We NEED advice from experienced Rotti owners!

[Tia Maria]

To all those who really know this breed:

This is the first time I have used this forum but I've been reading alot of the postings and I love this site. We have a beautiful 17 month old girl named Tia Maria who is the love of our life. She is one of the family.

My husband and I are having problems with his family about owning a Rottweiler. From the moment that we told them that we were planning on getting a Rotti, we've heard nothing but negative, negative, negative. They all have stories to tell us about the vicious Rotties that they've "heard about" who've attacked and mauled children etc. I'm sure you've all heard the same from people who tend to listen to media and the stigma that can follow this breed. :(

Well, this Christmas was the LAST straw for us. We took Tia with us when we went to see his family (a 4 hour drive) and it became very clear that she was not welcome in any of their homes (one of his sisters was fair to let us know ahead of time). We ended up driving even further to stay at their summer home b/c nobody would be there to be bothered by Tia. Needless to say, we cut out trip short and came home early. This upset us b/c we are really tired of hearing the worst possible things about the breed and believe me, we did our homework before we got Tia. We knew exactly what we were getting into. We have no regrets and we wouldn't trade her in for the world.

My husband and I are expecting a baby in 6 months (our first) and part of the negatives that we have had to deal with from the family is about how dangerous Tia will be to our baby. I am well aware of her strength, both physically and mentally and I would never put my baby at risk. We intend to include her as much as possible so as not to have her feel left out. My love for animals is totally separate from my love for my baby. I will not ignore Tia when the baby arrives. Whenever we talk to Rotti owners around our neighbourhood, they have always said "what great family dogs Rottweilers are". I had one as a child and I know this to be true.

Could you please send us some advice and personal experiences to share with his family to set the record straight? We'd really appreciate hearing from people with children (and especially from those who introduced a new baby to their dog). Thank you, thank you, thank you. Sorry to be soooo wordy! We look forward to the information.

[Goniella]

I have no advice..... but similiar experiences.When i first got my rescue boy Bear both my mother and my mother in law came for a visit at the same time, my mil refused to have anything to do with the dog and claimed he tried to bite her (even tho they were never in the same room together without him in his kennel. My mother wasnt afraid of him but didnt feel like such a big dog needed to be around her grandchildren. needless to say he spent most of the week kenneled,in my bedroom or out in his run. However when I moved back home and lived with my mother for a short time she really grew to know Bear and realized that he was more safe with the kids then our mixed breed (who she witnessed snap at my daughter) and she is now adopting her very own rescued rottie :) My MIL never did come around and still doesnt like rottweilers, although she has a great dane, and even tho I dont have a rottie now I wouldnt force the issue cause the dog can sense that someone is uncomfortable around them and it could make for a bad situation. I just dont go visit my mother in law and when she comes here she knows that if I had a rottie she would either have to get used to it or stay in a hotel!

[Judi W]

While all of my Rottweilers have been good with children, my own and others, some have been enamoured of children and the others exceedingly tolerant. This is a result of their basic temperament as well as the training and socialization I insist on. I would not however state that this is true of all Rottweilers any more than I would of any other breed. I always felt the one of the reasons they were so very good was because they do not startle or get defensive about things.

The prey drive is an issue and requires that you be aware of things (screaming, running children) and raise children that understand the rules and know when the dog should be put up (especially a young dog). Train to competition level. Raise your dog as a dog and not a child- you've indicated you understand that.

The batch I have now were not raised with children in the home and they too understand, like and behave well with all aged children from babies to teens. They DO want to smell all over the infants. I had an adult male Rottweiler in my home when my first child was born. He was a best friend. Others followed and both of my children grew up with Rottweilers in the home. I had one bitch who had to be discouraged from being too bossy with the boys, but that was all and she learned that I would boss them around if they needed it. :)

Without knowing your bitch and knowing the children who might be around her I would not make a blanket statement endorsing the situation. I can simply state that mine have been wonderful family dogs and most reliable.

As far as the family visit is concerned, just count it as lesson learned and leave your girl behind next visit. Saves all the emotional angst. The proof always comes with reality so conduct your family to please yourselves, see to it that you have a trained and reliable dog and most will come around. They'll probably say, "I hate Rottweilers, but Tia is a good girl".... that'll do. Some will never like her but make sure it is dislike without reason.

It would be an obvious lie to state that all members of the breed are safe. Don't even try to go there. Just raise and train your girl and show her off whenever possible.

