What drew you to the Rottie breed?

[Tinybear]

What first made you decide 'hey I want a Rottweiler'? I have always loved dogs, when I was 14 years old I started checking out every dog breed book I could find from our library. I went through them all several times. And the Rottie just seemed to always be my favorite.

I didn't know anyone who had one, but I loved the Rottie looks and his personality. They described them as being a loving and loyal family member while also being protective. So I wanted a Rottie ever since I was 14, I got my first one at 28, we had Bear for 10 years, we waited 13 months after he died to get another one, his name is Rascal, he is SO much like my darling Bear. My husband and I LOVE the Rottie breed, and will always have one. :D

[Miabella]

My dog. The only exposure I had to Rottweilers growing up was two intact males down the street who tried to attack passersby through an 8 foot chain link fence. They did not make a very positive impression on me.

Fast forward several years. Living in DC and volunteering at an animal shelter, I met Mia. She was the sweetheart of the kennel, although she had already been there for a long time without being adopted. Although we were planning to adopt a dog, we had no intention of getting a Rottie. I wanted a GSD, and my husband was leaning towards some type of retriever. But once we got to know Mia, we knew she was the one for us. :D Now, we both agree that we'll never be without a Rottie again.

[LORHEL]

The beauty and the intelligence they have, also love the following around constantly with me part also...

[rottcrazed]

:D

What first drew me to this beautiful breed was when I began training at an obedience school with my old Golden Retriever. We'd done all that we could do in obediece and now I wanted to become involved in helping people train their own dogs. The head trainer was a rottweiler breeder and exhibitor himself and a licenced CKC obedience judge so needless to say I learned an awful lot from him. I also fell in love with his dog Chase. I had to have one of these beasts so I began looking for a breeder and found my first girl Jager and that was it, I was smitten. Now I have three and I wouldn't choose another breed ever!!

Kristi

[Chester'sMom]

I grew up with the smartest German Shepherd that ever lived (no bias here! >grin<). Of course I leaned towards that breed. But I wanted an "Old-German-Shepherd". That didn't work out for several reasons. So, much like Tinybear I did all the research I could and came up with this breed. For all the lovable traits, their looks and their dedication to their family. Even though taking on a Rottweiler is like having another job: NO regrets here! They are a stunning breed. Period!

[Alaskan]

I was drawn to their naturally good looks and intelligence.:)

I also like how versatile and loving they are when with their family and friends of the family.:)

I had a friend whom got a female rottie pup and I had been watching the pup for her a couple of weeks when she came to pick the pup up I decided the breed was for me.:)

[Anne]

I had 3 German Sheps and my adult son had a Rottweiler. He had to go interstate for work and the Rott stayed with me. I fell in love with the breed. She was so different to the Sheps, they were so dignified and she was a great big baby with a delicious sense of humor. As it turned out he needed to travel for work and I inherited the Rott. She lived to 12 years and it broke my heart when it was her time to go. I could not live without a beautiful Rott face looking at me and got a pup. Well did I find out about Rott pups then, what a handful. She's 17 months now and we have ongoing obedience training and is now well behaved. I couldn't imaging living without a Rott in my life.

[LavenderRott]

My parents raised pomeranians when I was growing up, while they are lovely dogs with great personalities, they were always under foot and getting stepped on. I wanted a larger breed. I always thought that rotties were beautiful, but I wanted GSD's.

My Chase was the most pathetic looking dog at the local animal control. She was very thin with teats that hung down almost to the floor. As scared as she was (or should have been), she never uttered a sound when we walked past her cage, just looked at us go by. Her eyes were too much to resist.

Like everyone else on the forum, I am hooked and can not imagine life without one of these characters in it.

[Jenna4]

I guess I've lurked long enough to share a little about my fur-baby now. I met Lord Dolf Vader after I had been dating his owner (now my husband) for a while. The first time I met him, I was in love with the breed. I've always loved animals and I was still a little nervous, because I was VERY uneducated about rott's. I had never even seen a rottie other than television, etc. (You can imagine my very narrow perspective on the breed)

So I guess I wasn't so much "drawn" to getting a rott, but rather married into a rott family! Lucky for me, my husband is a very responsible rott owner with the most endearing rottie ever. I now have a very different view on rottweilers. I've never met a more loving animal. I'm definately Dolf's "mommy". It took countless hours of reading here and educating myself about the breed. I had to be "trained", you could say. I can't wait until my husband and I have the time and resources to have another rottie. We have one more sofa cushion that I'd love to see a rottie lounging on. Life without a rottie isn't even an option for me anymore. I'm a college student <i.e. BROKE -- Eukenuba really empties the pocket> but I look forward to the day that I can rescue a rottweiler. For now, the best I can do is love the one I am blessed with, but I can't wait until I have the option of helping more rott's. I'll definately be around on this forum as long as it is around.

A big thanks from a lurker that had gained much knowledge from the posters here. I've seen pictures of many of your dogs, and learned about some of thier behaviors. Each story from responsible owners with a sincere love for animals has given me so much faith in the human race. I really admire this group of people!

