Why does my Rottweiler stand in front of me?

If your Rottweiler has a habit of randomly standing in front of you, this post will show you a number of possible reasons why and what you can do about it.

So, why does my Rottweiler stand in front of me? Possible reasons are that it does it for attention, it is being protective, you might have inadvertently rewarded it or it might not realize that it is doing it.

There are multiple reasons why your Rottweiler might stand in front of you. But there are some things you can consider when trying to figure out the exact reason. There are also a number of options that you have when getting it to stop.

Why your Rottweiler stands in front of you

The different reasons why your dog does it will likely come with some clues.

Below are a number of common reasons why your Rottweiler will stand in front of you and what would make them more likely.

It wants attention

The reason why it stands in front of you could be that it is looking for attention. This would be more likely to be the reason if it does it more when you have not been giving it much attention and if you tend to give it more attention when it does it.

It would help to give it attention throughout the day by playing with it, training it and exercising it and to avoid rewarding it with attention when it stands in front of you.

It has separation anxiety

The cause could be that it has separation anxiety which is where it does not like being left alone and being left alone causes it to become anxious. This would be more likely if it tends to do it at around the same time that you would normally leave and if it shows other signs of anxiety when you are leaving.

In this case, you could try taking steps to reduce how anxious it becomes when you are leaving.

To do this you could do as follows:

• Make it seem like you are about to leave by doing something such as picking up your keys
• Reward your Rottweiler for not being anxious and repeat these two steps a few times
• Make more moves towards actually leaving such as by picking up the keys and putting your hand on the door handle
• Reward your Rottweiler for not being anxious and repeat the process a few times
• Actually open the door and go outside for a few moments then come back and reward your Rottweiler
• Repeat the above, each time staying outside for slightly longer

You can watch the video below for more tips on how to do this:

It wants something

It could also be the case that it does it because it wants you to give it something. This would be more likely to be the reason if it does it at around the same time that you would normally feed or walk it.

It’s being protective

The cause could be that it is being protective. This would be more likely if it tends to do it when there is someone else around and if it tends to get overly protective when there are other people and dogs around you.

You have inadvertently rewarded it

You might have inadvertently encouraged it to stand in front of you by giving it things it wants when it does it. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats, food or extra attention when it stands in front of 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, to redirect its focus when it looks like it is about to stand in front of you and to wait for it to stop standing in front of you before rewarding it.

Nervousness

The cause could be that something is making it be nervous. It could be that there is someone around that it does not like, fireworks outside or another animal that it does not like.

It doesn’t realize it is doing it

The reason why it does it could also be that it does not realize it is in your way. This would be more likely if it does it in situations such as when you are trying to walk past it in a tight space. It could be that it is waiting for you to go past especially if it looks up to see where you are.

Things to consider

When it first started doing it

When trying to figure out why your Rottweiler has been doing it considering what else happened when it first started would likely be helpful since it could 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 realizing it gets rewards when it does it, suddenly getting less attention from you or getting fed at different times.

When it does it

It could also help to consider the timing of when it stands in front of you since the timing might have something to do with it.

For example, if it tends to stand in front of you when you would normally leave it could be the case that it does it due to separation anxiety. Whereas, if it does it more at around the same time that you would normally feed it then it would be more likely that it is waiting to get fed.

How to get your Rottweiler to stop standing in front of you

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

Positive reinforcement training

Positive reinforcement training is where you reinforce good behaviors by rewarding them and avoid rewarding bad behaviors. For many people, it is a very effective training technique.

To use positive reinforcement training to get your Rottweiler to stop standing in front of you, you could do as follows:

• Reward it before it stands in front of you
• Stop rewarding it when it stands in front of you
• Get it to stop standing in front of you and avoid giving it attention until it doesn’t try to get stand in front of you
• Reward it each time it does not try to stand in front of you

Avoid negative reinforcement training

As mentioned above, it could be the case that you have encouraged it to stand in front of you by giving it things it wants when it does it. Instead, it would help to reward it when it does not do it, to redirect its focus onto something else when it is about to do it and to wait for it to stop before rewarding it.

Avoid punishing it

It is also important not to punish it when it does it since it might not know why it is being punished and it could cause it to have feelings of resentment or to be aggressive.

Instead, it would help to use positive reinforcement training to change it behavior. You won’t get large results with just one training session but if you train it consistently, you should be able to get much better results over the course of a few weeks.