How to Train a Rottweiler Puppy: The Ultimate Guide

Eventually, your Rottweiler puppy will sleep wherever you want them to. But for now, beside your bed is the best place for them to sleep – it will help them feel safe and comfortable for the first few weeks away from their litter and mum.

Puppies need a lot of sleep – at night and during the day! Our articles on puppy sleep, how to establish a nighttime routine for your puppy and how to stop a puppy crying at night have plenty of information on this. Hopefully, they don’t make you feel like falling asleep.

Being alone doesn’t come naturally to puppies. Dogs are social creatures after all, and your puppy will definitely want to be around you to feel safe and confident. Sadly, our world isn’t yet ready to support us in staying with our puppies every minute of the day, so you must start teaching them early to be on their own by building on it day by day. This is going to be key for preventing separation anxiety in puppies.

To start, we recommend you start in the following easy ways:

• Feeding them in their crate at mealtimes, or in a bowl away from where you are – close by, but not right next to them
• Move around while they’re eating, without rushing to go too far just yet. 

Oh yes. Don’t leave a puppy to ‘cry it out’. It just doesn’t work. Our article here will give you a much better idea of what works without anyone crying or going into a panic.

As you can imagine, puppies have small bladders. This means they can’t hold their wee in for very long.  

To avoid smelly accidents, take your Rottweiler puppy to their toilet spot at the following times to help them get into a routine, and learn about what the right place is to ‘’release’’. 

• As soon as they wake up from a nap or sleep
• After eating their meals
• During and after play sessions
• During and after training sessions
• Probably at least once during the night (Yep – anywhere between 1:00 or 3:00 am)

Keep your treats with you! Rewarding them a lot for going to the toilet in the right place will make them understand where the toilet is a lot quicker. If they have an accident indoors or somewhere they’re not supposed to, don’t get cross. Just ignore it, and clean it up without any frowns. They’re not doing it on purpose. They just don’t know the ropes yet!

Make sure your home has been puppy-proofed to prevent rugs and carpets from getting unwanted brown patterns on them. Of course, read our full guide on how to toilet training a puppy – it will help a lot!

The goal of socialisation is to teach your Rottie pup about the world around them and how to behave among people, other dogs, and other animals like cats! 

You’ll be staying close to home during your first week, but here’s a few things you can try out:

• Letting your Rottweiler puppy explore the garden. 

Your pup will probably become quite intrigued about everything that happens in the garden. There are so many sounds, smells, and presumably a lot of birds!Teach your puppy about surfaces

Do this by setting up various surfaces in the ways that the Zigzag app suggests, then letting your Rottweiler puppy explore them. There’s no need to make it too complicated for now – let’s just focus on giving them confidence.

Training your Rottweiler puppy with positive reinforcement will be the way to go. Positive reinforcement basically means that we reward the things we want to see from them. For puppies, this is generally with food  but can also be toys and verbal praise later on.

Make sure to have your treat pouch handy! You want to take every opportunity to treat them.

We’ll start off with some basic lessons for your first week of Rottweiler puppy training. Below, we’ve put down a bunch of links for the ‘how to‘ guides you definitely want to read:

• Teach your Rottweiler their name – this is one of the most important things you’ll teach your puppy, so practice a lot! Their name should mean wonderful things to them, so make sure to treat them loads, and call their name with a happy voice. 
• Teach your Rottweiler puppy to sit – Sitting means they’re not jumping up. You’ll find the sit cue useful for lots of situations, like for greeting new people. What good manners your puppy is going to have!

Recall – How to teach your Rottweiler puppy to come back when called will be essential for safe and fun off-lead times on walks and hikes later on.

Any breed of dog may develop the tendency to resource guard. Resource guarding between dogs is very common. After all, not everyone wants to share their toys, do they? While it’s natural for dogs to resource guard between each other, it shouldn’t be something your puppy does to you. In order to prevent resource guarding, we want our puppy to be happy to give us anything they have, without any confrontation.

