A Rotti and a Pit?

[aquarius3079]

A few questions....

We have 10 month old Rotti and have been thinking about getting a second dog in the next 6 months. Is this too soon? Does he really wish he had a companion or is that just us?

We are thinking about getting a Pit Bull and were wondering who has this combination and how they get along. I have read the posts and understand that we need to get a female to compliment our male Rotti.

Any info and opinions are apreciated! Thanks!!

[Brooke&Ryan]

There are actually a few forum members that I can think of that have Rottweilers and Pitt Bulls & they are completely fine together. Maybe they'll chime in here.

If it was me getting the dog, I'd wait. We're interested in possibly adding a female to our family once Julius is three. I would just concentrate on making the current dog as well trained as possible before adding another dog into the mix. I know that at 10 months old Julius was still kind of in his "angel" phase. I thought he would stay that way & although he is the sweetest dog he has done some things to test us (not wanting to heel after doing so perfectly for awhile, etc.) & we had to kick his butt back into daily training to deal with that. I don't know what I'd do with another puppy.

He doesn't want another dog to play with although that would be fun. He wants your attention.

:)
Brooke

[aquarius3079]

The companion thoughts come from how Link loves to go to Grandma's and play with her 2 dogs.

I agree about the training and he is in his second round of training now, he loves school! We just wanted to get some opinions, thanks.

[flyballmom]

I'm one of those members that has "one of each." Honestly, if I were you I'd wait till your Rott was just a bit older before adding a Pit Bull...or any dog for that matter. My Rott (female) was almost 6 when I rescued my male Pit as a 4 mos. old pup. Prior to that she'd lived peacefully with my room mates female Pit Bull...she's about 3 years younger that my Rott. You will have 2 dogs of breeds that require ongoing training and socialization. You also will have to face criticism from different sides...more people seem to be prejudiced against Pits than Rotts. Be prepared to continue some sort of training on an ongoing basis...you will have 2 dogs that need to have a job. If you don't give them one, they'll find one, and you might not like their choice. Be prepared to have 2 dogs that get along great one minute and are squabbling the next. Be prepared to have squirt bottles in every room. Be prepared to not leave the 2 dogs unsupervised together for any length of time. My Rott and Pit are "best buds"...most of the time. I also know that if anything gets "started" neither of them will back down. That said...my two are great play buddies. Both can take the rough neck behavior of other, bounce back and "give it right back." This is in no way meant to discourage you...just be prepared.

[spidey]

I'll chime in and also advise you to wait until you've finished raising the puppy you have now successfully before adding another dog of any breed. Nothing wrong with adding a Pit once the Rottie's grown up (i.e. 3 or older), but adding one now will mean that one or both won't get the attention they need to mature as well as they might. When you do decide to get another, you're right to make sure it's the opposite sex from your Rottie, just to minimize the chances of running into problems. Wait, put your energy into turning your Rottie into the best possible dog you can, keep taking him to play with the other dogs in the meantime, then get a Pit in a year or two. :) Remember also that Rotties tend to lose that desire to play with other dogs as they mature, so the way he is now with other dogs may very well not be the way he is a couple of years from now.

[aquarius3079]

Thanks for the advice. Link is a great single dog and we wanted to make sure that wouldn't change if and when we decided to get another dog. After all Link and the kitty come first! We are taking your advice to heart.

Flyballsmom,

If you had it to do over again would you go with a second Rotti over the Pit for a more harmonious existence or another breed altogether?

Thanks!

[flyballmom]

Aquarius, no, I'd have the two of them together again in a heart beat. The are both the most awesome dogs I've ever had, in different ways. To me it's worth the extra effort. My next dog is going to be a Rott, that doesn't mean I won't add another Pit again someday. ;)

Originally Posted by aquarius3079

Thanks for the advice. Link is a great single dog and we wanted to make sure that wouldn't change if and when we decided to get another dog. After all Link and the kitty come first! We are taking your advice to heart.

Flyballsmom,

If you had it to do over again would you go with a second Rotti over the Pit for a more harmonious existence or another breed altogether?

Thanks!

[papa bear's mom]

I think waiting a bit will help as well. Although I do not own a Pit (I do like them though ;) ) I know from my own experience that it is best to wait until the first dog is really trained well. We had just Lexi (she is now 3, got her at 8 weeks old) for at least a year before we adopted an older rescue, Tasha, who is 13, and we really own took her on b/c my in-laws were neglecting her health big time. She wasn't really planned, but she needed help so bad there was no other choice. Then we had Lexi & Tasha for about a year before we adopted Belle, who is now almost 3. We got Belle at four months, and I think it really helped b/c Lexi was already trained and very obedient, so she kind of led the way to teaching Belle correct behaviors. Then after having the three of them, we waited almost two years before we adopted our rescued Rottweiler, Papa. He is progressing nicely...he is going to be 2 next Saturday. He has behavior issues (fear aggression) so it really helps having the other girls trained rather well already b/c Papa really needs some work to becoming a gentleman. We are really concentrating on Papa's aggression issues now, as we had NO IDEA what we were getting into with him, as the rescue did not witness any kind of behavior whatsoever that we started to see shortly after we took him home. But we adopted him; we'll fix it. I just think really getting your first trained rather well, as the other members have suggested, is a great idea. In about one year or two, then look into getting another one. Good luck - glad to see that you will give a Pit Bull a nice home....they get a bad rap, too. Every Pit I've ever met has been just so sweet. :p

[rotticrew]

I too would suggest that you wait. I have a 13 month old male and had a 8 yr old female that we lost about a month and a half ago. When she passed my boy was so sad and wouldn't eat so we got him a friend. She was 8 weeks old when we got her. My male Rocco was the most mellow pup I had ever seen and I think alot of it was because our female was older and very well trained when we got Rocco, and he kind of followed her lead.Now it is like he is reliving his puppyhood...in every sense. Now I am working just as intensely with him as I am with my new lil' girl. I mean we still were in classes with him but it is stuff like dragging out kids's toys and chewing on them and things he knows he should not do but because she does it, it's like he can't resist. So I definetely think it is better to wait till the are older and more mature ;) to add a new lil' one.


ROTTICREW

[aquarius3079]

Well we just found out last night that we got the house that we wanted and we move in just 5 weeks ! So our lives are going to be doing some serious readjusting in the meantime. First on the list...a fenced backyard, a 1/2 acre, hey I'll take what I can get ;) .

Then settle in and maybe in a year another pup. So thanks for all your suggestions and we will keep it all in mind as we get ready to pull our hair out for the next month! :D