Rottweilers and Children

[newpuppies]

My family and I just got 2 8 week old female rottweilers (sisters). We plan to give them a loving home as well as have them trained very well. I have a 6 year old son and when I told a friend of mine about our new puppies she said none of my sons parents would let their children over our house because of them. I know they will be trained well and we will be very responsible with them. My question is, Has anyone else experienced a problem with this? If so how would I overcome this with the parents if this does happen?

[Sue]

I fostered a Rottie puppy for about 6 weeks this summer. I took her everywhere I could get away with taking her. She went to my son's school, to all his little league games, to work every day, to work picnics, to Tires Plus when I got my oil changed, etc. The little league games were the best....lots of little brothers and sisters there. She was petted and played with by toddlers and preschoolers, and parents generally were surprised when I told them she was a Rottie. People are less intimidated by cute little bear cub puppies than adults, obviously. I would take the initiative and talk to your son's friends' parents about it, and bring the puppies with you so they can meet them. And assure them that the kids will NEVER be left alone with the dogs, and that you wouldn't do that with any breed because it's irresponsible. I did hear a few people at other venues make a remark like "they're cute when they're little but...." to which I replied "and they're wonderful when they're grown, providing they're socialized and trained properly. That's why she's here....and she loves people." That seemed to satisfy the people I met.

Educate, educate, educate! Plus I think the fact that you took the initiative with the parents would help them feel that you were aware they might have concerns and were willing to address them up front. Good luck!

[Burnsway]

I have not come across this problem directly but have indirectly. I have had my daughter and some of her school friends mention to me that there parents were afraid of my dog. I own a mix so sometimes that has helped some. But I have a pretty strict rule that I meet with parents before their kid may come over and play or vice a versa and I have never directly been asked by a parent to remove my dog while they play. I think this is because most of them see me outside training her daily and they know that while indoors my dog is confined away from all children unless she is on lead and they are helping me with the training.

You will come across some prejudice but if you show the people around you how responsible you are with your dogs and don't get defensive you will find it will all work out. When I first got my dog and told my mom what her mix was she said if that dog even looks at my grand-baby the wrong way I will come over and dispose of her my self...

My Mother In laws first reaction was...OH KNOW, You don't want one of them... But you know what she loves my dog so much now she is trying to get me to let her stay the night over there like she was a grandchild or something....roflmao!!!

My sisters initial response was thats a lota dog for you...sure you want to do that...LOL

Friends just said I was crazy. So All this was the first night I brought her home, so as far as parents of other kids go I have just learned to understand them and respect whatever wishes they have for their child's safety.

[Harleysmom]

I have experienced this with my daughter and her best friends parents. They said she couldn't come over then found out he was just a puppy not grown so for some reason that made a difference. I can't figure people out. I think they think they just grow into visious dogs or something. Once had a man comment that oh he is just a puppy he doesn't know to be mean yet. All of my son's friends parents have been great!

I think they just need to be introduced. I also told them if need be I could kennel Harley while they were here. Trying to be repectful to their feelings and so my daughter could have friends. Glad to say I have never had to do that.

What I find funny is I wonder what they think a 6 month rottie pup looks like? Just a little guy?! LOL

[Sheenagirl]

My daughter's Rottie, Cheyenne, was raised in a dorm room with lots of kids around. What a difference that made - Cheyenne is probably more loveable than any lab or golden, etc. you could meet. My grandbaby (1 1/2 YO) is all over Cheyenne (10 YO) - and Cheyenne loves the baby!

I also agree, take the puppies everywhere you can - within reason - remember Rottie's are more prone to parvo - so I would be careful around stranger's dogs IMO.

Give them lots of training and love and show everybody how wonderful Rottweilers are!! Good luck... ;)

[Zephyr]

Originally posted by newpuppies
My family and I just got 2 8 week old female rottweilers (sisters). We plan to give them a loving home as well as have them trained very well. I have a 6 year old son and when I told a friend of mine about our new puppies she said none of my sons parents would let their children over our house because of them. I know they will be trained well and we will be very responsible with them. My question is, Has anyone else experienced a problem with this? If so how would I overcome this with the parents if this does happen?

I'm not sure that 2 puppies who're littermates was the best choice for a family with small kid. I also have had a small kid and a big huge dog who was an intact male and another one who was neutered. Both of them were okay about the kid, but "okay" meant they ignored the child, not interacted with despite my 2 years of intense daily socialization with other people including kids.

When I recently acquired my 18 month old female from a shelter, she was there with a littermate sister. It was very obvious one was more dominant and the other submissive. Neither dog had any formal obedience training, but they were housetrained very well and good in the house. I later found out that littermates often end up fighting - serious fighting - at around 2 yrs. - especially the bitches. There's a whole behavioral theory surrounding this contention [check online for more sources of info] that made sense to me watching the two 18 month old sisters interact. We ended up taking only one of the dogs, and she's been great. However, I didn't fool myself that training TWO large powerful dogs would have been a cake walk. One dog alone is capable of pulling a grown 200+ lb. man over or out of his shoes [this has happened with Xev more than once] despite her subsequent obedience training.

