April 22, 2008 by Bob.

Well, I am now going to expose you to traditional dog training, no frills.

Yes, that’s right. Correct! (no pun intended). Dog training as it is presented to the public, by and large, is comprised mostly of gimmicks and fads and buzz words and a lot of other crap that does not really equate to actual dog training.

To backtrack a bit, and by way of example, my son and his wife were over one weekend and she had mentioned a conversation she had with one of her friends, where the friend had to cut things short because she needed to go ‘dog whisper’ her pet. WTF? Now it’s a verb? When I stopped laughing, I simply said, ‘your friend is an idiot.’ Everyone agreed and we settled down to watch the Miami Dolphins lose another game.

Okay, so, my point here is that the current pup psychology (okay, enough with the puns) of dog training has trickled down to the common denominator of using Cesar Millan’s particular brand of behavior mod as a different part of speech, without once trying to understand what the guy is actually doing when he corrects some crazy woman’s peekapoo out of biting her ankles.

I mean, dog training has become a multi billion dollar industry. Just go to a ‘pet superstore’ and you can see and hear the dog clickers being used by those poor souls who actually pay for obedience lessons at one of these places. Walk down the aisles and you will be overwhelmed with all of the training aids, toys, reward systems, etc.

Then stop at your local bookstore and you’ll see a healthy row of books espousing this and that training method that will enable you to speak to your dog. Or if you simply pay twenty five bucks, some self proclaimed dog training genius will tell you that you need to become the pack leader and so on. I’m getting exhausted just thinking about all of the pages and pages of bulls##t that have been generated in the name of dog training.

Now, I am not a stranger to the world of dogs and I am certainly not a stranger to training dogs. I own a twelve dog kennel and have been doing this for over ten years, pretty much full time. I have owned dogs all of my life. I belong to two dog training clubs and I have seen it all, believe me. I have paid a lot of money out to dog trainers, both good and bad. Consider me the common man’s dog training quasi-expert. With that said, and with a 100% disclaimer on the results that you may or may not receive from this article, I will give you the secrets to successful dog training, right here in this article, for free.

  1. First, if you are NOT mentally, spiritually and physically capable of correcting your dog at any one time in his lifetime, then you really should reconsider your choice of species and get a GOLDFISH.

  2. Correcting a dog consists of initially showing a dog what you want him to do and then, when he fails to follow the command, somehow showing the animal that he has done something wrong. Right then, not two hours later.

  3. Correction collars are not used for decoration as a necklace, LIKE MR. T. Factually, if you leave a choke collar on your dog and he gets it hung up on the hose bib, you will be buying one of those doggie headstones as his next toy.

  4. How about starting things off by socializing your dog? Socializing is the most important training you can and must give your pup from eight weeks until the day he dies. Take him everywhere and have him look at, listen to and travel to all points on the planet and you will have done most of the work. Ninety percent of the problems people have with their dogs, regardless of breed, has to do with improper socialization.

  5. Here’s the truth. Dog training as a concept is simple. It’s the actual doing that takes work. Just like all of those weight loss diets, pills, etc that don’t include actually burn off the fat. You cannot lose weight taking pills. Just ask the 750 lb man, who is on after the Dog Whisperer on the NGC. Speaking of whom, stop watching ‘The Dog Whisperer’ because Cesar will never show you all of the correcting he had to do on the poor dogs he features on his show. He is good at what he DOES, not at what he TELLS his baffled guests, unless you think giving them more Eastern philosophy than the Dalai Lama even knows, to be useful to dog training. Use that time to actually train your own dog instead of being a spectator. Come on. Do you really think that the ‘people’ he has on his show actually change THEIR BEHAVIOR for more than ten minutes after Cesar pulls out of their driveway?

  6. Okay, figure out what you want the dog to do. Like ‘Sit’ or ‘Stay’,etc. Make it into a customized drill, like an exercise and break down the actions that you need to do, in baby steps, to get your dog to comply. If you cannot figure out a simple exercise to do with your dog to get him to sit, you need to get out of the dog hobby thing and work with snakes (or the goldfish). They are easy to train. Seriously, the technique that you use is not as important as your timing in rewarding and correcting. You just want to get the dog to sit.

  7. Start the exercise by giving the command and urging him to comply, gently and with food or a toy, reward the dog when it complies with the command. Be patient and don’t be a frustrated with the dog. Just work with him and he will get it. Trust me. It doesn’t happen in one or two commands. And, just like people, some dogs are smarter than others. Hope your dog is smart and that you are smarter. If you cannot catch your dog and get him to calm down for a second in order to train him, then you should read point number one again.