[Jamie & Odin]

It's one thing to have nasty comments about your dog made by strangers on the street, but sometimes another when made by your family. Personally, I would never even think of taking my boy to my parents house, because of the negative feelings. My mother was horrified that I had adopted Odin from the local shelter, and my brother in law thought we should "put him down" when he, an 8 mos. old, untrained puppy, nipped my husband in the eyebrow. Anyway, I could go on and on about negative experiences with people, but let me share some of the good... I also have an eight year old daughter, who as a single child living in the country, yearned for a sibling. Well, since there's no chance in h*** of that happening ;) she has claimed Odin as her brother. She even calls him her brother. They have more fun together than I ever would have thought. We have taught him to play hide and seek, they chase each other in the yard (and in the house when it's cold)and they have devised numerous other games between the two of them. However, I want to make clear that none of this happened until I was confident of Odin's personality/temperment and that they still do not play together unsupervised.


He has been an absolute joy to our family.
I would also suggest reading a recent thread started by WorkinDogz about how we, as owners handle breed bias. I don't know how to create a link, so maybe another forum member could help?

[Darseeuh]

My daughter was about a year & a half when we got our Male Rottweiler Pookie. My parents were extremely upset about it, same type things about them being vicious, ect. My father went so far as to come & visit & tell us that if the dog ever scratched "his" grandaughter that he would come & kill the dog. Was I ever upset but as I am not one to be told what to do I had a few choice words with him. As if I would ever endanger my child ever, especially after I had such a hard time getting her here(2 months flat on my back in hospital, and she still came 3 months early!!) Anyway I have a very open & close relationship with my parents and they realized that they had just better deal with it or not come around. Around a year later both of my parents will defend Pookie to anyone who says anything bad about him. My mother even has little treats for him at her house & will cook extra food for him when we come over for meals. My advise is just to do what you want and as long as you raise a well mannered dog what can anyone say? Nothing, unless they choose to be ignorant, which unfortunately many people do. As far as Dogs with kids the dog must be trained and socialized but just as important is teaching the kids how to treat animals as well.

[Tia Maria]

Thank you all for your replies. It's really nice to hear that others have similar stories. We are going to get in touch with my husband's family and let them know that we don't expect them to ever like Rottweilers, but we also expect them to stop talking negatively about the breed. Obviously this upsets us and we constantly feel the need to defend Tia because everytime they make derogatory comments, it reflects on her. Once we get this all sorted out, I'm sure everything will work out just fine. Yes, we'll have to either leave Tia with friends when we go to see my in-laws or we'll have to stay at the summer house when nobody else is there. I just don't think they'll ever understand the love that we have for her and the committment that we've made to her. She is very important to us (obviously) and we intend to continue raising her with tons of discipline and loads of love. We're just so happy that my family and our friends love Tia. At least some of our extended clan do!

Thank you all so very much and if anyone else has anything to share, please do! :)

To Darcia, your Pookie is gorgeous. Some of the pictures remind me of Tia when we first got her. Sooo cute!

[Maddiesgirl]

:D I couldn't help but reply because we HAD a similar situation.

My family had no reservations about my Rottie, but because I adopted her at 7 months old, I heard alot about "being Careful around children", which is OF COURSE obvious with any dog, young or old. I made a point of socializing Maddie around young children who were carefully supervised BY ANOTHER adult, so I could be fully attentive to Maddie.

When I adopted her, I had the opportunity to see her in her former home. While not much of what I heard from her "family" that day was true, what I SAW was her being attentive and gentle to the 70 year old woman next door (a frequent bringer of treats it seemed) and her 3 year old grandson, who she played with without EVER bumping. That spoke volumes about her and I think the breed.:) :)

The turning point came over the break (for the extended family) when my aunt was overheard to say, "why can't your mother's dogs (YELLOW LABS) be as nice as Maddie? They are hyper and wild and she is just so good." :D Her daughter, mother of 3, is now talking abot Rotts as a future choice for when the kids are alittle older, as the ever popular labs can be "rough".

When your Rott "wins" out over the LLBean looking lab..you'll know Tia has won over the entire family!

PS> Maddie is now the ONLY dog (including her OWN) allowed upstairs at my mom's as she has proper manners inthe house, and was invited for XMAS..tree, many guests and all!

