1 year of a Rottweiler

[xl_target]

Esdee and Moin! Great doggie photos!

[dr.jayakumar]

friend,
rotts are the most dangerous dog to have at home.as very few of them are friendly.
anyhow you got thee best dog to gaurd your home.though you have trained him well,they will have a short fuse.always be on the safer side.they hate sticks.
thanks for sharing .
regards
dr.jk

[essdee1972]

Moin, lovely dog you had!! Would have liked to get Jojo and Ozzy together!

AGN, as long as your Chetak is silent, you are fine. Jojo doesn't like the Bullet sound!!!

Gents, please refer to Wikipedia on Rotts as to the "dangerous" stuff. Also check the various kennel club links below the article. Most of the rumours on Rotts are about as true as ..... well, gold at the end of rainbows???

There was a long article I read about the impact of Hollywood on "dangerous dogs". It seems when "Uncle Tom's Cabin" came out (long, long back), there was a scene showing bloodhounds chasing an escaping slave woman and her child. So, bloodhounds became the "bad dog" in those days. WW2 movies showing GSDs (German Shepherd Dogs) used on concentration camp prisoners ensured that the GSD breed had its day as the "worst dog breed". Similarly, dobermanns, rottweilers, pit bulls, all have had their day of notoriety, hence putting a new spin on the old phrase "every dog has its day"!! Funnily, the Alaskan Malemute / Siberian Husky, in spite of not being very good pets, had seen a surge post the release of 'White Fang". Dalmatians after ..... you guessed it, "101 Dalmatians", Pugs (in India) after the Vodafone ads. ........ Again, Dals are very very delicate dogs, prone to illnesses, blindness, etc. Pugs (their noses being what they are) are prone to asthma and other breathing problems, heart problems.

The Internet, as the biggest gossip monger in history, also plays an important role in demonising / sanctifying certain breeds. Also, the press treats dog attacks similar to firearm usage (and you know how they treat the latter!!). So you'll find thousands of stories about dog attacks, if you just do a simple net search (most will be duplications, anyway).

I think I'll someday make a movie about a killer Pomeranian Spitz, or a psychopathic Chihuahua!! (you put it in your pocket, it bites you "over there" )!!!

Actually, small dogs are more likely to bite, however, their bites are less likely to hurt. A GSD, on the other hand, can take your hand off!

A lot of canine (or human for that matter) aggression depends on how they are kept. Many, many "rich" people keep their dogs in huge bungalows / farmhouses, fed, trained, bathed, by servants. These dogs will consider the servant as their proper master, and can one day even bite the real owner (i.e. the guy who pays, but doesn't play!) These dogs also become possesive of the entire bungalow / farmhouse area as their property, and are likely to attack and probably kill any "unauthorised intruders". Of course, being dogs, they don't know all the laws of proportionate force and so on!

In contrast, if the dog is in the midst of a family (whether in a castle or in a slum), he'll in all probability grow to be a well-balanced, loving individual. And with big dogs, the problem is compounded, because very few people will have the courage to go up to him after he's 4-5 months old. There is a friend of my son, who used to run away from Jojo when he (i.e. Jojo) was so small we actually carried him out!!

Moreover, many people intentionally ill treat their dogs to make them ferocious, starving and beating them. Due to this treatment, these dogs are perpetually in an ill temper. If you have read (not seen the movie, actually read the book) "White Fang", this is how Beauty Smith turned White Fang into a killer dog. And due to the ill temper, they are on a short fuse, ready to bite and kill. Chaining dogs also has similar effects.

If you treat a human kid similarly, you'll get similar results, as Bollywood has shown time and again!! And as the terrorist recruiters all over the world have proved in real life.

There was a case recently, of a British soldier, posted in Afghanistan. He came across a wounded dog, hurt in a dog fight (the soldiers actually busted the dog fight). Obviously, being bred for fighting, he would have been ten times more aggressive than a normal dog. This sergeant smuggled him to base, cared for him. For some reason (doggie bush telegraph??) this sergeant became a focus point for wounded, hurt dogs, pregnant bitches. He effectively became a doggie hospital!!! All these dogs - stray feral dogs, fighting dogs, discarded guard dogs - were so-called "vicious killers". And none of them bit / attacked the sergeant or his colleagues!! In fact the dogs even warned them of mortar / sniper attacks by the militants!