Does this family know about prey drive? What would they do if the dogs prey drive kicked in and they went after a small kid friend of their own kid? Some dogs, including Rotties, have HUGE prey drives [mine does, she thinks she can chase birds and catch them, including WHILE in the water SWIMMING yesterday!]. Did anyone consider **that** before taking on two, much less one Rottie while having small kids?

A cute little puppy face can fool many into thinking it's not a big deal but it is - those two sisters weren't in a kill shelter because someone followed through on the training and care. They were there because it became too difficult, the dogs ran off [poor owner control] or they ran out of money. BTW, the dog we couldn't take was euthanized. She was a beautiful Rottie, healthy and with an excellent temperament. Rottie rescues here were out of room and I couldn't take two at the time. Something to consider when taking on two large dogs.......

Payton

[newpuppies]

Payton,

Thank You for your reply, however you didnt answer my question at all. All you did is imply we didnt research or know what we were doing when we bought the puppies. They do interact with our son very much so and if we didnt plan to work with them we wouldnt have them. When a dog of that size is properly trained it should know better than to pull a 200 pound man. You walk your dog, he/she doesnt walk you. And as you said you adopted an 18 month old from a shelter because she was housetrained even though she was not obedienced trained? Lets get our priorities straight. The cute faces had nothing to do with our choice of breed. If we hadnt plan on getting them we wouldnt have went to see them at all. Im sorry if you have not had any luck with your dogs but I think making sure they are properly trained with children and adults is more important then getting and adult rottie because it is free and already housetrained.

[Leader]

I've had the problem with a friend. he's TERRIFIED of ANY big dog, so imagine....an intact male rott who's done ringsport!

One day I inveited him over and he showed up with his 1 year old baby boy. I put MY baby (rottie) into a down stay in the kitchen, door open and we had drinks outside; After about 1/2 hr he came to see the dog with his son...He was so impressed by my dog's obediance that he stop being afraid, knowing that I had control. Also, my dog loves little kids (and bigger ones, too!)

I never try to force my dog on anyone. They gradually see that he's not evil:( (some peopme do think that unfortunately).

Good luck with the training. Two dogs will be a handful. I'd do one dog at a time, giving each prime quality time with you, spouse, and training.

Welcome,
Leader

[Zephyr]

Originally posted by newpuppies
All you did is imply we didnt research or know what we were doing when we bought the puppies.

Sorry about any misunderstanding but I was merely offering personal experience about owning littermates, and owning littermates who're going to be very large, powerful dogs one day. Since you didn't outline why you chose to get two puppies versus one, I've wondered that you knew what you were in for with these dogs. Perhaps I've jumped the gun, so to speak?

Anyway, is there a reason for buying two at once? Are you going to be showing them or doing formal obedience work? Who will get to work with the 2nd puppy, while you work with the 1st one? Are you a full time at home mom or someone who works full time hours? I think all that sorta would be things I'd ask about before I could offer an opinion about how to approach reluctant fearful parents who don't know anymore than I do so far.

They do interact with our son very much so and if we didnt plan to work with them we wouldnt have them.

That's nice know and hopefully, having been around a smaller child, they'll learn to respect the size of children.

When a dog of that size is properly trained it should know better than to pull a 200 pound man. You walk your dog, he/she doesnt walk you. And as you said you adopted an 18 month old from a shelter because she was housetrained even though she was not obedienced trained?

How much do you know about shelters and rescue organizations? A dog from a shelter is a dog that is an unknown quantity.

While they do temperament evaluations and possessiveness testing, the shelter and rescue staff frequently have no background information on the dog. It's up to the adopter to determine if the dog is right for them and to take what comes with the dog - such as no obedience training or lack of housebreaking.

The dog we chose was not familiar with sit/stay/down/heel, but she has been a very quick study [we've only had her since April 19, 2002] and we were quite pleased to learn by day 2 that she was completely housetrained and a good house dog [no chewing, garbage eating, furniture jumping, nothing].

Our dog has a high prey drive however and out on a walk, while obedient more every day due to the work I do with her, she's still not where she'll be in a few more months, obedience wise around small prey animals like squirrels or rabbits. That work includes curbing and redirecting her high prey drive [I'll assume you know what that means and entails]. When a rabbit suddenly runs across one's path, the dog is quicker than the human to react and while startled, the human can be jerked out of his or her shoes. One day you might find out with one or both of your Rotties. I suggest obedience training too - but a dog from a shelter doesn't always come with it and that's just how it is - because of course, dogs in shelters and rescue often were not trained by former owners who had lofty goals but then never followed through on them.

