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

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!

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

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

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

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

I have friends who are obsessed with proper diet for dogs and spend fifty bucks a bag for stuff with wild salmon pee in it. I know other owners who feed their dogs Ol’ Roy. And then, there’s everything in between.

Just today, I was looking a bag of the food I feed my dogs, and by the way, this is by no means crap dog food. It’s a high protein, high fat (30%/20%) kibble with chicken as the first ingredient. Not bad stuff. But, I got to thinking and thought to myself, wow, that only adds up to 50%!! What is the other half made of? I held onto this thought and spoke to my vet about it and he is researching this brain teaser and will get back to me with some credible explanation as to what could possibly make up twenty pounds of filler in a 40 lb bag! I actually can’t wait for his answer. Meanwhile, I kind of figured out what some of the stuff is. You know, the rice, oil, water, beet pulp, vitamins and minerals all take up some room there. But geez, twenty pounds!

I will definitely get back on this when I get more info, but for now, let’s assume that the fifty percent filler is necessary for the dog’s health. Okay. Really, since I’ve been feeding my dogs one of the better foods on the market, I am now wondering about the dog foods that claim to help with certain ailments or weight loss or being old - this really bothers me because I have had to handle pet owners on more than one occasion who use low fat senior dog food to keep their ten year old dog’s weight down, then don’t understand it when the dog develops skin problems. Well, I think anyone can understand that if you practically eliminate fat from a diet your skin will dry up. How about trying to REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF FOOD YOUR DOG TAKES IN!!!!!!

I have the same gripe with these “Large Breed” formulas that all of the major dog food companies produce. Why? Because somebody said somewhere once that the other foods make the large breeds grow too fast. That is a bunch of crap. It’s because idiots out there were speed feeding large dogs with large amounts of food and not giving them exercise and that is why that got too big too fast. How about controlling the amount of food your dog eats - try not to free feed, for example. Oh, the dog food companies won’t advise that, because they will make much more dough selling some low protein crap that large breed owners will feel less guilty about feeding their dogs.

I know, there are so many dog foods on the market, and so much attention being paid to quality due to the recent pet food recalls and such that some dog owners are in kind of a stunned state and will pretty much buy whatever their vet or the local pet store tells them to feed their dog. Not all of this is bad advice, but you must understand that the breeder many times knows what to feed that particular breed, if he’s been doing this for a while and has gone through the gamut of available foods, diets and so on for at least a few years.

I can give some advice here that may help the dog owner make at least a more educated guess as to what food to give his or her dog. It is derived from my own trial and error and is not meant to be the ultimate guide, but at least to help in deciding.

1. Do not free feed your dog.

Although this point isn’t going to help you decide on a dog food, I had to include it in this list. Mostly because people do not understand why you should not free feed your dogs. It’s just plain lazy, first of all, to dump a crapload of food in a giant bowl and have your dog eat all day long. Secondly, and more important, when you free feed your dog, you are not going to be able to detect when that dog is ill or has something wrong with it physically. The first sign of ill health in a dog is food refusal. So, if you dump food in a bowl all day, the dog will eventually show a sharp decline in food drive and may not even be interested when you first give him food, since he has all damn day to eat the stuff. If your dog is sick, you will lose precious hours not knowing this until it is perhaps too late, since he will not be showing any sharp appetite loss as a change from his normal behavior. Free feeding is also the cause of an obedience issue. The dog eats whenever he wants - no discipline here. I don’t know about those of you out there who have breeds other than working breeds, but lack of discipline in a working breed is asking for trouble. You give the dog ten minutes with the food and whatever he doesn’t eat, you pick up and he can have eight hours later at his second feeding. This isn’t some underdeveloped country and you don’t have to worry that your pooch will starve to death. He won’t - trust me. He might even start wanting to eat that food that you spend fifty bucks a bag for down at PetCo.

2. Actually read the ingredients on the bag of dog food.

Okay, just take a look at what’s in the food you’re feeding your dog or the food you want to change to. Really, the most important ingredient is the first ingredient. What is it? Chicken by product meal, Chicken meal, Meat and Bone Meal, Poultry by product meal, Rendered meat, Road Kill, Horses. The last two are ingredients you won’t really see on a dog food bag, but I’ve heard stories………..

Anyway, what you want to have with your first ingredient is the closest thing to real food as possible. I like real chicken or at worst chicken meal, as I have found that chicken is more palatable and more digestible than meat based foods. At least for Rottweilers. After that, just see that you don’t have any preservatives, like BHA or BHT. The food should then be naturally preserved with vitamin E or some other oil. Okay, that’s about it on the ingredients. Other than that, I think all of the anal retentives who insist on only giving their dog the best dry kibble made are so full of themselves that I think they do it just so they can tell their friends how much they pay for a bag of dog food. Here is the deal with all dry kibble - all of it is processed. That means that to make it into kibble, the manufacturer has to cook all of the ingredients together in a big vat until all of it rendered down into a mush and then cool it down and extrude it through these holes to make the paste into strings of paste which is further cooled down and cut into equal sized pieces which is what kibble is. If you are believing that all of this high end buffalo meat and salmon anus and whatever is going to withstand 2000 degrees of cooking and still be chock full of nutrition, then there is a bridge in Brooklyn you may be interested in.