[Barbara Surplus]

Gabbi,

Welcome to the forum! It's great to have a new member who's so enthusiastic about the breed. You've come to the right place to learn about the magnificent Rottweiler.

Some of our family members have had criticisms of our choice of breed but they've thankfully learned to keep their views to themselves. I understand what they're saying to some degree - they hear these horrible stories on the news and wonder how we can expose our children to these *beasts* - but all the same it's irksome to hear them regurgitating the same old pap when they're sitting in our home with a beautifully behaved and obviously loving Rottweiler. :(

The key to harmony is to socialize and train your dog to be an exceptional member of your family and of society in general. You have no control over what other people think or do but you most certainly can affect the outcome of what's important in your life while still respecting others' wishes.

We have two young children, ages two and eight. We've taught them right from the beginning that they are never to be harsh with the dogs - gently does it. We've also never allowed the dogs to assume that they're on the same level as the children so if you've laid the appropriate groundwork and are entirely vigilant about their behaviours (both child and dog) you shouldn't have problems. It makes everyone's life so much easier when you have rules that are clearly understood by all.

My two-year-old girl adores her boys, much more so than her brother does. She barks orders at them (Odessa knows she's top dog in THIS family :) ) which, of course, they're not expected to listen to but she takes an enormous interest in their lives. They most certainly do add a richness to our family life that we wouldn't be without.

Good luck with your girl. We look forward to hearing about her life!
Barbara

[DixieGrl113]

I had to jump in on this one..;) before I got roxanne(my first Rott) my aunt(mother's sister) had a Rott she keep chained in the yard. (They live in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas so no A.C.) She never feeds any of her animals and I have had several choice words for her over the years. Anyway, back to Diva, she was chained in the back yard next to the cow and goat. She was fed 1 cup of Old Roy a day and to boot, she was nursing puppies. Well, one day, (my aunt swears to this still) Diva "attacked" her teen age son (who was known to kick Diva evrytime he was around her) while he was feeding her and then somehow got off her chain and killed the goat. So, out came the shot gun and bye bye Diva :( Needless to say, this being my mom's only close experience with a Rott, she was HORRIFIED when I got Roxanne. She forbid me to bring her to her house when I came to visit. She didn't want "one of those dogs" eating her Chihuahuas. I told her I was not coming to visit until I could bring Roxanne as I was not about to leave my 6wk old puppy alone in my house while I went to Arkansas. She got pretty lonely with out me visiting and after assuring her Roxy traveled with her mini kennel, she relented. That was almost 3 yrs and 4stubs ago. During our first visit, her chihuahuas antagonized Roxanne horribly. She just kept ducking and would run for me to save her. My mom at one point felt bad for her being in her kennel and picked her up and put her in her lap on the couch. Roxanne, stretched up my mom's chest with her little legs stretched out behind her and went to sleep. it only got better from there. 3 years later, my mom asks to talk to Roxanne on the phone! I have no idea what they "talk" about. lol She even took up for her when my neice was visiting and a house guest commented on how terrible it was to have a Rott running around with a 3 year old. (my neice's parents have 2 Rotts,so she lives with them)But when that guy tried to pick Katie up and she started crying, guess who was the first one there to investigate. Roxanne made it in .5 seconds I guarantee it. Its one of the only times I've ever heard her growling at person. Granted, that's not something I'd reinforce but, I think it speaks for her love of children. My mom has several farm dogs and would never dream of having any dog over ankle high running through her home. Guess whose dogs have free run of the house?;) They really grown on her. She wants me to teach them how to herd so they can work her cattle for fall sales. (I'd have to become really close friends with Judi W. ;) My aunt still swears their visious, I just roll my eyes and remind her, if she was starving me with puppies to feed and the only person that fed me kicked me after they put my food down, I'd tear his as* up too. BTW, for some reason none of my dogs have ever liked her. You can see the tumbleweed rolling through the house when she comes over to visit my mom. Even the chi's make themselves scarce. She reminds me of cruella deville. :p As far as putting them up when anti Rott people come to visit my house, I won't. I feel this is my house and my dogs live here, they don't. I have full faith in their house manners and if someone is uncomfortable with them, they can either..stay away or get used to my dogs laying in their various resting spots minding their own business. I do make them all lay down when someone not familiar with them comes over. I feel it makes them easier to wrap your mind around for someone not used to rotts. When there are visiters to my house my dogs just go about their business. That's one thing i'm rententive about. I hate going to someone's house and having a dogs nose in my crotch or all over me the whole time I'm there, so, I made sure mine didn't do that. Wow, this has become a book, sorry ya'll. Just to recap, some people will always hate Rotts, others can be brought around. Just make sure you train your dog(s) well so you never give them a reason to perpetuate the hate. THE END:D

