Who Rocky (the Rottweiler) is
As the trainers describe him
About two and maturing. The age line is not clearly attributed to either speaker.
On film
yeah he's into that uh it's new for him you know he's just turning that age right two years old
Possessive, not aggressive or nervous: the trainer's reading, which he tests during the visit with a stranger dressed to provoke.
On film
I mean, it sounds like he's being a little possessive of you, right?
Right. Because you're his in his mind. You're a resource to him. Food, water, attention, everything. Right.
really changed too much with that i it seemed like now that i'm seeing this part it seems like
more of he's just becoming more possessive yeah right more than anything he's just becoming more
He knows the trainer, which the trainer counts as evidence: a dog who growls at someone he knows, while standing between that person and his owner, is guarding the owner.
On film
right um so but and he knows me right like i've done stuff with him so the fact that he knows me
As the owner describes him
Growls at and pins the other household dogs when they come near the owner or his bones; loud, no punctures. The owner has a female now whom he did not have before. One of the dogs has had an eye injury (see flags).
On film
growls there you go for everything it's like if i'm i walk my shop all day and other dogs today
with them but yeah okay you know he he makes sure they lay down okay so he forces them to lay down
yeah he gets really loud with it yeah okay but no punctures or like just my grandpa just the
Growls when relatives keep touching him at family gatherings, so the owner puts him away, expecting a bite if it goes on.
On film
And like he did to you, they'll growl. And I'll go get him and I'll put him up because I'm afraid he's going to bite him.
Very strong and prey-driven: caught and ate a rabbit, and once dragged the owner. The owner has stopped taking him to the park.
On film
i kind of stopped going to the park okay because of that i used to go to park he's fine and you
time he pulled too hard and i wasn't expecting it i was just walking i was looking over here and he
Other dogs went for him when he was young - the owner's report, which the trainer builds into his explanation.
On film
right he needs to control himself other dogs attacked him when he was just playing with him
The program, stage by stage
Earlier contact, off camera
About a week before the filmed visit.
Referred to twice and not in the library. The trainer played tug with Rocky and saw mild possessiveness of the toy. Whether this was an evaluation, a first lesson or something else is not said. The owner's aside that Rocky 'still listens' and that a cue 'used to be just down all the way' may point to earlier training; it is too fragmentary to establish.
On film
showing any interest in dating has he had any like other reactions like since i saw you guys last
way yeah i'll say it's pretty oh yeah i'll say i do remember when i first came that first day
There you go. Good boy. He still listens, you know. That used to be just down all the
The consult: possessiveness, tested with a strangerTurning point
The filmed visit, first half hour.
The owner describes the growling and pinning of the other dogs, the bones, the family gatherings and the park. Jayden, whom Rocky has not met, stands near in gloves, hat and glasses chosen as triggers. Rocky sniffs and watches and does not fixate, and marks on Jayden's shoe. The one growl of the visit comes when the trainer grabs and squeezes his neck while Rocky stands between him and the owner; it stops when he lets go. From this the trainer concludes that nothing has changed toward people and that the possessiveness of the owner is growing.
On film
correct it right so you know i'm not seeing a huge a huge crazy uncomfortable level with jayden
if he was like becoming more aggressive or like more nervous or extra defensive
on purpose like I want things that I would hopefully see if it triggered him
neck yeah and when i grabbed his neck he he's his eyes dilated a little bit and he got really stiff
but i was he was between me yeah he was between me and you right so like part of it i think still
The plan, and why a Rottweiler cannot be left to sort it out
The filmed visit, continued.
The trainer argues the behaviour is natural but must be corrected: his fights would be more damaging, in public he would be blamed for his breed, and one day he will meet a dog that does not back off. The plan is for the owner to take over the job: let the situation happen with the other dogs, say 'nope' as Rocky starts toward one, back it with an e-collar correction if he carries on, praise and treat when he lets a dog pass, and build toward sending one dog away and calling another. Around guests, teach the dog rather than change the guests or shut him away. The owner asks to be taught the collar and says he is afraid to use it.
On film
he's gonna run across that dog one day that doesn't back off though right um and he will
what we do is we have to kind of let it happen basically and we correct you
That's what I want you to teach me. Yeah. I'm afraid to do it.
And you can be the one that he knows will take care of it, and he doesn't have to.
