Proper Rottweiler temperament

[damp]

I don’t think there is nothing wrong with the standard; the problem is that way too many dogs don’t come up to the standard and novices don't have the experiences to work a Rottweiler.

Is a Rottweiler who "loves everyone" and runs up to new people in happy greeting of correct temperament?

No it’s not!
In our mental test the dog is tested to see how it takes contact to other people. (You walk your dog “free” on leash around the spectators, no commands at all)

There are 5 boxes on the diagram for the judge to mark:
1) Refuses contact, grumbles/growls or tries to bite.
2) Avoids contact, cringes/crawl or walks away.
3) Accepts contact, is unengaged but dosen’t walks away.
4) Takes contact by itself, when the owner takes contact.
5) Shows insistent contact for no reason, jumps or barks.

Guess what is the preferred reaction!!!

I understand the need for peacable dogs in today's political and litigious society. Is the need for political correctness ruining the breed?

No I don’t think so.
Note the standard says: Placid in basic disposition (and not what a behaviorist and the owner has worked very hard for namely to cover the basic and true temperament.

It’s the dogs out of standard, mostly the "cute" pups and the poor dogs, we pick up all the wrong places, either because we lack of knowledge or try to safe them all or both.

What are the responsibilities of a breeder, in considering correct temperament?

The dam and sire needs much more than a CGC (and health papers and conformation titles) to determine the right temperament and worthiness for beeding!!!

From reading the forums here for years, I have never understood that breeders calculate with pet quality pups! What the heck is that, when we talk about a Rottweiler??? I do understand that not all dogs will be conformation champs , but they should be able to work and should be worked to prove they are biddable and eager to work!

He reacts to his surroundings with great alertness.

Great means: Suitable regarding to the situation!!!
A mental sound dog alerts with posture, body language, just walks to the front door and sit there etc. An out of standard dog barks it’s silly head of when ever it hears noises, people outside etc. (or it covers under the couch!)
Alerting is much more than (ill-timed) barking.

Finaly… there is nothing wrong with the standard… but what ruin our breed is self-appointed breeders/owners, who thinks they can evaluate their own cute dogs!

[MissingTalon]

Talon was ideal. He would sit back, stay alert and have the watch and wait attitude. He was never aggressive, either with humans or animals, he had an air of confidence which he never had to display or show who was alpha. He was so easy going. He accepted people or animals, only if I accepted them first,otherwise he was on alert. He was aloof around new people and he took his cues from me. Gawd , I miss him so much :(

[fbkeays]

A breeder friend of mine said that while it might be good PR for a rottweiler to be a therapy dog, a correct rottweiler would not be suited for therapy work. Not that they would harm anyone, but because they are supposed to be aloof and not form friendships quickly. She did not encourage any of her puppy buyers to do therapy and wouldn't sell to anyone that even thought of doing so as she knew that they would not like her dogs.
My Misty was a byb rott, but she had a correct temperament. For the most part she tolerated strangers. She stood or sat quietly for petting, but she didn't fawn all over the petters. She could be a lap dog with her human friends, but it took a long time before she would be so forward as to even put her head in someone's lap. She could size up a person in an instant and interactions were always on her terms.
My Duncan is a born therapy dog. I tell people that he was bred to be a therapy dog. He likes attention, he seeks out people that will give him attention. He instinctively knows how to smooze people. The older he gets the more I have to appologize for his pushy behavior to get attention. But it isn't as pushy as a lot of labs I know either.
Fizbin is a show dog. He is used to showing off for bait. But if no bait is forth coming and the other signs of impending attention are not there, he will ignore. He really doesn't go for strangers touching him unless it is a person that knows how to approach strange dogs and gives off the proper body language (respectful).
Cipher is just over a year and she still throws herself as some people, but less then when she was 6 months. She is getting pickier on who she gives attention to and allows to give her attention.
IMO, there is correct rottweiler temperament, "good" temperament (ie therapy dog candidates) and incorrect temperaments.

[damp]

Originally Posted by Ganko

Friendliness is a sign of confidence. An overly friendly Rottweiler is most likely a training based phenomena and not a genetic one.

I disagee. Overly friendly is not what the standard says and overly friendly can very well be a sign of insecurity!

Originally Posted by Ganko

I think that all Rottweiler puppies of stable temperament are very very friendly and we train them to stay that way. The recent trend towards positive experiences ALL the time for our pups in training (socialize with friendly strangers, friendly dogs etc) does not allow for the pups to learn to be reasonably wary of strangers.

I agree but the Standard is not about pups but mature adults.
Socialization is "back up" and "take care of" the genes... good or bad and to get the best out of the pup we have!
We can't change genes, no matter how much we socialize.

Originally Posted by Ganko

I am guilty as anyone in this. A friendly dog is easier to live with in our crowded society.

Yep but if you reread the Standard, it should be no problem to have a Rottweiler living up to the current Standard, being political correct and also suitable to modern society ... if the pup with the true genes is properly socialized and trained.