Lets get our priorities straight. The cute faces had nothing to do with our choice of breed. If we hadnt plan on getting them we wouldnt have went to see them at all.

I'm interested in learning more about why you did choose Rotties and why two instead of one at a time.

Im sorry if you have not had any luck with your dogs

I'm sorry if you misunderstood - I've had great luck with my dogs. All of them were very well trained via diligent work by myself and husband and our son. Our first Rottie was a Schutzhund II dog, so obviously he was quite well trained. That doesn't mean he wasn't capable of accidently knocking over a child [only happened one time anyway]. My current dog is a rescue dog - as you hopefully know, they're dogs that people get then throw-away one day due to too much power or size of the dog, costs too much to own or they don't have time or the inclination to train the dog. I saved a life and she's made our family so much the richer for her wonderfulness and loving character and typical Rottie traits. We consider ourselves VERY lucky indeed with this dog - she's not only obviously well bred [has beautiful conformation and temperament] but has been ultra responsive to obedience classes and training. We really feel blessed with her.

but I think making sure they are properly trained with children and adults is more important then getting and adult rottie because it is free and already housetrained.

Why do you mistakenly believe that a dog from a shelter is "free" or that was the reason I got the dog? How bizarre. Shelters charge fees for their dogs too, as do rescue organizations, often upwards of $400.00 per dog. Then there's the cost of spaying or neutering the dog [$200.00+], and any veterinary care needed to save the dog's life or cure it of any illness/disease [cost me $245.00]. Many shelter and rescue dogs cost MORE than going out and buying a backyard breeder's puppy for a few hundred bucks. My dog ended up costing us well over $500.00 in total, and I spent over $800.00 on a prior rescue dog that I ultimately had to euthanize - obviously there's nothing "free" about a dog that some cruel idiot bought, then tossed out or dumped or left at a shelter to die.

The fact that this dog was housebroken was an unknown bonus - I'd just purchased a huge crate for $200.00 in case she wasn't and it turned out she was housebroken. Obedience has also cost me a pretty penny, so perhaps you'd like to rethink your view that a dog from a shelter or rescue org is "free" or that someone adopts from these worthy sources because of that reason [ludicrous!] or because a dog is housebroken.

Good luck with your puppies - they'll be both expensive and time consuming to raise properly but well worth the effort! :)

Payton

[ILoveRotts]

newpuppies,

Congrats on your new puppies!

Good question. I too am curious of a serious answer.

I know I have a ways to go --- I have a 5 week old daughter. But I know that some day we will have to deal with her friends not being allowed over because of the dogs (we will always have atleast 2 Rotts). We have 3 Rotts now.

Our goal now is just to raise her with confidence and knowledge. She will need to be a tough little girl. Hopefully, that and introducing our dogs to the parents will be enough. Even so I know there will be some people that will never be comfortable.

By the way - my Rotts are 150lbs, 112 lbs, and 90 lbs are a very gentle with the baby. They give her kisses. (Before anyone yells at me - the baby is never unsupervised and we know our dogs.)

Good luck with your puppies! Enjoy!

[rottcrazed]

Okay, here's my 2 cents. I have two rottweilers, 5 and 3.5 y/o, female spayed, male intact and another puppy one week onld we are waiting for. I am very involved in obedience training and conformation as well as other sports like herding, etc... This is MY HOBBY.

We also have 18 month old triplets who obviously came along while I was involved in dogs. I know that as these children get closer to school age they are going to have to deal with their friends' parents' fear of our dogs. I am prepared to have their friends' parents over to the house to meet these very well behaved rotts. HOWEVER, with the stigma that comes with these dogs usually with people that are truly uneducated about this breed, I also realize that I am not going to change everyone's minds, no matter how good my dogs are.

My dogs are wonderful with MY children, but I still need to be careful when other children are around because these kids are unfamiliar to the dogs and when children start screaming and running, YOU need to have the control of the situation as I am sure you are prepared for.

It's just important to remember that even though we love this breed and know what they are truly like, some people will never see past the dog on the news. We need to be the bigger people and if some parents are unwilling to come and see the dogs themselves, then just have the right thing ready to say to explain to your kids why certain friends can't come over.

Kristi :)

[bosco]

My children are 6 and 7 and only two neighborhood children are allowed to play in my home.These are children who's parents TOOK the time to come and meet our rotties and not pre-judge on their reputation.The others...well I just explain to my kids that not all people undrestand the breed.
My one neighbor has told her child that my dogs have demons in them and that they will attack her,when Emily told me this I just gave the little girl a hug .....how very sad that parents put such fear and ignorance in their children.
Although my dogs have been raised with children they are still animals so please never leave them ALONE without supervision