Rottweilers are no difficult dogs, but they do demand a lot of attention and time when you are engaged with Rottweiler training. You need to be specific with your Rottweiler training to ensure that your dog listens to your commands and acts in a specific way. But like all dog training, it is important to know the basics of how to train a Rottweiler. By understanding the ‘how’ and the ‘why’, you can develop a proper training regime that will be beneficial for your Rottie, and for you. Here are a few ways on how to train a Rottweiler:
Rottweiler Training – Start When You Rottie Is Young
Like human children, you should start training your Rottie from a very young age. If you start training your Rottweiler when they are between 6 weeks and 6 months, then, they will acquire your knowledge better. However, you don’t have to be discouraged if your Rottie is older. Rotties are very intelligent, and while older Rotties may take a lot more time to train, they can catch up fast.
Be Dominant
If you are going to ask several people on how to train a Rottweiler, they will tell you to be dominant. Dominance is an integral part of Rottweiler training. However, dominance is often misunderstood. It does not mean hitting or being rough with your dog. You have to be caring and loving to your dog, but at the same time, you should show that your dog depends on you for his well-being and food. You have to create a sense of understanding with your dog.
Socializing Your Rottie
In Rottweiler training, socializing is very important. So, you should take your dog out into the park and let your dog mix with other dogs. Call your friends at your house, and also, go to their house with your dog. Make your dog familiar with your surroundings and people. When you socialize a dog from an early stage, they are not afraid of other people. However, you have to ensure that the meetings are positive in nature. Dogs generally have short-term attention and memory, so you can sometimes distract them by telling them to sit and roll, and then, resuming social contact.
Positive Reinforcement Is Important For Rottweiler Training
Reward your dog when he does something which is worth the reward. Dogs do not understand human language, but they can understand action. If they do something good, you can reward them to reinforce that behavior in them. A great Rottweiler training method is to make the entire training seem like a game. Command your Rottie to do something, and if he does it, reward or praise him. Training can also be a great exercise for them.
Do Not Yell Or Hit Your Rottie
If your Rottie does not heed a command, do not hit or yell at your dog. When you are yelling at your dog or hitting him, you are actually making him scared. They won’t learn from your command if they are scared. Rather, if you lose your cool, walk away for some time, and then, come back to training.
Prompt Reactions
Understand how to reward your dog. Remember, punishments will not work in your Rottweiler training. You need to help your Rottie with prompt rewards wherever necessary. For example, if your Rottie is punished for toileting in the wrong place, he will never learn for what reason he was punished. However, the best Rottweiler training tool would be rewards. When your Rottie sits in the proper place, reward him so that when he walks away, he remembers this reward and does the same again.
Rottweiler Training – How To Make Your Rottie Follow Simple Commands
There are a few simple commands that most dog owners wish their dogs to follow. By using positive reinforcement, it will be easier for you to make them follow these instructions. Some of these commands are:
Sit
You should ensure that your Rottie listens to the command Sit. It will help your dog remain steady as you groom them. Use your hands to teach them to sit. Hand commands do not get drowned in external voices. However, if you do wish to, you can use both your hands and voice to make your Rottie sit.
Paw
By putting across this command, you can clip the nails of your Rottie. This is an easy command to teach, but you have to first teach the ‘Sit’ command before going for this one.
No
Your dog needs to understand the ‘No’ command so that you can stop them from doing something wrong. Don’t complicate it. Just keep your voice firm and indicate with your hand to say No. Substitutes might be ‘Bad’ or ‘Stop’. Using these simple commands should stop your dog from doing anything wrong. If he continues to do it, then remove him from the situation.
Down
This is a simple command as well. Just indicate with your finger that you want the dog to lie down. By pointing your finger to the floor, you are indicating that the dog should lie down.
Stay
This is a difficult command to teach, since your Rottie may not like staying put. Before going for this command, ensure that your Rottie knows the Sit command properly. While frustrating, with patience, you can make this command work easily as well.
Come
Once you have taught your Rottie the Stay command, you can teach them the Come command too. This will be easy since Rotties love your company and are just waiting for you to release them from the Stay command.
Rottweiler Training – Be Patient
Rottweiler training can be time-consuming. If you want to find one important thing that you need to learn during this how to train a Rottweiler phase, then that is to be patient. When you are patient, you will develop a good relationship with your Rottie. Don’t get angry, and don’t complicate stuff. Training can be tedious, but you can make it fun for yourself and your Rottie. So, make it fun and establish a great relationship with your dog.
While the steps to follow on how to train a Rottweiler can be taxing on you, your Rottweiler training will eventually bear the fruits of your patience. So, be calm, and keep up with your training!
