Any words of advice for a new Rotti X owner?

[Stubby]

Hi gang. I am the new owner of a Rotti Shepard cross. She's got all the Rotti colour and markings, so I guess she is more Rotti than Shepard. I picked her up yesterday from an rescue mission. She's about 7 weeks old and has a pretty good set of lungs on her. Right now she is in her crate, howling for attention. :D

Any words of advice for a new owner you may have?

Do's, dont's etc on crate training, basic potty training and any other training that I may find usefull.

At what age should I begin teaching her sit-stay and other basics. When is a good age for formal training?

Oh, and any words of advice on favourite play toys or foods?

TIA

Stubby

[KatMc]

Congratulations on your new addition! What's her name?

I'm the proud mom of 2 Rottie X's. Delia is about 2 years old now and Sooner is about a year and they are both adopted.

I don't think it's ever too soon to start on basic obedience. They may not pick up right away, but it's not too early to start.

As far as house breaking, I have always taken mine out as soon as they ate, as soon as they woke up and whenever they start pacing. Before I put them in the kennels and as soon as I bring them out. And in case I miss a time it's every 2 to 3 hours when they are young. Then I praise the heck out of them when they have done their business, but in the mean time I'm walking around saying "potty".

A few things I wish I had done different on training them to potty, I wish I had taught them to use a bell (if I ever get another young one, that's on my list of things to do) and I wish I had gotten them used to pottying when they are on lead. When we are traveling it is so hard to get Sooner to go potty, makes long stops.

Every other kind of training is consistency and there is a lot of knowledge on this board about that!

Congratulations and enjoy her!

Kathy

[Stubby]

Well, so far we have named her Bear, because thats what she reminds us of :)

I think the wife is happy with that name, so I'm sure it's going to stick. I've been doing the potty training as you describe. What's this about using a bell to signal potty time??

Stubby

[Sansano]

Hi and welcome to the board. Way to rescue!! My first suggestion is to go through the archives on this site. There is some great information within. Secondly I highly reccommend two books. They are both paperbacks and very reasonable in price. The first is "The Complete Idiots Guide to Rottweilers". Don't be insulted by the name. It is a great book. The second one is called "The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson. Again, I can't say enough about this enlightning book. Good luck.

[KatMc]

A friend of mine mounted a bell down low enough for the dog and everytime they went out she would ring the bell. The dog now rings the bell to go out. I think I have seen it discussed on this board as well. I think it would be a great way to signal (instead of having to watch for the pacing act!).

I think Bear's a neat name for a Rottie!

Kathy

[Chantal]

Our Maggie will be 1 next month. Our neighbors gave us the book "The Art of Raising A Puppy" by the Monks of New Skete. I swear this is why we have a fabulous dog. It tells you about potty training, crate training, showing the puppy that you are the Alpha dog, and how to start your obedience training. I can't recommend it enough!

[Stubby]

Hey, thanks for the recommended reading! I have a couple of general books on dogs, but I think I will be at the book store today to pick up the one you just mentioned and the "Complete Idiots guide to Rotti's"

Cheers!

Stubby