Did you hear the one about the 180 lb Rockwilder?

Here is my second article on common false info that I hear about Rottweilers on a regular basis. This is a classic piece of misinformation. I am constantly being told by a caller or someone who has a relative, etc or who he/she themselves owned or currently owns a 160-200 lb Rottweiler. And, let me add, this dog ALWAYS has a head the size of a watermelon. Always.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have never in my life seen such a dog- not at a dog show, at the park, at the pet store or anywhere. If almost everyone I talk to (and I have talked to a lot of people in ten years of breeding dogs) knows of one of these, how come I have never seen one? To be that big, the dog would look like a, let’s see, uh, a…..MASTIFF. That’s right, a Mastiff, which they are not.

The Rottweiler Quarterly once put on a contest to see who could send them actual proof, on a scale, that a 160 lb Rottweiler existed. Nothing. Nobody ever came forward. Well, I could dismiss that as just, well, those kind of dog owners don’t read the Rottweiler Quarterly. Okay. However, none of these people who claim to have heard of or have seen one of these have never seen them on a scale, weighed and confirmed the dog at that weight. All they do is listen to the owner talk it up and believe it fully.
Now, I am going to use harsh language, so if you can’t handle it, leave the blog now. The tale of the 160 pound Rottweiler is pure bullshit. Period. It is the classic fish story. My dog is bigger than your dog. I have seen large Rottweilers - big males who maybe even should lose a few pounds. Maximum weight probably was 129 pounds. Tops. That’s it. Not 160, 180 or anything like that. People, stop being so gullible by actually believing some idiot who tells you that his dog weighs more than you do. Same with the heads. No, I’m sorry, there are not Rottweilers out there with heads the size of engine blocks, yet I regularly meet a yahoo who will show me with his arms in a circle, the circumference of the dog’s head being about the size of a garbage can lid. Okay, whatever you say.

The reason I bring this up at all is that I actually get people calling me for pups wanting to know if they can get a pup who will grow up to be 180 lbs. I can’t hang up fast enough.

Look, the breed standard is very specific on the height for males and females at the withers and although there is no weight standard or description, a dog that is no more than 27 inches at the withers is not going to weigh 160 lbs and be in proportion at all. End of scene.

So, if you really want a dog that weighs that much, if it means that much to you to have a big, slow, uncomfortable dog with a giant head, then I suggest you buy a Bull Mastiff or Neo Mastiff and be done with it. If you don’t believe what I’ve written here, go to a dog show and ask a breeder or handler about this and listen to what they have to tell you. I’m not a huge fan of the show ring, but at least they know what the dog they’re showing is supposed to look like. I rest my case.

Bob

This entry was posted on May 10, 2007 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print