Muggle-
Here is just my "humble" little recipie I offer to those folks who want a Rottie that makes people realize all rotts are not "monsters". Usually this will work 99.9% of the time if you do this exactly as followed.
1) Get a Rottie with a "softer" or more "laid" back personality. Ones who have more mellower play/prey and working drives.
2)Make sure that the Rottie Pup (or adult) is seen a minimum of YEARLY by your local vet for all necessary vaccines, dewormers, health tests, heartwork checks, etc. Make sure YOU are the "Master" and not the dog. You set the rules, not Fido.
3) Socialize, socialize, socialize. Your Rott must meet a MINIMUM of 100 people in a one week time of ALL races, colors, ages, genders, and persuasions. Give these folks treats to offer to your dog.. Tell the dog to "sit" allow the stranger to offer the treat, and have them tell the dog "Good Dog" and move on. Expose your dog to a variety of sights, sounds, experiences. ALWAYS on leash, always with YOU at their side to encourage, praise or settle them as needed. Go to Beaches, store parking lots, car rides, encounters with other animals, (Do not 'encourage' cat chasing, squirrel chasing etc.) Sit near parks and playgrounds where your dog will be exposed to the sights and sounds of children running and playing, etc.
4) and perhaps THE most important ingredient of all! TRAIN, Train, train! Sign up with a POSITIVE training class, and work your dog in the basics, (Sit, Stay, Walk NICE on leash, down, Come, etc). Do not just buy a book and assume you can train yourself. You probably CAN, the point of class with a POSITIVE trainer (one who teaches dogs by reinforcement vs. Negative Punishment) is that the dog is getting #3-SOCIALIZATION, they also learn to work
around distractions! YOU train the dog, do not send it "out" to be trained, do not go to private lessons, train with a fun class, learn and have a blast!
5) Do SOMETHING with your Rottweiler. ANYTHING, look in your local area for Dog Clubs and do something, ANYTHING, from the following list : Therapy Dog Work, Carting, Herding, Agility, Tracking, Obedience, Flyball, Search and Rescue, Dancing with Dogs, Freestyle Obedience, Weight Pull, Lure Coursing, etc. You MUST give a rottie a "job" to do, they are highly intelligent working breed dogs that LOVE to be doing SOMETHING with you. Even if it is
hiking 8 miles every saturday over beach and mountain. Find something you can do with others, as this motivates YOU as well as your dog. This puts your dog in the PUBLIC spotlight and also opens your own mind. (Remember a MIND like a PARACHUTE only functions when it's OPEN!!!) This goes for YOU as well as your dog! 
6) Get the following Tests on your dog, even if ALL they are going to be is "Couch potatoes"... The Canine Good Citizen test > Canine Good Citizen
AND
> ATTS - American Temperament Test Society, Inc. - Home
Your dog may not PASS them on the first try. Not to worry, keep working at it. Both these tests are recognized by the AKC, and several other organizations, as well as recognized by several Land Lords and Legal areas as "PROVING" your dog has a good temperment and is a productive member of society and not the neighborhood nusance.
7) Be a GOOD owner. This is all about YOU, the human, not at all about the dog. Here is what YOU must do;
a) Always pick up after your dog (when on walks or public places) Nothing says RUDE, like leaving a pile of POO on your neighbors lawn or the local park!!
b) NEVER, ever, ever, ever, let your dog OFFLEASH around any other humans, who may be "afraid" of it. (No matter how "friendly" your dog is) Never let your dog offleash on your unfenced property (See above. Some people ARE VERY scared/terrified of dogs, no matter how nice or friendly the dog is. Scaring the public with off-leash dogs of ANY breed does nothing for the image of "nice Rottie"
Put yourself in their shoes.
c) Always encourage spaying, neutering and good humane animal treatment.
d) LEARN about the Rottweiler breed foward and backwards, gently educate others (Those who wanna get "Rockwillers" or who wanna "breed" 160 lbs Rots, or who's rotts are "mean as sin and twice as tuff!" To say NOTHING to these folks can be as bad as encouraging them. Sure they might not listen, but as a GOOD AMBASSADOR of the breed you must
dispell the myths! Do not preach on what you are not familiar with, Get a book, or read here > Introducing The Rottweiler
.
Sounds HARD? Sounds "Preachy"? It should. That is what being a "Responsible" Rottweiler Owner is all about. No one SAID being a Good Ambassador for the breed was EASY, or all fun. On the contrary, it is blood, sweat and tears! But, you will achieve your dream of having a WONDERFUL dog, whom is well recieved by the public and no one will accuse YOUR dogs of eating small children, or causing neighborhood mayhem, and you may even make it on the local news, like Max and I have for promoting POSITIVE , Responsible and Proactive Rottweiler ownership!!! (We do carting work for local charities, do Therapy dog work, and will be starting Tracking in the fall.)
Good luck and follow this recipe exactly to obtain good results, oh, and last but not least... You never learn it all, and your work is never done. You always learn more, and there is always more to do with your dog. So have fun and good luck!
Warmly,
Jackie and Max
Learn about Dog Carting at:
Dog Carting and Driving For Everyone
Responsible Rottweiler Ownership
Visit us at:
Southern Shadows Rottweiler Pages
Home of Maximillian von Sydow CGC [
and Monty the Rat Terrier
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Jackie & Max
Visit us at
Southern Shadows Rottweilers
http://hometown.aol.com/shadowsara/index.html
Responsible Rottweiler Ownership!
