Your opinions please

[Janel]

I had an incident with Cosmo 1 yr. ago when he was 3yrs old. He was tied out in my front yard with myself present. He had just finished playing ball with some older kids, they than left. I turned my back for 30 sec. and the neighbors 4 yr old ran into the st. than on to my property- and Cosmo bit her. First I will say she is ok. We took him to an animal behaviorist, who believed it was provoked & that he was protecting me & his property. We than won in court- he was not found to be vicious. We decided we couldn't euthanize him, and to keep him against the advice of some family members. He is basically an obedient dog, who does like people. He has never acted aggressively before that and since than. I blamed myself for sooo long for everything - not socializing him properly to young children, not being aware he was capable of biting etc. I just want to know if you think we did the right thing with not euthanizing him. J

[godfreyc]

Wow, you're either going to be bombarded or a lot of people will show up and tell you that you made the right decision. IMHO a dog should not feel the need to protect you or his home from a 4 year old. That doesn't change the fact that a child that age needs to be supervised very closely which is probably why you won your case. You didn't say how severe a bite it was. An attack? A nip? I'd be interested to know that, but I personally would have put him down. You can never be sure that the same or similar situation won' t present its self.

[Vivianne]

My first girl, at the age of 5, took a bite at my roommates daughter while on my property. This person was in her late 20s at the time and pregnant. She was afraid of the dog to begin with and while walking on the grass she walked up to the dog from behind. Akasha (rotty) turned on a dime and niped her hard on the behind. (cheek part) No blood, but a good bruise and scare occurred.

This was a terrible moment. I don't even like to recount the story, but if it will help someone else I'll go on. The daughter reported the bite to the authorities and Akasha had a bite record established. This was her one and only bite during her lifetime.

Ever since that day, I would muzzle her when I felt she could not be trusted given the situation we found ourselves in. Like visits to the vet or company over at the house. She was an outside dog, so her kennel was locked as well.

I obviously took many precautions with her after that bite day that I wouldn't have otherwise taken. She never showed aggression towards anyone else again either, but I was always careful and wary of her possible reactions regardless.

[codglvr]

Only you know what exactly happened with that bite. If it was one of my cousin's kids, I can see how a Rottweiler or any other animal or person would need to protect itself from a four year old. Those children will never, even as adults ever be allowed near any of my pets The part that bothers me is that you have doubt. If you are sure in your mind that you have control of the dog and it will never harm anyone again, then keep doing what you are doing. If you can't be sure of that and keep doubting your decision, wll then reevaluate it. It's a rough position to be in.

[Janel]

I know recounting the incident almost makes me sick- I had terrible dreams about it for months.
To godfrey- the bite was not a nip but not an attack- the girl required a fair amt of stitches to her head ( thank goodness not her face)
We have also made many changes- we put up a 6 ft fence, we never never tie Cosmo out in the front yard with us, if small children come to my house Cosmo goes to a friends house, and we have continued to work on obedience. We have also tried to maintain his socialization at the same time.
What makes me doubt is a certain family member, they make me feel like I am an irresponsible person for keeping him. Also we are thinking of starting a family- I believe Cosmo will be fine with help from my trainer and behaviorist but it worries me sometimes.
Thank you for your replys- I basically needed to hear from some Rottie lovers good or bad. J

[Sheenagirl]

Putting up that fence was exactly the right thing to do! No more tying to anything. Dogs do not accept this very well. I would continue with the training and very watchful with Cosmo around visitors expecially. Years ago a boy came walking across my property and my male dog ran up to him, jumped up, and scratched the boy's face with his teeth (thank God only a scratch). Luke never did that again (but I was very watchful also). Even with my current Rottie girl, Sheena, I am very careful with visitors. I believe Cosmo deserves a second chance. And as you said you have taken precautions. As you know, just owning a Rottie is reason enough for some people to say you are an irresponsible person. Good luck with Cosmo! ;)

[KRISSIE]

hi Janel...I too feel that Cosmo deserves another chance, you seem to be doing the right thing by him, getting that fence up and a getting a trainer/behaviorist to work with you was a very smart idea. Given the circumstances with Cosmo biting that child, I'm not seeing this so much as an aggression issue but more like he felt he was protecting his property and bc it happened on your properety is the reason I feel this way... now I know some people in this forum will not agree with that but you asked for opinions so I 'm just giving mine. I really don't feel that Cosmo was the only one at fault here , that childs parent is also at fault , a 4 year old child should not be unsupervised as this child was.
As for you having a baby, make sure that you continue with that training throughout your pregnancy and after, and when that time comes and you do have a child be sure to spend extra time with Cosmo so he does not start to feel jealous. Alot of times when someone has a child they begin to ignore the dog and naturally the dog may start to resent the baby, let Cosmo know that even though their is a new member to his pack that doesn't mean he is loved any less. I just want to let you know that when I got pregnant with my first child certain members of my family also told me that I was asking for trouble by keeping my Rottweiler, Well my family was dead wrong and they know it. I am now pregnant with my 2nd child and nobody has dared to tell me this time to get rid of my dogs, of course if they even tried to pull that agian, I'd tell them to go you know where...;)

Good Luck with Cosmo...

[LavenderRott]

My brother believes that rottweilers were bred to attack people and insists that my dogs be locked up when he brings his family to my house. You can imagine how often they are invited over.

While he doesn't voice his opinions to me (we barely speak) I am quite sure that my mother has gotten an ear full since my Oliver bit me two weeks ago. Probably much along the line of "How can she keep that viscious dog in the same house with her children?"

My son used to use Chase for a step stool when he was 18 months old, to get up onto the couch. She would raise an eyebrow and make sure to be real still so he didn't fall. Quite the viscious beast, huh.

How did your family member feel about this dog before the incident? Is it someone that you are close enough to that you would be really worried about their opinion? Don't forget to take these things into account when dealing with this person.

I am sure that if there is a repeat performance you will take the steps necessary to protect every one.

[Janel]

Thanks for all of your opinions, and for making me feel better about our decision. My husband and I love Cosmo & the breed.
-The family member that I keep referring to is my sister in law and her husband, they actually live 2 1/2 hrs away so they don't visit often so it doesn't cause problems. Basically the rest of our friends and family love Cosmo- Thanks again- Janel

[Carol Burke]

I just had to add this: I have an 8 year old Rottweiler. He is an A/C CH with a CDX and he is a Registered Therapy dog. He is also temperament tested. Pretty impressive, a dog you could trust with any situation. I got him when he was sixteen months old and that dog has been exposed to and adjusted to any situation you could think off. He is fine with people, other animals including cats, kids, just anything except children under the age of four or so. I don't have small children in my house or any that come to visit so this was something I never even thought about, but I met a gal who had two small children, 2 and 4. She came to visit one day and my dog was like a different dog. He did not like these kids, he attempted to nip one of them and that was the end of the visit with the kids. I had another friend come to my house with her grandbaby, an infant in her arms and he was very upset, acted like he would nip. I do not ever let any of my dogs be uncrontrolled and he did not get to bite anyone. But, I have no doubt in my mind that he would bite a small child given the right situation. Especially if he were tied and a toddler approached him(which I would never do).

I think that we forget that these are dogs, big, powerful dogs. They have likes and dislikes and they have to be under our control at all times. It is not the breed, it is any dog. The problem is our particular breed can do a tremendous amount of damage doing the same thing a poodle, cocker or lab might do without any damage.