Dynamics of 3 Rottis

[rdm3]

Hi,

I have a "Dear Rotti" advice question/request.

I presently have two rescued Rottweilers, a
7 1/2 year old male and a 4 year old female. Both are alpha dogs, and both are Certified Therapy Dogs, visiting hospitals and nursing homes. Both are neutered/spayed. I have been asked to adopt a 3 year old unneutered male Rotti. I am told this male is not an alpha male. He has been on the show circuit, but not used as stud (to my knowledge).

What might the dynamics be of having 3 Rottis, two males and a female? Particularly with the new male being unneutered. My two Rottis are very compatible and are inseparable (sort of a Pete and Re-Pete combination). The female is only compatible with Rottis; very aggressive towards all other dogs, especially small dogs (she was bait for a Pit Bull during the 1st year of her life and apparently bred before the age of 1). She is very loving and gentle with all people and children My male has been with me for 6 years and my female for 3 years.

Not a lot of information, but I am concerned with the dynamics of 3 Rottis. I hope you can help. Thank you.

[Carina43]

OOOOOkkkkkk.....

I'd be VERY careful. I have three Rottweilers (and one Nottweiler), and my two males cannot even be in the same room - we have to keep them separated at ALL times. It is a giant pain in the butt - and we have a large house (several door to the outside!) and two separate yards plus acreage. I do not believe we could do this easily with less space.

Two same sex dogs can be quite a problem - I'm sure you know that. It's one thing tolerating other dogs in a show/training/neutral situation, but quite another if they're expected to get along in the same household. I don't think "alpha" is a blanket term you can really apply to any dog in all situations...status seems to be quite complex.

I won't bore you with the story of how ended up with the two - Dutch came into the household as a 3-4 yr old intact, dog-aggressive, quite hard male. Oh yeah, he was pretty much untrained too. It was supposed to be a temporary situation...but a year later we still have him. He instantly hated Cooper on sight - and Cooper is generally good with other dogs but apparently won't tolerate anyone else pulling attitude ...we've had two (and I hope to Dog we never have another) fights - they are very scary and we were extremely lucky neither dogs nor humans were hurt.

SO - I would (as I bet most here would) be really really REALLY sure this will work out, and make sure also you can return the dog if it doesn't. How sure are you that your female will tolerate another dog coming into the house - not as a visitor, but to live?
I'm seeing big red flags here, just based on the information you gave...I know there are plenty of people who have a number of dogs and they get along fine.

Can you do several meetings on neutral ground, and have a trial visit? Have your dogs "entertained" other dogs in your house before? How well do you know this potential adoptee, and why are you being asked to adopt him?

Anyhow - that's my legnthy .02...I guess it really comes down to the individual dogs as to how the pack dynamic will work out. I'd just hate to see you in the same situation as us, with two dogs being kept apart all the time. It's definitely challenging!

Good luck - hopefully you'll get useful feedback from others, let us know how it works out. Oh yeah, and welcome to rott.net. :)

[Rott-Wiley]

I have to agree with Carina. For many years we kept 4 large working dogs in our household. We never owned more than one male and 3 females at any one time and always introduced the new addition to the family as a puppy. I would seriously consider what you want to do and the possible problems you would be getting into.

[Sharon Marples]

If you've been asked to adopt him, why is he not being neutered prior to being placed?

Do you know if the original breeder has been contacted about his placement?

Just curious. I would also be very careful in bringing in an un-neutered male into your household without having a "trial" get-together on neutral ground. Your present male may feel that he needs to "defend and protect" your female, etc. It's much harder to introduce two older males to each other than a puppy to an older dog.

Sharon