Look here, read the bag of that designer food you just paid sixty bucks for and you will see that all of the vitamins and minerals are added in as ingredients AFTER the ‘fillet of free range avocado’. Don’t you see that they cook all of the nutrition out and then slam it back in? So, really, are you getting a better quality kibble? I don’t think so.

The chicken or chicken meal is pretty good for the dog. Look, have you ever seen what your dog eats when it’s not presented in a bowl? Feces, both dog and horse. Dead things. Grass and other weeds. Garbage, both yours and your neighbors. Do I make myself clear?

3. Pay attention to the Protein and Fat percentages

This is another overlooked item in dog food. As I said earlier, I feed my dogs a 30% protein and 20% fat as that is what keeps them trim and active and healthy,etc. I do not go for the large breed formulas as they are for people who think large breeds have eating disorders. The dog food companies know that pet owners anthropomorphize their pets, which means ‘to ascribe human characteristics to’. So, they prey on the guilty pet owner and sell stuff like ‘Large Breed Puppy’, ‘Senior Formula’, ‘Low Fat Weight Control Formula’, like they’re prescribing some kind of medication. Well, let me tell you, dog food companies are not vets and even if they were, these ridiculous formulas do nothing at best and at worst contribute to lowered levels of fat and protein with higher levels of carbs and other nonessential crap in the dog’s diet.

Dogs need protein and fat to convert into energy and vital muscle tissue and bone growth. Unless you are keeping your dog in a box, he will burn this stuff up pretty quickly and he needs more protein and fat to convert into more energy and tissue. Giving him ten pounds of corn meal a day is the equivalent to feeding your kids ten pounds of corn chips a day. If your dog is eating a food with mostly corn meal and fillers, do not be surprised if he is obese.

I personally would not go below 26% protein and 16% fat for a working breed, with chicken or chicken meal as the first ingredient. I guarantee you that the dog will not gain excess weight, unless you are free feeding him fifteen pounds of food a day!

4. Get word of mouth recommendations and always judge results based on what you see with your own dog.
I really feel that if you cross check your research with actual results from pet or kennel owners who do not have a vested interest in you buying the dog food, then you may get actual feedback that will help you with your decision. Try to stay within the breed you own or plan to own, as different breeds have different dietary issues. German Shepherds, for example, are sometimes very hard keepers and their owners may go through all kinds of trial and error before finding the right dog food that helps their dogs gain and maintain weight. Although I do believe that this should be looked at on an individual basis, there may be some good information to get from others who have the same breed of dog.

The ultimate test, however, is with your own dog. After you have done the research and have made your decision, buy a bag and put your dog through the entire bag and really watch him or her for the next few weeks. Note any weight gain or loss and any energy or allergy issues, condition of the coat, eyes, and yes, the condition of the stool (is it hard, soft, massive or compact - how is your dog digesting this stuff). The last item is very important as that will tell you if the food is being assimilated properly. If not, you may need to try another food, and so on. Eventually and hopefully sooner rather than later, you will find the right dog food for your dog.

Good luck!

Bob

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

1. “Where the standard still means tree trunk bone and giant heads.”

Okay, what standard are you referring to? Maybe your own. I will wager anyone on the planet that they cannot find that load of crap in the actual written breed standard for the Rottweiler. Go to the AKC website and look up the Rottweiler breed standard and tell me I’m wrong.

2. “Members of Avid, OFA, AKC.”

Wow. I did not know that microchipping your dog (Avid) and sending in a hip xray (OFA) made you members of their club. There are no such clubs. Now, I will concede that these people probably were members of the AKC. But, so is every other person on the planet with an AKC registered dog! Not so much impressive as neccessary.

3. ‘AKC, OFA, DNA’

See number two above. Additionally, ‘DNA’ just means you have more than three litters a year from the same sire and were required to send in a swab of your male’s DNA to the AKC. That is all it means. Not a distinction. Not a title or achievement, unless you consider having DNA a distinction. Certainly not a reason to put it on your ad, you dufus.

4. ‘All German’ or ‘Of German Descent’

Again, so what. See my blog on American vs German (May 9th 2007) for more detail. I guess this person has no idea ALL ROTTWEILERS CAME FROM GERMANY.

5. “lovely litter of Massweiler pups…”

Okay what the hell is a Massweiler? Oh, read on in the ad to find out it is a cross between an English Mastiff and a Rottweiler. Oh, you mean a mixed breed? Yea, I thought so. Your ‘designer dogs’ are ruining the breed, thank you.

6. “German Lines”

A variation on the ‘All German’ item above. Again, so what - all Rottweilers have German lines if you go far back enough. Which in the case of this particular breeder is about fifteen generations. (sigh)
7. ‘AKC Imported German Bred Male’

So, what the **ck is a ‘German Bred Male’? I’ve read it five times and I still don’t understand what this means. All I am sure of is that the person who wrote this ad copy doesn’t have a clue either.

Bob

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