How many owners of Rottweilers have had bad experiences with their dogs?

[Texasm1976]

I have had one for 6 years and she is the sweetest dog ever. She is good with anyone. She lives with two female labs and two male labs and they all get along great. She plays a little rough because she just does not no her own strength. I think a dog behavior depends on how they are treated. To me that is any dog with a exception of a few.

[OPC Patrick]

at 13 I was attacked by one at our horse stables where we boarded our horses. Thank God my friend was there to get him off me or I wouldn't be here today. I would not own one and wouldn't let my children visit anyone who owned one.

[Lady Archer]

Ask Jesse from Ax Men:

'Ax Men' Star Jesse Browning's Daughter, 4, Killed by Pet Rottweiler

'Ax Men' star Jesse Browning's 4-year-old daughter was the tragic victim of a fatal attack by the family dog Sunday in Astoria, Oregon. The daughter, Ashlynn Anderson, was pronounced dead on arrival to Portland's Oregon Health and Science University Hospital.

"Everyone was there in minutes, but she was pretty severely mauled. By the time they got her to OHSU, she had lost too much blood," said Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin in The Oregonian's report. "This mom just happened to look out and saw the dog and the child laying there. Apparently, the dog just snapped."

Jesse Browning made the call to 9-1-1 for help.

The Brownings own two Rottweilers, which were both removed and quarantined at a local animal shelter, where they will be adopted or euthanized. The Oregonian reports that four months ago, an Astoria deputy was forced to remove a third Rottweiler from the Browning home "because it had gotten aggressive."

On a message board housed on the History Channel's Web site, fans of the show have begun offering their prayers to the family. "I feel horrible for the Browning family," one person wrote. "I couldn't even begin to imagine."

Another wondered: "I don't know how any parent could get through something like losing a child, but to lose one like this would only make it all the harder."

The History Channel (watch a profile of Browning) is currently airing the third season of 'Ax Men,' a reality series about American loggers. Jesse Browning's father, Jay, owns and operates Browning Company, a major focus of the program.

[Bill]

Our friend's son was walking home from school, and poking his hands between fence boards walking down a sidewalk. Harmless, really. A rot was in the yard and grabbed his arm, almost ripped it off.

Sure, most are friendly.

I would like to see attacks by those known aggressive breeds including pitbulls charged as assault with a deadly weapon to the owners. Just like if I swung a shovel and hit somebody- I did it and not the shovel. Let the owners take full responsibility.

[HEADHUNTER71]

this is my 3rd rottie,my 1st one was never had a problem wit him. had for a while finally died of parvo. 2nd she was the same till some jerk thought might be better off wit her ,i had her for 5yrs. and my doggie now (Bella)is super great around kiddos ,but not to fond of strangers .got her soon after that incident wit the person in my bak yard. i have a 6yr old n nerve had one problem wit her yet. very protective of my 14 yr old daughter for some reason.but other than that best puppy in the world (80)lbs now

[Jerry Worley]

I owned one back in late 80's to early 90's. His name was Butkus. He weighed around 110 but was all muscle. He came into the family at the time my oldest daughter was around a year old. He was fantastic with her. She could use him as a pillow, pull on his lips, just about everything a kid could do to a dog she did and he never even growled. He was a great dog.

He was an inside dog for us, we treat all our dogs like family. If we let you in the front door, he was your best friend. My in laws would tell me that when they would stop by and we were not there, he would try to tear down the house to get them. We had a neighbor try to put back one of the pickets on our fence and told me he had to stop because the dog was trying to get him. He was very protective.

All that being said, as a responsible owner you must keep an eye on them. I never left the room when he was with my children, by the way we had a second daughter and both of them hounded him all the time. He never once growled or acted like he was going to do anything bad.

I too know of someone who lost a grandchild who jumped the neighbors fence and the Rott killed the child. We hear about these stories because if a Rott or Pitt bites someone, it usually makes national news. If your local neighbor poodle bit someone for the tenth time no one ever finds out about it.

[agvet2004]

Are you a vet?

Seems like a valid point that he said this is the only breed of dog he doesn't trust. He has seen more unpredictability with this breed than any other by far.

