Why is my Rottweiler so stubborn?

If your Rottweiler is stubborn, you might want to know why and what you can do about it.

This post will show you a number of reasons why your Rottweiler might be being stubborn and what you can do about it.

So, why is my Rottweiler so stubborn? Possible reasons are that you have not trained it to follow your command, you trained it the wrong way, you stopped training it, your Rottweiler learned that listening to you results in it getting things it does not want, illness or a lack of exercise.

There are actually many possible reasons why it has been being stubborn 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 that you can do about it.

Why your Rottweiler is so stubborn

Each of the different reasons why it is stubborn will likely come with some clues. Below, I will show you a number of reasons why it might be doing it and what would make them more likely.

It hasn’t been trained to listen to you

If you have not trained your Rottweiler to listen to you and to behave in a certain way, it will behave the way it feels like behaving and it will be much less likely to listen to you. This is why it is important to give it lots of training. It would help to start by training it to do basic things in environments without many distractions and then to build up to more distracting ones.

You have been training it when it’s distracted

If you have been giving it training, it might be the case that there is an issue with the training method you are using. If you tend to train it in a distracting environment it might be the case that there are too many distractions around and that it isn’t paying much attention to you.

Instead, it would help to start out by training it in a less distracting environment such as the backyard and then to build up to training it in one with distractions.

You stopped training it

If you have given it training in the past but you did not continue training it, the issue could be that it has fallen back into its old habits. In this case, it would help to start training it again and to be consistent with the training.

It learned that listening to you gets it things that it doesn’t want

The reason why it does not listen to you might be that it has learned that it gets punishments when it does. It would help to give it some positive reinforcement training so that it can learn that listening to you gets positive results.

You didn’t train it in stages

If you did give it training, it could be the case that your training method was at fault. When training your Rottweiler, it would help to start out by training it to do simple things and then to build up to getting it to do things that are more challenging.

It’s bored

Rottweilers are supposed to get daily exercise. When Rottweilers do not get enough exercise, they will begin to behave abnormally and it might be why yours has not been listening to you. This would be more likely if it is more stubborn on days when it does not get any exercise.

Generally, it is recommended that they get at least an hour of exercise every day as healthy adults. If your Rottweiler is not getting that much, it would help to make sure that it does.

It’s ill

The cause could also be that it has gotten an illness or injury and it has caused it to not want to do what you say. This would be more likely if it has started doing it suddenly and if it has been showing other signs of being ill or injured such as vomiting, being fatigued when awake or limping. In this case, the best option would be to take it to a vet.

How to get your Rottweiler to be less stubborn

Below are some things you can do to get it to stop being stubborn.

Train it to do the things that you want

It would help to start by giving it positive reinforcement training in an easy environment. Positive reinforcement training involves encouraging it to behave the way you want it to by giving it rewards when it does it.

You can watch the video below for some tips on how to do it.

Avoid negative reinforcement

It would also help to avoid negatively reinforcing behaviors that you do not want to see by making sure not to reward them. Instead, it would help to give it positive reinforcement training.

Give it exercise

If it is healthy, it would also help to make sure that it is able to get daily exercise. Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise per day.

Ensure that its diet is right

It would also help to make sure that it is getting the right diet and that no one else has been feeding it without you knowing. You can look here to see what you should or should not be feeding it. It would also help to consult with the vet about its diet when you see them next.

Be patient

When training your Rottweiler it is important to be patient. It is not likely that you will be able to get it to behave exactly the way you want with just one training session. But, by training it consistently over the course of weeks and months you can get much better results.

Things to consider

When it started being stubborn

If your Rottweiler has not always been stubborn, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started doing it since it might be the case that an event caused it to start.

If it started being stubborn suddenly it would be more likely to be due to things such as becoming ill or injured, negatively reinforcing the behavior, a problem with its diet or a lack of exercise. It would help to consider what else changed when it started being stubborn.

When it is stubborn

It would also help to consider if there is a certain time that it tends to be more stubborn since it could be the case that the timing has something to do with it.

For example, if it only comes when it is getting fed then it would be necessary to train it to come at different times as well.