  8. Do that one command about eight thousand times. No, really, about a thousand ought to do it. There is no secret here. Just do the damn exercise with him over and over and over, every day, until he gets it. Do you really think that dogs are people in dog suits? If you do, go to the PETA web site and forget about training your dog.

  9. Once the dog has gotten that command, continue giving it, correcting as needed, correcting with a bit more force as needed to keep the dog compliant. It’s a dog, and I know he is your best friend, but come on, man, you need to deal with him so that he is compliant. I am not talking about being cruel to a dog. No. I am talking about a quick, short correction with either a chain collar or prong collar or slip lead, and/or the word ‘no’, followed by the command and when compliant, the reward. Big time reward, lots of hugs and kisses and all of that. Really let him know he did the right thing.

10. Then go onto the next thing you want your dog to learn.

11. If you are the type of person who thinks that the above is harsh or cruel and insists on using the same psychobabble that you used on your own disobedient children who are smoking dope and getting even stupider behind your backs, then go ahead. If it didn’t work on your kids, it won’t work on a dog.

Thank you!

Bob

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April 22, 2008 by Bob.

Now that I have your attention, here are some notes on Training your Rottweiler:

Well, first of all, this is a touchy subject, mostly because people are sometimes sensitive and defensive about the training methods they use on their pup or adult dog. You know, they only use the clicker and if you use something different on  your dog, god forbid, you are an idiot. Stuff like that. Now, I’m not saying clicker training sucks, but it’s not for everybody. What I am saying is that ultimately, you are the one who is responsible for training your dog. Not the girl at Petsmart, or the guy who claims that you need to pay him 600 bucks for the privelege of watching him heel your dog in a circle in your back yard.

Do you want to know the best way to train your dog? Well, first, hang out with other people who own dogs and who have trained their dogs in obedience. Watch what they do. Ask questions. See what works for your dog before you embark on some gimmick or fad.You can either join a local obedience club or just hang out with friends. Audit a dog training class and see if it’s what you want before you shell out the dough. You get the idea.

You should also read books and watch videos. Lots of them. YouTube is filled with dog training vids. Just watch how handlers handle dogs. You will learn a lot just from watching that.Go to the bookstore and start reading a dog training book. If it inspires you to train your dog, maybe buy it and read all of it, using what you can. Read different books by different authors, so you develop a solid
overview on the subject.

Go with your dog to visit an obedience or agility event in your area. Again, watch what is going on with the dogs and handlers. Don’t just stand around and socialize with the people. Watch and listen and you will learn more in an hour than you would have by paying some schmuck 200 bucks to tell you that your dog is passive-aggressive and needs Prozac.

Remember, dogs are dogs, not humans. Please keep that in mind when you train your dog. If you cannot get the distinction between humans and dogs, you cannot train dogs, period.

Most of all, be patient. I know most people expect a dog to train itself, much less by them, the handler. The truth is, it takes months and years to fully train a dog to a high level and the training never, ever stops. So, please, be patient and do plenty of repetitions, or else you will hang your dog up on an exercise by not doing it until he or she really gets it.

My next post will give you a few actual, specific training tips. Hope it helps!!

Bob

ps thanks to Jennifer in Jersey for bugging me to write this post!

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January 14, 2008 by Bob.

Okay, sometimes they’re called ‘flying nun’ ears, hence the title of this post. If you don’t get the reference, just move on and everything will be all right.

What I am talking about is the fly away ear, the rosebud ear and the aforementioned ‘flying nun’ ear, particularly on a Rottweiler.

This usually shows up while the pup is teething, but can be later or sometimes earlier, so really the main point is not when it actually shows up, but that it shows up. Now you saw in the last post what the head of a Rottweiler should look like and that includes the ears. They are what is referred to as ‘pendant’ ears and that means that they drop down from a specific point on the head, with a specific fold, sort of like a napkin.

Sometimes one or both of the ears does not set right when the Rottie is a pup. This makes the dog look goofy and is even more annoying (at least to me, as I am totally obsessed with ear sets) when only one of the ears is set and the other one is creased in the wrong spot.

So, when new owner Chris, from the Boston, Mass. area, emailed me about the issue with his pup, even suggesting that I post an article on my blog about it, I got right to it!!  Mostly, I will be using the email text, as follows, since I am lazy:

“OK, bob… I have another post for your blog that would  be most helpful …hahah.
King’s (Chris’ dog is named King) left ear does not sit properly…I know it’s
because he’s teething but whats ur opinion on taping or massaging? Is it all bull shit that will correct itself w/ maturing?? If not, any tips on which method is better and the proper way to do it?? thx again…

Chris.. Go Pats!!!”

