steaming

[rotten_two]

hi:

i want to share a story. i am the proud momma of 2 gorgeous rotties. my female (gaia) is the oldest at 22 months. i got her from a reputable breeder in pa. aspen is my rescued male (13 months). lately i have noticed some behavioral changes in gaia. mainly increased stress levels and some dog-dog aggression issues. my trainer of over a year (after we had worked strenuously on behavior modification) had suggested i see a veterinary behaviorist. i agreed because i really want the best for my fur kids.

here is where i tend to get a bit fired up. this only happened yesterday and i just can't get it out of my mind! off we went to this behaviorist in hopes of maybe slightly medicating gaia to take the edge off and help her focus on learning new behaviors. imagine my suprise when a veterinary professional told me that this is just how all rottweilers behave! have you ever in your life? she said they were bred to be aggressive and unsocial animals! she also went on to say that she never met a rott with good temperment and that they do not do well in agility or obedience because of this aggression! i almost lost my mind! i did all the research, i have much experience with rotties and i have yet to read a standard which calls for aggression.

she even went so far as to accuse me of being an irresponsible owner -- because if i knew rotties i would know they are just this way. GRRRR! i mentioned that my male and plenty of other rotts i know have great temperments (gaia has a great temperment -- she just gets a bit stressed). she said she didn't believe me and she didn't know where i got my information!

needless to say we won't venture back to her ever! we are gonna try another behaviorist though because i do think gaia deserves the best treatment i can get her. good thing i am not so closed minded as this vet else i would assume all vet behaviorists were idiots and dog racists!

sorry just had to get that off my chest. i get very defensive of my fur babies. rotts are so often misunderstood and it is people like this who perpetuate these negative stereotypes and make me sick!

:mad:

[stacwase]

If I were you I certainly wouldn't go back to her again!! What kind of training has she had? Do they have to have licenses to be behaviorists or can they just hang up a shingle? I wouldn't pay her. She obviously has no clue what she was talking about.

The nerve!!!!!

As far as the aggressive behavior goes, do you have a good book? I have a book called "Good Owners Great Dogs" which has a lot of excellent advice.

Also - there are a lot of people on here who have extensive experience dealing with such issues. I'm sure somebody can help you out. I haven't had to deal with it myself, so I'm not a good person to give advice.

I just can't believe a behaviorist would say such things!!!!!

[rotten_two]

i have done quite a lot of reading on dog-dog aggression and also on how dogs learn. i have not run across the book you suggest, but i will check it out. we have determined that her aggression is only on-leash. likely because she regards me as a resource (gravy-train hahah) and feels the need to guard me. we take her to an off leash supervised doggie daycare and we get nothing but great reports.

yes this vet was apparently certified as an animal behaviorist on jupiter or something. the problem is the terminology "veterinary behaviorist" apparently it means vet who has seen behavior problems. in all seriousness her credentials looked fine on paper. who knew she would be a hater!


wanna see my sweet girl?

[stacwase]

She's absolutely georgous. Look at that shiny coat!

You know - we're pretty certain Max is a Shepherd/Rott mix. Both of those breeds are supposed to be aggressive, but Max isn't bad at all. So there, stupid "behaviorist"!!

[clara4457]

Welcome to Pet Talk - Love your Rottie.

I recently went through dog on dog aggression with my two dogs and wanted to call in an animal behaviorist. Before I called anyone I did a great deal of research on the subject and found some interesting facts.

There are actually very few vets that are qualified to deal with animal behavioral problems. They may have taken a class or two in school, but it is not their area of study. It is kind of like the difference between a Psychiatrist and a Surgeon. The surgeon may have taken a few psychology classes, but they would never try to actually treat a mentally ill individual. Vets are also not up on the latest studies or practical aspects of animal behavior. Since they have to keep up with the latest medical advances of animal care, they don't really have the time to keep up with animal behavior. Most animal behaviourist have degrees in zoology or biology.

Most vets are not always good resources for animal training either. Since they don't teach training classes on a regular basis -they don't have the practical experience that makes a good trainer.

Larger vet practices might hire an animal behaviorist, but they are generally not a vet. Most vets will prescribe medication based on the recommendations of the behaviorist. (Which is what happened in my house - the behaviorist called my vet and he wrote the script for Penny Lane's Prozac).

I'm sorry you had a bad experience - I hope you still try to seek out a qualified behaviorist to help with Gaia. It was a great help to me.

You may already know this, but I have become a big fan of Patricia McConnell. (She has a Doctors degree in Zoology). This is her website http://www.dogsbestfriendtraining.com/ where you can order her books, booklets and videos. She also does seminars throughout the country - there is a listing of these as well.

She also has a weekly radio talk show on public radio. I always manage to miss it, but you can download the show by going to this website: http://www.wpr.org/pets/index.html. She has a very practical approach to dog training and behavior. I like the fact that she realizes that different dogs need different approaches. She is a firm believer in positive reinforcement and operant conditioning.

I also like Jean Donaldson's "Culture Clash" and "Dogs are From Neptune". You get a great deal of insight into why dogs do what they do.

Sorry - don't mean to sound like I know it all. I definitely don't. I have just been doing so much research lately and find it absolutely fascinating.


Good Luck - and if it is only leash aggression you are dealing with, it is definitely a fixable problem.

:)

[Tonya]

Hello, welcome to pettalk! I am sorry to hear that! I'd find another behaviorlist! No matter what the breed is, I think aggression is unacceptable. That person doesn't know what they are talking about; Rotts are great dogs!

I sort of had a similar thing happen the other day. I called the shelter because I had caught a pitbull that had been obviously fought. The officer said "That's just how pits are. Send him back home."

[anna_66]

First, let me say that your Gaia is beautiful (do you have a pic of Aspen as well;))!
We also have a 12 yr old male Rottie who is dog agressive-except with puppies, but I have seen many rotts who aren't. I can't believe that someone would say something like that.
I do hope you can find the right behaviorist for you.

[binka_nugget]

The nerve!:mad: I have a bad temper..if anyone had said that to me, she would have at least a black eye and a few teeth missing by now. :p

Rottis are such great dogs. We almost adopted one as our second dog but she wasn't energetic enough.. (I wanted a flyball/agility dog). I don't think I've seen many bad tempered rottis. I volunteer as a dog walker at the animal shelter, I have yet to see a badly behaved rottweiler.