What we want is a simple swap. Read our full guide to puppy resource guarding to know exactly what we mean by this, and how you can train them.

• Handling your puppy – handling your Rottweiler puppy should be something you practise daily. It should always be a positive experience for them, as they must learn that hands are nice things and not something that needs to be mouthed all of the time.

If biting is a problem, check out our guide to stop your puppy from biting you. 

• Check your Rottie’s paws, ears, eyes while feeding them treats. If there’s an area they’re not keen on being touched, come back to it later.

For a step-by-step hand touch and handling exercise, check the Zigzag app.

Your pup has a lot to experience in the world. It’s essential we make those experiences positive early on, so that later they grow into a confident dog. 

• Fireworks – In the Zigzag app, we have a thorough program for getting your puppy used to hearing strange sounds like fireworks, sirens and vacuum cleaners. The Sound Proof Puppy App is a good one to keep around, mainly because you want to teach them that woofing at loud sounds is unnecessary when they’re young. Rottweilers are typically good at becoming accustomed to noises, so this shouldn’t be too challenging.

• Watch the world go by – Being a breed of dog who naturally feels like guarding, your Rottweiler puppy will need to understand that the big wide world out there, all with its unusual noises and strange people, is generally alright. There’s no need to be on high alert all the time. Build positive associations with the outside world to make sure they feel confident and relaxed by sitting out the front of your house with a treat pouch and giving your puppy a treat. Just sit outside your house, for now. No need to go walking down the street just yet. 

• Play dress up – Rottweilers were originally bred to be suspicious of things, which is why they make such great guard and protection dogs. At the same time, we need to teach them that people in the world come in all shapes and sizes, and there’s no need to be protected from everyone. Socialise and expose them to diverse people by dressing yourself in different clothes, hats, sunglasses, helmets and hoodies. When they hit the streets, they’ll be much more relaxed and happy to meet unusual people who walk by.

• Sit in the car – Grab some treats and sit in the car with your puppy, exactly like you did during the “watch the world go by” sessions. Give them a treat once in a while. This is also an excellent time to train them in their puppy car carrier as well, even if it’s just by rewarding them with a few treats when they sit on the booster seat or behind the tailgate.

• Alone training – if your puppy is happy with you moving around while they eat, try to pop out the room for a few seconds this week. Kongs and other puzzle feeders help to slow down mealtimes and also give Rottweilers a great outlet for chewing – why not give those a try too?
  
• Crate training – if you’re using a crate, keep progressing with your training. Make sure your puppy knows it is a fun place to be, and a safe space! Crates and playpens make ideal puppy-proofed places for your Rottweiler puppy to hang out and not get into any trouble while they’re still learning the ropes

• Teach them their name in the garden – Let’s try teaching them their name in your garden this week. The outdoors will bring lots of distractions, so make sure you have lots of high-value treats in your treat pouch.
  
• Recall training: add a cue word – when your Rottweiler puppy is coming toward you, add the word ‘come’ or ‘here’. Always reward recalls! Even if they’re a little slow to begin with. You want your puppy to think you’re the best thing ever, so they’ll always come back when you call them.
  
• Fetch and drop – keep up with this one. It’s not just a good game. It’s also teaching your pup not to feel the need to be protective over their things.
  
• Introduce lead walking training – your Rottweiler will be big, strong and beautiful when fully grown. You’ll want to train them to walk on a loose lead from an early age. You don’t want them to pull you off your feet and drag you through the mud. The best way to do this is to begin by training them ‘naked’ with no lead or harness on them. Please keep yourself un-naked.
  
  Here’s how you do it:

Grab your treat pouch, load up with treats and reward them for following you closely around the house and garden. See what you’re doing? You’re helping them understand that being close to you is rewarding, so it’s a good idea to do it. When you eventually practise with a harness and a lead on, they’ll have got some good practice on and will find loose lead walking, AKA heeling, a lot easier.