[kls36]

I have never used a forum before but this message made me sign up. I have a 6yr old male unnuetered male rott. I have had him around many new babies(neices and nephews). I am not an expert as this is my first rott. I have owned enough dogs thru the years tho. Commen Sense is the key here. It starts before the baby is born. Never rough house physically with her, humans are not chew toys. and she shouldn't be taught she can jump around and play with them. Balls, chew toys, etc.,(mine uses a truck tire) are the only things she should learn to chew on. The child must also be taught respect for the dog when the time comes. I have seen people get their dog all excited rough housing with them and then can't figure out why they are none to gentle with chidren. Do not let your dog cross the humans are alpha, boundary. I first taught Tonka to take a single cherrio from me. He will now sit patiently for my 2 yr old niece to give him one right from her fingers. The only problem that may arise is the tendency to herd makes them bump children around. As for the other problem I say love me love my dog but in their house you must respect their wishes and not bring her. Invite them to your house to see her in action so they can see she isn't a vicious killer. good luck.

[RottnKid1]

Unfortunately, some people are just close-minded and need to come around on their own. The advice I would give you is to be sure you socialize Tia with many children of all ages (as well as adults and all different situations) and train her well. If anything will change their minds, it will be her excellent behavior. Never leave ANY child unsupervised with a dog - even the best dog in the world could accidentally harm a small child/infant without intending to.

It's also important to let Tia see your child, as he or she grows, interacting with other children so that she'll be able to more easily discern child's play from a threat to "her" kid.

I don't know if this will help any, but one of the dogs I produced went to a home with two toddlers (and a baby came along soon after). One of the children is named Brianna and her life was saved by Panda. At a family picnic, Brianna went running for the road. Her mother ran after her, but had no chance of catching her before she would have run into the street. Panda flew to Brianna, ran around in front of her and prevented her from entering the street until her mother could get to her. Panda had learned that the children were only allowed to go as far as the rear of the car parked in the driveway - one step further and she'd sound the warning. This particular time, she went above and beyond to save the child.

[Judy Chrusch]

Hi Gabbi, we always had children and rotties and we also made sure they were NEVER alone with them and they were taught to respect them. I don't feel it is right if children are allowed to do whatever they want with a dog or to a dog and Judi W. said it very well about the screaming, running, etc. It can work and it can work beautifully with a well bred and well trained rottweiler. I know the negativity very well, back in the 80's when we got our first rottie my mother in law had a fit and said "Oh that's the kind of dog that eats kids". I just let her go in one ear and out the other. They did in time grow to love my dogs but this one I have now who is 15 months, they say looks intimidating, just bc he has a bigger head and has a well muscled body. Anyway, you will always have people saying things, prove them wrong by raising a well behaved rottie and they'll eat their words, LOL:D. I know it gets frustrating and I know the feeling when we have people over there are very few people who we can have him around bc they are afraid, merely bc of his looks. Never has he even attempted to do anything out of character so to be on the safe side and to make the situation tolerable he is crated or confined to the kitchen which IMO is no big deal and you can't push your dog on those who just don't care to know them so do what you have too to keep peace, family is much too important to be on the outs with not to mention, life is too short. We do though know how you feel, you're certainly not alone in this one plus you can't make any dog like a person or persons, that's when their could be a problem. Best of luck to you and your new baby and before you bring him or her home take a blanket or something that your dog can smell so when you do come home with the baby your dog will have smelled that scent before, maybe someone already mentioned that. Just take things slow and don't force the baby on your dog and NEVER for any reason leave the baby alone with the dog for even a second, but then I'm sure you already know that:). Take care.

Judy

[Tinybear]

My husband and I went through his with our male Rottie and our child! When Bear (my Rottie) was three years old. We had our son, he was a preemie weighing only two pounds and he weighed only four lbs when we brought him home from the NICU six weeks later.

Anyway, the whole time i was pregnant, my MIL and FIL proceeded to tell us several times to get rid of Bear, then they went on to tell us about every Rottie attack they heard of--especially the ones on children. Thankfully, my parents knew that Bear was a wonderful dog and they knew everything would be okay.