(I had to include his email to me, as he writes the same way he talks and being a chowd, he is a riot to talk to! Anyway, here is my answer)

“Hey Chris,

There are three ways to do it and it will work, but you have to do it (the massaging) every day, like maybe two or three times a day.  It may or may not correct by itself later, so doing something now is best.

Do the massaging every day, as many times a day as you can. Just massage his ear where the crease ought to be, using your forefinger and thumb, to help break down the cartilage.  Use the thumb on the outside of the ear flap and the forefinger on the inside, like a woman’s curler. Really rub it,like you would roll a cigarette, all over that crease area and let him chew on a toy or eat a treat while you do it, so he doesn’t fuss so much.

Next, you can use a product called ‘Tear Mender’ which you can pick up at a craft store or maybe in the Wal Mart craft section. This is a white fabric glue that is non toxic and will hold the ear flap down while it gets re-trained. You place the glue on the tip of the ear and connect it to the dog’s cheek so that it looks like it’s supposed to. The glue is messy and will get on his head, etc. but won’t hurt him.  Just make sure it doesn’t get in his eye and position the ear so the crease is correct. When the glue gets undone, after a week or a few days, leave it for a couple of days and do the massage, then go back to the glue. Keep this up until the ear sets correctly. You are basically retraining the cartilage .

Did you get the Muriel Freeman book (The Complete Rottweiler)? It has an illustration on how to massage the ears there as well.

I have found that taping is sometimes pretty unproductive, as the dog pulls the tape out and I use it as method number three, as a last resort. Here is a link of a good how to do it article on taping ears.

http://www.justask.nu/articles.html

here is a link showing how you massage a boxer’s ears. Just use it to get the position of your fingers,etc.

http://intrends.tripod.com/MASSAGE.html

Here is a page that talks about gluing the dogs ears and shows you what the glue looks like.

http://www.dog-training.com/dogears.htm

My son has one of your pup’s litter mate sisters and she had to have it done. Her ears started folding correctly after about ten minutes of massaging. They are using a combo of glue and massage and they are looking very good.

Go Dolphins!!!

Bob”

That should do it. Oh, here is his update for me:

“..the ear massaging is working great and they are almost always sitting properly now..thx again chris ”

Here is the picture of his pup, post ear massage:

Best,

Bob

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October 29, 2007 by Bob.

Now, we are going to break down the various elements of what a Rottweiler’s head is supposed to look like. Are you ready? Oh, before I forget, the two pictures on this post are there to show you what a Rottweiler head is supposed to look like. Pics are of Doc von der Teufelsbrucke and Norris von Gruntenblick. Please let me know if you think their muzzles are too long. (joke)

Head

‘Of medium length, broad between the ears; forehead line seen in profile is moderately arched; zygomatic arch and stop well developed with strong broad upper and lower jaws. The desired ratio of backskull to muzzle is 3 to 2. Forehead is preferred dry, however some wrinkling may occur when dog is alert.’

First, let’s define what a damn zygomatic arch is: a cheeckbone.

Alright, now to define the stop: The point between the eyes where the muzzle ends and the forehead starts.

And, the backskull: basically, the top of the dog’s head.

So, the length of the top of the dog’s head should be a bit longer than the length of the muzzle, like a 3 to 2 ratio. We’re not talking about a bulldog’s ratio, which is probably 3 to 1. Hopefully, this should end any discussion about wanting a Rottweiler with a ’short muzzle’. Get a bulldog.

‘Expression is noble, alert, and self-assured.’

‘Eyes of medium size, almond shaped with well fitting lids, moderately deep-set, neither protruding nor receding. The desired color is a uniform dark brown.’

The above two points are pretty easy to understand.

‘Serious Faults–Yellow (bird of prey) eyes, eyes of different color or size, hairless eye rim.’

‘Disqualification–Entropion. Ectropion.’

Entropian is defined as a condition where the eyelids fold inward.

Ectropian is defined as a condition where the lower eyelids turn outwards.

‘Ears of medium size, pendant, triangular in shape; when carried alertly the ears are level with the top of the skull and appear to broaden it. Ears are to be set well apart, hanging forward with the inner edge lying tightly against the head and terminating at approximately mid-cheek.’