Brushing your Rottweiler puppy should be as easy as pie. Use a rubber slicker brush like a Zoom Groom and a handful of treats, or a loaded-up Kong if your Rottweiler puppy is rather nibbly. Hold the treats or Kong to their mouth to focus on biting that instead of the brush. While they’re distracted, give them a lovely brush, getting the dead fur out to let their nice, shiny coat come through. 

Though Rottweilers don’t need a heap of grooming, brushing stimulates blood flow and distributes oils so will help with skin health and coat care. It also means you’re getting them more used to being touched too. Win, win.

Scent trails – Your Rottie puppy has an incredible nose. A Rottweiler adult can detect a scent over a mile away, which means they’re amazing at tracking. Let’s keep that natural talent up by introducing them to scent trails.

Setting up Rottweiler puppy scent trails

1. Pop your puppy outside the room while you lay out a trail of 10 treats around half a metre apart.
2. At the trail’s end lay a pile of the remaining treats.
3. Bring your puppy in and show them the first treat. They will likely follow the rest of the trail all on their own.
4. Add a cue word such as ‘find it’ as your puppy trots down the trail, eating the treats.

We’re sure you’ll be impressed at how well your puppy does at the scent trails exercise!

• Invite friends over – being a guarding breed, you must teach them that friendly people will come to the house, so there’s no need to bark.
• Start by inviting one or two people over at a time. No need for a huge group that comes all at once! That can be pretty overwhelming for your puppy.

Give your guests some treats, and ask them to feed them to your puppy. Let your puppy come over to them in their own time; this will help make them feel confident and secure.

We know it’s tempting, but ask your guests not to smother your puppy. It’s a bit much if people get all over them…

• Go for a drive with your Rottweiler puppy – it’s handy to have a friend for this exercise. Once you’ve got your Rottweiler used to being in their puppy car carrier, you can go out with them for a quick drive. Your friend can sit near them and give them a treat every so often. 

• Write a puppy socialisation checklist for your Rottweiler puppy: this will vary depending on your lifestyle, but here are some suggestions:
  
  • Make sure your puppy gets exposed to as many diverse people as possible. They don’t all need to say hello or give your Rottweiler treats at this point. As long as they have a positive experience, it’s all good. 
  • Show them different kinds of transport that exist in the world: cars, buses, trains, and trams. No need to get on them; simply noticing them is good enough. 
  • Expose them to different surfaces like sand, tiles, water, 
  • Meeting other animals – not just dogs, but creatures like squirrels, pigeons and cats. Maybe you have a city farm or farms/livestock nearby with cows and sheep – it’s a good idea to take your puppy around them safely on their lead. Remember to reward them for being calm around them! No need to get too close. Watching from afar is all you need.

Rottweilers were traditionally used for working, so they’ll excel in training. Being a strong, powerful breed, it’s important to teach them to be well-behaved from a young age. You can easily do this with positive reinforcement training. 

• Recall: teaching your puppy to come when called… outside this time. When training outside, make sure to use high-value rewards so that your puppy manages to ignore any distractions. Practise your recall with your ‘come’ cue; a long lead or recall line will definitely help.
• Stop your puppy jumping up – No one really wants to be jumped on, let’s be honest. And by a big dog, even less so. Dogs jump up for many reasons, sometimes because of excitement, and other times because they’re overwhelmed or stressed. Read our guide on how to stop your puppy from jumping up to learn exactly how to teach to keep four paws on the floor.
• Generalisation – Generalising essentially means that your dog can follow cues anywhere – be it your home, the pub or the park. Dogs don’t generalise well; it often feels like we have to start teaching them again from scratch when we teach them to sit somewhere outside the home.

Start slowly and choose 3 training areas in your home and garden. When you start this, practice something easy, like their name and how to sit.

• Teach your Rottweiler puppy to lie down  – Due to their large size, many Rottie puppies will find this easier from a standing position. Practice on a non-slippery floor like a piece of vet bed to set them up for success. 
• Alone training – Keep practising your Rottweiler puppy’s alone training. This time, try to leave them for roughly five minutes.

