If your Rottweiler is obsessed with you this post will show you why it might be the case and what you can do about it.
So, why is my Rottweiler obsessed with me? Possible reasons are that it wants attention, exercise or food, it might have separation anxiety or you might have inadvertently rewarded the behavior.
Your Rottweiler might be being obsessed with you for a number of reasons and it might be due to a combination of them. However, there are some things you can consider when trying to figure out the exact reason.
Why your Rottweiler is obsessed with you
Below are a number of common reasons why Rottweilers can become obsessed with their owners and what would make them more likely to be the reason why yours has been obsessed with you.
It wants attention
The reason why your Rottweiler is obsessed with you could be that it is looking for attention from you. This would be more likely if it does it becomes more obsessed with you when you have not given it much attention and if you give it more attention when it is obsessed with you.
Instead of giving it attention, when it gets obsessed with you, it would help to give it attention throughout the day by playing with it, training it and giving it exercise.
It wants exercise
Rottweilers are meant to get daily exercise. The reason why yours is obsessed with you might be that it is waiting to get exercise. This would be more likely if it tends to be more obsessive before getting exercise and less after getting exercise.
Generally, it is recommended for a Rottweiler to get around an hour of exercise per day as a healthy adult.
It’s hungry
The reason why it gets obsessed with you could also be that it is hungry. This would be more likely to be the case if it stops being obsessed with you when it has eaten and it is more obsessed when it has not eaten in a while.
In this case, it would help to make sure that you are feeding it the right foods and that it is getting the right amount of food.
Fear
The reason why it does it could be that it gets fearful. This would be more likely if it does it when there are things happening that might cause it to be fearful. Examples could be, fireworks, someone being around that it doesn’t like or if someone mistreated it recently.
Nature
Rottweilers were bred to work with their owners for hours on a daily basis. With that being the case, if you have given it a lot of training then it will naturally look to you for direction and this could be why it seems to be obsessed with you.
Separation anxiety
It might also be the case that your Rottweiler has some separation anxiety. This is where it does not like being left alone and the prospect of being left alone causes it to become nervous. This would be more likely to be the reason if your Rottweiler starts to get nervous when you are about to leave.
Reinforcing the behavior
It could also be the case that you have inadvertently encouraged the behavior by giving it things it wants when it becomes obsessive. If you give it things such as toys, treats or extra attention when it does it then it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards. Instead, it would help to reward it when it behaves the way you want it to and to avoid rewarding it when it does not.
Things to consider
Below, I will mention some particularly helpful things to consider when trying to figure out why your Rottweiler is obsessed with you. Once you have a better idea of the cause it will be easier to take the appropriate action.
When it became obsessed with you
It would help to consider what else happened when it first started doing it since it could be the case that there was an event that caused it to start.
Things that could have happened at around the same time that it became obsessed with you could include:
- You rewarded it one time when it was obsessed with you
- You moved homes
- Someone mistreated it
When it is more obsessed with you
It would also help to consider the timing of when it starts being obsessive since the timing could also have something to do with it.
Times that it does it could include:
- When you haven’t fed it for a while
- When a certain person is around
- When you would normally walk it
- When you would normally give it more attention
How to get your Rottweiler to stop being obsessed with you
There are a number of things that you can do about your Rottweiler being obsessed with you. The best option for your Rottweiler will largely depend on the cause of it doing it.
Below, I will mention a number of things that you can do about it.
Train it to listen to your command
If you have not already given your Rottweiler a lot of training, it would help to do so. By training it to listen to your command it will make it easier to get your Rottweiler to behave the way that you want it to.
To use this to get it to be less obsessed with you, it would help to train it to lay down somewhere and to stay. That way you will be able to tell it lay down when it starts getting obsessed with you.
Give it exercise
If your Rottweiler is not currently getting much exercise then it would help to make sure that it does. You can give it exercise by walking it, playing fetch with it or getting a dog walker to do it for you.
Make sure its diet is right
It would help to make sure that it is eating the right foods. You can look here to see what you should and should not be feeding your Rottweiler.
Give it distractions
You could also try giving it things to be distracted with. Things that you could give it would include toys, puzzles for dogs or bones.
Avoid encouraging the behavior
As mentioned above, it could be the case that you have inadvertently trained it to be obsessed with you by giving it things that it wants when it gets obsessed with you.
Instead, it would help to avoid rewarding it when it gets obsessed with you and to train it to behave the way that you want it to using positive reinforcement training.