Hi all

Some of you who followed my recent posts a few months back will remember me and my partner fianlly found the perfect breed for both of us the Rottweiler.

We have done tons of research and have been to crufts this year to meet more of the breed. And we are confident and happy with pur choice and are now carefully looking at breeders. However my mom has been reading up on the breed now she knows were serious about getting one and shes told us about all these articals that came up about Rottweilers attacking there own owners and shes got herself in a state thinking were going to get attacked if we get one.

Iv told her thats nonsense as the articals never give all the details only the bits that give them a scary headline to sell the papers or get more people to read the articals. And iv tried to reasure her that most of the time there not trained right or exercised enough. But shes still worried so i thought i should ask on here and hopefully i can put her mind at ease as i dont want to loose my mom but the rottie is the right breed for us and she was fine with us getting one until she came across all these articals.

So i want to ask why are there more articals of Rottweilers attacking there owner than other breeds? And what are the reasons why a Rottweiler would attack its owner

they are a big powerful breed of dog so untrained yes would be a lot more dangerous then a small dog but that could be said of many breeds.  go to a good breeder , meet puppies mum and make sure she is a friendly confident dog and you are off to good start, puppy & you then go to puppy classes followed by further young dog training classes and no reason you should not have a well trained, confident, friendly dog to be proud of.  neglect finding a good breeder, don't bother with training and it can go horribly wrong-and those are when the horror stories in papers happen.  small dogs untrained can be vile but rarely make papers as being small the injuries tend to be smaller

plenty of dogs can be aggressive- I have met labradors and golden retrievers with nasty behaviour because their owners never bothered training . socialising puppies and training is the key in my view

there was a rottie pup in my dogs puppy training class- lovely pup and top of the class on learning what was expected of her.
used to be a very frail old lady local to me with two of them- smashing dogs- super well behaved and really attentive and loving to their owner

why are there more articals of Rottweilers attacking there owner than other breeds?

Quite a number of years ago there was an incident - I think in Scotland - where 2 young girls took someone elses Rott out, no-one seemed sure what happened but the dog had a go at one of the girls who subsequently died.
The gutter 'red-top' press kicked off with articles about 'devil dogs' etc
The bad reputation has never completely gone away and the same papers pick it up at every opportunity

Rotts are large and powerful, who should be treated with respect AND are very loyal lovable and clever dogs

> why are there more articals of Rottweilers attacking there owner than other breeds?<br /><br />Quite a number of years ago there was an incident - I think in Scotland - where 2 young girls took someone elses Rott out, no-one seemed sure what happened but the dog had a go at one of the girls who subsequently died.<br />The gutter 'red-top' press kicked off with articles about 'devil dogs' etc<br />The bad reputation has never completely gone away and the same papers pick it up at every opportunity <img class="fsm fsm_sad" src="/images/epx.png" title="sad" alt="" /><img class="fsm fsm_sad" src="/images/epx.png" title="sad" alt="" /><br /><br />Rotts are large and powerful, who should be treated with respect AND are very loyal lovable and clever dogs<img class="fsm fsm_grin" src="/images/epx.png" title="grin" alt="" /><img class="fsm fsm_grin" src="/images/epx.png" title="grin" alt="" />

Yeah that was one of the articals but she also read of a man who fell of a ladder in his own garden and his five Rottweilers attacked him and then she read other articals about owners being attacked by there rotties. But there is never enough info to figure out why they attacked.

You can find sensational reports about so many breeds, first the GSD was the bete noire in the 1960s & 1970s, followed by the Dobermann in the 1970s & 1980s followed by the Rottweiler in the 1980s & 1990s & since then it has been "PBT".

However statistics show you are most likely to be attacked by a Labrador- they are the most numerous breed in the country.

At one time people believed(& some still do)that what they term"Alsatians"  "turn" when they are 7 years old ! Then if course you have people who still hate anything German & of course GSDs, Dobes & Rotties are all german breeds.

A local paper once ran a front page story"Alsatian savages child"only the dog was a prick eared Rough Collie, chained up in a garden & the child had attacked the dog not the other way around, but it sells papers.

A nicely bred showline Rottweiler from health tested parents that is well socialised is no more a threat to it's owners than any other breed. Most media reports are OTT & sensationalised to sell more papers.
Most of the Rotties I have met have been right wimps

At one time people believed(& some still do)that what they term"Alsatians"  "turn" when they are 7 years old !

