Is a Rottweiler Best For Me?
Living with a Rottweiler is truly a rewarding experience, providing fun, humor and companionship if you are a responsible dog owner and are willing to invest the time and energy to properly train and socialize your Rottweiler. The Rottweiler is not for everyone, especially if you are unwilling or unable to share your house, family and life with a large dog. Living with an unsocialized, untrained, bored, unhappy Rottweiler will not be a happy experience for you, your family or your neighbors.
What you need to know about living with a Rottweiler. First, whether your Rottweiler is a puppy or an adult, he or she should live in your house. Rottweilers need companionship and enjoy sharing your daily activities. A Rottweiler who is left outside all day will create his own pastimes, including digging, chewing and chasing the neighbors along the fence. Yes, you must have a fence. Never keep a Rottweiler on a chain nor never let him run free. The unattended Rottweiler is also a target for theft.
Identifying your Rottweiler if he or she becomes lost. There are basically two ways of permanent identification. The first one is tattooing. The only problem with tattoos is that if placed on the ear, the ear can be removed. If placed on the belly, no one is brave enough to roll a strange adult Rottweiler over to read it. The second method is to use a microchip. A microchip is a very small computer chip that is implanted under the dog's skin at the base of the neck. This chip is readable by a scanner. Strange adult Rottweilers can be scanned easily. Your local veterinarians carry and implant microchips. It is important that the microship number or tattoo is registered with a national registry. You should also have a simple ID tag for your dog's collar. It is the first thing people look for when they come across a lost dog.
A Rottweiler in your house will be entertaining. Rottweilers want to be with you every minute. If you or your children like to lay on the floor to watch TV, your Rottweiler will lay beside you.
Having your Rottweiler in the house allows you to hold training sessions throughout the day. Your Rottweiler can sit before he is given his food dish. Rottweilers will probably accompany you every time you go to the kitchen, you can ask him or her to sit, down, speak and so on, then give him or her a quick reward. This is fun for both you and your Rottweiler, and you will be amazed at how much your can accomplish with these quick sessions.
Living room training is also handy. Rottweilers love popcorn, and tossing a popped kernel is an easy way to teach your Rottweiler to catch or speak. You can work on sit, down, stay while you and the family are watching TV.
Daily handling is important for Rottweilers. Grooming, nail trimming, bathing, teeth cleaning, showing and trips to the veterinarian all require handling of your Rottweiler by you or someone else. You should touch your puppy or adult Rottweiler all over, every day. Pay particular attention to handling your Rottweiler's feet and toes making it easier to clip nails, you will make it easier for your veterinarian to draw blood and perform other examinations.
Living with a Rottweiler requires proper socialization of your dog. It will help your puppy grow up to be a well adjusted, confident adult. Socialization means exposing your Rottweiler to a variety of people, places and other dogs. This exposure must be done in an environment that you are in control of. Training classes are an excellent way to socialize, and the class instructor can suggest ways of introducing your Rottweiler to new situations.
The most popular question I have been asked of a Rottweiler owner is are they good with children. The answer is yes, with proper supervision, socialization and training. Never leave your Rottweiler or any dog alone with children. No matter how trustworthy your dog is, if unsupervised, he may interpret a situation as dangerous to your child, and his protective instincts may be inappropriate. Your Rottweiler may need to be protected from the unsupervised child as well.
Teach your child responsibility by guiding them in how to do things with your Rottweiler. Let your child assist with kitchen training, which will not only teach your child about handling dogs, but will teach your Rottweiler that he can accept commands by the child. Do teach your child that, when you are present, he or she can ask your dog to sit, then give the dog his food dish, but that the child must never try to take the food dish away or stick his or her hands in the dish when your dog is eating.
Rottweilers weigh more then some adults and all children. Keep this in mind before allowing your child to walk your dog on a leash in public places. If you have a toddler, your Rottweiler will probably knock him down. Your neighbor's children and elderly adults can also be knocked down by a well-meaning Rottweiler, so it is important to train your dog that jumping on people is never allowed.
Rottweilers love toys and games. They will toss toys around and dearly love a good game of tug-of-war. If you think you will lose your status as pack leader with tug-of-war games, do not own a Rottweiler. Rottweilers enjoy physical contact and physical sports, just like some people enjoy football and wrestling. Tug-of-war or any game with your Rottweiler must be supervised, and you must make and enforce the rules.
Appropriate toys for a Rottweiler are too large to swallow balls or solid rubber toys, Boomer Balls, Kongs and stuffed toys of all descriptions. I recommend that if you choose nylon chew toys that you only purchase the hard nylon, not the soft types, because Rottweilers chew through those soft ones like water and could choke on the pieces.
Because the Rottweiler's multipurpose background, he or she can and does excel in a variety of performance events. One of the easiest titles a Rottweiler can earn is the Canine Good Citizen CGC offered by the AKC. This program merely requires the dog to demonstrate his or her good manners. During the CGC test, your Rottweiler will be asked to walk nicely on a loose lead. He or she must also allow a friendly stranger to approach the two of you and allow a stranger to groom him or her. He or she must remain under control during distractions by a jogger or another dog. The last test is for your Rottweiler to stay quietly for five minutes with you out of sight. This last exercise is really a supervised tie-out. The tester stays near the dog, who is tied to a tree or post. I strongly recommend when you purchase your Rottweiler to attend an obedience class. These classes are both rewarding for you, your family and your Rottweiler.