In Asbury Park, New Jersey, police had to shoot a Rottweiler to save a five-year-old girl's life after she had been bitten by the dog, who seemed intent on devouring her. Another youngster, only three, was bitten savagely on the face by a Rottweiler and lived to tell about the attack.
"I didn't do anything," the youngster said, his face horribly scarred. "It runned out of the gate. It bited my face. It was a brown dog with black on it. It was big, with sharp teeth. It was a Rottenweiler."
If the only creatures with teeth that get more publicity than a Rottweiler are pit bulls and Mike Tyson, there's a reason. According to the Los Angeles Times, "A five-year study by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta found that pit bulls, Rottweilers and German shepherds bite humans more than other breeds [do]."
At a time when the words Rottweiler and bite will ring up nearly 400 citations, all of them fewer than two years old, on your favorite newspaper-database search, people are justified in asking whether Rotties are inherently unstable - and if owning a Rottweiler means always having to say you're sorry.
Yet people are also justified in asking: if Rottweilers are such a menace, why are they so popular? For popular they are. The American Kennel Club registered 60,471 new Rottweilers in 1990. That figure grew to 93,656 by 1995, an increase of 55 percent. Only one other breed - the placid, reliable, do-no-evil Labrador retriever - currently is more popular than the Rottweiler.
Bad As You Let It Be
Part of the Rottie's astonishing increase in popularity can be attributed the breed's virtues. There are, one can argue, few dogs with a greater capacity to learn or to express more devotion to their owners than the Rottweiler. In the right hands the Rottie is, as one observer enthused, "a tough, dependable companion with a heart of gold."
Much to its misfortune, however, the Rottweiler often falls into the wrong hands - hands that dial the SPCA to inquire, "You got any of them Rockweilers today?" Thus, the dark side of the breed's phenomenal growth is its emergence as a full-blown status symbol, ego booster, stylin' trend and a reflection of a machismo attitude.
These are the reasons that Rotties are found in too many American homes, but none is even a half-valid reason for owning any dog, especially a Rottweiler. Too many people who fancy Rottweilers fail to understand - let alone stop to consider - the level of commitment demanded by this unique breed. Most new or prospective owners do not realize how unmanageable, even dangerous, a Rottweiler is when its owner does not provide the discipline and respect this breed requires. Bluntly put, either the Rottie's owner is fully in charge or the dog starts making its own rules, acting when and how it sees fit; and when Rotties make the rules, they often make headlines.
Roman Holidays
One of the most lurid achievements of the Roman Empire was the Circus Maximus. Like Rome, the circus wasn't built in a day. Initially constructed around 600 B.C. and modified several times thereafter, the circus was the fountain of amusement in Rome for more than nine centuries. This larger-than-lives battleground, 2,000 feet by 600 feet at its zenith, was more than six football fields long and two fields wide. It eventually held as many as 250,000 people, the entire population of Rome.
Chariot races were the first and the abiding attraction in the Circus Maximus, but other entertainments, many of them involving animals, were gradually added to the program. Among the most popular additions were fights between lions and dogs.
The type of dog that rumbled with lions was called the Molossus, a mastifflike breed noted for it ferocity and aggressiveness. Only the most savage fighting dogs qualified for work in the arena, but other dogs from the same breedings that produced the lion fighters were barely less fierce. These dogs traveled with the Roman armies, for whom they served as guards, protectors and draft dogs. They also drove and defended the cattle that fed the Roman soldiers on their conquering expeditions.
Portrayals of these dogs found in historic writings bear a conspicuous resemblance to modern Rottweilers. We have no recorded proof, of course, that Roman fighting dogs and their descendants are the ancestors of today's Rottweiler, but dogs of the Molossus type were carried to every region of Europe that the Roman armies visited.
Red Tiles and Cattle Drives
One of those regions was southern Germany, where the Romans established an outpost called Arae Flavia sometime around 74 A.D. This outpost rapidly became a sophisticated social and political center attracting many Roman citizens accustomed to the comforts and architecture of their former urban dwellings. Because the significant buildings in Arae Flavia were all distinguished by red-tiled roofs, the town that grew up there came to be known as Rottwil (later Rottweil), which means "red villa."
The Molossus dogs that accompanied the Roman army fraternized with other dogs already living in Rottweil, and eventually a breed developed that was just as courageous and no less adaptable than its Roman predecessors. By the Middle Ages, when Rottweil had become a center of commerce and justice, cattlemen used the descendants of the Roman dogs-local dogs matings to drive the herds they sold to the butcher and to guard the purses containing the proceeds of those sales on the way back home. For their part, the butchers used the dogs to pull meat carts. Toward this end, they developed a larger strain of dog for draft work, but the smaller, herding type Rottweiler is the type most popular today.
Getting the Shafts
In time donkeys replaced Rottweilers between the cart shafts in Rottweil, and the railroad's efficiency at shipping freight led to a law, passed in the mid-19th century, that banned cattle drives through German towns. Out of work, the Rottweiler was soon out of favor. In 1882 there was only one Rottweiler entered in the dog show at Heilbronn, Germany. (The first beauty human pageant, incidentally, was not held until 1888.)
By 1901, according to some observers, only one of its namesake dogs remained in Rottweil. The German fondness for Rotties, however, inspired a national effort to save the breed from extinction. That effort was dedicated to preserving Rottweilers' loyalty, intelligence and strength, qualities that made them excellent candidates for police and protection work. After several years of squabbles among Rottweiler fanciers (so what else is new in the dog world?), the Allgemeiner Deutscher Rottweiler Klub was formed in 1921. Its motto is "Rottweiler breeding is working dog breeding," and no Rottweiler can earn a conformation championship in Germany without first proving its skill as a working dog.