The collar goes on, and the tug baseline begins
End of Part 1 into Part 2.
The collar is sized first so they can see how he takes it on his own; he stiffens and side-eyes. The trainer explains muzzle conditioning in passing. In Part 2 he proposes starting the owner's collar practice on the mild tug possessiveness rather than on the dogs, explains stimulation (not vibration) and the neck-pinch analogy, and how he finds a dog's working level by its response. The tug starts, he points out Rocky possessing it, and the upload ends.
On film
the e-collar to him first and i want to see how he reacts to it by himself and like we'll go through
He got really stiff.
start there actually because it's a fairly mild possessiveness right um and kind of teach like uh
Yeah, so see right there? He's possessing it a little bit, right?
Skills
Out (release a tug on the word)
How it was taught
Explained only: say 'out'; if he does not release, one tap; praise when he spits it out; repeat until the word alone works.
On film
do that a bunch of times and until i can say out and the dog goes and they spit it out right and i
neck right same idea i give a chance and i say when i say that word you have to do it right
Leaving other dogs alone around the owner
How it was taught
Not yet taught. The plan: let it happen, 'nope', a collar correction if he continues, praise and treats when he lets a dog pass.
On film
and he's like he keeps going then i would do a nope and i tap my e-collar to correct him and
the dog walks by he does nothing he gets praise and he gets treats and like
Muzzle
How it was taught
Explained only: hold it open, peanut butter at the end, 'muzzle, good', until he puts his nose in on the word. Never forced on.
On film
And when they stick their nose through and lick the peanut butter,
How the method adapted
Three choices in this visit are specific to Rocky and his owner.
The assessment was a staged provocation: a stranger dressed to trigger, watched for fixation.
To tell possessiveness from growing aggression or nerves toward people, which call for different work.
On film
he would be fixating more on jayden yeah because jayden's new and never been around you know and
The owner, not the dog, starts on the easy problem. Collar practice begins on the tug, the mildest possessiveness, before the other dogs.
The owner is afraid of the collar; a low-stakes baseline lets him learn it before the real work.
On film
do a correction and teach it out right and that's kind of that could be like a like little baseline
The collar is fitted and left on before it is used, to see his reaction alone.
Stated only as wanting to see how he reacts by himself.
On film
the e-collar to him first and i want to see how he reacts to it by himself and like we'll go through
What the family was told
You handle it, so he doesn't have to
You can't necessarily, if it's ingrained in him, it's a natural instinct of his, you're not going to get rid of it altogether. But you can control it.
That's all he needs to learn, really, is that you will handle it if the dog's being a problem.
Train the dog, not the guests; putting him away teaches nothing
Because, unfortunately, people don't take dogs' cues.
it's easier to teach the dog to manage it better and control it and have
everybody then keep them up all the time away because then the dog doesn't learn
Bones in separate areas
stuff that's really normal because that's a high value item right um like when I give my dogs bones
The breed will be blamed
get blamed for it because he's he looks tougher he's a rottweiler and he's gonna look more
How the collar works (stimulation, tone for recall, never vibration)
vibration i don't use the vibe or i don't use the vibrate so the vibrates in my experience
If the puppy doesn't stop, they'll grab him behind the neck and they pinch him.
If the dog doesn't do anything, then I know it's not high enough.
Muzzle: condition it, never force it
They're pretty specific. So like, you know, like if you just force a dog to put a muzzle on, it sometimes increases the anxiety of the situation and it can encourage like a reaction.
In the family's own words
He came to learn properly, as a first-time Rottweiler owner.
On film
with something for a few minutes but i i've never had a rottweiler and i wanted to learn the real
He is afraid to use the collar himself.
On film
That's what I want you to teach me. Yeah. I'm afraid to do it.
Outcomes
What the trainers reported
Nothing has changed toward people; the problem is growing possessiveness.
The trainer, after the stranger test
On film
he's sniffing he got a little like watched him for a second right he was gonna do right um but
What the footage shows
Sniffing and watching a stranger dressed as a trigger, without fixation, as the trainer describes it; one growl when grabbed by the neck between trainer and owner, stopping on release.
On film
possessive when he jumped up on me I he was fine if I was here but I grabbed his
Stiff during the collar fitting; guarding the tug at the end.
On film
He's possessing it a little bit, right?