DerRottweiler

I am a first time owner and I got a Rottweiler, after explaining why I wanted one and passing the screening. I didn't know much about dogs, but did my research into the breed and was finally sold a very dominant pup (after being rejected by around 4 breeders for no particular reason). Now? 3 years on, 99% of the time, he is the best behaved/most well trained dog at an off-leash park. People are always commenting on how responsive and obedient he is. Even though he is extremely dominant, I am on top of him. The breeder had said to me that I turned out to be the best owner from that litter. I guess my point is, breeders shouldn't discriminate against first time owners, judge the potential owner on their own merits.

Sorry about the Dobe, seems like he is fine though. That is the flip side to the story, you don't know what other dogs will do. If you have a small dog, or a dog that would not defend itself were it to be attacked, I would never risk taking the dog to an off-leash park.....because there are aggressive dogs going around with stupid owners.

Thanks again everyone. I will post up to inform how it all goes.

Thanks for the input guys. The only thing is, the dog is fine now. But I bet, if we took him for some hard exercise again, he would pull up sore. So I think, when we take him for exercise on the weekend and if he pulls up sore that night, he should go to the Chiro. Or is it advisable to go to the Chiro even if the dog seems to have recovered?

I know Werribee Plaza, shouldn't be too hard to find the place. Only around 30mins from my mates house. Would you advise to go for scans first? Or chiro first? The scans are booked in for Thursday.

Some dogs are DA becasue they have weak nerves - nothing to do with the owner. Some of us owners have inherited abused dogs who would have been great dogs if they hadn't been through hell. We have invested lots of time, money, heart and sould into "fixing" them. Please don't paint all owners of DA dogs as "not deserving". Touchy subject Too right. I should have phrased what I was trying to say differently. It could be the dogs genetics (no fault of its own) could be its upbringing/lack of training (again, no fault of its own).

Thanks for the advice everyone. My friend is seeking out a 2nd opinion today, as the 1st vet was inconclusive. The dog is a bit better, but he'd like to find out for sure what the problem is. In terms of the Amstaff, yes, both parents x-rayed and scored, he is from a reputable breeder. That doesn't always eliminate the possibility though.

Of course it is the owner's fault, but at the end of the day, the dog is the one that either gets to play off-leash or not, based on the merits of its own behaviour, not the owner. I could rephrase it to, the owner of the dog doesn't deserve to take their dog to an off-leash park, but the owner isn't really missing out on anything.

Woooooah. A dog doesn't understand that because its aggressive towards other dogs that it misses out. All it understands is that it doesn't get to go anywhere. I do agree however that there are plenty of places to exercise a dog if you're determined to find them. Hell, if I had no option, I would be walking around knocking on peoples doors asking if we could use their yard. Even if I had to pay them. If someone who has a DA dog is determined to find a place that they can exercise it off leash without the worry of running into another dog, then they will. I think it was a bit unfair to say that a dog should know that if its DA it doesn't get to play. (I kinda understand what you meant, but I don't think it really works that way) How about going for a run with the dog on lead? I do that with my dog almost daily. Dog pools? Going early when no other dogs are around? The options are numerous. I don't see no off-leash dog park time= no exercise. Maybe if the owner is lazy. If a dog is DA, it doesn't deserve to be off-leash with other dogs, it is just common sense. Sure, if the park is empty, or the dog is muzzled, then no problems, but in normal circumstances, a DA dog shouldn't be amongst other dogs. Again, my dog isn't aggressive, but he will defend himself. Given that he is more powerful than the majority of dogs that come to my local dog park, it isn't in my best interests to have DA dogs attacking him and then ending up hurt because he defended himself....

I don't really care if DA dogs miss out. That's what they get for being DA, there are plenty of other places to exercise your dog. My dog is dominant, but he is a loner, he won't go up to other dogs, he just spends his time marking the park. If a dog comes up to him, he is fine, so long as the dog doesn't show any dominance. He was attacked out of the blue recently, he defended himself and pinned/bit the aggressor, who then ran away to its owner. The owner of the other dog blamed me and left......others at the park agreed that I was not at fault.... but had my dog the evil Rottweiler mauled the other dog, guess who gets put down? I'd rather not have my dog hurt another dog, even in self defense.

Hi everyone, My friend has an Amstaff, he is about 1.5 years old. He is a very active dog and has been exercised regularly. Last Sunday, some friends and I took our dogs to the dog park. When we left, the Amstaff was reluctant to jump in the car (we thought nothing of it, thought it was behavioural). He would yelp/whine when getting up later that night, but was fine the next day. Yesterday, we took him to the park again. He was again reluctant to jump in the car. Last night, he was reluctant to climb a short set of stairs (maybe 3-4 steps), he would cry/yelp/whine when getting up. This morning he appeared to be in pain still. Could this be a short term problem, such as a strained muscle? Or is it more serious? We took him to the Vet for an initial visit, no broken bones, no obvious muscle damage. Could it be hip dysplasia? This is the first time he has shown any symptoms of pain and they have been in the last week, he seemed fine during the week, only after hard exercise did he show symptoms. For those of you who have been on the same boat, what is the advised process from here? Do we wait and see or do we start testing for hip dysplasia and similar problems? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

My dog lives with a cat who he is fine with (he'll still chase it given the chance). BUT, if the cat is a strange cat, game over. He'd go nuts were he to see a loose cat at the vet.

