The Pedigree Database: Rottweiler

I have a 1 yr old male rott. I have always been told let the puppy be a dog. Until now he has had basically no formal training and we are just starting on his obedience training  at home,just little things here and there with treats and praise as a reward.

His parents are AKC reg but 2 of the litter were red. I have 1 of them. I know that in show he would be faulted and laughed out. I am wondering how much the coloring matters in the working arena? There are many other things I need to learn before thinking of training and of course he is to young for OFa, altho he will never be bred. I am waiting until he is 18-24 months for neutering due to research I have read about younger neutering of the heavier breeds causing overgrowth issues. Since he is a red rott, should I even attempt trying to train since he doesnt adhere to the standard?

Hello Shandra,

I have not viewed this site for some time, so today is the first time I have seen your thread.  Since no one out of 90 readers have taken the time to respond to you ( which is exactly why I do not go to this site often)  I will.



Of cource train him.  He is your dog.  He is a Rottweiler.  He needs training and if you plan to keep him then you will need to form this bond.  He needs to have a healthy relationship with you, and he needs to understand who is in charge.  It is a relationship that is give and take on both parts.  You provide for him and he provides for you.



My only caution IMO is that you do not reward with treats.  Unless you are perfecting obedience for a trial, there is no need to reward with treats.  Your approval and praise should be what he works for.  I know some will disagree with this, but treats were not a part of training years ago like they are now.  You want him to bond to YOU not the treat you have.  Establish this bond through training, fun and play.



What does it matter if he is not show quality?  Unless your heart is bent on having show or breeding then this has nothing to do with whether you train or not.



Does he show interrest in working?  Does he love fetch?  Does he show any discernment in real life situations?  What's his temperment like? What is his pedigree like?  American show lines, German lines, etc.



IMO you are making the right decision in not neutering him at this time.  I would be in no hurry. Again, some will not agree with this but I am more conserned with doing what's best for the dog, not the PETA folks, and others that have gone over the top with this subject.



You are welcome to send me a private email through this site.  As I said, I do not come to this site much as no one in the Rottweiler world seems to have any vested interest in these dogs.  This is a mystery to me, but oh well.



Good luck

Of course there is hope!  I think giving treats is just fine.  Also give lots of praise.  He should respond well to both.  In the AKC obedience area or in Schutzhund, color doesn't matter one bit.  You should definitely train your dog and if you want to get involved in showing him in Schutzhund or AKC obedience, go for it.  It is a lot of fun!!

Shandra:  He is a beautiful dog.  I would suggest, however, that you check with the AKC because there is no such thing as a red Rottweiler.

I always taught that red rotts look ugly but looking at the picture they really look good.

All dogs needs some basic training regardless of it been put to show or work otherwise yours and your dog's life would be miserable.

Shandra --

I've never seen an all-red rott before. I'd seen the red'n'tan ones on occasion.

Neutering, that's your personal choice. I've never had overgrowth issues snipping a dog at sexual maturity. I'm a firm believed that any dog that isn't intended for breeding be altered for a long list of reasons I won't get into here. (Yes, I am a show/working breeder of German Shepherds... so I'm not just another "no more puppies!" PETA people *lol*)

Having your dog altered can be a good thing. One day one of my friend's neighbor came up with a box of black and tan puppies, and told his that since his (escape artist) GSD who often ran down the road to play with her dogs had gotten one of her females pregnant, he was getting half the litter. He said: "nope, the dog's neutered."

You may also have people coming up and wanting to breed to your male because he is "rare color," regardless that it's outside of breed standard. People love "rare colors," but deliberate breeding of a fault is never good. Especially without health checks, OFA checks on the dam and sire... all that good stuff.

*grins* And anyhow, if someone did breed a black rott (BB) with your red rott (bb), all the pups would be black anyhow (unless the female was a carrier for red -- highly unlikely). The results would be a litter of normal puppies that carried the red gene (Bb), but unless bred to another red rottweiler there'd be no guarentee any of them would ever produce red offspring of their own.

And RRR --

Of course there are red rottweilers. It's a recesive trait that's carried in the breed. Theoretically there could also be blue rotts. Generally it still carries for tan points, but as demonstrated in the pinscher breed, solid red is possible. Here's more on Red Rottweilers: http://www.resteddoginn.ca/redrescue.php The color doesn't necessarily imply an impure lineage.