Temperament:

Socialization and training is the key to a well behaved dog regardless of the breed. Rottweilers are very intelligent and have a high capability to learn just about anything you want to teach them. Rotties love to train and please you but it is important to start when they are puppies, they love this attention from you and training forms a great bond between you and your new family member. Rotties are very affectionate and love to be with the family, go where you go and do what you do. Hiking, swimming, boating, camping, agility and just simple car rides are all things a Rottie loves to do, as long as you give them the proper socialization to these things from a young age. They are just like children and you have to let them get used to new things slowly and at their own comfort zone starting as a puppy. It is highly recommended that you take puppy training classes with your new puppy, this provides great socialization and helps you to learn proper ways to successfully train your puppy to be a great adult dog. A socialized Rottie will love attention from people and will be the life of any party. The Rottweiler’s intelligence, integrity and trustworthiness allows them to obtain working positions with police, military and customs work. They have a natural instinct to protect and they know when it is necessary to protect you, they have a good way of telling who is good and who is bad. You do NOT need to teach your dog to be aggressive or to be a guard dog, this is a natural instinct for the Rottweiler breed and please remember to NEVER HIT YOUR DOG!! This only causes fear and aggression in your puppy and your puppy will learn not to trust you and with a dog trust is what it is all about.

Your Rottie (just like any breed) should be treated as a family member who is preferably indoors, a Rottie will not be happy if confined to a back yard or kennel all day and all night. Rottweilers are very loving, calm, confident, loyal, protective, tolerant…and I can go on and on. They are excellent with the family and both puppy and child need to learn a mutual respect for one another and a lifelong bond will be there.

Nutrition:

You are what you eat and so is your dog. Your dog can not digest corn, so buying a food that has a first ingredient of corn or has any corn in it what so ever is just a waist of your dogs health and your pocket book. Corn is simply a cheap filler and nothing more than that. Please make sure to read the labels before choosing a brand of dog food for your new family member. Organic foods such as AvoDerm and Blue Buffalo can be purchased at your local pet store and are just two examples of a high quality food for your pets. They are only a few dollars more and a much higher quality then some of the other brands that are packed full of filler and little nutrients. A high quality puppy food is essential to your puppies health and growth and will need to be on a high quality puppy food until he/she reaches a year old (12 months). After this time they can then switch to a high quality adult food, even though your Rottweiler will not be fully grown until they are 2 years of age this is when they can be adjusted to adult food. Rottweilers usually live to be 10-12 years of age, so make their life span a healthy one by feeding them a high quality food.

Health:

There is an important factor that you also need to know when owning ANY LARGE BREED DOG…Canine Bloat. Canine Bloat is a very serious and life-threatening tragedy that can happen to any dog that is large to extra large in size, Rottweilers fall under this category so I feel it is important to make you aware. Canine Bloat is also known as Gastric Torsion ‘twisted stomach’ and happens when:

·         Dogs that eat much too fast (practically inhaling their food)

·         Eating one big meal per day, rather then 2 smaller ones

·         Exercising vigorously either right before, or right after eating

·         A poor quality food, or those with a very high grain (or carbohydrate) content

·         Drinking a lot of water right before, or right after eating

 

Basically feed your dog once in the morning and once in the evening braking up their meals evenly twice a day. An hour before and an hour after eating keep them quiet in the house and don’t let them drink an abundance of water within that hour as well. Feed them a high quality dog food. If you have a dog that inhales their food ask a vet on tips to control that issue. Following these simple tips will help your dog to hopefully never experience Canine Bloat. Pass the word on, many people never knew of Canine Bloat and have tragically lost their beloved pet due to just simply not knowing any better.   


Hope this information has helped you and please contact your vet for confirmation on what was discussed here on this page. Thank you.