke him around the neck and mouth, mainly due to the fact that I have a young boy who doesn't understand "stay away from the dog he's eating" I've noticed this has stopped him being food aggressive, he used to growl and bark at me, so I took it slowly started stroking his back end first and worked my way to the neck and jaw and he doesn't care anymore as he knows I'm not taking it away. Of course it's a different story if he has a nice big juicy bone! lol This is purely incase my son walks next to him when he's eating. Sas: Sam has not jumped up on nakia yet! He is only a little under eye level with him the most he's done is just lift his front paws up a little and dropped back down has not touched him though. Thank you for the referece to jan fennells book i'll try and find it Thank you everyone for your advice

just for the record, and in addition to my previous post my pup was eating small stones also and has completely stopped now too...he's into bigger things in the garden now like logs and palm tree leaves lol...he's becoming a big boy...so hopefully it is just a phase he will get out of as he becomes older