Why does my Rottweiler puppy nip or bite at me?

If your Rottweiler puppy has been nipping or biting at you this post will show you some possible causes and what you can do to get it to stop.

So, why does my Rottweiler bite at me? Possible causes are that it is teething, playing, excited, looking for attention or that you have inadvertently rewarded it for doing it.

Your Rottweiler puppy might be doing it for a number of different reasons and it could be the result of a combination of reasons. However, there are a number of things you can consider when trying to figure out the exact reason and there are a number of things you can do about it.

Why your Rottweiler bites you

Below are some reasons why your Rottweiler might be doing it and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.

It is teething

The reason why it has started doing it could be that it is teething. This would be more likely if it has started doing it suddenly and if it has been chewing on other things as well.

In this case, it would be important to train it to stop biting you using the tips below and to give it lots of toys to chew on.

You have been encouraging it

It could be the case that you have encouraged it to bite you by giving it things that it wants when it does it. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats or extra attention when it bites you then it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it is being well behaved and to avoid giving it what it wants when it bites you.

It wants attention

It could be the case that it does it because it is looking for attention and it has realized that biting you tends to result in it getting more attention. One option would be to stop giving it attention when it starts biting and then to give it more attention after it has calmed down. If it starts biting again, then you would ignore it until it calms down again.

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. In this case, it would still help to avoid rewarding it when it does it and to wait for it to calm down before rewarding it.

Things to consider

When it started biting you

It would help to consider what else happened at around the same time that your Rottweiler started biting you since it could be the case that there was an event that caused it to start doing it.

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

How aggressively it does it

It would also help to consider whether or not it does it aggressively. If it does do it aggressively, consider getting the help of a professional dog trainer or behaviorist in your area so that you can see how to get it to stop safely.

How to get it to stop biting you

Below are some things you can do to get it to nip or bite you less.

Positive reinforcement training

Positive reinforcement training is where you train your Rottweiler to behave in a certain way by rewarding it when it behaves that way and avoid rewarding it when it does not.

To use positive reinforcement training to get it to stop biting, you could do something such as:

• Stop giving your Rottweiler attention whenever it nips you by hiding your hands or temporarily leaving the room if necessary
• Start giving it attention again until it starts nipping and then stop giving it attention again.
• Repeat the above, rewarding with a treat it each time it doesn’t nip you when it normally would.

You can watch the video below for more tips on how to get it to stop doing it.

Avoid negative reinforcement training

As mentioned above, it could be the case that it has realized that it gets things that it wants when it nips you. It would help to avoid rewarding it when it does it and to use positive reinforcement training instead.

Give it things to chew on

In addition to training it not to do it, giving it things to chew on would also be helpful. This would be especially the case if your Rottweiler is teething.

Be consistent

When training your Rottweiler, it is important to be consistent. It is not likely that you will be able to get drastic results with just one training session, but if you are consistent with the training, you can get much better results over the course of weeks and months.

Get help

If you are unable to get it to stop doing it or it has been biting you aggressively, consider getting help from a professional dog trainer or animal behaviorist. By doing so you will be able to see why it has been doing it and what you can do to get it to stop. It is very important that you do what you can do stop the behavior now so that it does not continue to misbehave as an adult.