No need to rush if they aren’t ready yet! Every puppy handles being left alone differently; like us, they have good and bad days. You’ve gotten off to a wonderful start so far, so keep going at the speed your pup is at ease with being left home alone. Keep in mind not to leave your puppy alone for too long. They will need to go to the toilet frequently when they’re young, so even if they are content to be alone, we don’t want you to undo all of your hard work by them having accidents.

Rottweilers were traditionally used for working, so they’ll excel in training. Being a strong, powerful breed, it’s important to teach them to be well-behaved from a young age. You can easily do this with positive reinforcement training. 

• Recall: teaching your puppy to come when called… outside this time. When training outside, make sure to use high value rewards so that your puppy manages to ignore any distractions. Practise your recall with your ‘come’ cue; a long lead or recall line will definitely help.
• Stop your puppy jumping up – No one really wants to be jumped on, let’s be honest. And by a big dog, even less so. Dogs jump up for many reasons, sometimes because of excitement, and other times because they’re overwhelmed or stressed. Read our guide on how to stop your puppy from jumping up to learn exactly how to teach to keep four paws on the floor.
• Generalisation – Generalising essentially means that your dog can follow cues anywhere – be it your home, the pub or the park. Dogs don’t generalise well; it often feels like we have to start teaching them again from scratch when we teach them to sit somewhere outside the home.

Start slowly and choose 3 training areas in your home and garden. When you start this, practice something easy, like their name and how to sit.

• Teach your Rottweiler puppy to lie down  – Due to their large size, many Rottie puppies will find this easier from a standing position. Practice on a non-slippery floor like a piece of vet bed to set them up for success. 
• Alone training – Keep practising your Rottweiler puppy’s alone training. This time, try to leave them for roughly five minutes.

No need to rush if they aren’t ready yet! Every puppy handles being left alone differently; like us, they have good and bad days. You’ve gotten off to a wonderful start so far, so keep going at the speed your pup is at ease with being left home alone. Keep in mind not to leave your puppy alone for too long. They will need to go to the toilet frequently when they’re young, so even if they are content to be alone, we don’t want you to undo all of your hard work by them having accidents.

• Harness fitting for a puppy – A harness will make walks and training more comfortable for your Rottweiler puppy. Chokers are never ‘’in’’, by the way.
  
  • Choose a harness that is comfortable for them. It will be fantastic if it is padded and doesn’t squeeze them tightly. If you’re overwhelmed by the vast number of options, visit our guide for puppy harnesses. it’ll make you feel better. 
  • The harness should be adjusted to your puppy’s size – it’s easier to do this when your puppy isn’t wearing it. 
  • Grab a handful of treats and let’s go!

How to do it:

1. Allow your puppy to sniff around at the harness as you sit on the floor holding it. Letting them sniff is always the best way to introduce them to new things. 
2. After giving them a few treats, stroke the harness over their body
3. Reward your pup when they put their head through the harness. We want them to think that interacting with the harness provides lots of rewards!
4. Give your puppy some treats and carefully fasten the harness after they feel comfortable with their head in it.
5. Scatter some treats on the ground while you do up any clips, so that they’re focused on that and not so much on what you’re doing.
6. Practise putting the harness on and taking it off a couple of times, rewarding your Rottie puppy throughout.

• Meeting another dog – It’s important to socialise Rottweiler puppies with other dogs when they’re still young to really make sure they’re at their friendliest and kindest with other dogs as adults.  A safe way to do this is by organising a visit from one of your friend’s dogs – make sure they like puppies and are fully vaccinated to avoid any unwanted surprises.

Sit in your garden where there is more space. Have both dogs on loose leads so that there’s no tension. Let them sniff each other and say hello, and then call them both back to their owners. Success? Time for treats.

We don’t need to let them off-lead and play just yet. For now, pay close attention to each dog’s body language, as this will tell you how they’re feeling about the set-up.

Treat both dogs for staying calm around each other! A well-socialised dog is one who can be around other dogs and not go completely bonkers.

