MORE questions 'bout my new Rotty!

[deadhead]

Thanks in advance!

1) At 6 mos. people are telling us to move on to dog chow. We have been told that he will not require as much food. Currently we give him Purina Puppy chow, and about 5 cups a day. Thoughs? I wonder if that is enough food as it is?

2) He has his tail, I love it, but how common is this? Why do Rotts have their tails clipped?

3) Good toys? We have tried several bones, but stay clear of raw hide and real bones as real bones can break off in sharp jagged pieces and hurt them, and rawhide can swell in their stomachs. We got a compressed corn startch bone which has lasted a few days and he loves it. Thoughts? (ps, have a kong alread, as well as a rope)

4) Good tips and tricks for training them? I have had several labs and have traines them very well, but as Bailey, the rotty will be much larger most likely, I want to lay down the laws now. He jumps sometimes up on me and my g/f and doesn't bite, but likes to chew delicately on my hands and feet. As he is teething, and in a chewing stage, I understand this behavior, but at 100 lbs, both could become a bit of a problem.

5) He is 53 lbs at 6 mos, is that a likely indicator of a 100 lb + dog?

6) Other than Canidae, what are good foods? How much should I be feeding a 6 month old 50+ lb rotty?

7) Lastly, I know I have asked this before, but we were told he is not all Rott. They actually told us he was part German Shepard. I don't see this at all. Below are a few pics of him. He seems a bit lean and lanky for all rott, but do you think this is the way he should look at 6 mos if he is all rotty? Does he appear 100% rotty to you?


Let me just say that we adopted him about 3 weeks ago from the pound and he has been the best dog! Very obedient, not a single accident in the house, extremely good with kids and adults, strangers and other pets.

I VERY VERY much appreciate all of he info that you hall have been so kind as to share with me already. THANKS from me and Bailey!

Picture1 Picture2 piture3 Please post pictures in chit chat and picture this only please.

[JD102175]

Some people here feed puppy formula up to a year, some not at all. We switched Brodie to adult when he was approx 9-10 months old.

Tailed Rottweilers are very common in some other countries, but that is because tail docking has been outlawed. The original purpose for docking the Rottweiler's tail was to prevent it from getting caught in the wheel spokes as they pulled carts. In modern times it is done because that's how it's always been and it is part of the AKC standard. I personally like the docked look, but would not hesitate to take in a tailed one should one come along.

RAW bones are great for dogs. They do not splinter like cooked bones, which is why you should never give a dog cooked bones. Brodie loves to be give a raw or frozen soup bone. You can get them very cheap from almost any local grocery store in the meat department. We picked some up a week or so ago for $.26 for a package of 6 bones that were cut in 3 - 4in. lengths.

We feed Brodie Nutro Natural Large Breed, which you can get at PetsMart or PetCo. Nutro is a mid-grade food. It's not as good as Canidae, Innova, Wellness, or Royal Canin(which can also be found at PetsMart I believe) but it is better than the mainstream grocery brands, Science Diet, and IAMS.

He looks all Rott to me. Brodie is also a tall lanky dog. He is almost 30in. tall and currently weighs 106lbs.

Your boy is very handsome. Congrats on getting him.


Jaime

[LavenderRott]

He is a lovely boy and I still think that he is all Rottweiler.

I would get him off of the puppy chow and on to just about anything else. There is another thread in nutrition that rates the different foods.

My Chase rough houses with me, when she is invited to, and I have never had a problem. She stops immediately when I so out and she won't do it with my kids.

Long tails are quite common in Europe, where it is illegal to dock them. Not so common here but not rare either.

[pfoley]

He looks like a pure-bred Rott to me; one with a tail.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by deadhead
Thanks in advance!
3) Good toys? We have tried several bones, but stay clear of raw hide and real bones as real bones can break off in sharp jagged pieces and hurt them, and rawhide can swell in their stomachs. We got a compressed corn startch bone which has lasted a few days and he loves it. Thoughts? (ps, have a kong alread, as well as a rope)

I would suggest Nylabones which can be found in most pet supply stores (PetCo, PetSmart, etc.) & they last a long time. Julius had one when he was younger which he didn't touch until someone on the forums told me to rough it up a bit with a file. So we did that & Julius LOVES to munch on them. Especially the wishbone shaped Nylabone. For some reason he chews on that one more than any of his other ones. I think because it's awkward to get in his mouth. Plus they can be boiled to sterilized & are wonderful to keep in the crate when you're away since they really aren't able to bite off big chunks. ;)

Also....another vote for raw bones. Julius ADORES them & is actually about to get one tonight. We went to the supermarket & got a ton of them.