A pet Rottweiler in UK, out on a walk with his master, ran off into the bushes, where a guy was trying to rape a woman. He chased off the would-be rapist, stood guard over the lady while his owner went for the bobbies, helped catch the rapist (poor chap was bleeding badly where the dog had bitten him) and won an award from SPCA UK.

If you get the dogs from champion bloodlines, as Moin and I have done, they are bred to be well-behaved in shows (the judges even poke around the dogs' "family jewels", and the dog should stand at attention all throughout!!!). So a part of the aggression is actually bred out of the system (just like aggression can be "bred in" in case of fighting dogs).

There is also a myth which says that the owners have to proportionately sized as the dogs (probably because of Paris Hilton and her Chihuahua ). I am 5'6", somewhat overweight on a sedentary frame!!! And I keep a Rottie!

[airgun_novice]

Speaking of "dogs"; the oldest named and in the *first* drama of human history with dialogs figures in the Rgved (named "Shwaan" ) who happens to be Lord Indra's friend. Then Lord Dharma also chose the form of a stray dog to test Yudhisthir's resolve and sense of justice in the Mahabharat. Quite a hero this animal is!

SD-> Chetak's a long way from Bullet - that's some relief for me.

[Vikram]

I agree to a great deal with Essdee. Most of the times it's the owners who are to blame.Those who do not understand the dog or wanted a status symbol or a need to make a statement or severely over compensate for something they do not have. I have known and seen many idiots who deliberately turn a dog into an aggressive one.They isolate them, restrict contact with any other people or animals and encourage aggressive behaviour by sometimes even making them attack smaller animals. Then there are the scum, the dog fighters.

I have seen the above said behaviour among many Indian dog owners where they particularly want an aggressive dog.

I want my dog also to be a defender of the family and stand its ground apart from being a friendly and welcoming companion to my family and friends.

My uncle's Doberman was a putty in the hands of kids who never showed any aggression to family or strangers.But, it went into guarding mode the moment it senses aggression in the others.

A good guard dog is not an aggressive dog. Period.

Having said that, there are some breeds which have animal aggression built into them-Pits, Dogos, Presa Canarios,Fila Brasilieros etc. Pits especially will turn on humans just to please their masters if they were trained to behave that way.

Understand your dog's breed. Most of the time, there are no bad dogs.Only bad owners.But, sometimes there are some mean SoB dogs, born just mean irrespective of breed.They must be put down without any ruth.

Best-
Vikram

[Priyan]

[ Image ]

STOP, 9gag ain't good fo' health

Nice dogs guys, I had a dog too when I was a kid. He was semi feral and was rarely chained. Sadly he caught rabis and had to put him down myself since no vet would come to euthanize an unchained rabid dog. I must admit, even though he was growling and drooling all the time, he wasn't hostile towards me when I went close to end his life. I took a dao and chopped his head clean off and cremated the dog and heated the dao to disinfect it and bury the ashes.
I might have the photos of him, I'll try to find the album and post photos of him here.
Remembering all this made me kinda sad

[hillsman]

[ Image ]

STOP, 9gag ain't good fo' health

Nice dogs guys, I had a dog too when I was a kid. He was semi feral and was rarely chained. Sadly he caught rabis and had to put him down myself since no vet would come to euthanize an unchained rabid dog. I must admit, even though he was growling and drooling all the time, he wasn't hostile towards me when I went close to end his life. I took a dao and chopped his head clean off and cremated the dog and heated the dao to disinfect it and buy the ashes.
I might have the photos of him, I'll try to find the album and post photos of him here.
Remembering all this made me kinda sad

Chopped his head clean off??

Hope you got your shots.

