# Rottie People??



## Luna Wolf (Oct 13, 2006)

Any working rotties out there? I am finding it difficult to locate people with working rotties...they all seem to be mals and shepherds. 

So anyone with a rotti...speak up! Let's talk shop!


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

We have rotties at my SchH Club, but the owner isn't keen on message boards.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Quote:I am finding it difficult to locate people with working rotties.

That is because it is difficult to find working Rotties, let alone people that want to take a chance on a breed that was nearly destroyed in the 80's with overbreeding, and show people. Why take a one in 1000 chance when you can take a 1 in 30??????


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## Woody Taylor (Mar 28, 2006)

Luna Wolf said:


> Any working rotties out there? I am finding it difficult to locate people with working rotties...they all seem to be mals and shepherds.
> 
> So anyone with a rotti...speak up! Let's talk shop!


Luna, what state are you in? PM me if you are not comfortable sharing that (you're out of luck if you're not comfortable with me knowing that :lol. I'm harmless, ask Jeff.


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## Luna Wolf (Oct 13, 2006)

I'm in Canada. (You know, the 51st state.) :lol: 

I came upon my rotti by accident...actually, he came to me by miracle.

I went to a client's home to help them with their rotti puppy (I'm a trainer) and after receiving some information on the breed and temperament testing their pup, they called me in a couple days and realized that they couldn't handle him and asked if I could help him find a new home.

I'm a sucker - I love dogs with attitude, drive and a little craziness - I love the challenge! So, I offered to take him and here he is a year later.

After some research, turns out he comes from a bad breeder and is not registerable, plus I had his hips x-rays a few months ago and he has early signs of flattening of the ball joint in his hips and possible dysplasia. Sucks! But...he's a great dog, highly intelligent and highly motivated to work. 

I was going to train him as a "pseudo police dog" and use him to demo my training to clients, but now I have to take it easy on him due to his hips and I will train him as a protection dog (but no jumping through windows etc) and tracking and/or searching. He is also showing potential as a drug dog, so we'll see.

I feel bad for the breed, as I think they have so much potential, but as others here have said, they sure have been wrecked. Although I agree that a lot of shepherd lines have been wrecked as well with bad breeding. (Thank you Rin Tin Tin for making shepherds so popular.)

So no one here has a rotti?


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## Jeff Jones (May 10, 2006)

ooooooooops


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## Jeff Jones (May 10, 2006)

one of my first service dogs was a working rotty he was an excellent dog and it still upsets me i didnt get to have him around for longer than i did, he was only just over 3 when he had to be put down.

he recieved a injury to his eye and damaged the first few layers of his cornea, the vet said he would be alright and the cornea would mainly repair itself altho the eye may appear a little cloudy,

after a few days of being on rest and having been on medication his other eye started to get cloudy aswell then he was diagnosed with pannus ( a degenerative eye disorder) which could not be cured and would require surgery at different intervals throughout his life to try and prolong his eye sight. i decided it would be best to have him put to sleep to save him from any further discomfort,


sorry for the long story :| 


there is only 1 breeder of working rotts here in australia and they very rarely breed anymore


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## Ian Forbes (Oct 13, 2006)

Luna,

I am in the UK and I have a 1 year old Rotty, who is a family pet that I am training in Schutzhund.

My family has had Rotties for years, so when it came to getting a dog myself, it had to be a Rotty. When I started looking around, I decided I wanted one with a bit of 'get-up-and-go'.

She is great fun and although I am a complete novice at Schutzhund, we are learning fast (every time I make a mistake I learn!). Her Dam was a Czech bitch called Grainne Vombat (sadly died when a ball got stuck in her throat) and her Sire is a German dog called Unkas Von Hause Neubrand.


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## jay lyda (Apr 10, 2006)

Hey ask the old man (Jerry) about em, he likes that breed!


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

We've got one Rotty on the club. He'll never be a top sport dog because he'd rather kiss then bite but his owners love him. Rightfully so! His obedience is high energy, very correct, awesome. 
His Hold and Bark is from a play bow position. :roll:  
We all love him!


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## Luna Wolf (Oct 13, 2006)

Glad to hear that there are a few out there...and glad to know that their obedience can be perfect. My boy is still working on it, but he really tries, most of the time. 

I was wondering, anyone who has ever worked a rotti, are they good at bite work? Mine is a cheater and sometimes a wuss. He bites the edge of the sleeve and won't hold on very hard most of the time if he has the centre of the sleeve. Is this typical or do I just have to toughen him up a bit with some training?


