Beau had his tail docked late. When I got him from my "great"
neighbors (3months old) they had just had his tail docked. The area was VERY painful for him and he had a problem with anyone touching his butt. he would cry and run if you tried to touch him on or around his behind. There was a nasty scab there and the area is still ugly. (a year later) His stub hairs are long enough now that you can't tell how bad it really was. If your Rottie is didn't come to you docked and is a couple months old now, I definately wouldn't have them docked. Too many nerves have developed. If it was a medical nessessity that's a different story. just my .02 :)
One more thing. The tails represented in the pictures above....I always thought that docks like that were too short. Roxanne's is like that and I can't feel any vertebrae at all. Zeus, Dacey and Beau all have a slightly longer dock that looks more correct to me. I'm glad I saw those pictures!