[airgun_novice]

[ Image ]

STOP, 9gag ain't good fo' health

Nice dogs guys, I had a dog too when I was a kid. He was semi feral and was rarely chained. Sadly he caught rabis and had to put him down myself since no vet would come to euthanize an unchained rabid dog. I must admit, even though he was growling and drooling all the time, he wasn't hostile towards me when I went close to end his life. I took a dao and chopped his head clean off and cremated the dog and heated the dao to disinfect it and buy the ashes.
I might have the photos of him, I'll try to find the album and post photos of him here.
Remembering all this made me kinda sad

Priyan, You certainly have nerves of steel if you could chop the head off the dog when you were a kid. Hats off to you ! I could never find guts to do such a thing.

[Moin.]

Thank You Gentlemen.

I do have a slightly different opinion. It is very difficult or impossible to suppress instincts ingrained in these breeds. It's after all generations of breeding after selecting a particular traits. These instincts may be suppressed to some extent, but one cqn't be very sure what and when these are trigerred.

Ozzy did have a trainer for basic obedience but used to occasionally snap and then would be very difficult to control even by the experienced trainer. This is when the bug*3r was about 7-8 months old. I shudder to think what would happen when he was fully grown. Although he was super friendly and all lovey dovey with me and mum, that was not the case with strangers. A lot of retired grandpas grandmas and kids in my building, my worry was what if he would jump on some old man, maybe just for play, the results would be rather unpleasant.

Vikram, you are right when you say, there are no bad dogs, only bad dog owners. In this case was me. Me in this case, Very wrong on my part to get such a large guard breed in such a small mumbai apartment.
Like Jojo is, the vet asked me as well to neuter him to control aggression. The vert said this would aggrevate on the Ozzman getting fully grown and starting to show interest in the femaile kind.

Broke my and mum's heart to let the munchkin go, was like her grandson " Ozu mera baccha"and cuddling and patting for mother india, but was best that we let him go to a good home.

There are 6 huge rottweilers in different families in and around where I stay, Not one can be approached or patted. 4 of them wear muzzles when their owners bring them out for walks.all oof them trained in basic obedience. I guess, dogs sense fear too and it is for an average joe, difficult to control fear when appraching a Rottie, dogs sense that and maybe get in alert mode.

Priyan; how the hell did you have the heart to do something like that. That"s the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a very long time. I'm sure there was a more humane way to put your pet to sleep.


Regards
Moin.

[dev]

Maybe it wasn't a pet for Priyan. Wow, your cruelty levels is on par with a would be serial killer, if I were related to you, I would be very worried or have you institutionalized.

[xl_target]

Guys take it easy.
A rabid dog being a threat to everyone around it, it absolutely has to be put down. No if, and or but about it. If the vet will not do it and there is no firearm available, one obviously would have to be up close to put it down. What are the options available to the responsible owner to put the dog down? Which would be more humane, especially if you have feelings for the animal? Stoning? Beating it with a Lahti?
Maybe decapitating it would be the least cruel and least painful method of putting the animal down if no other option is available. At least it would be quick and relatively painless for the animal.

[drifter]

I agree with xl_target completely what does one do without many options when a dog is rabid. Priyan I thought you are still a kid, I remember reading your age in the profile as 18yrs, this incident must be recent.


regards,
drifter.

[essdee1972]

Moin, your 6 "friendly neighborhood" rotties are probably (or rather certainly) the "bad owner" types. One, muzzling leads to the hostile behavior being exacerbated. Never curtail a natural instinct to chew wood, stones, furniture. Two, an unapproachable dog is essentially unsocialised. Just see if the dog ever walks with the owner, or always with "handlers". These guys sound like the "status symbol" dog owners, and since I did spend two years in Andheri Lokhandwala in 2000-2002, I think I recognise the type!! And if you value furniture more than the dog, give the dog away, and buy a designer table! Jojo used to chew furniture when he was smaller. Damaged maybe more than Rs. 1 lac (or more, I didn't count) based on original purchase price. But, as I told my wife, that damn expensive sofa doesn't come running, tail a blur, tongue out, when I come back from office!!!

Even Jojo goes with a "handler" twice. To shit. But the longest he goes out is in the night with me and the kid. That's the time he fetches, runs around, generally scares the living daylights out of people (with his sheer presence), makes himself a pain (he never wants to come back after fetching, we have to chase him!) and doesn't want to come back.

