Standing up for the breed

[jacksonsmom]

Hello All,

I just thought I would share a personal experience with you that happened today and see if you would of added anything. I told my Aunt a few weeks ago that we had a Rottweiler and she went crazy..."You shouldn't own a dog like that." "They are mean dogs" and so on. You know the regular stuff from uneducated people. Well I emailed her pictures of Jackson and Carson and she emailed me back today; her reply was:

"Enjoyed the pictures. You shouldn't have asked what I think...but you did so here goes. I know you were refering to the pictures, but when I see Jackson (whom is cute as he can be) with Carson it scares me TO DEATH!!! Last night,local news, 3year old little girl,21 stiches on face. Is it worth the risk? And there is a risk. You two think long and hard. I know that such can happen with any breed, but surely you must acknowledge that the risk is so much greater with his. Anyway, sorry to nagg, but love you guys and feel I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't.@#!"

so I kindly sent her the following reply back:

"On the subject of Jackson.....I understand your concern and I greatly appreciate it however you don't see Jackson with us and Carson. He is a wonderful dog and his temperament is awesome. We spent a great deal of time researching his breed and took special care with his purchase. The vet can not stop talking about how wonderful his temperament is. You are right those accidents can happen with any breed and does all the time that is why responsible ownership is key. A great example of this is my friend who has an 4 month old King Charles Spaniel. Sammy is the most horrible dog. He has bit her 4 year old daughter several times on the hands and legs as well as snapped at her face. Sammy (the spaniel) hates Jackson and attacks his legs and chest everytime he sees him....but Jackson is always the gentleman and just looks at him like "You dummy....my head is bigger than your whole body" Again, my friend is a very irresponsible owner and through her dog this shows. My point being that I love Jackson and even though to some that are not educated with the breed it may be hard to understand but I am fully comfortable with Jackson and Carson together if I felt otherwise I would not of purchased him. I trust our ownership, I trust our selctioon, I trust him, I trust us, and I trust our training. This breed is a strong breed and I know if biten his bite is stronger than a spaniel, but I also believe that when people who do not like the Rottweiler breed hear those stories they only hear part of the story and then there is one more bad mark on this wonderful breed. Do you hear if they were obedience trained? Do you hear if they were left alone with a child? (which should never happen with any breed...a dog will be a dog and a child will be a child) Do you hear whether or not the family took all the time and care involved with owning a dog not to mention this breed? Do you hear whether or not the owners researched the breed and bought from quality stock? Do you hear whether or not this dog had been an outside dog with little or no contact with people/children? Do you hear how much time the owner spent in socializing him/her? Do you hear whether the dog was injuried, sick, had weak nerves or was old? Do you hear whether or not the owner had knowledge of dog behavior and whether or not the dog was showing or had showed signs before the bite that the owner should of read and could of prevented with proper training before the horrible accident? Do you hear whether the dog had proper nutrition and vet care? The list goes on and on. You can't beleive everything you hear nor can you just look at the surface. It is a sad thing when owners aren't responsible and their own children pay for their mistakes and for that I am greatly saddened. I hope sometime you will have the privilege of meeting Jackson and see for yourself that he is a great dog. He is part of our family and if you look beyond his breed name you might find out that the news and media has portrayed a wrong picture of this breed. A well trained, well cared for, well bred, well socialized, well loved rottweiler is the most wonderful addition to any family. Please know that I am aware and responsible with Jackson and Carson as I would be with any dog and any child. They are both my babies and I watch and care for them in this manner."

I must say I am very upset that people can't understand how wonderful these guys are. Should I of added something or handled this differently? Thanks for your support and replies
:D

[ May 25, 2001: Message edited by: jacksonsmom ]

[alexav]

You may also want to add that the first three Registered Therapy Dogs with the Delta Society (One of the oldest, Largest, and best organizations for the promotion and training of Therapy dogs) were a Doberman, GSD, and a ROTTWEILER. :D

[Burnsway]

You may also want to add that the first three Registered Therapy Dogs with the Delta
Society (One of the oldest, Largest, and best organizations for the promotion and
training of Therapy dogs) were a Doberman, GSD, and a ROTTWEILER.

That would be around the same thing I sent my family of about 30 people all giving me hard time when researching to get my psyche. I also added a few links like this one:
http://hometown.aol.com/nogoodkris

[Goose's Guardian]

Jackson's Mom-

I thought your reply was awesome!