Years back I used to work as a Home-help and an old chap I used to go to warned me about my GSD...
Make sure that alsatian you got never has raw meat - give 'im a taste of blood and he'll turn and 'ave you!
got all huffy when I laughed at him

Yep that's the one. Have had that said even recently  especially as I feed raw

You mean this story from France ?

> why are there more articals of Rottweilers attacking there owner than other breeds?

It's because large, powerful, (mentally & physicallly) strong breeds are capable of doing so much more damage and are therefore more likely to make the news.

Any dog of any breed could bite in certain circumstances, some breeds are more likely do far more damage if you got a 'bad' one, and by bad I mean poorly bred, poorly trained & poorly socialised.

This study is the most comprehensive study ever of serious dog bites and deaths. You'll see that in a 32 year period in the states Rottweilers are responsible for 85 human deaths, and 535 attacks doing bodily harm, in the same period the entire sighthound group (whippets, greyhounds, afghans etc) killed 1 person, 1 attack doing bodily harm.

The main difference is that a sighthound for example would run screaming if you kicked it, cower down if you raised your voice whereas those things would do little to stop a rottweiler, or other powerful breed.

https://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/dog-attack-deaths-maimings-merritt-clifton-2014.pdf

I think with every breed you have to think carefully about what the most likely problems might be and work super hard on reducing the chances of that happening.

Sure, Rottweilers are strong powerful dogs and they could absolutely make a mess of you if they attacked - they need careful positive socialisation like any other large breed.

But honestly every Rottie I’ve ever met has been very friendly and very willing to listen to their owner and work for them.

My friend has a 14 month old bitch who is absolutely lovely. A bit “enthusiastic ” about everything still, she’ll lunge and pull to get to other dogs and people but there’s nothing aggressive about it, just she wants to greet them so badly! I don’t doubt she’d protect her owner if anyone threatened her but that’s very different from the kind of aggression that gets owners killed or badly hurt.

I firmly believe they need a job, like all breeds. They are clever dogs and their brains need to be worked, even if it’s only learning to fetch your slippers! Personally I’d want to do good reward-based puppy classes to learn manners and impulse control, and whatever activities they enjoy like nose work, obedience, showing, agility (when physically mature), anything where they need to use that brain and work closely with their owner.

I do wonder if certain breeds end up looking more dangerous than they actually are because idiots are more likely to train them to be aggressive than other breeds. We’ve all seen horrible staffords clearly made horrible on purpose as “status dogs” to give the owner more street cred and make them look tougher. I doubt anyone’s ever bought an Italian Greyhound with the thought of making themselves look harder. ;)

I had always been afraid of Rotties, and it was because I had read so much rubbish in the papers. 

Then I joined my first ringcraft class, with a huge male Rottie in it, and I was nervous.  Not so my tiny Chihuahua Longcoat boy.    He happily stood in front of this huge dog, licking his feet.  While the big dog happily licked my boys head.  Dispelled all the rubbish for me.

The trashy press will always find cases of where a large powerful breed has turned on its owner, a Labrador or small breed won't and doesn't make an interesting story.
I would say generally when a dog turns on it's owner for what appears to be for no apparent reason usually is down to a health matter, like brain tumour, but when being pts usually people don't ask for a PM on the dog.

I don't know if i met you at Crufts this year as spoke to many people walking through.
Temperament is key in the breed and if you have any concerns of the dam or sire and by attending shows you are probably likely to meet him to at one then walk away.
I don't know anyone personally who has been attacked by a Rottweiler that they own. One of my girls is a therapy dog, mine all love people which can be a pain sometimes as not everyone wants to say hello despite my dogs trying their hardest to get their attention lol

When you have chosen your breeder maybe take your mum along to meet the dogs as this may help dispel any worries she has. Im sure the breeder would be willing to allow this.
Tbh my father wasn't overly keen on the breed but i still got one anyway. They are the right breed for me at this time.

A North American study not in UK

> Then I joined my first ringcraft class, with a huge male Rottie in it, and I was nervous.&nbsp; Not so my tiny Chihuahua Longcoat boy.&nbsp; &nbsp; He happily stood in front of this huge dog, licking his feet.&nbsp; While the big dog happily licked my boys head.&nbsp; Dispelled all the rubbish for me.