‘Serious Faults–Improper carriage (creased, folded or held away from cheek/head).’

‘Muzzle–Bridge is straight, broad at base with slight tapering towards tip. The end of the muzzle is broad with well developed chin. Nose is broad rather than round and always black. Lips-Always black; corners closed; inner mouth pigment is preferred dark.’

Same as the description of the head. You don’t want a Doberman muzzle and you don’t want Spike the Bulldog, either.

‘Serious Faults–Total lack of mouth pigment (pink mouth).’

‘Bite and Dentition–Teeth 42 in number (20 upper, 22 lower), strong, correctly placed, meeting in a scissors bite–lower incisors touching inside of upper incisors.’

‘Serious Faults–Level bite; any missing tooth.’

‘Disqualifications–Overshot, undershot (when incisors do not touch or mesh); wry mouth; two or more missing teeth.’

A level bite is where the front teeth of the upper and lower jaws meet exactly edge to edge.

A wry mouth is when one side of the jaw grows more than the other.

Bob’s Summary: Before you go and euthanize your dog for not possessing the perfect headpiece, let me remind you that it is extremely rare for a single dog to have all of these points intact. Even the best of show dogs have some departure, even if slight, from this standard. Again, it is a standard and as such is the ideal from which breeders and fanciers can gauge the correctness of their individual dog. Remember, there is no such thing as the perfect dog. You just need to know what the Rottweiler should look like, so you don’t go around telling people their Black and Tan Coonhound is a good lookin’ Rottie, or ask ‘what is that’ when you actually see a Rottweiler. And stop with the requests for ’short muzzled Rottweilers’!

Best,

Bob

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September 12, 2007 by Bob.

In lieu of writing more articles simply and only criticizing pet owners and their 180 pound ‘Rotties’, I have decided to try to educate by breaking down the breed standard. I mean, it would probably help if people actually understood what a Rottweiler was supposed to look like, how tall, muzzle length, etc. That way I might actually be able to change the viewpoints of people looking for a pup so that they actually avoid unethical breeders and start to pay attention to the fact that the Rottweiler is really a purebred dog and not just a jumping off point for designing a new, better, Rottweiler by adding four inches of height, sixty pounds and a face like an English bulldog with dewlaps like my pet lizard. Then again, I may totally fail at this. But I’ll give it my best!

To start things off, I would like to offer you the link to the AKC’s page that shows the Rottweiler breed standard in it’s entirety -

http://www.akc.org/breeds/rottweiler/index

Okay, now I will begin by going through each point as it is written and give my own understanding of that paragraph or descriptive point.

‘General Appearance’‘The ideal Rottweiler is a medium large, robust and powerful dog, black with clearly defined rust markings. His compact and substantial build denotes great strength, agility and endurance. Dogs are characteristically more massive throughout with larger frame and heavier bone than bitches. Bitches are distinctly feminine, but without weakness of substance or structure.’

So, I think that means that the Rottweiler is a medium large dog, not a giant breed. The dog is compact, which means he is NOT forty inches at the withers. Key words here are strength, agility and endurance. This conjures up images of an athletic dog, muscular, with good bone who carries himself well. Endurance? Yipes, that must mean that the dog should be able to endure through some kind of event or action that requires that he actually move his body around and not have an anurism after two minutes. Okay, enough on this point.

‘Size, Proportion, Substance: Dogs–24 inches to 27 inches. Bitches–22 inches to 25 inches, with preferred size being mid-range of each sex. Correct proportion is of primary importance, as long as size is within the standard’s range.’

Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Does the AKC really have a description of the Rottweiler that shows an actual limit to the height of the dog or bitch used for breeding? Yep, it does, Homer, and that is that. There is no weight in the description of this breed. Never has been, never will.

Look, do a test. Let’s say you are six feet tall, for a man, and five six for a woman. How much can your frame hold so that you look proportioned? Would 300 pounds be a good number? Well, not unless you are morbidly obese. A dog’s frame is designed to take just so much weight. When you add all that weight, you need to add height, and so on. Eventually you end up with a Mastiff. So, why are you trying to find a Rottweiler that looks like a Mastiff? Why don’t you just buy a Mastiff and be done with it? I don’t know, and that is why I am writing this post. YOUR DOG NEEDS TO LOOK PROPORTIONED, IN RELATION TO HIS OR HER SIZE.

So, breeders who promote their 160 pound sire and all this other nonsense, like how their 400 pound dogs never get HD and are totally correct, are fuller of crap than their kennel runs probably are. To clarify an earlier post of mine, I have never seen a correct Rottweiler that weighs one sixty. End of scene.

