New rottie rescue,looking for advice and possible resources?

[girlunderainbow]

First, I am new to this board. I am in Texas, and work with a small non profit, no kill rescue group. Personally, I have 6 dogs-3 that are Rott/Lab, a Rat Terrier and 2 Chihuahuas. I have recently come to have into the
ownership of a Rottie girl, Roxy. I am seeking
some advice about her. Her whole story is on
link listed below.Other than the problem of
needing to get her spayed ASAP, I think she
may be aggressive toward cats and similiar
small animals. She has previously been with
Chihuahuas and another small dog, but I have
no way of finding out full history as her
previous owner left the State. My dilemna is
that the rescue group I am with is not strict
enough in screening people, much less to
adopt a dog with a few problems. We also
have no one else even capable of fostering
her at thist time. She is something of a
"houdini" dog, she digs under fences, can
open some types of doors in a house as well
as undo the latch on some crates.She is
doing well here, basics going great (didn't
have a CLUE how to act on lead). If all
continues to go well I would like to keep her,
unless she is unable to get along with my
dogs but so far there have been no problems
there. Any advice
about her or ideas of how that I might get
assistance with getting her spayed?
Amanda

[ptremaine]

No clue about what to do with a cat aggression, other than keep her away from cats. Lots of owners don't have cats - I'm one of them. My Rottie lives fine without exposure to cats, though she recently repeatedly attacked one in our yard. Other cats outside the yard she ignores. I don't consider not liking cats or hunting them a downside unless you make it out as one.

If she's tolerated little dogs, then that's good. Not every dog likes every other dog it's exposed to, and you can't assume a dog aggression unless you see something substantial like genuine dog aggression [snarling, lunging, snapping]. Also, realize that Dog Aggression is a recognized Rottweiler trait - it's listed in the breed standard [though many people will tell you it's not, it is there].

Spaying the dog - have you contacted your local SPCA shelters? Most of them will do spays on any dog, at substantially reduced cost. I paid $70.00 total, compared to a price of $250.00 to $350.00 from a vet. Too, some vets will offer a vastly reduced fee to spay/neuter. Many county animal agencies also have programs, notably SNAP {Spay, Neuter All Pets}, which is a nationwide program if I'm not mistaken. Do a Google.com search on "spay" and your geographic area. Or contact your local county animal shelter and the SPCA.

If you'd like to have her evaluated by someone who deals with purebred Rotties, do what I just did for another poster: run a Google search on "rottweiler rescue" AND "__________"[insert your location/state]. You'll pull up many rescue orgs, and contacts. Many of them will work with you and do an evaluation. Certainly worth making the calls.

Hope that helps you a bit and good luck with the dog. You didn't say, but how old is this dog, was she left at a shelter or do you know the owners? Is her health good, or does she have health issues? Was she used for backyard breeding or not? Lots of important information to have if you can get it.

PT

[girlunderainbow]

http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/mfdogwalk/roxy.html
Anyway, I can't believe I forgot to post the link. sorry. This tells all about Roxy.
The cat aggression to me is a downside, but if its there I feel it just has to be dealt with. And she *may* have been with a cat previously, unsure. I just had read another post on the forum re: rottie killing a pom..and some responses were that any dog that will kill another animal is unnaceptable. I just can't see this, as sometimes it happens, and there are dogs out there who's job is to kill other animals (like hog hunting dogs). The local SPCA, I"m a member of. Would spay her but they do not do a very thorough job of screening, imho. Of potential owners, I mean. As far as dog aggression, she hasn't been around my big dogs yet, around the little ones offlead is fine in house. Previous owners had her out in the yard offlead with a tiny Chihuahua at times. Also, my vet has offered to do the spay for $80 or less. A low cost spay /neuter van comes here bimonthly, but doesn't always take dogs and has no appointments till next month which is too late. WIll look up evaluations. THat was something else I had thought of. She is two years old, aprox. Old owner used her for backyard breeding, she had two litters with her. Recent owner who gave her to me GOT her to breed her.

[Carina43]

Hi Amanda...$80 seems awfully reasonable for a spay! I'm not sure a low cost clinic would do it for much cheaper...

As to cats, I can tell you how the last two Rottweilers I rescued were with Krazy, our dog-savvy cat. Daphne REALLY wanted to chase, but I don't think she had any intent to harm, she really seemed more playful. She and the cat squared off a few times and she got scratched on the nose...mostly we made sure that the cat had places to escape to, and Daphne got distracted with food or a toy each time she started to show interest in the cat. Over time she's learned that there's a lot more fun things to do and she mostly ignores him, except for little butt sniffs in passing. :)

Dutch was much more predatory around Krazy - he would get that stiff-legged, hard stare thing going and would actually start "stalking" Krazy. I believe he would harm the cat if conditions were right. But we pretty much did the same thing...AHAH when he started focussing on the cat, then something rewarding for redirecting his attention. We've had him 5 months and he mostly ignores the cat now, but is never unsupervised around him.

Anyhow - she is a really pretty girl! I read her story...keep in touch here. I imagine some manners and consistency might help with her Houdini tendencies...maybe spaying will help if she's having hormonal weirdnesses!

[girlunderainbow]

I too, think is very reasonable for a spay and it would most likely be less. I get a multiple pet discount, as well as sometimes more of a discount due to the work I do with the SPCA and personally. They only charged me $10 for a heartworm test, for example. I just don't have it right now us both being on the verg of starting new jobs. Going to find out if perhaps they can palp_her and tell if she is pregnant for sure, or if SPCA can do it then I can just adopt her from them. As far as cats, Roxy sounds more like Dutch. She is ALL EYES on cats, rats (we have n a cage in the living room) and chinchillas(now in comoputer room, were in living room). Wish I could talk to her last owner but its not possible. But yes, I know with time this can be worked on. Other dogs we have had started out similarly and get to where they no longer notice the cats/etc,but are still never left alone with them of course. Manners lessons so far going very good, she's a quick learner. Will let everyone know how it goes.
Amanda

[RottiMomCT]

Is Roxy your foster dog or your personal dog? If you adopted her thru a rescue they should have spayed her prior to your adopting her. If you are fostering her for the rescue, the rescue should be responsible for paying for the spay - not the foster home.

If she is aggressive towards cats and/or small dogs, she should not live with them. I hate to say this, but if she is a foster dog and there are no other places for her, that's not your problem...that's the problem of the rescue! DO NOT foster a dog simply because you'll feel guilty having her in a kennel!! If this dog has issues with your personal dogs, you are endangering your dogs and your home. If she's kenneled, and close to you, you can work with here there in terms of training & socialization...take her for rides to PetCo or PetSmart.

For resources, check out www.rottrescue.org - there is a link to some very good articles and training resources.

[girlunderainbow]

Roxy is a personal foster. I took her on personally, the rescue group I am with does not have a very thorough screening process, imho for any dog, much less Roxy. I am trying to find out if they will spay her and then I can adopt her, but so far they have not really said yes. Her whole story is on the link in my other post.

Supposedly, she has been with a cat and small dog in her previous long-term home, and in the last home she was in was with a very small chihuahua and some other dogs. She does not have issues with my dogs, she is adjusting very well I believe. I took her in because she was basically running loose in her previous home and was either going to get hit on the highway right by their home, or shot by rottie-hating neighbors. They also got her only for "backyard breeding" purposes. She can get out of most kennels anyway, but there is not a kennel available for her to stay in. PetCo and Petsmart are over an hour away, also.