No.

So...what did you guys do about it? Apart from venting online...? ;) Too true.

The puppy is so cute! Congrats. Some of us know of situations with very different outcomes. The worst dog fight I have ever seen was between two male SBT littermates. They did not live in the same home. It happened at a dog training club. That is all good and well, but your anecdotal evidence means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I could say, my friend has 2 male SBTs and they are fine together, that doesn't lend any weight to the overall argument however. Each situation needs to be assessed on its own merits. I am sure that with due diligence and care Dee_al's dogs may well live in perfect harmony.

There is this big clearance centre sort of place (everything made in China) in Roxy (Melbourne). My mate owns a store next door, so I stumbled across the dog toys they have by fluke. I got like 4 toys for under 10 dollars, too good.

Are there any blue SBTs in the show ring? You could have a pretty good dog with a different nose colour...(given that ''not-black'' is not a DQ fault)....

Congrats. Blue is my favourite colour amongst Staffies.

So then saying that if it was you bitten would you still be so quick to ease blame? You have to put it in context. I do not think she was getting in its space they were attending an event for a pet shop day being exposed to different people in small spaces would not have been unexpected. People bring their dogs to these days knowing there will be an array of people and other pets. I do not think the dog had justification of being threatened she was approaching with a treat. But Der you don't know if this dog was well socialized and stable. We don't know anything about the dog. There is a big difference being unsure if your dog is going to bark in public to being unsure if your dog is going to lunge at someone's face and bite their lip. You cannot say dogs are dogs they will behave like dogs. So if Razor bit a child I'd just say he's never shown any aggression towards kids before, he was just being a dog. Dogs are dogs. And that means I am not responsible? I think we need to stop trying to lay the blame solely on the staff member and realise there are both parties to blame here. The staff member who may have incorrectly approached the dog triggering the behaviour. The owner who did not have correct control over his dog. That's it. The pet shop should not be blamed they organized what they thought was going to be a fun event and it turned pear shape that doesn't mean no more days like this should be continued because of one incident that quite frankly could have been avoided with basic animal education. I'm not concocting possible stories, I am sticking to the facts. You don't know the circumstances, you can't say she wasn't in the dogs personal space, that is impossible to ascertain from the facts, which is why you have to give the dog and the owner the benefit of the doubt (applying the legal maxim here...) As above, we do not know anything about the dog, therefore, we cannot blame it. You are blaming the dog, yet you don't know any of the background facts. Based on what I have read, the staff member has accepted blame, therefore, she can blamed. The dog owner, has not accepted blame and given that we, again, do not know the background circumstances, one cannot affix blame to the dog/owner. That's it.

How do you guys know that this wasn't a first for the dog and that the owner had no prior knowledge of such behaviour? The staff member is admitting fault, you don't go up to a strange dog and get up in its space or behave in a way that the dog might find threatening to itself or or its owner. Sure, a stable dog, that has been well socialised and so on, should not bite a person in public.......but dogs are dogs, you never know what they are going to do next. Do you honestly think people who have had their dogs maul a kid, expected the dog to do so? At the end of the day, a dog is a dog, you just don't know what they are going to do next. We can minimise the unpredictability with well bred dogs and proper socialisation, but at the end of the day, a dog is a dog.

"RSPCA ACT Chief executive, Michael Linke, who owns an american pit bull terrier, said it was a much maligned breed and that the dogs which attacked Harry could have been mastiffs, staffordshire bull terriers or cross breeds. Hello Mr. Linke (I will aim to email you via the RSPCA ACT website to confirm that this post is indeed from you, lol). I commend that you oppose BSL, an act that I am totally in agreeance with. I still insist that naming the staffy and mastiff is not exactly taking a "generic" route, is it? lol, it is actually naming the product, lol. You may not have set out to directly blame the staffy or mastiff but it could easily be interpreted as such by the public. You specifically stated that THE DOGS WHICH ATTACKED HARRY COULD HAVE BEEN MASTIFF, STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIERS OR CROSSBREEDS. Did you find it absolutely imperative to name names? lol. Keep on digging.

Nice vid. I liked the omnomnom caption lol!

I would never opt to cull puppies. Not their fault they were born. They have hope if homed properly. Also, I think we should wait and see the other side of the story. Who knows how this happened.

I would have went with ''mannerism(s)''.

lol This thread fulfills its purpose. I feel less crazy now....especially since I don't hold conversations with the dog lol! Apparently I do it more often then I realise, so I imagine I've been busted on numerous occasions, it was just blatantly obvious this time round. DerRottweiler aka Crazy Guy with the Rottweiler.