You're exactly right and I'm sure your aunt will see that, especially through the passion with which you defend good ol' Jax.

[LucyJ]

You did a great job!

When my mom told my very proper uncle that we adopted a Rottweiler, his response was "oh, sh!#". And my response was, "oh, well". They know we're excellent parents who would never knowingly endanger our children and it bothers me that they suddenly become narrow-minded enough to forget the type of parents we are.

I gave them all the right info, but you know how people can be, even the ones we love.

[kjs kids]

I never thought that I would face this situation, but my mom (who on occasion watches my two rotties) has stated that if we have kids she'd be very afraid of the dog/child situation. I just looked at her with a dumbfounded look on my face. We have several friends with children and the dogs are fine with them, just curious. I've never nor will I ever leave a child and a dog (any dog) unsupervised, and considering the amount of time/patience/money I've invested in them, I have no doubt that I child would be secure and safe in my home. You get out of them what you invest in them. kjs kids

[jacksonsmom]

Thanks everyone for your support!! You know just how to brighten someones day :D I just didn't want the email to sound to snotty or pushy but I did want to come across strong and confident!! Maybe one day everyone will be enlightened to what we already know...Rottweilers are the BEST!! Thanks again for your support as always it is appreciated ;)

Christa

[rottweiler_fancier]

Very VERY good response :)

[Rott'n'Plott]

I can relate to what Jacksonsmom is saying.
When my family (parents, 5 brothers & two sisters) found out I had brought home a Rottie all I got was flack. One of my brothers welcomed her in his home even while his wife hid in her bedroom. She has come to love her after repeated contact and accepts kisses from her now. Most of them have not met her and absolutely refuse to. I am not allowed to bring her to their homes. She stays outside when I visit and they will look at her out the window but they refuse to meet her. She sees them in the window and her wee tail wiggles like crazy and she is so happy to see them and I just don't understand how they can resist her "come hither" display. Rosey goes everywhere I go so in not accepting her I feel slighted and I tend to stay away too. My sister is always asking when I am coming for a weekend but I just put her off cuz I know she means "me" and Rosey would not be invited. To me it is much the same as if they said don't bring the kids. Wouldn't think of going without them. Wish I could find some way to win them over but their minds are so closed that I don't think we stand a chance.

[WorkinDogz]

Christa...

I know what you mean about this....my Mom had a STROKE when I told her about the addition of the tail-less wonder.

Keep in mind that I've been a Shepherd person from a "wee-one" at home (GSD's were our breed of choice when I was growing up; and the first breed I trained to title in AKC etc....so Mom is "familiar" with the breed and didn't bat an eye about raising 6 kids with 6 GSD's; because she "knows" Shepherds...although she reminds me about the frequency of vacuuming needed with them )

When I sent her pictures of Baby Elke (Rottie) and Baby Taylor (human) I got a PANIC call from her. (She knew I was bringing home another pup...but I guess I 'forgot' to mention it was a Rottie pup) "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING having one of 'those' dogs with MY granddaughter!!! YOU BETTER have the kennels up and 'that dog' better never lay a tooth on that baby or Grandma from Pennsylvania is going to give you the spanking of your life!" (She almost scared me when she said that! LOL )

Elke (with my help of course; since she doesn't have thumbs ;)) composed a letter to Grandma. She "lightened up" after this...and remembered suddenly that NO DOG will EVER be more important to me than my kids...nor will any dog not worthy, untrained or a psycho freak EVER call this place "home".

"Dear Grandma from PA,

My name is Elke and I'm your newest K9 grandkid! :) I can't wait to meet you and show you that I'm a very good girl, I love my new human family (especially the Taylor baby who always has such goodies in her hands and gives me so many kisses) and I promise that I will pay very close attention to what my human Mom says.

She's TOUGH! She doesn't let me or any of us dogs get away with things we aren't supposed to do! She shows me what she wants me to do...and because I'm so smart and love to work, I pay close attention and do my very best every time! My human Mom calls it "K9 Etiquette School"...I call it fun!

My human Mom said you're worried that I would hurt my human family. :( Let me tell you a little bit about myself and where I came from! Human Mom made sure I came from someplace that didn't breed dogs just for the sake of breeding them. She made sure that my K9 Mom and Dad were sound in the head, standard for my Rottweiler breed, able to work and were happy, well-rounded examples of what my breed is supposed to be.

