Why does my Rottweiler grab or bite my arm?

If your Rottweiler has been grabbing or biting your arm you might want to know why and what you can do about it.

This post will show you a number of possible causes and what you can do about it.

So, why does my Rottweiler bite my arms? Possible reasons are that it wants attention, it is teething, it has not been trained not to, inadvertently rewarding the behavior or that it is excited.

Your Rottweiler could be doing it for a number of different reasons and it could be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are some things you can consider when figuring out the exact reason.

Why your Rottweiler bites your hands and arms

Below, I will show you a number of reasons why your Rottweiler might be doing it and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.

It wants attention

The reason why it does it might be that it knows it will result in you giving it extra attention. This would be more likely if you tend to give it more attention when it does it even if it is bad attention.

Instead of giving it extra attention when it does bites your arms, it would be an option to ignore it, leaving the room if necessary and then to reward it with attention when it is being well behaved.

It is teething

The cause could be that it has started teething. This would be more likely if it has started biting you suddenly and if it has started biting other things as well. In this case, it would be important to train it what to bite and what not to bite and to give it lots of things to chew on.

It wasn’t trained not to as a puppy

If you have not given your Rottweiler much training then it will not know how to behave and it will likely behave the way that it feels like behaving. The way that it feels like behaving is unlikely to be the way you would like it to behave which is why it is important to make sure that it gets training.

You have inadvertently been reinforcing the behavior

The reason why it does it might be that you have inadvertently trained it to do it by giving it things it wants when it does it. Instead of giving it rewards when it bites your arms, such as toys, treats or extra attention, it would help to avoid rewarding it and to wait for it to calm down before rewarding it.

Excitement

The cause could also be that it is excited and it is trying to show its excitement. This would be more likely if it does it more in situations such as when you come home or when you are about to take it for a walk.

In this case, it would help to withdraw your arms and attention when it starts doing it and to reward it when it stops biting.

It is exploring

Dogs interact use their mouths and their noses to interact with the environment as much as they do with their eyes and even more so when they are puppies.

The reason why your Rottweiler has been biting your arms and hands could be because it is interacting with them. This would be more likely if it is a puppy.

Things to consider

Below are some things you can consider about your Rottweiler grabbing or biting your hands and arms.

When it started doing it

If your Rottweiler did not always bite you, it would help to consider what else happened when it started doing it since it might be the case that there was an event that caused it to start.

If it started doing it suddenly it would be more likely to be due to things such as teething or realizing that it gets rewards when it does it.

When and where it bites your arms

It would also help to consider the timing of when it does it.

For example, if it tends to do it when you come home, it would be more likely that it is excited and trying to get more attention from you. In this case, it would still be important to train it to stop as mentioned below.

How aggressively it bites your arms and hands

It would also help to consider how aggressively your Rottweiler has been biting. If it has been doing it aggressively then it would be advised that you get help from a professional dog trainer or behaviorist in your area so that you can see how to get it to stop safely.

How old your Rottweiler is

The age of your Rottweiler would also be something to consider. If it is a puppy still, it would be much more likely that it is doing it because it is teething but it would still help to give it training now to get it to stop. Whereas, if it is an adult, it would be more likely that it learned that it gets things it wants when it does it.

How to get your Rottweiler to stop biting your arms and hands

Below are some options you have when getting your Rottweiler to stop doing it.

Train it not to

The first thing you can do is to train it to stop doing it with the use of positive reinforcement training.

To use it to get it to stop biting, you would:

• Stand up and prevent it from biting your arms or hands by leaving the room if necessary.
• Wait a few moments and then go back to giving it attention and then preventing it from biting them again if it starts biting
• Repeat the above until it learns that biting causes it to lose your attention
• Reward it with a treat when it does particularly well

You can watch the video below to see more tips on how to train it not to bite your hands.

Avoid negative reinforcement training

It would also help to avoid giving it things that it wants when it bites your hands and to wait for it to calm down before giving it what it wants.

Give it other things to chew on

It would also help to give it other things that it can chew on such as toys, chews and bones. This would be especially important if it is teething.

Be consistent

When training your Rottweiler, it is important to be consistent. It is not likely that its behavior will change a lot after just one training session. But, you can get much better results by training it consistently over the course of weeks and months.

Get help from an animal behaviorist

If you can’t get it to stop or it has been doing it aggressively, consider getting help from a dog trainer or behaviorist. By doing so, you should be able to see how to get it to stop safely and effectively.