Do check out our article on how to introduce your puppy to another dog for more tips on this if you’re feeling funny about it.
Find a good puppy class for your puppy – Find a puppy socialisation class nice and early so that your Rottie puppy gets used to being around other dogs. A qualified trainer is always nice to have beside you throughout your journey as well, isn’t it? We recommend trainers who are signed up to use positive reinforcement training and are members of the UK Dog Charter.

Settle on a mat – You’ll quickly learn this is a golden lesson Teaching your Rottie puppy to settle on a mat when you take them out will make days out at the pub lots more fun, and less embarrassing.

To prepare

• Choose a mat to use. Anything portable will do – a piece of vet bed is brilliant. A grippy bath mat will also work well.
• Have your puppy wear their harness and on a lead.

Prep a stuffed Kong or a tasty filled chew to keep them busy.

How to do it

1. Place the mat on the floor next to your favourite chair.
2. Take a seat and grab a book. Let’s be honest, in your case, just turn the telly on. Tie your puppy’s lead to the leg of your chair or slip it under your foot to secure it.
3. Your pup should have enough lead that they can stand, lie down, and move around freely, so make sure the lead isn’t too short. Equally, we don’t want it to be so long that your pup starts sniffing around and getting in trouble.
4. Hold the Kong or stuffed chew toy under your foot. This will encourage them to lick it incessantly, and probably lie down while doing it.
5. After your puppy has finished the Kong, carry on watching the TV or reading your book for another 10/15 minutes. They could still be emptying the Kong, be asleep or awake. Any of these is fine.
6. What we’re looking for is for your Rottweiler puppy to lie down and relax. They might also stand up or wriggle around. This training will teach them that sometimes they just have to settle next to you without them taking them all the attention all of the time. Humbling, isn’t it?

• Lead walking – Just putting it out there: teaching your Rottweiler puppy to walk nicely on a lead is going to take some time. It’s going to feel like a work in progress for a while!

Let’s start by thinking of your walks as training sessions rather than strolls for now.  Especially when your puppy is young, they’ll need your attention when they’re out and about. Rottweiler puppies are naturally highly curious about their surroundings, and will likely sniff things a lot. When you take your dog for a walk, let them take their time checking all the scents around!

It’s common for your Rottweiler puppy to stop and sit down when you first start taking them on walks. At this moment, they’re having many firsts as they attempt to grasp the world. Give them time to process what they see, and try to do some fun games or training sessions when you can in your front garden (assuming you have one) so they associate being outside as a fun place to be. 

• Recall games – Play tennis with your puppy!

This will be a good game to play with your Rottweiler puppy. Grab a friend or family member and call your puppy between you. Each time your pup gets to the other person, make sure to reward them. Then, have a go calling your puppy back to you and treating them… and so on. Got it?

Training games are a great way of strengthening a puppy’s recall, and can be used for other behaviours too. Check out some of the other training games in the Zigzag puppy training app, or in our article on training games.

Grooming a puppy – Hopefully, your Rottweiler puppy has got used to you brushing them now. This week, focus on grooming more sensitive areas like the legs and round their face.You could also try giving them a bath if you’re feeling crazy.

• Go to the pub/dog friendly café – you deserve it! Use your settle mat and bring the stuffed Kong or chew toy so your Rottweiler puppy has something to do.
  
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – perhaps your Rottie puppy would like to go to a dog-friendly garden centre? They’ll enjoy all the sniffs.

• Alone training: increase the time you relieve your Rottweiler puppy alone this week, but only to a level that they’re comfortable with, Puppies have different fear periods, where some weeks they might feel a bit more needy. It doesn’t always signal a long term regression in training though, don’t worry!
  
• Recall – This time, we’ll try going outside, using a lead and focusing on dealing with distractions.
  
  We recommend using a long lead to practice recalls in the park while your pup is still learning. Long leads mean they can’t ‘forget’ about you, while still having a taste of sweet freedom. 
  