Also---here is a website w/ a list of the top ten dog foods as rated by the Whole Dog Journal. http://members.aol.com/smplyschnz/nu...wdjtopten.html They're all good foods! We have Julius on Canidae & he eats four cups a day.....We're really pleased with the results & he eats less....so we actually save money...which is nice. :)

Good luck with the new puppy! He looks like such a sweetie! Give him a hug for me!

:)
Brooke

[deadhead]

this is such good info!!!

can you clarify for me what the raw bones are? I can just go to a grocery and get them?

and the ones they sell in the pet store are cooked?

and the dogs like the raw bones? they don't splinter?

very cool. what, do I just ask the butcher?

are they messy?

they are perfectly safe as well?

lastly, the Nylabones, do they prefer a certain flavor? Bailey seems to only like flavored bones, and he digs these corn starch bones

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by deadhead
can you clarify for me what the raw bones are? I can just go to a grocery and get them?

and the ones they sell in the pet store are cooked?

and the dogs like the raw bones? they don't splinter?

very cool. what, do I just ask the butcher?

are they messy?

they are perfectly safe as well?

lastly, the Nylabones, do they prefer a certain flavor? Bailey seems to only like flavored bones, and he digs these corn starch bones

The bones that we get for Julius are sold as soup bones in the meat dept. of the grocery store. I would just ask the butcher for marrow/soup bones & they're usually maybe 4-5" long. They're safe for your dog. We still supervise Julius when he's chewing them.

As for the Nylabones....Julius has 3 or 4 & I think that all of them are either Chicken flavored or just "original" flavor (whatever that might be....). He likes those....but I think they also have liver, chocolate & some other kind to choose from. When we first got it Julius could have cared less about it....but once he finished teething he went to TOWN on the nylabones.

Hope that helps!
:)
Brooke

[JD102175]

Ask the butcher for some soup bones, he will know what you are talking about. Some already have them packaged and out on display in the meat department. They will be marked as soup bones. They are the bones that are left over after the butcher has taken the meat off to sell. There will still be a little meat on the bones. They can be messy, so we either but down a blanket for Brodie to chew them on or we put them in his crate for him to chew on. We will give Brodie one right out of the package when we get home and then freeze the rest. We give him another a week or two later. In the meantime he is more than happy to knaw on the bone he already has even after he has stripped all of the meat and eaten all of the marrow. Knawing on the bones also helps to keep his teeth nice and clean.

The bones they sell like this one at Petsmart, Choobles' , are pressure cooked, I think. We on occasion give these to Brodie also. Bones that are pressure cooked do not become as brittle as regular cooked bones and therefore will not splinter if accidentally swallowed. We watch him carefully with these though because he has managed to break off some pretty small pieces, and we promptly throw them away.

Most dogs love raw bones. The first time we gave one to Brodie he didn't know what to do with it though. He finally figured it out when he saw my Husky "go to town" on hers.

We have never had any problems with raw beef bones.

Brodie doesn't have a preference as to the flavor of a Nylabone, as long as he can chew on it he's happy .


Jaime

[los]

Yes, I do agree he looks all rottie to me too.As far as the food go you should be the best judge in that if he seems to be doing fine with the food your giving why change?? See I can give you advice of what I feed my dog but does that mean it will work for you ??? well good luck and enjoy your rottie tail and all.He looks great!!

[Rott'nKids]

Ok, my mind is a blank right now, what other bones besides beef can I give my two? Carl isn't much of a chewer and has thrown up from every soup bone I've given him, so he stopped getting them. Iria is an agressive chewer, but is VERY sensitive to beef. We're lucky if she only gets messy stools, usually it's throwing up, and a lot of it. We NEVER feed her beef, but I can't supervise my mother in law every second of every visit (Well, you say she's allergic to beef, but none of MY dogs have ever been!!! GRRRR). She learned, though, when her floor got messy very quickly.