[rottielover2004]

ok, so what would you call a mature rottweiler. Especially a male.

[Dugganmom]

My dog does not run up to people..as others have stated he could care less unless they want to pay attention to him, but when they ask me if it is ok to approach him he wiggles his but and licks like crazy(almost knocking people down with his big rotty butt of course) i also have a choc.lab and she is a little more stand offish than duggan is

[dmoniz]

Originally Posted by damp

There are 5 boxes on the diagram for the judge to mark:
1) Refuses contact, grumbles/growls or tries to bite.
2) Avoids contact, cringes/crawl or walks away.
3) Accepts contact, is unengaged but dosen’t walks away.
4) Takes contact by itself, when the owner takes contact.
5) Shows insistent contact for no reason, jumps or barks.

Guess what is the preferred reaction!!!

I'm guessing #3. So can you check 2 boxes? Logan accepts contact and becomes engaged, but does not take contact by himself - I usually tell him to go say hi, otherwise he stands there. This is now that he is older, up until about 12-18 months of age he would take contact by himself. Of course this is for strangers not people he knows!

[damp]

Originally Posted by rottielover2004

ok, so what would you call a mature rottweiler. Especially a male.

2 - 3 years...all depending of the individual dog.

An educated evaluator can see so much in a proper mental tests... designed for a specific age ( puppy test, youth dog test and mentaltest) and the test will be much more reliable than the self-appointed tests and evaluations done by breeders suffering from "kennel blindness " and the tests done by housewifes suffering from "enlarged heart"

[damp]

Originally Posted by dmoniz

I'm guessing #3. So can you check 2 boxes? Logan accepts contact and becomes engaged, but does not take contact by himself - I usually tell him to go say hi, otherwise he stands there. This is now that he is older, up until about 12-18 months of age he would take contact by himself. Of course this is for strangers not people he knows!

You are wrong...
and no... The judge evaluates what he sees and not what the owner says... he never did that before LOL

[jakesfostermom]

Damp - I've got a #1 - please tell me that's not the preferred???? I personally like #4..........

[debbiej]

I've wondered about this lately also. When I first rescued my dogs, I had many questions about the breed. I had them answered here. I think I had my eyes opened to what I had taken on, and it wasn't candy coated. I am ever grateful for that. We have dogs that are considered one of the working breeds, and they are different from hounds or herding or other types of dogs.

I've had lots of kinds of dogs before owning my two rotties. Even though not well bred, I can see shades of the true rottie temperament in mine, and I can see that I must learn how to responsibly handle them.

My only real contribution to this thread is that I would like to see more people realize that the true Rottweiler is not for everybody. The dog that conforms to the standard isn't a cuddly teddy bear, shouldn't be portrayed as an "easy" dog, needs more training and leadership than many other breeds. If people realized this, maybe the breed's future would be more secure, and people would educate themselves and think twice about being rottweiler owners.

[damp]

Originally Posted by jakesfostermom

Damp - I've got a #1 - please tell me that's not the preferred???? I personally like #4..........

I hear you... but NO ONE can tell you what mark/# your dog will get if not tested and evaluated.

... and it's not about what I or you prefer ... but what what the standard says! If I don't like that, there are so many breeds to choose about to suit our needs and wishes.

[Ganko]

OK. There are harder Rottweilers than others, but normally ( I would think) that there are variances within a litter. For instance I have just met with a group of dogs all from the same litter (at varing times over the last two months). One bitch is a very hard dog, the definition of aloof. One male is a freindly cofident guy who will walk right up to you to say HI! They are both well behaved "perfect" dogs. Another sybiling is a therapy dog.


I would not say that it is the breeders fault if one pup out of a litter is an aggressive "social climber" (I've been reading behavior books) and another is shy or fearful. As long as the majority of the pups are in a good range of temperament and the pups are mostly intelligent and healthy... GOOD JOB!

The question that comes to my mind is what do you do with the overly fearful pup or the very aggressive or independent pup? They are hard to raise properly and obviously should not be bred. But it is natural that they will occur even if you breed two dogs with good temperaments. One or two dogs with a bad temperment does not make a bad breeder.

It is up to the prospective puppy owner and the breeder to match the temperaments so both puppy and new owner end up happy. The rules say (my paraphrasing) that dogs that display aggression in the ring and that dogs that cower shall be dismissed from the ring. Other than these two faults, all temperaments are acceptable, of not ideal. So any of the evaluation discriptions numbered from #3 to 5 are OK (I would guess)

[damp]

Yes, there are variances…. but a good litter is well-known by similarity (in all ways) when tested… the rest is up to the owner… to use the potential.

Guess it’s time to repost this:
mental test
not to be holier… we have lot of crap here too... but to explain my thoughts and believes!

[dmoniz]

Originally Posted by damp

You are wrong...
and no... The judge evaluates what he sees and not what the owner says... he never did that before LOL

Well I know that, I was just stating what I have observed. I do think he is closer to the #4, but it all depends on how a stranger approaches him as well.

So what number is correct?