  Take some good-smelling treats and attach the long lead to the harness to practice lots of recalls. Your Rottie pup will probably like to chase you too; keep it fun and playful!
  
• Lead walking – Continue training outside. Loose lead walking is more challenging  out ‘in the wild’ but you’ll get there if you reward frequently enough.
  
• Push/drop/stick on known exercises – Is your puppy ready to jump to the next level?

Start pretending to clip your dog’s nails – This exercise is to ease them into actually clipping them. Your Rottweiler puppy’s paws will be sensitive, just like our feet being ticklish, really. Refer to our full guide on nail clipping to learn easy steps to trim your Rottweiler pup’s claws.

Tick 3 more items off your socialisation checklist – especially when your pup is going through fear periods, they must have as many positive experiences with the outside world as possible. Treating them at a safe distance from whatever is new to them will help them build positive associations and not be worried about it later on in life.

• Following you on walks – You want to be able to go for nice walks and have your Rottweiler puppy off-lead, right? You’ll accomplish this by training them to follow you and stick close – especially because you don’t want them raiding picnics! 

The ‘Follow Me’ game will help keep your puppy focussed on you in places where they can be easily tempted to explore wildly. Basically, anywhere but your home.

How to prepare

• Have your treat pouch stocked up with tasty treats.
• Go somewhere safe, secure and quiet so that your puppy can go off the lead – a fenced corner of the park is ideal.

Use a long line (or what we like to call a recall line – one that’s about 10 metres long is perfect) if you’re worried about letting your puppy off lead or if the area is not fully secure. SAFETY FIRST!

How to do it

1. Go to a quiet space far away from other people and dogs.
2. Ask your puppy for a sit.
3. When they do, say your marker word ‘good’ and throw the treat away from you.
4. Wait until your puppy nearly finishes their treat and then run a few paces away from them – your puppy will most likely follow you!
5. Stop just before they get to you, and ask them to sit again.
6. Say ‘good’ and throw the treat again, then run!
7. Keep repeating as often as you like, and run a bit further on each go.

• Push/drop/stick – your Rottweiler puppy is clever! You’re probably finding out how clever as time goes on. Now is the time to increase the difficulty of exercises they know, so it might be that you ask them to do the behaviour for longer (duration). You can also move to a slightly more exciting environment (distraction) or that you ask them to do it while you’re further away (distance). 

Keeping a push/drop/stick log can be useful to know where you are with your Rottweiler puppy training.

Start checking your puppy’s mouth and their teeth – you’ll want to teach your Rottweiler that having their mouth checked and their teeth cleaned from a young age is no biggie.

Did you know that around 80% of dogs have gum disease over the age of three? Yep! That’s why dental care when young is so important. Teach them to have their teeth cleaned, and choose a good toothbrush while you’re at it, so you don’t have problems when you have to brush their adult teeth. Or bad breath. You have to think of yourself too.

• Have a go at puppy agility – Yes, Rottweilers can be great at agility. It can be worth chatting with a local agility instructor and finding out what skills you need to start. Your Rottie puppy won’t be doing any jumping for a while as their joints are still forming, but they can learn other skills.
  
  If agility isn’t for you, try tracking, scent work or another sport – they’ll love it!
  
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist – maybe a trip to the agility club so your Rottie puppy can ‘watch and learn’ a little this week?

• Teach your Rottweiler puppy to stay – For your Rottweiler puppy, waiting or staying means not moving when you move away. This is a useful lesson you can use later on for things like waiting at doors, before you let them out of the car, or their crate. It’s a nice control exercise and can look flashy at the park too!
  
• Go for a walk with a friend’s dog – try and have the same friend you’ve been training with so far, and have your treat pouch loaded up. Try doing some parallel walking (when you and your friend walk along with dogs at opposite ends) while rewarding your puppy when they do a good job. They can reward their dog as they walk along too.
  
  If you feel it’s safe enough to do so, let them off for a play – bet they’ll love it.
  