You should have heard Human Mom and my breeder talking! Man Grandma..Human Mom didn't want to hear "fluff and cute"...she made him aware that she's no 'doggie' person and didn't want to play silly pet-people games! He loved her for that!!! They are great friends now and I get to take bye-bye rides (even though I aways get sick in the car :( ) back to the place that I came from to play and work!

Human Mom takes me EVERYWHERE! I even get to go with her to that place where they give healthy puppies like me their vaccinations; and help those puppies who are sick. (Human Mom calls it "her job". Do you know that place?)

Anyway Grandma in PA; I have to go now. Here are some pictures of me and my human family. Lots more will come as I grow up...Human Mom PROMISES! (Gosh Grandma...those other dogs that live here with me SURE DO LOSE LOTS OF HAIR! I don't lose NEARLY as much! ;))

Please don't worry. You'll love me when you meet me...and Human Mom will train me to be just as good of a girl as my Hairy GSD sister Aika. (She doesn't let me do naughty things either!)
XOXOXOXOXOX!
Elke

(It worked like a CHARM Christa...and made my mom laugh...and I didn't have to kick into "defense" with her. She still is a pro with that darn wooden spoon! The woman never misses!!! :D LOL )

[LucyJ]

WD, you are tooo funny! That was a great letter.

Christa, got your PM. Thanks. :)

[littlemeintn]

Okay, I know I am going to get a lot of heat from stating this, but I just can't help myself. Are you ready for this? I would rather have Rottie owners and their beloved pets come to my house any day than some people and their kids! I have seen dogs behave a lot better than some peoples' children. I have had kids in my home who should have gone to obedience class. Some of these children were never told, "no, you can't go through the bedrooms and closets." Children have gone through my purse, fridge and cupboards while their parents sit there like this is perfectly acceptable behavior. Yes, I am a mother and grandmother so I am not totally heartless. Yes, Rotties are a big breed and there has been much press about some "bad dogs", but children should never be unsupervised, especially with ANY ANIMAL. There, I feel a lot better. Bring on the bad comments, I'm bracing myself for them! ;)

[Argus44]

JacksonsMom,

I didnt think it was too harsh or snotty like you thought you might have been. Its just what we need in letting people know that all Rottweilers are NOT like they are made out to be in movies or when you hear of tragic incidences your Aunt spoke of.

Workin'Dogz....great letter...LOL! You mention Grandma is in Pennsylvania...I am too. I am looking for a new baby...is there any breeders in the tri-state area that you could recommend to me through a PM?? I read all your posts with interest and would appreciate any help i could get. :) Thanks!

[rebelgal7]

My mother wasn't too happy when I told her on the phone about Conan and Stellar, both Rotti Xs.
She said the usual stuff typical of anyone being narrowminded All because of the flipping news about Rottweiler attacks and the horror movies
.
I simply replied that you only get to hear and see the bad stuff not the good stuff. Then I mentioned that these dogs were 'unfortunate' because of their lack of training and neglectful, irresponsible owners who couldn't be bothered.

She haven't met our dogs yet and yet she felt that she could classified our dogs as dangerous!!

I guess I've got a job to do when she visits next week, I'm actually looking forward to educating her about the noble breed and the differences between 'bad' Rottweilers and 'Good' Rottweilers. Perhaps I should remind her about the differences between 'good' humans and 'bad' humans!! :D

[Bevyvuska]

I think it's just difficult when people just aren't informed correctly. My family has always been big on pets. Dogs, cats, birds, horses etc. My grandparents had A Springer Spaniel and then a Samoyed. When I rescued Moose & Baby (both pitt mixes I found wandering when they were 5 months old) My Grandparents FREAKED! You need to get rid of them ASAP. "Your not thinking of KEEPING them are you???" "You might be able to handle them now, but what about when you have kids!???" Both of them know me VERY well, we are a very close knit family. They have seen me with all the animals I helped train & care for growing up and how I have been with Tippsy (my first pet on my own). But they just had such a bad image of Pitts (didn't have a problem with Tippsy being a Rott Mix)that they thought I was out of my head. I will say they changed their minds since they have met Moose(rott/pitt)(we decided to keep him & found a home for Baby) and seen how well behaved he is and that he is just a Lug, they changed their minds. So they'll come around hopefully. ;)