When we were about to bring Tyler (our son) home a few days before we started bringing home a blanket that Tyler had slept with, so he could smell Tyler's scent. When we brought Tyler home we leaned over and let Bear smell Tyler, he was so gentle and he just smelled him. Then while I held Tyler, Randy gave Bear lots of attention, then he held Tyler and I gave Bear lots of attention.

Bear loved Tyler, oh there were a few times when Tyler started crawling and he went to crawl on him and Bear would growl---but it was just a 'get this kid off of me growl', I knew the growl and I knew my Rottie--he would never hurt a flea. Bear never ever snapped at Tyler.

We taught Tyler to never pull his tail (Bear's tail was never docked) or ears or to hit --in other words we taught our son not to be mean or cruel to animals. When Tyler was three years old he and Bear played together, when Tyler had friends over (Bear died when Tyler was 6 1/2 years old) Bear had to be outside with them---simply because Bear loved kids and he loved playing with them. When Tyler was four years old, I would leave him and Bear alone together while i took a shower. Tyler was watching tv, Bear slept on the floor right beside him. People say never to leave a child and a dog alone together, but i knew Tyler knew how to behave and i had all the trust in the world in Bear.

The week before he died (he was ten years old) of autoimmune disease, he had been very sick, but for some reason that day, he decided to play ball with Tyler and they played for about 40 minutes. After Bear died, I prayed to God to show me a sign that Bear was alive somewhere. The next day when i woke Tyler up for school the first words out of his mouth was 'Mom, I had a great dream about Bear last night, he was in Heaven playing ball and he looked so happy'!

Bear was simply the best---he proved to everyone--including my in-laws that Rotties can be a kids best friend.

I do want to add a couple of things, Bear was well trained and socialized from a pup, I think that makes a world of difference. And also he was still loved and played with even after Tyler came along, Bear never felt jealous because we never gave him reason to feel that way.

[Tia Maria]

I was surprised to see that so many more people had replied recently to my post. Thank you all! I just want to respond to some of the common things that were said.

Yes, we are working on socializing Tia everyday with people, including children. So far, she seems to really love them. My good friend brought over her 11 month old baby and Tia was so amazed by him. She immediately went up to his little feet (Nathalie was holding him) and she gently smelled him. She didn't get excited (like she does when an adult comes over), she was very calm but very intrigued. It was really cute to watch. I had never seen her respond to a visitor like that before.

Also, we would never, ever leave Tia alone with our baby. She will always be supervised, no matter what. I was just telling my husband (before reading the latest replies) that I think it's really important that we include Tia as much as possible when the baby comes. I was saying that we need to make her feel like she is just as important as before and that she has a role to play in the baby's life. Bringing home a blanket is a great idea. I'll do that before bringing the baby home.

Lastly, I totally agree that children need to be "trained" how to treat animals. I would not let my child mistreat Tia or bug her etc. I can understand that she wouldn't want a child in her face, being a pest.

Thank you all again. I love reading similar stories. It's wonderful to read about all of your dogs/passed dogs that were terrific with children. I have a feeling Tia will be the same!

:D :D

Gabbi

[TashasMom]

Bringing home a 'baby smell' is a good idea; from what I've heard you should do this with any dog.

I never had any problems with family members not liking Tasha. I was always the one that wanted to put her away when company came or when we took her visiting.
My problem was always with closed minded neighbors.
I remember having a huge screaming fit one day while hanging my laundry with the owner of some little yippy dog who would constantly antagonize Tasha. Sometimes I would make Tasha stay in the house because of this.
Tasha happened to be doing this little 'charge hop' (I don't know how else to describe it, lol)along the length of the fence as this little pest was barking & snarling.
All of a sudden this woman starts screaming from her upstairs window about what a wild dog I have & what a nuisance she is. She's going to call the ASPCA, the police, blah blah blah.
I told her do what she had to do because my dog was trained, licensed, & vaccinated & in her her own yard. Tasha never broke out of the yard in the 2 years we lived there, when she was out alone she was in an enclosed area closer to the house so I could keep an eye on her while I was inside.

When I moved to a rural area 4 years ago, more neighbors freaked out since we now had an attack dog on the block (eye roll)
Needless to say, everyone now loves Tasha & is upset that she is moving (hopefully soon!!) & another neighbor just picked up a rottie of his own :)

sorry this got so long!