‘The length of body, from prosternum to the rearmost projection of the rump, is slightly longer than the height of the dog at the withers, the most desirable proportion of the height to length being 9 to 10. The Rottweiler is neither coarse nor shelly. Depth of chest is approximately fifty percent (50%) of the height of the dog. His bone and muscle mass must be sufficient to balance his frame, giving a compact and very powerful appearance.’

Okay, first of all, we need to understand a few terms here. The prosternum is a word that means breastbone. The withers are the top of the shoulders, specifically, the highest point on a dog behind the neck, typically the point of the shoulder blades. So he’s a compact dog, almost square looking, with a deep chest that is half the height of the dog. Pretty clear cut stuff here.

‘Serious Faults–Lack of proportion, undersized, oversized, reversal of sex characteristics (bitchy dogs, doggy bitches). ‘

Again, self explanatory. An oversized dog is a dog that is beyond the described height and corresponding proportion for a male or female, similarly described. Like the man says, it is a SERIOUS FAULT. Listen, your dog cannot possibly weigh 180 pounds and be a Rottweiler. I personally don’t care if he has an AKC registration. The AKC cannot regulate every dog on the planet. It actually requires something rare on the part of the breeder, like personal integrity! Okay? So, stop advertising it in your misrepresentative, STOOPID puppy ads and stop telling gullible or misinformed buyers that your kennel specializes in that ‘look’, like it’s some kind of fashion accessory. You are dopes and the worst kind of dope - one who thinks he isn’t a dope.

Next post: We will cheerfully discuss the head of the Rottweiler as described in the breed standard.

Bob

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August 30, 2007 by Bob.

Well, this subject has come up enough recently for me to start getting paranoid on the subject of people choosing males vs. females. I guess I should explain what I mean.

Okay, for the longest time, owners were preferring males over females, maybe on a two to one ratio. The males always went first and the females hung around an extra week or two. Not a really big deal, as they always went to great homes and the people who really wanted a female got what they wanted. I kind of accepted it as the ratio.

Now, in the past few months, I have seen a near reversal of that trend. Now, maybe it’s just coincidence, but maybe there’s something to this. But three out of four calls or inquiries are about females.

Look, don’t get me wrong, I love female Rottweilers. I don’t think there’s a darn thing wrong with owning a female and as a matter of fact (and quite obvious), that is almost exclusively what I have owned as a breeder and dog handler.

But, that doesn’t mean that males suck, either.

Here’s an excerpt from an email I received from a potential owner a month or so ago:

“I had another breeder advise me that I should get a female rather than a male because of temperament issues. I have a 5 yr old and a 2 yr old and they seemed to think that a female would be better. I grew up with a male and that is what I had in mind. What do you think?”

Here was my answer:

First off, (and I may sound too harsh here, but here we go anyway………) I think that the ‘breeder’ who told you that a male is more prone to temperament issues is actually full of crap and does not remotely understand the Rottweiler breed and dogs in general. Try to avoid both them and their puppies if possible. I guess if you have a breeding program that produces skittish dogs with thin nerves or horrible temperaments to begin with, there might be a concern with males coming out of that kennel. The truth is, all things being equal, dogs of either gender are as reliable as they are properly socialized early in life and given proper obedience training.

Although genetics does play a part in the offspring (and a skittish or unusually aggressive dog of any breed is not a reliable choice, especially for a family with children) the gender of the dog is not the main issue here. It is the individual dog’s temperament, including his nerves. Dogs are individuals, just like people and an outgoing, well bred pup, with solid nerves at eight weeks of age is a blank slate that simply needs to be imprinted (socialized, and trained) by its new owner. If you keep the dog in a closet he will grow up to be an idiot and not be very good socially. Male or female doesn’t really matter. I have sold a good number of males to families with children of all ages, including newborns, and have heard not one word from any one of them regarding any issue stemming from some supposed temperament flaw with their male pup. Now, you said you grew up with a male in your household. Did you have any problems with his temperament? Case closed.

So, I thought this was an isolated situation and didn’t think much else about it until the other day, when another prospective owner called me and said the EXACT SAME THING, almost word for word. Now, again, I am not one to push the conspiracy thing, but I think that the same idiot who has been telling people that there is such a thing as an ‘American’ and a ‘German’ Rottweiler is also telling people that male Rottweilers make bad pets.