My papillon boy was and is exactly the same. Rottie? Let’s play! Let me lick your face! Ouch, that big paw is heavy, but I don’t care! Look, my entire head fits in your mouth! This is amazing! Play more!

It's very true that the media can target one breed at one time, and another at another.   I too remember when the 'Alsatian' was on the receiving end of countless attacks.   

If you source a reputable breeder who has been involved in their chosen breed for a long time, you should be fine with a Rottie.   The breeder of my foundation bitch (another breed) had one in her old age, and although I had a healthy respect for her when visiting, she was basically a sweetie.

mine all love people which can be a pain sometimes as not everyone wants to say hello despite my dogs trying their hardest to get their attention lol

Daughter had a Rott when she lived at home and I think we overdid the socialisation when she was little as she was convinced that anyone who made eye-contact wanted to cuddle her so daughter taught her that she had to keep feet on floor and be calm unless she was told 'go bundle' then she could jump up and lick and wriggle all over the person

I'd rather have a human loving Rott than one which doesn't like them lol

why are there more articals of Rottweilers attacking there owner than other breeds?

Very simple -your mother looked for information on Rottweilers, not other breeds. If you searched for every breed you could think of, I'm pretty certain that you would find more articles about other breeds/crossbreeds attacking owners, than of Rottweilers.

Many years ago a lady(no longer with us)was walking her 2 Cocker spaniels on lead on private land belonging to a relative. From no where came a pack of 6 unmuzzled racing greyhounds over the gate,  that proceeded to attack her dogs, when they had killed her dogs, they attacked her & it took two blokes who heard her screaming with their shovels to beat the dogs off. Their owners eventually turned up & leashed up there dogs & walked away. Sorry but sighthounds with prey drive out of control are just as dangerous as any other but the smallest of breeds

> https://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/dog-attack-deaths-maimings-merritt-clifton-2014.pdf

You have to allow for this being in the US as well.  Some breeds are not the same as they are here.  For example (not related to this particular question): here labradors are soft, easy going dogs and relatively calm but in much of the US, they are larger, active, driven hunting dogs (more like hounds than retrievers).  A completely different animal.  So it's entirely possible that rotts in the US are more prone to handling difficulties, or more driven, less tolerant etc.

Also a much larger population over there, so 85 deaths looks like a terrifying number, but that's out of 327.3 million people.

Then you've got to consider breeding quality (has the breeder selected for temperament as well as health etc) and how the dog is being handled.

And then you consider all the other breeds that have attacked or killed.  Labs are on that list, there was an attack on a child in a park a couple of years ago by a lab.  A pomeranian killed a baby some years ago.  Perspective is important!

NHS based statistics have Labrador at the top of the breeds reported as having bitten people, not surprising as around 70/80,000 are bred yearly making them.by a mile the most numerous breed . plus if a small breed bites or nips someone they are less likely to require medical treatment afterwards

FB replies:

Ruth Tarbet says: one of the nicest PAT Dogs I ever met was a Rottie...I'd suggest that a lot of buyers of the breed buy because of the Image they think the breed projects but haven't a clue how to work with them! Other breeds with similar reputations suffer from same issues

Catherine Waller says: I met a Rottweiler on the train with her owners. She was beautiful, affectionate & very well behaved. Her owners didn’t need to ask her to do anything she just laid down & watched the world go by.

Clare Foss-Smith says: They are delightful dogs - it’s the owners, not the dogs, that create the aggression

Hayley Godsall says: They are the most loyal loving dogs. My Rottweilers changed allot of people’s perception on the breed

Have you managed to turn your mothers view around yet? I do suggest when dog shows are back on and its safe for you to take her to champ show or a breed club show to meet some. All the ones i know love a good cuddle even with stranger's

Yes i have , before the lockdown she met some and. She was suprised how friendly they were. Shes not worried now and shes been reading breed books since being in the lockdown and shes found them an interesting breed.

Well done to you both

Because it makes a good headline! That’s it. Dogs bite, maim or kill people everyday but like all sorts of ‘news’ differ ent things are the topic. One month it’ll be dogs attacks the next kids kidnapped. They choose the ‘best stories’ to print. A Rottweiler attacking a toddler is going to get more reads than a Yorkshire terrier killing a toddler. I learnt to walk by pulling myself up on a Rottweilers ears! They are the best dogs!