Rottweilers & children: Best case scenarios

[wilko]

Sorry about the excessive length and typos in the above - I usually preview my posts and try and edit them a bit but I pressed "submit" by mistake this time :)

[JoJo]

Excellent excellent post! I vote to have this a sticky also. What great words with all the right antidotes for the two simple words meaning "COMMON SENSE". And those are the words that always come to my mind when I read about all the scenerios listed. What happened to plain old common sense or the lack of?

We always say, "The Rottweiler is NOT for everyone". Well this post is one of the reasons why! People have to be honest with one self and take into consideration all that is required. No one here is saying that a new parent can't have a rottweiler. What this post is saying is to be honest and have common sense. I agree with it 100%!

Let me also say this. I WAS one of those people who thought that the rottie was a baby killer! My daughter got her first rottie when she was pregnant with her first child! And yes....she will be the first to tell you that she got LUCKY!!! And I thank God each and everyday that herself and her husband had one major thing going for them "after the fact" was that they finally got some "common sense" and educated themselves about the breed and did a fine job training not only with their dog, but their child. Oh did I say train the child? That's a given with ANY dog that most new parents (dog owners) don't think about! But again I must stress that they GOT LUCKY with their pick of the litter. If that dog was high driven and more stubborn then she was, and they didn't take the time to learn everything they could to make it work, the dog would have been another statistic! And folks, this scenerio is not in the norm with new parents. That is why this post is so important. It's called a reality check!

JoJo

[ILoveRotts]

wow! It's amazing to me that a group of Rott owners can have such varying opinions of the breed.

1st let me say that I hope the parents of my daughter's future friends don't read the original post or she won't have any. Also, I'm glad that our local Rott rescue knows us well so if we ever want to get another Rott they won't turn us down because of kids.

My Rotts have been excellent with children of all ages. Children need to be taught to respect the dogs as well as the dogs trained to be with children. We got into Rotts because we read about their great Rep with children. I'm sure as with any breed not all are good but in my experience they are very tolerant.

And for the record - I didn't get lucky --- I don't think that is possible with 4 rescued Rotts (may Rusty rest in peace).

[ILoveRotts]

I left after my original post and just had to come back. This is eating at me.

Here in these forums we complain endlessly how our breed is stereotyped and then it is acceptable to stereotype owners as well. I guess I just hate all stereotyping. Probably because I never fit the mold - I'm female & can balance my check book, program my VCR as well as a computer, have an excellent sense of direction, drive a car better than most men, etc...

I know Judi you said not to take it personally but I can't help it. The OP is directing their post to people like me. I am a working parent with a toddler and multiple Rotts and a shar-pei puppy. Somehow I find time for them all. And we live in complete harmony. Yes, there was/is work involved in that but possible.

People who give up dogs will give them up no matter what the reason. They are irresponsible people and the rest of us shouldn't be punished for it. :(

Let's list all the other people that shouldn't get Rotts --

Poor --Money got to have some
Neat freaks - lots of shedding/yard digging/grass eating/puking...
hermits - Rotts like to be right there with you
People with cats - Rotts might eat them and or chase them
old people - might get hurt - Rotts can knock them down as well as children
stupid people - well they shouldn't be allowed to do anything....

[JoJo]

The OP is directing their post to people like me. I am a working parent with a toddler and multiple Rotts and a shar-pei puppy. Somehow I find time for them all. And we live in complete harmony. Yes, there was/is work involved in that but possible.

And that is exactly why I said that new dog owners and new parents shouldn't consider a rottie. You are right, you don't fit that mold, for you have "common sense". And that is one of the reasons why rescues are over runned with disposible rotties, for those parents don't have a clue. I wish they did, then we would see less rottweilers in rescue and one less excuse why not to keep it.

So the way I see it, you really shouldn't take this subject personally, for it doesn't have anything in common with you.

JoJo