I think that you should choose a male or female based on your own preference, what you are comfortable with and what best suits your living arrangements. The particular sex of the dog is not something that a breeder should be spending a lot of time influencing you about. The only thing I would say is, if you aren’t planning on doing obedience training or socializing your dog, then you shouldn’t be getting a Rottweiler at all, male or female! Try a goldfish.

Okay, so what am I getting at? Here is my true or false list. Decide for yourself.

1. Males are more aggressive than females -

This is not really true. I guess these faux breeders have never seen two females get aggressive and start fighting with each other when one is in heat, or something like that. Not a pretty sight. Again, it is more the individual dog’s mental makeup, his nerves and his personality. Aggression has nothing to do with testosterone. It has to do with learned behavior and the situation the dog is involved in. The bottom line on aggression is that the dog has to be taught what is appropriate and what is inappropriate behavior from a young age. If you are not willing to do this, then don’t get a dog.

2. Females bond to their owners better than males do -

I would have to say false to this one as well. What data does anyone have that proves this? Nobody has any data, period. I have sold males to single men with no families and they bond well. I have sold males to families and they bond with everyone right away. Males are just as protective and territorial as females when it comes to the household. The only thing I can think of that comes close to this is that I have seen females sometimes bond better with male humans and male Rotties bond with female humans, but this is not something that I have statistics on and can say, ‘Yes, of course, females make better family pets and companions because blah blah blah.’. Nope I cannot.

3. If you have small children, only get a female -

False. Again, do you think the female is going to baby sit your kids while the male Rottweiler is going to go out drinking with his pals? Nope. Refer to my answer to the nice lady’s email.

4. If you are a dishonest breeder and are having trouble selling your females, tell buyers that females are better than males -

Sure, I think this one is true. Self explanatory.

5. Males mark their territory in the house -

Yes, this is sometimes true but is not always the case. This mostly occurs when you have other males in the house or when you allow other males to visit. Jake, my son’s Rottweiler, doesn’t pee in the house at all and he is intact and five years old. Of course, he is the only male in the house (except for my son!!)

6. Males will take longer to train than females-

False. If the dog is not too bright, then I would say that would be the reason for longer than normal training times. Or, if the handler is not real bright, that could account for the same issue.

That should do it.

Bob

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July 11, 2007 by Bob.

I have been operating a breeding kennel for over ten years, so I have had my share of questions from curious,concerned and otherwise data starved potential owners. Sometimes, I receive a canned list of questions that I know came from some book or article on ‘How To Not Get Ripped Off By A Disreputable Breeder’ published in Dog Fancy or some other similar mag or web site. Queries include

How long have you been breeding Rottweilers?

Are your dogs OFA certified?

How many dogs do you have in your kennel?

Where do your dogs live?

How many litters do you have a year?

Okay, so all of the above questions are legitimate and can give a prospective buyer some kind of profile of the breeder and his ethics. However, I can answer all of those questions with the appropriate answer and still not have the knowledge or understanding of the breed and how to create and maintain a kennel and a breeding program that is going to produce healthy, active pups.

Let’s say I only have two females and a male and they are my pets and I only breed once every two years. My dogs are OFA certified and they live in the house. Okay, so what that means is that this breeder has some nice pets that are bred occasionally. Does this mean that the breeding stock is correct and that the pedigrees are worth the price of the pups? Does this person know what a Rottweiler is supposed to look like? And so on. But the test has been passed and the prospective buyer knows that this breeder is not running a puppy mill. Wow. Big deal. Apparently, if you own more than three dogs you are running a puppy mill.

Okay, so I have some real questions that you can ask one of these breeder-type people. These are questions that, when asked, will either evoke a lot of stuttering and stammering and non-answers or real information as to the knowledge and skill of the breeder. Fasten your seatbelts, cuz you’re in for one hell of a ride!!

1. What is the top side pedigree of this pup? (top side is the father, bottom side is the mother. If you look at a printed pedigree, you will see this very clearly- the top half of the paper is the father’s lineage, the bottom half of the paper is the mother’s.) If the breeder doesn’t start answering you within five seconds, you can be sure they have no clue as to what you are talking about.

2. Ask the breeder to describe or explain the type for each parent. Type here refers to phenotype, or physical type of the dog. Some Rotties have a very correct type, some are a bit extreme in the head, some are compact, etc. Failure to even know what type means is a sign of ignorance of dog breeding in general.
3. Ask for any titled dogs in the last three generations of both parents. If they are reading from the pedigree and give you a title, like ‘Blah Blah, CGC’, ask them what ‘CGC’ means. (CGC means Canine Good Citizen and it isn’t a title. It’s a temperament test. Not a bad thing, but not a title) If the breeder can’t explain to you what the titles mean and what the actual accomplishment was that the dog achieved, then the breeder is too lazy or uncaring to even research his or her own dog’s ancestry.

