If your Rottweiler is highly energetic then you’re probably wondering if and when it will begin to mellow out. This post will show you some common causes of it not being calm and what you can do about it.
So, when do Rottweiler mellow out? There is not a specific age that Rottweilers mellow out. Instead, they will often calm down gradually as they get older. Despite that, even as adults, they can remain highly energetic by nature.
To get your Rottweiler to mellow out more quickly it can actually help a lot to take the time to figure out why has so much energy. Once you have a good idea of the cause you’ll have an easier time correcting it.
Possible reasons why your Rottweiler hasn’t mellowed out
There are actually a lot of possible reasons that your Rottweiler is being so energetic. I will try to mention some of the main ones below.
It needs more exercise
Rottweilers are a breed that is meant to get a lot of daily exercise. When they do not get enough exercise, it is common for them to become energetic.
You might be surprised at just how much exercise your Rottweiler might need in order to be properly stimulated. So, if you want your Rottweiler to mellow out then the first thing for you to do would be to make sure that it is getting exercise daily. You’ll often find that it takes a lot to calm it down. Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day.
Attention seeking
Another possible cause is that it does it in order to get extra attention from you. This would be more likely if it tends to become more energetic when you have not been giving it much attention and if you tend to give it more attention when it does it.
Instead of reacting to it when it gets crazy try ignoring the behavior if you can and then giving it your attention when it is behaving the way that you want it to.
It’s bored
It could be that your Rottweiler is bored. This can go hand in hand with not getting enough exercise or attention. So, it’s important to make sure to give your Rottweiler lots of exercise, training, attention and toys to play with to keep it occupied.
It needs more training
If you have not given your Rottweiler much training, it will behave the way it feels like behaving. The way that it feels like behaving is unlikely to be the way that you would like it to behave.
This is why it is important to give your Rottweiler lots of training starting with the basics. You can actually use your Rottweiler’s excess energy to your advantage when you’re training it and you can see how in the section below.
A new location
If you’re in a new location then this could be what has been causing the energetic behavior. When you move it can be a significant event for Rottweiler since they won’t know what is going on around them and there will be lots of new distractions. If this is the case take the time to show it around so that it can feel calm where it is.
You are encouraging it to behave that way
The cause could be that you have encouraged the behavior by giving it rewards when it behaves that way. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats or extra attention, when it is not calm, it will encourage it to do it more in order to get more rewards.
Even though it can be easy to give your Rottweiler a treat to calm it down you should try to get it to listen to you by using positive reinforcement training instead. This is where you reward your Rottweiler for making small steps towards doing something that you want it to do.
For example, it might behave calmly when you come home one day so you should reward it for that. You can see positive reinforcement training in action in the video in the section below.
On the flipside, punishing it can also cause the behavior. If you punish it for misbehaving then it will often think that it is being punished for the last thing that it did which might not be what you are actually punishing it for.
For example, if you punish it for running away then it will likely think that it is being punished for the last thing that it did which is coming back to you. Again, as an alternative consider doing positive reinforcement training.
Nature
It could simply be that your Rottweiler is naturally an energetic dog. This would be more likely if it has always been energetic and it has not started suddenly. Even if this is the case you can still get it to mellow out and to be well behaved by giving it lots of exercise and training.
How to get your Rottweiler to mellow out sooner
Below are some options you have when getting your Rottweiler to calm down.
Training
If you want to get your Rottweiler to mellow out then it will be necessary for you to give it lots of training.
The act of training it itself will actually use up a lot of its excess energy and it will also make it a lot more responsive to your command. It will also help to get it to look to you for direction before doing something that goes against what it thinks you might want.
There are many things that you can train your Rottweiler to do but the things that you should prioritize on at first are the basics and to not do things that you don’t want it to. It would then help to build up towards getting it to do more challenging things in more distracting environments.
When you’re training your Rottweiler it’s also important to train it in multiple environments. The reason for this is that Rottweiler and other dogs do not typically carry their training over well into new environments. This is mainly due to all of the stimulating things going on around it.
You can watch the video below to see advice on how to train an unfocused dog.
Exercise
As mentioned above, it is important to make sure that your Rottweiler is able to get daily exercise. Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day when they are healthy adults.
Distractions
You could also give it lots of things to be distracted with by giving it lots of toys to play with.
Don’t reward it
It’s important to not encourage the behavior so you should try to avoid giving it things that it might want when it is misbehaving. Instead, give it more training and wait for it to behave in the right way and then give it what it wants.
Calming chews
There are calming chews that you can get that will get it to calm down. If you use them try to give it to your Rottweiler before it starts misbehaving otherwise you might actually encourage more of the behavior.
Crate training
You could also try crate training your Rottweiler. When done well it will give your Rottweiler a place that it can go to that is it’s own. By having a place to go it can help your Rottweiler to feel calmer and it can help you to manage your Rottweiler when it is difficult for you to do so.
Things to consider
Below are some things to consider about your Rottweiler not being calm.
Its age
If your Rottweiler is still a puppy, it is likely that it will mellow out as it gets older. But, the amount that it would mellow out naturally might not be that much so it is still important to take the time to train it and give it exercise now.
Be patient
When you’re training your Rottweiler to be calm it’s important to be patient. Getting your Rottweiler to mellow out is not something that you will be able to do in just one training session. So, it’s important that you approach it with a long-term approach.
Be consistent
It’s also important to be consistent with your training. If you just teach it to do something once but then neglect to reinforce it over the weeks following, your Rottweiler will likely revert back to its old behavior over time.
To help you be consistent it can help to find ways to train your Rottweiler on a consistent basis without having to go out of your way to do so.
For example, after having taught your Rottweiler the “stay” command, you could get it to stay before letting it have its food in the mornings.