Also, all dogs are frisky till about a year old. For rotts and other giant breeds, the puppy stage lasts till about 2 years. It is natural for them to snap, bark. Especially at someone (like a trainer) who is asking him to do repeated boring activities, like "sit" when the poor puppy wants to run around! If we can recall so far back, probably we too would have snapped many times at our parents. The big difference being that we did it with our voices, dogs do it with teeth. Even I (and my entire family) have been bitten at times by Jojo. As he grew, his control over his bite increased. So did his tolerance to things like me cleaning his ears with a cloth, putting eye drops, etc. He lets us by with only a growl if we happen to step on his tail!

[Vassili Zaitsev]

I agree with Essdee and Vikram.

I have a question for MOin, did you read the article that you need to perform a through search on which dog breeds suits your home? and you family and most importantly your personality?
This is very important aspect and everyone should be aware and this simple practice will save you from many broken things, including your heart !!!!

Please perform a through research before you bring one four legged puff ball home,they may look cute and cuddly but at the end it will be a full grown dog.

Really sorry to hear that you had Ozzy to let go..but what a wonderful pics you have ahred with us...Just loved him.

@dr.jk please stop watching "666 the omen" movie....

[hks2056]

What Moin has said is partly true insofar as Rottweiler`s traits are concerned. There bad owners and bad dogs as well. I had a Rotty many years ago. It was acquired by me as 6 weeks old pedigreed pup. In 2001 in NOIDA dog show when it was 8 months old it won two CCs. At that point of time its principle aim in life was to eat and eat 24X7. I raised it on Eukanuba and Royal Canine only. Occassionally, say twice or thrice in week in summers i would give him curd-lassi. It was ready to eat any thing. He completely destroyed my many years old collection of rare and exotic Cactii which i and my wife had collected from Kalimpong over the years. Except for the heavy steel dog chain it could chew through anything. Not that it destroyed many things in the house all that i am saying is that it was a dog of great determination and resolve. Once a thing has caught its fancy then only my command could save it. Before buying it my friend Dr. D.P. Singh who is top notch vet at Ghaziabad told me that for weight by weight the Rotty is twice more physically powerful than any other breed of its size. This truth i realised after my Rotty has become 6 months old. It was very attached to me , my wife and my sons. For the ten months that i kept it no aggression was shown by it towards any one. Its menacing but misleading looks were enough to stop any visitor in tracks. It weighed 60 kg when i sold it off. Because of my frequent tours i found that it was getting neglected and my wife and sons found it to be too strong to be taken for walk by themselves. The problem with Rotty is that they they are so full of self respect and dignity that the require a physically a very fit master, who can daily spend quality time with them, so as to be accepted as pack leader. It was exceptionally intelligent. More intelligent than any GS, Great Dane, Daschund, Labrador, Pom or several mixed breeds i have kept over last 40 years. It is was exceptionally tolerant of all the scolding and scuffing we gave it. Very possessive, it will not brook patting of our other dog pets in his presence. Once we had stopped petting the other dogs in front of him the he would immediately mark that very dog for vengeance. When we were out of sight it would rush and catch the other dog by scruff of neck and keep it pinned down without hurting it just to show its mastery.So as long as this Rotty was there with us the top of neck hairs of all our other dogs were hard due to dried saliva of Rotty. Its name was Polu. It can be correctly pronounced only by those whose mother tongue is punjabi. Polu in punjabi sounds midway between Polu and Bholu in hindi.Our Polu responded only when its name was correctly pronounced. In ten Months that it was with us it barked only once, after it was nine months old, when there was an intruder in our house on the terrace at night. It kept on with its deep rumbling growl till the intruder was chased away, nearly tearing away the steel railing of the stair case to which it was chained for the night.If anyone wants to keep the best dog then you can take it from me that the Rotty is the only dog to have. However there is one rider. You have to be a full time owner and a physically fit one. A Rotty can not be raised as a dog. It has to be raised as family member. If you do that then it will never give you any reason to complain ever.