If your Rottweiler has been being jealous, you might be wondering why and what you can do about it.
This post will show you a number of reasons why it might be acting jealous and what you can do to stop it.
So, why is my Rottweiler acting jealous? Possible reasons are that it wants attention, it’s being dominant, it’s being overly protective or you might have been inadvertently rewarding it.
There are many different possible causes of it being jealous and it could be due to a combination of reasons. However, there are a number of things you can consider when trying to figure out the exact reason. There are also a number of things you can do about it.
Why your Rottweiler is jealous
Below, I will show you a number of reasons why your Rottweiler might be being jealous and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.
It wants attention
The reason why it does it could be that it is trying to get extra attention from you. This would be more likely if it tends to act more jealous 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. But, it would help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it gets jealous unless necessary and to use positive reinforcement training to change its behavior.
It is being dominant
It could be the case that it is actually being dominating. This would be more likely if it is also reluctant to listen to your command and if it is aggressive towards your other pets as well. In this case, it would help to give it lots of training so that it learns to behave differently and so that you can get it to behave the way you want it to.
It is being protective
It might be the case that it does it because it is actually being protective. This would be more likely if it does it more when you are around other people or animals. In this case, it would help to use the tips mentioned in this blog post.
You have been reinforcing it
The reason why it does it might also be that you have been encouraging the behavior. If you tend to get it to stop being jealous by giving it things such as toys, treats or extra attention, it might have learned to do it more in order to get more rewards.
Instead, it would help to reward it when it is being well behaved and to use positive reinforcement training to get it to be less jealous.
You got new pets
If your Rottweiler started acting jealous when you got new pets it is likely that it feels left out. In this case, it would help to give it attention and rewards when it is being well behaved.
How to get your Rottweiler to be less jealous
Below are some things you can do to get it to stop being jealous.
Give it attention
It would also help to give your Rottweiler attention throughout the day so that it is less likely to seek attention from you. Ways to give it attention would be to play with it, train it and to walk it.
However, when it starts being jealous, it would help to stop giving it attention, to wait for it to calm down and then to give it attention again.
Give it training
If you have not given your Rottweiler much training then it would help to make sure to do so. By giving your Rottweiler training you will be able to get it to listen to your command and to be better behaved.
It would help to start out by training it to do easy things and then to build up to training it to do more challenging tasks in environments with distractions. It is also important to be consistent with the training and not to immediately stop training regularly it once it listens to you.
The training method that I would recommend is positive reinforcement training. You can watch the video below for some tips on positive reinforcement training.
Avoid rewarding it
It would also help to avoid rewarding it when it is jealous. Instead, it would help to wait for it to calm down then to reward it for being well behaved.
Exercise
Rottweilers are a breed that needs to get a lot of daily exercise in order to be fully stimulated. Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise daily as healthy adults. If your Rottweiler is not getting that much it would help to give it exercise by walking it yourself or by getting a dog walker to do it for you.
Things to consider
When it started being jealous
If your Rottweiler did not always act jealous, it would help to consider if anything else happened at around the same time that it started acting that way. It might be the case that there was an event that caused it to start.
If it started being jealous suddenly it would make it more likely to be due to things such as getting a new pet, rewarding the behavior or you stopped giving it as much attention. It would help to consider what else changed when it started being jealous.
When it becomes jealous
It would also help to consider if it tends to do it more in certain situations. It could also be the case that the timing has something to do with it.
For example, if it only seems to get jealous when you have not been giving it much attention then it could be that it wants attention from you. Whereas, if it seems to be jealous when you are feeding it then it could be dominating behavior.