It is called craniosynostosis. The growth plates in the skull fuse prematurely. Happens in people and can happen in dogs. Not common at all in dogs and not linked to rotties any more than any other breed. Not likely a cause of aggression in them as they would most likely die at a young age or have severe neuro deficits.

[jmeans06]

a good friend of mine has had two now and now has their third one. the last two have lived and passed. they have had no bad experiences with them and love that type of dog. they do keep them seperate from their other dogs because they do not get along well.

[cj7zrcool]

I had a large male & female about 15 years ago and they were big teddy bears around me & my little girls, but they were VERY protective of us. The only bad experiences that I've had were that, we had two litters of pups and in each litter we got one pup that was different from the rest. Unpredictable, aggressive, etc. I wouldn't sell those pups to anyone and eventually had to put both of them down. IMO, Rottweilers are very good dogs if they are treated well and made part of the family. I prefer Boxers, though. They are truly GREAT family dogs.

[Matt_C]

Might want to consider a chessie. Pretty good with kids, good water dogs, not overly attention seeking and a little bit of a protector.

[Cam-Mac]

A kid i knew growing up was mauled when he was very young (2-3 yrs old if i remember right).
We had one come up to the farm one night when i was in high school. I stepped out the door and it growled and barked and started walking towards me. Stepped back in and grabbed the .270 inside the door, i hate to kill a dog, but with the kid mauling in the back of my mind, it was a pretty clear choice. Too many kids/strangers around to have to worry about an aggressive dog. That has been my only experience with them.

[Brannon74]

I will tell you as a vet, its one the breeds that scares me most. I have seen every breed in the world bite. I get far more attempted bites from min pins, and chihuahuas. Rotts are the hardest dog for me read personlly. I can't tell one that is friendly from one that wants to bite. I don't like getting bite, but I would take a hundred min pin bites to one Rott or pitt. I see alot pitts and most them let you know where they stand right off the bat. The other breed that surprises me sometimes is chocolate labs. I have had several close calls w/ them and almost come out of nowhere.

[Aggiehuntress]

I had a female for about 11 years, registered therapy dog. one of the best dogs I have ever owned. They are bred and raised as protection dogs so they do have a very high protection drive. My female would even become aggitated if I was rough housing with someone. If she thought I was being hurt she would get in the middle. Never bit anyone but when the neighbor kid opened my gate to get a ball out of my yard she did growl and bark at him, never touched him. First question, why was the child tresspassing to begin with. Texas law states that you can protect your property against tresspassers, the child was not invited into my fenced yard, she barks at the when they are outside, when on earth would the parents let them open the gate. Its the parents fault not my dogs... Why not let them stick their hand in a food processor?

My personal opinion is that if a child is not tought to respect dogs things happen. Many attacks happen when a child puts their hand thru the fence. the parents should teach their kids to not tresspass, the dog is only doing its job. JMHO {Bring on the snide comments}

I work wirh dogs everyday and i get threatened more by the small dogs, chihuahua, malteese, dachshunds, poodles ect... then I ever do by the big dogs. its just that the big dogs make bigger hole than the little schits. All dogs give warning before they proceed with an attack, it is just most people do not know how to interpret those signals the dog is giving.

Owning a rott takes a certain type of person. you have to be the alpha in the pack or they will walk all over you and you must acquire the status early and keep it. they have to be socialized, trained and trained some more. you can never let them get away with anything. they are very stubborn animals. but my girl was great around dogs, cats, kids. I never worried about her.

This is a topic that you can go round and round with. Either you like the breed or you dont. I for one would get another in a heart beat!!

Off my soap box (very touchy subject for me)

[Henry]

Theyre guard dogs for the most part, at least everyone i know who has ever owned one had em out in the yard. ALways aggressive towards me and others.

However it is in the way they are raised. I knew one guy who always took his to the dog park and this Rotty would run and play with all the little dogs, very nice dog.

[Pikapp275]

Like the vet said and Henry said, and if you do any research you will find that they bond very strongly with their "family unit", and need a lot of attention (outside/yard/guard dogs, will become aggressive and possessive). As for the kid sticking his hand through the fence, it is tragic, but the dog thought it as a threat, just like you would if someone stuck their hand in your car window, only he bit and we would pull our concealed gun and shoot! It is in the way they are raised/socialized/trained and treated!