• Recall – off the lead – Okay, this is the moment of truth. How reliable will your recall be? Hopefully, at this point, your puppy will follow you around, especially if you’ve played the ‘Follow Me’ game we mentioned earlier on in this article.

Here’s our top tips for a reliable off-lead recall:

1. Choose a spot that’s quiet and safe to let your puppy off the lead – preferably with only a few distractions.
2. Be super excited when you call your Rottweiler puppy back! Get down on the floor to their level and cheer on them with that gleeful voice of yours.
3. Reward them with treats, or even with a round of the ‘Best Dog in Recall’ as you’ll in our training games article. Yes, there is such a thing.

Push/drop/stick on known exercises – Can you try this with down yet? Let’s give it a go.

• Pretend ear drops – These are a good idea to get your puppy used to. To help your puppy learn that using drops isn’t a big issue, ‘pretending’ exercises can be quite helpful. By the time you actually have to use them, it won’t be difficult because they’ll be completely prepared for them. 

Rottweilers don’t really need their ear hair trimmed, but they do get muddy and ear wax (and mites. Gross.) can build up, causing them to scratch their ears. Make sure you keep their ears clean and do this exercise as part of your grooming routine.

How to prepare

• Tasty treats
• Something non-slip like a piece of vet bed for your Rottweiler puppy to stand on.
• An empty ear or eye drop bottle (they look the same – your dog can’t read the label yet!)

How to do it

1. Show your puppy the empty bottle and immediately give them a treat. Getting them to think drops are treat-worthy is already great.
2. Repeat this 5 times – bringing the bottle out should predict something nice. 
3. Now to the good part. Touch your puppy’s ear with the bottle (not inside the ear – just on the outside) and give them a treat. 
4. Repeat 5 times then put the bottle away until the next time you practice.

Doing this regularly over the coming weeks will give your Rottweiler puppy a positive conditioned emotional response. That means they’ll get excited every time they see the bottle because of the treats that come with it. Yay!

• Joggers and Cyclists – These lycra clad-moving targets may excite your Rottweiler puppy. They don’t want to be chased, though. Keep your Rottie puppy at a safe distance from them when they whizz by and reward them for being calm.
  
• Tick 3 things off your personal socialisation checklist.

• Practice exercises in different locations – Remember we talked about generalisation? Keep practising training in different locations, perhaps more challenging ones this week like:
  • Farmers markets
  • DIY Stores
  • Different parks then once you usually go to 
  • Dog friendly shopping centres or malls
    
• Teach a hand target  – This is a great exercise to teach puppies. It also forms the basis of many trick behaviours like the famous ‘spin‘ or ‘twist‘. All it means is ‘touch my hand for a treat’, which works as a wonderful recall as you’ll be able to add some distance, and get them racing back. 

Easy peasy to teach:

1. Hold your right hand out flat with your palm towards your puppy at the height of their nose. 
2. They’ll probably go in for a sniff. As soon as they do, say your marker word ‘good’ and give them a treat with your left hand.
3. Repeat this at least 10 times. 
4. By now, your Rottweiler has probably got what the game is!  You’ll start to feel your puppy really giving your hand a shove with their nose.

• Introducing nose work to your puppy – We told you how sensitive your Rottweiler’s nose was, right? Let’s make things a bit trickier and see if they can play this game of hide and seek.

How to prepare

• Grab an old towel

Stuff a Kong or pop food in a toilet roll

How to do it

1. When your puppy is out of the room, hide the toy under a towel. 
2. Call your puppy back in and encourage them to find the toy by using the cue word ‘find it’.
3. Use your wonderfully cheerful voice to give your puppy some extra encouragement.
4. Well done! There’s no better reward than finding a toy with food inside.

• Trim your Rottweiler puppy’s claws – You’ve been fab at touching your Rottweilers paws and pretending to clip their nails so far. Now, you can move on to clipping their nails for real! 

Read our full guide to puppy nail trims, so that Rottweiler claw clipping isn’t a drama!