Rottie Mom for life,
jenna

[SABELLESMOM]

Growing up in the country, for my family always meant having a dog of some breed or other. I was particularly drawn to a Dane I had when I was 6, above all the rest. Then there was GSD we inherited. I knew then I favored large German breeds, primarily due to their intellegence.
As the years went by, I had another GSD and a Doberman mix and a Belgian Sheepdog. They were all highly intellegent and loyal and loving.

But what drew me to a Rottie? At first, probably their beauty! Very quickly followed by that wonderful ability to think on their own. The clincher was their sense of humor! They tend to take life less seriously than most. They generally "wait and see", but the big thing? Yep! amist all that beauty, intellect, and calm you have a CLOWN! A happy, fantastic character that pulls some stunt and sits back and actually laughs! I LOVE it!
Did ya ever watch a Rottie dance? Someone from another board brought it up. They jump excitedly up in the air! Sideways! Spinning! Straight up! Sometimes followed by a fast blitz around the room! They are jubulant beings, and I'm sold!

[domme5]

I had never really thought about owning a Rottie before. When Jeff and I went to the local vets to adopt, the only spec I had in mind was a 'large' dog (I love em big!). After a lab here, a mutt there, they bring out this pathetically malnourished black and tan female they said was a rott. She was very shy but still accpeted our attentions. To make a long story short, she is now a good 30 lbs. heavier and sulking on the floor next to me cause I made her quit chasing a bug that skittered across her path! Because of the traits she has (size aside, she is ALL rott!), when we decided to get her a pal there was no question that it would be another rottie! Hunter was adopted from Recycled Rotts and, at approx. 9 months, is just as big as Lita! He is a very funny, rambunctious little boy (which is why he is currently in the end stages of recouping from an avulsion fracture of a rear leg) with more personality than I've ever seen in a dog!

[Vivianne]

When I permanently moved away from home, I found myself alone (not married), over 200 miles from home, in a new city and new job. I’d owned a doberman and a terrier mix as a child, well my parents owned them. And as a young adult I owned 2 cocker spaniels. Neither of these breeds really impressed me much, but as a dog lover I was determined to find one that I would like much better.

The internet was in its infancy back then, so I didn’t have that as a research tool. I did however own many books on dog behavior and breeds. I collected these books from youth. You see, I wanted to be Veterinarian when I grew up. I can still kick myself for not pursuing that dream, but that’s a different story. So I began to look into the ones I was initially drawn to and quickly shortened my list to a simple few.

I did have the presence of mind to actually interact with each dog on my list. And considering my landlord at the time didn’t have a problem with any size dog I had no limitations. I visited the shelters and pet shops and it just so happened that some of my co-workers owned a few of the breeds on my list, but no rotty owners.

On July 4th, 1991, I answered an add in the paper for rotty puppies. They were on my list so I thought I’d go visit this BYB and get a feel for the dog. The parents of the litter were at the home too. I thought great, I’ll get to experience this breed the only way I could find.

To my horror, the litter was four months old, they had only two dogs left - a female and a male, their living conditions were deplorable, and the dogs health was even more questionable than the filth they were surrounded by.

I didn’t need a college diploma to see that leaving these animals with this BYB was far worse than buying one of them. At least I could save one. So, I took the female, the runt of the litter. I nursed her back to health and she lacked for nothing while I owned her for over 10 years.

After she was gone, I then got my Madison. Did the research again and purchased from a breeder. Since my first rottweiler I have and always will be as loyal to this breed as they have been to me.

[Karyn]

Didn't want one! No how, No way. I wanted a shepherd. My kid (she was 14 yrs old at the time) wanted a Rottie and would not settle for anything else. I am a sucker and my kid is spoiled "rotten". We rescued an 8 mo old male Rottweiler. It took about an hour before I was so totally in love with him. I could not get enough of him (I follwed him around - now he follows me). It is the eyes - they are so wise, so warm, so innocent, so questioning. Here stands this magnificent creature -and I am awed by his intelligence and amused by his sense of humor. I took him to training - (grudgingly would let the kid work with Cromwell). He is 7 years old now and MY dog. The kid is 22 years old and if she dares to try to take my dog with her when she moves, there will be a court custody case. This is a case of doing the research after the adoption. He has taught me so much about patience, loyalty and made me a better parent and person. I can say that Cromwell is responsible for my spiritual growth. I have to believe in God for no one else could have created such a marvelous being.

[gparcels]

I was the same way, I did not want one, seemed like all I would see out where rottweilers, I had always owned GSD's since I was 6 years old until a good friend of mine bought one and I got to know the dog for about a year and he just grow on me more and more as time went by until one day I decided that I wanted one. Shopped around for a while and got male puppy and he turned out to be the best dog / friend I have ever had, had him seven years until he had to be put down because of osteo, hardest thing I have ever had to do, but after owning one now I don't thing I would ever have anything else.

[Karyn]

Oh yeah! I also have a GSD (7 yrs old), a 13" Beagle (4 yrs old) and a foster Boxer (2 yrs old) but the only Net I belong to is "Rottweiler.Net". When you know what to do with a Rottie - it is easy to deal with the other breeds. I do enjoy "intelligent" interchange and my rottie gives me that!