Sad, sad day

[ILoveRotts]

RottnBryd,

Sorry -- did not in anyway mean to imply that all backyard bred Rotts were bad.

I was just making the point that this dog may just be the problem not Rottweilers in general.

3 of my Rotts came from a reputable Rottweiler rescue that is involved with this sight, 1 came from a shelter. We had some background on them. Although only 1 can we guartantee was not from a backyard breeder.

The Rott I was talking about did not come from a rescue or a shelter. What I know of his background leads me to believe that he was bred as a "drug dog". Long story - don't want to go in to it.

Please accept my apologies. I in no way meant the way it came out. :(

[NJrottielover]

I am by no means claiming to be an expert, but aren't there thousands of dogs of all breeds out there who supposedly "need" to be the only pet in the household as a result of dog/dog aggression? These dogs come from reputable rescues, shelters, etc., and may be the sweetest dogs in the world with people. This poor pup, assuming you got him at 8 weeks, was only 11 weeks old when he died. A tiny baby, and a very easy accident to happen with a full-grown Rott. All dogs living in the same household occasionally get into scuffles with their "brothers" and "sisters", but it's usually quick and broken up easily. Also the dogs are usually about the same size so there's not a huge concern about one dog overpowering the other. This situation was different, and a horrible tragedy occured. Therefore, Z should not be considered an untrustworthy dog by all accounts because of this incident. If that lab was full-grown and they got all riled up because of the delivery guy, they perhaps would have scuffled a bit and then gotten over it. No big deal. I guess I'm just upset that- as usual- it's the dog who suffers. I'm not saying it's not extremely upsetting to the OP's family, but by passing her off to another family or putting her down, well...it's just sad and can be avoided IMO. I hope that she can be evaluated by a behaviorist and that things work out for her and Z's dad.

[ZodiacsDad]

To button up the issue for now, we allowed Z back into the house last Thursday night, three nights after the incident. My wife called our local Vet, great people there, and they hooked us up with a behavior theripist, and she explained the situation with the other two incidents as well.

She basically stated many things you have all touched upon, and helped us realize we were acting in haste to remove Z from the family. We do not want to compound the mistake with more mistakes, and we are approaching this issue one day at a time.

We have a baby gate that separates the den, 5 stairs, and the rest of the house, and whenever Z and Morgan are together we are watching every second. If we leave the room, we put Z in the den area, where she has had a pappazon (sp?) cushion to sleep on for quite a while, so she's used to going down there anyway.

Plus, this gives Z a break from Morgan's (my daughter) romping on her, and give us piece of mind while we are not observing them together.

She's still the best dog we have ever had, very gentle and loving, and in good health, speaking of eye problem's. We did have to remove an infected lid? some sort of tear issue about a year ago, so we have been watching her eye sight issue closely.

We will continue to work her with commands and exercise her very well on our 5 acres.

And on our next vacation, we are boarding her with a kennel that offers a dog 'class' where they work with dogs together, and we'll continue to expose her to more dogs, and the new little rotty puppy our neighbor bought from a BYB. (we tried to tell them not to do it, oh well).

[Bucky's Mom]

Thanks for the update - I wish you well - I like someone who comes here -asks questions and LISTENS to the answers - Lisa (Bucky's Mom)

[shybird]

I am so happy to hear that you are going to work this out. Doing anything in the heat of the moment based on emotions will only get you in trouble. I know, I've been there. Good luck and keep us posted on Z. I am sure e are going to hear many good things about him in the future.

[tilerspop]

That's good news. :) I'm glad you decided to keep Z with you and try to get past this. Keep us posted. It sounds like you're on the right track.

[Michele Baxter]

Z's Dad,
I also live in Lexington. While I am not a professed rottweiler "trainer" or behaviorist, I do know a lady in the area who has trained, titled, and bred rottweilers for over 25 years. My measly 11 years in the breed pales in comparison to the experience and knowledge that she possesses. :) She is an experienced behaviorist who does evaluations for various shelters, rescues, etc. in the area--more importantly she knows ROTTWEILERS and their behavior. If you have any questions or would want someone to do another evaluation please feel free to PM me and I will put you in touch with her. I am listed in Lex. phone book, but last name is Boyd now. Look me up if you have problems.
I also know of a wonderful trainer who offers regular classes in the area and who works with Working Breeds and knows how to train them! Be very careful who you work with---there are some not so ethical trainers in our area. Good luck to you, I applaud you on your efforts so far. Please let me know if I can help.

[KatMc]

Way to go, hope this works out in the best interest of all in the family!

Kathy

[Storm]

Glad to see that you have made an effort to work through this, it sure is disheartening when something like this happens, wish you guys all the best.

[LORHEL]

So glad to hear you are so committed to your rottie.... I hope it works out for you, and your family...nothing but the best from ours to yours...:D