If your Rottweiler has been annoying you, this post will show you common reasons why it might be doing it and what you can do to get it to be less annoying.
So, why is my Rottweiler so annoying? Possible reasons are that it is getting a lack of exercise, training or attention. It could also be that you have inadvertently been reinforcing the behavior or you get reactive with it.
There are actually many reasons why it might be doing it and it could be due to a combination of them. However, there are a number of things you can do about it.
Why your Rottweiler is annoying
Below, I will show you a number of reasons why your Rottweiler might be annoying you and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.
A lack of exercise
Rottweilers are supposed to get daily exercise. When Rottweilers do not get enough exercise, it can cause them to become hyperactive and to look for ways to stimulate themselves. This might be the reason why yours has been annoying you which would be more likely if it does it more on days when it is not able to get exercise.
Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day as healthy adults.
A lack of training
If you have not trained your Rottweiler much, it will behave the way it feels like behaving and it will be much more likely to be annoying. This is why it is important to give it training.
It would help to start by training it to do simple things in simple environments and then to build up to training it to do more challenging things in more difficult environments.
If you have already given it training it could be the case that the method you have been using is wrong. I have written more about how you might be training it wrong in this post.
It could also be the case that you stopped training it and it fell back into bad habits. In this case, it would help to train it to behave the way you want it to again.
A lack of attention
The reason why it starts annoying you could be that it is looking for extra attention. This would be more likely if it starts annoying you when you have not been giving it much attention and if you tend to give it more attention when it does it.
Instead, it would help to give it attention throughout the day by exercising it, playing with it and training it. But, it would help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it becomes annoying and to wait for it to calm down before giving it attention.
You have been reinforcing the behavior
The reason why it has been doing it could also be that you have inadvertently encouraged the behavior. If you tend to give it things that it wants such as toys or treats when it is annoying, it might start doing it more in order to get more rewards.
Instead, it would help to reward it when it is being well behaved, to stop rewarding it when it is not and to use positive reinforcement training to change its behavior.
You get reactive around it
Rottweilers tend to be highly responsive to their owner’s emotions. If you get emotional or reactive around your Rottweiler it will cause it to act in a similar way. Instead, it would help to be calm around your Rottweiler and to get it to behave the way that you want with training.
Nature
Rottweilers were bred to work alongside their owners for hours on a daily basis. With that being the case, they will naturally look to their owners for direction. This is why it is important to train it to behave the way that you want it to.
How you can stop your Rottweiler from being annoying
Below are some options you have when getting your Rottweiler to be less annoying.
Positive reinforcement training
Positive reinforcement training involves training your Rottweiler to display certain behaviors by rewarding it when it shows signs of displaying them.
To use positive reinforcement training to get your Rottweiler to stop annoying you it would be necessary to reward it before it starts annoying you, to stop when it starts acting the way that you do not want it to and then to reward it when it begins acting how you want it to again.
Redirect its attention
It would also help to learn to recognize when it is about to be annoying and to redirect its focus. One way to do this would be to train it to do something such as to lay down with the use of positive reinforcement training and to get it to do it when it is about to annoy you.
Avoid encouraging the behavior
As mentioned above, it could be the case that you have encouraged the behavior by giving it things that it wants when it is annoying. Instead of rewarding it when it misbehaves, try to redirect its attention and to use positive reinforcement training. When it does annoy you, try to avoid giving it attention until it starts to behave.
Be calm around it
As mentioned above, it could be the case that being highly emotional around it is causing it to be annoying and reactive. Instead, it would help to interact with it in a calm way and to give it lots of training.
Give it lots of exercise
It is also important to make sure that it is able to get daily exercise if it is a healthy adult. Generally, it is recommended for them to get an hour of exercise daily.
Give it things to be distracted with
In addition to the above, you could give it things to be distracted with such as toys, puzzle games or bones.
Things to consider
Below are some things you can consider about your Rottweiler being annoying.
If it changed its behavior suddenly
If your Rottweiler has not always behaved that way, it would help to consider if anything else happened when it first started doing it.
If it did become annoying suddenly then it would help to consider what happened at around the same time that it started being annoying. Possible things that might have happened could include:
- You stopped giving it as much attention or exercise
- You rewarded it one time when it was annoying
- Its daily routine changed
- You changed its diet
If it has always been annoying you then it would be more likely to be due to things such as reacting to your emotions and a lack of training.
When it becomes annoying
It would also help to consider if it tends to be more annoying at a certain time. If it is, it could be the case that the timing has something to do with it.
For example, if it starts being annoying at around the same time that you would normally leave, it could be because it has separation anxiety.
Consistency is key
When training your Rottweiler, it is important to be consistent. It is unlikely that you will be able to change its behavior significantly with just one training session. But, if you train it consistently over the course of weeks and months, you can get much better results.