4. Ask the breeder to tell you about the conformation of the parents. If the breeder doesn’t know what the word ‘conformation’ means, then you are done right there. Conformation describes the physical characteristics of the dog as compared to the written breed standard of that particular breed. If the dog ‘conforms’ to the breed standard, then the animal is correct for the breed. I would just ask this question to see if the breeder knows what the word means! I am a cruel bastard.

5. Ask the breeder to explain in detail what hip dysplasia is. Make sure that you have already looked this up online and know yourself exactly what this condition is. If all you get is ‘It’s a disease of the hips’ then you are pretty much done there.

Okay, I’m sure that I can come up with more subtle ways of entrapping would-be breeders into exposing their ignorance of the breed that they have allegedly pledged to improve through their breeding program, but I will stop there. I will, however, give you a list of things to look out for and avoid at all costs in looking for a pup:

1. Any pedigree that includes a dog with the name ‘Harley’, ‘Harley Davidson’ or ‘Samson’.

2. In looking at a breeding pedigree, you see that the sire and dam have the same parents.

3. The breeder who proudly tells you that his sire is a ‘long hair’ Rottweiler.

4. The breeder who proudly tells you that one or both of the parents are well over 160 pounds.

5. The breeder whose primary selling point is the size of the father’s head.

6. The breeder whose primary selling point is the fact that the pups were born without tails.

7. The breeder who mispronounces the name of the breed. Rockwiler, Rockwilder, Rock, etc.

Okay, that about does it. Hope you have some fun with it and learn something about Rottweilers in the process.

Bob

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May 30, 2007 by Bob.

I split this article in half because there’s a lot for me to say here and I wanted it to be a bit more readable……..

2. So, what about phenotype?

Again, when you’re looking for a pup, you want the best possible combination of genetics (genotype or pedigree) and phenotype PLUS individual temperament,drive, intelligence,etc.
Here is what phenotype is: physical appearance and/or actual type or physical characteristics of the specific dog in front of you.

You may want a certain type when looking for a Rottweiler, such as a darker mahogany and a certain look for the head piece. Well, the parents may possess some of those types you like, but you should probably look at the pup itself to see if it also has that type. Some offspring do not look exactly like their parents, so getting a picture would probably help. Phenotype is the easiest to examine in a pup, because it’s right there in front of you!

Phenotype basically confirms what the genetics are telling you. It is the reliability of phenotype that gives you correct looking pups when breeding a male and female of similar type and it is what we as breeders should strive for in attempting to copy the breed standard.

3. That leaves us with tested temperament, drive and intelligence. We can call this Ability.

The following fact is the most overlooked in pup selection regardless of pedigree or phenotype : THE UNSEEN ABILITIES OF THAT INDIVIDUAL PUP ARE OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE TO THE QUALITY OF THE PEDIGREE AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF THE DOG.

If you want to train the dog in competitive obedience or protection or flyball or whatever, make sure the dog has the drive or interest in play to do the work. If not, you’ll get the pup home and it’ll look at you like you have three heads when you toss a ball for it to chase. Great pedigree. Looks great. Lousy drive. Oh, well, I guess the apple fell a few miles from the tree. I mean, for sure you would look for a working pedigree if you wanted a working dog, for instance. Still, it is no substitute for actually looking at the pup in front of you.

I’m not saying that if you pay three grand for a pup out of some awesome sire that you won’t get a great pup - all I am saying is that the fact that the sire is fantastic is not a guarantee that the offspring will be.

4. Here’s the moral of the story.

Study the pedigree. Are dogs on the pedigree proven producers in both work and conformation? Or are they all “Harley Von Davidson” (my own personal favorite) with a dog that won a Canine Good Citizen seven generations ago. (I recently saw a web site where they stated they were proud members of Avid and the OFA. I had no idea that when you micro-chipped your dog and sent in an xray that you became a member of such special clubs!)

Have the pup tested by the breeder. Take a look at the pictures of the pup. Are the nerves sound? Does the pup have any major faults or flaws that would be a health or performance issue? Really check it out. And I don’t mean just check to see of the parents were done on their OFA hip screening. Just so you know, that is actually only one body part out of a whole bunch. Have the drive tested, if that matters to you. I can test drive and nerves on a pup at seven weeks with pretty good accuracy.