No one knows for certain when the first Rottweiler came to America, but the first litter of Rotties whelped in this country was born in 1930, and the AKC registered its first Rottweiler in 1931. Thanks to the Rottie's capacity for obedience work, its star began to rise after World War II, and now it is a serious light in the canine firmament. One that sheds heat as well as light.
A Question of Character
The courage and aggressiveness that allowed the Molossus dog to fight lions in the arena and to march with the Roman legions, later allowed its presumed heirs to serve the cattlemen and butchers of Rottweil. Yet that courage and aggressiveness in their unharnessed forms are the modern-day Rottweiler's most problematic traits. Rotties can exhibit guarding or territorial behavior as early as nine months of age. They may grumble, for example, if they are disturbed while they are eating, or they may take offense if anyone tries to remove their toys or bones while they're in use.
At this early age a Rottweiler puppy generally does not have the confidence to challenge its owner's leadership. Owners can best avoid such challenges by teaching Rottweilers to respond to simple commands - preferably in a formal obedience-class setting - while the dogs are still young, as young as four to six months of age. Training must begin early. By the time a Rottweiler is a year old, it will be confident enough to challenge the devil himself if it has not been taught it is the follower, not the leader, in its pack.
This is true of all dogs, but the bigger the size of the dog in the challenge, and the bigger the size of the challenge in the dog, the greater the face-off in which the dog owner will be involved. The Rottweiler, to be sure, takes special handling and training that are, we strongly feel, beyond the capability of the average dog owner. This is not a breed that can be left in the back yard. Like other guardian breeds, Rotties abandoned to their own devices can become excessively territorial. Many Rottweilers who have gotten into mischief have escaped from the yards to which they had been confined because they felt their turf was being challenged by someone passing by.
A Sound Mind ...
Sound temperament is paramount among the attributes a companion Rottweiler must possess. A Rottweiler with an unstable temperament - whether from deficiencies of nature, nurture or both - is an extreme liability and a danger to society. Understandably, no one should consider purchasing a Rottweiler anywhere but from a source with a long-standing reputation for producing dogs that are mentally sound. The Rottie is a dog with the potential to live with you for at least 10 or 12 years. It is not a breed wherein lack of stability can be dismissed lightly.
A well-bred Rottweiler puppy is a happy, healthy extrovert. Do not consider a shy, suspicious or sickly puppy because you feel sorry for it. Any of these conditions can lead to problems. Nor should you be impressed with a puppy that's completely reckless or overly aggressive with its littermates. These traits suggest that a dog will be hard to control at maturity.
... in a Sound Body
A healthy Rottweiler puppy is strong and sturdy. Its legs are straight as posts, and it moves with ease. A Rottie pup is short-bodied and compact. Beware the youngster that is short legged or dwarfed in any respect. The puppy's coat should be black and shiny and lie flat to the body. The rust markings should be clearly defined. The Rottweiler's head, even at the puppy stage, should appear blocky, and there should never be any malformation of the teeth or jaw. A Rottweiler must have a sound compliment of teeth if you plan to show it. Even two missing teeth will get it yanked from the show ring.
Though the biggest puppy in the litter may be appealing, spare a thought for the adult size of a Rottie. Unless you are capable of controlling a mature male that stands up to 27 inches at the shoulder and weighs as much as 120 pounds, the smaller male or a female might be more suitable.
A well-bred and well-trained Rottweiler can be a marvelous companion for you and your entire family, but remember, this highly intelligent and willing dog will rely entirely upon you to provide the upbringing it requires. A good Rottie will never let its master down. Be sure you can earn this loyalty by providing your Rottie with the firm hand and training on which his development and your happiness depend.
Some Things Rotten
More than 300 inherited diseases are known to beset dogs. No breed or combination of breeds is exempt from this army of grim reapers, although some breeds are more exempt than others. For their part, Rottweilers may be heir to the following:
Hip dysplasia: a malformation of the hip joint resulting in a poor fit between the head of the femur bone and the hip socket, in which the femoral head normally lies. This condition can be alleviated by surgery. Because dysplastic dogs often produce dysplastic puppies, buyers should ask if both the sire and the dam of the puppy in which they are interested have been rated clear of hip dysplasia by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals or by Penn HIP. Do not take yes for an answer without seeing the certificate, and ask for a copy to take to your veterinarian.
Osteochondrosis (OCD): a defect in the cartilage overlying the head of one of the long bones. OCD generally affects large, rapidly growing dogs between the ages of four and 12 months. It primarily occurs in the shoulder or elbow joints, but it can affect the hocks or stifles, too. The symptom of OCD is gradual lameness. Surgery may be necessary to remove pieces of damaged cartilage. Recovery and prognosis are generally good.
Panosteitis: an intermittent mild-to-severe lameness caused by a painful, inflammatory disease that affects the long bones of young, rapidly growing dogs. Reported to affect males more often than females, panosteitis may appear in one leg or in all four legs simultaneously. Dogs with panosteitis usually respond to analgesics such as aspirin or phenylbutazone.
Gastric torsion (bloat): a condition in which the stomach can turn and block, causing a buildup of gas. Unless treated very quickly, bloat can be fatal. Signs consist of stomach pain and futile attempts to vomit and to salivate. May lead to cardiovascular collapse. Bloat usually occurs when exercise too closely follows eating. The incidence of bloat may be lessened by feeding adult dogs twice a day and, of course, by allowing a dog time to digest before taking him for a run in the park.
Eye problems: cataracts and inward-rolling eyelids.
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