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

well, just to add to what you're missing out on here in the States, half the dogs in my club are rotties, the TD breeds them and has an AWESOME dog called "Dark", plus a couple others he's titled (to what degree i'm not sure, but at least a Sch11 and a Sch111).

the club sec breeds for both AKC show and Sch, there's another (wishy-washy) gal w/a nice rott who's not sure if she wants to do the protection phase, another gal w/an ok rott, who's about as good as i am as a handler, but her dog isn't as good as my GSD.....

but talk about hard-hitting dogs!!!!! the TD's dogs WILL take down a helper (he has to do a stutter/fake-step when he's working his own dogs to prevent a take-down), and i've seen them take out 2 other part-time helpers.

it's a neat club, lots of experience...wish you guys could see Dark work....kristen--come over w/your video cam!!


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## Luna Wolf (Oct 13, 2006)

Yes please! Video! I have only found one video of a rott taking down a decoy and it was great, he hit hard and knocked him down. 

I better get training my guy and de-wussifying him. Anyone up in Canada wanna play decoy?


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## Ian Forbes (Oct 13, 2006)

There are Rotties capable of doing the bitework, but this is where the breeding comes in - you are unlikely to get the full calm grips unless you have a dog with some good working dogs in its pedigree.

My bitches mother comes from the Vombat kennel in the Czech republic, where they do a wide range of stuff with their dogs (ScHH, IPO, ZVV, SAR etc.) - they have some nice pictures:

http://vombat.rtw.cz/Plemenici Faarby kouse 2.jpg
http://vombat.rtw.cz/Faarby prepad.jpg
http://vombat.rtw.cz/Kalamita Faarby ham.jpg

This is my bitches litter brother at 11 months:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-6351441301432933150


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## Sarah Hall (Apr 12, 2006)

Very cool pics/video!


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

I'm not a big fan of the Rott. Having said that, I did obtain one from a rescue organization and put it through drug training. He's currently a working drug dog and doing very well. I think he has what it take to be trained as a patrol dog as well. I don't know that I'll put him in the patrol class though. I'm with Jeff O. on this one. The breed suffered mightily and it's hard to find good stock. NOt that it matters, but I'm not a big fan of them anyway, I just don't like them. They also have a particular negative connotation, particularly in the south. It's taken canine programs many years to rebuild an image that was greatly damaged during the civil rights era. Facts notwithstanding, perception plays a powerful role in law enforcement.

DFrost


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Hey look a rottie that bites center! :lol: Haven't seen one of those before. Cool video.

What's that thing in the decoys hand that's stopping the dog from biting and what did the decoy do to make the dog understand not to bite it?


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## Elly Elsenaar (Mar 27, 2006)

went to spain this year, and saw good working rotti's here is the breeder
http://www.canauladell.com/index1.htm


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## Ian Forbes (Oct 13, 2006)

Mike,

The dog is called Fareed Ankys and he has good grips for 11 months old - he is a big boy as well.

The decoy is Oliver Neubrand, who co-runs the 'von Hause Neubrand' kennels in Germany - he is an excellent trainer (competed at the IFR), decoy and breeder. What he has in his hand is like a large plastic trowel (smooth flat plastic plate, with a handle on the back) - with this he can fend off the dog to build frustration, as a way of teaching the bark and hold - he gives the dog a bite when it has barked.

I wouldn't recommend this on an older or more civil dog, as it would probably just bite you somewhere else!

David,

Of course you are wrong about Rotts  - they are great. However, in the UK they have a similarly poor image with the general public, not helped by poor sensationalist journalism and some idiotic owners. Likewise from a working point of view, there is very little breeding for it and the previous quarantine regulations ensured a very shallow gene pool of dogs.


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## Luna Wolf (Oct 13, 2006)

Thanks for the pics and video post of the rotti. Since mine is a rescue and he comes from poor stock (byb), I don't expect him to be a perfect working dog, but I'd like to take him as far as he is capable. Now that I have seen some good working rotts, I don't think he has bite capability, he's just never shown good work in that area. But he sure has a nose and I hope to foster that in him.

Glad to meet some rotti people!


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## Ian Forbes (Oct 13, 2006)

Luna,

Looks like you will be doing some tracking!! At our Schutzhund club, the one area where the Rotties hold their own with the GSDs and Mals is in the tracking - the type of training using food in each foootstep really seems to suit them (maybe because they are such pigs!). My bitch gets far too excited when she sees the tracking line coming out - most of my efforts go into slowing her down and into making her more precise.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Hi there Luna. I've got an older husky/Rott mix who's about 6-8 years old or so. He's a big doof and a bit on the spooky side. He reeeeeally hates being put on his side, so I have a feeling he was alpha rolled one too many times when he was younger. Is a bit like an Akita in temperament. My little 45 lbs Aussie mix would rather stand and fight than he would though. He would prefer to run to his crate and hide. However, late at night, he's a very intimidating looking dog and looks much much bigger than the 65 lbs he weighs, but he's not good for much as he seems to have hip dysplasia and arthritis setting in. Otherwise he would have an interesting combo for weight pulling. Here's on of my fav pics of him playing with my Mal.


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