Of course, if the pup is not thereafter socialized and trained to CONTINUE to be environmentally sound, then the three factors (genotype, phenotype, ability) will be wasted. And that is where you come in as the owner. If you want the pup to have ball drive, don’t expect him to get tons of ball drive if you don’t exercise that drive and bring it out of him when he’s a pup. I can’t tell you how many people come to me with their dog when he’s two years old and cannot understand when the dog doesn’t go crazy for the ball. Dog doesn’t know how to play and should have learned it when he was three months old.

It really boils down to ‘what am I looking for in a pup?’. If you want a certain look or working ability or just a pet that you can train to be a good member of the family, you need to at least discuss that with the breeder to see if he has a match for you. Again, just buying a pup on pedigree or looks alone is going to mostly be a status based decision. You know, like ‘my dog is better than your dog because of his pedigree or how big is head is.’ I didn’t think people thought that way, but I have spoken to some and I am amazed at what I hear. They actually believe that the dog IS his pedigree, which is false.

So, know that what the breeder is selling you is a blank slate. You as the owner need to socialize, train and responsibly care for the pup through its entire life. You are the one who can mold the dog into what you want as a family member and friend. And as I stated earlier, if you do the imprinting at an early enough age then the dog will be far easier to train when he’s a year or two old and you want to do something more with him. At that point, genetics might not be enough.

Bob

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May 30, 2007 by Bob.

Please don’t misunderstand me here. I am a huge believer in pedigree (not the dog food, by the way) and what it represents genetically in the Rottweiler breed. But I am writing this as some buyers and yes, even breeders, base their entire breeding program on pedigree alone, with very little emphasis on environment and phenotype.

Let me clarify a few terms here. First of all, pedigree means the lineage or ancestry of a particular dog within a breed type. So, the pedigree of a dog includes the parents, grandparents, etc as far back as you can go and believe me you can go very far back with pure bred dogs.

Phenotype is the actual physical type, or appearance of the dog or bitch, usually as it relates to the written description of the breed standard for that specific breed of dog. Sometimes it is just referred to as ‘type’.

Environment means the way the dog is raised in it’s home environment. This includes how the dog is fed, exercised, socialized, trained and otherwise maintained throughout it’s life, from puppyhood through adulthood.

I will now attempt clarify the point of this article, mainly that the importance of pedigree is relative to the other two factors in a puppy or adult canine.

1. Should you care about a dog’s pedigree?

Okay, so now here is my argument. Selecting a dog on pedigree alone does not always guarantee that you will get a carbon copy of what’s on that pedigree. For example, if I were to choose to buy a pup who was bred from titled show (conformation, not working) parents and who had an awesome pedigree, but whose nerves were thin and who was skittish around people, would be a less than an intelligent choice. But, the breeder will tell you that the pup just needs a little socializing, and so on, it’s not genetic, and all that. Well, if the pup tests out with thin nerves at eight weeks, chances are the pup has thin nerves and you can help it with socialization but you may not be able to fully neutralize the dog’s nerves fully - so you always have the chance that the dog will react adversely to people. I know someone who has a working dog with that exact situation, who paid top dollar for the dog from a breeder and who was told that exact same thing - ‘Oh, she just needs socialization.” Not so, my friend. Sounds like a kink in the genetic line to me.

Now, you can have a pup with totally great, sound nerves, who goes to a home where they do absolutely no socializing with the pup. No trips to the park, no interaction with other people, kids, bikes, etc. Well, there will a bit of a problem there, but nowhere near as big a problem as the pup who already had nerve issues (genotype) to begin with.

Okay, so how does pedigree, or genotype play into the quality of the pup you buy? It’s like this- the pedigree may have great dogs somewhere on it, even close in. The parents may be International Champions with all kinds of great sounding titles from Europe. But the true test is, what has that pedigree produced, in real life? In other words, has the sire or dam produced a dog that was worthy of the breeding that was done and of the price you are paying? Has the sire or dam produced offspring that are consistently healthy, well tempered, possessing adequate drive or good nerve enough so that they will not shut down when they are corrected? I have heard of great dogs from the past, who were Korung, Schutzhund III dogs who were absolutely fantastic specimens, who produced nothing. They could not pass on the genetic blueprint to the offspring and so you got dogs, offspring that people paid a lot of money for who themselves were not their parents. I mean, look at some humans that you know. Look at the parents and see if the kids are as good as the parents. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Okay?

Bob

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