what age to agitated rott puppy

Vincent M · 01-12-2011, 12:23 PM

my rott male is turning 8 moths this month and i was wondering what your opinion is regarding when to start agitation, i understand that rotts mature slower than other breeds mentally and they should not be agitated until 12 or 14 months of age

thank you

Mick T · 01-12-2011, 03:28 PM

You can start agitation work quite early as long as you know what you are doing and don't push the dog too hard before it is mature enough to handle it. Really you need to find a good helper and ask them. If they can read the dog they should be able to work him. As a rule I'd start a dog now, get its bite up, drive and a desire to work up and then rest them until they are mature enough to handle some higher work but again this depends on the dog.

Mick.

Vincent M · 01-12-2011, 05:37 PM

thanks mick,,

what do you meen by : get its bite up

Dan · 01-12-2011, 07:03 PM

Depends what you mean by agitation Vincent. Lets assume you're talking about the real deal ie. putting the dog in a situation where it's not a game to him. Even so there really isn't an age that's too early as long as the dog wins and gains confidence with every session. For this to happen early on you need some potential from the dog and an experienced agitator. The more mature and stronger a dog is the more forgiving it will be to mistakes made by an agitator that could otherwise overpower a dog unintentionally.

As a rule though I won't start with a dog less than 10 months, gives me a safety margin, plus what's the rush.. I'll have the dog brought out and try and see if it responds to me. If it gives me anything at all to work with then I'll go with it. If it gives me nothing to work with I'll wait 4 or 6 months. I'll never push a dog conclusively before it's 2 years old. What I mean is if I can't make it come out without putting physical pressure on it I'll always stop and wait. Unless the dog is 2 years old, at that point if it won't come out any other way I will put physical pressure on it until it either comes out or shows some sign of avoidance. If I discourage the dog at that point it doesn't matter because it would never have developed the capacity to deal with the pressure anyways.

If I start with a young dog sometimes I can get a favorable reaction but after a few sessions the dog will plateau and I'll see that to make progress I have to put on more pressure than the dog can probably handle. In this case also I'll stop and pick up where we left off in 4-6 months or more.

I can't know for sure what other people think of when they talk about agitation. But for me some indication that a dog is ready for my style of work is if it's already on his own alerting and barking at strangers or strange happenings. My pup for example is 7.5 months and already doing it. If it was me in front of her I'd try to start agitation, but since I don't know anyone here that can work her the way I'd like I'm probably going to hold off until she's 1.5 years old.

Michael A. · 01-12-2011, 08:26 PM

I have to agree with Dan. My Mal I have now I got him when he was 8 month old the previous owner said he would bite. The problem is she was rushing him to quickly. I even told her that when I had to get some info off of her. She said she needs dog to progress quickly because she compete in KNVP or whatever Royal Dutch Police and has no time to wait unlike me. Talk about ruining dogs with that attiude. I think also it depends on the individual dog itself. You never know when you have a late bloomer. I also agree you need the right agitator.

Vincent M · 01-12-2011, 08:38 PM

my dog has been alerting to various stimuli for at least 3 months, the trainer i have in mind is a good one but may not be sensitive enough to stop the program if the dog has reached a temporary limit, i think i will start him at 16-18 months to be safe, as I am in no rush

thanks guys

Matt K · 01-14-2011, 08:16 AM

One year is safe especially if it is a very good prospect & you have a decent aggitator, otherwise 18 months old. In my opinion if it doesnt have it by 18 months old it isnt a very good prospect.