We (myself and 2 Beardies) travelled to E of Eng with my friend and her male Rottie, she set up his crate amongst the Beardie exhibitors, no problems. Her Rotties temperaments(sp) are second to none, her dog just leans on you for cuddles, and has been around Beardies all of his life.
We were all benched close to the Huskies and Rottie benching. The vast majority of folk were with their dogs the majority of the day, however, two Rottie exhibitors inparticular, had left their dogs on the benches (in metal crates) unattended for most of the day. These dogs launched out, snarled etc at anyone who walked past their bench with a dog, giving a lot of people/ dogs frights, and made a tremendous amount of noise inside those cattle sheds, thankfully, they were in crates so could not inflict any actual damage.
Most people were understanding that it's not the breeds fault that this was going on, but it was the uncaring owners who had almost "abandoned" their dogs for most of the day (only taken off to go in/out of the ring). But, some people (not in Beardies)  were blaming the Rottie breed, which left my friend, with her own, (soft as sticky toffy) Rottie, feeling very uneasy.

Why oh why do folk bring dogs to a show and abandon them for most of the time, not checking that they are ok, or if they are causing a disturbance to others. These poor dogs abviously know no better, not having owners around to teach them correct behaviour around others dogs, and were "guarding" their territory, but it made for a noisy and unpleasant experience for some people who had to walk through that benching area. 

Anyway, moan over!

Kay

At agility shows you often hear announcements asking people to go back to collect the dogs they have left tied to a ring or tree for most of the day.  I swear people walk off and forget them !

This does not just happen with rotts tho'. As a rottweiler exhibitor myself, I can say that 'most' rottweiler exhibitors do check on their dogs, take them out for walks, etc, and do not leave them on their own for most of the day.

Unfortunately this does happen at shows with a minority of people in all breeds.

However, it also happens with rotts walking past other breeds in cages, esp' smaller breeds. My friend walked her boy (soft as treacle) past a trolley cage at LKA last year, and all four (yes, four!) toy breed dogs in the trolley launched themselves at the side of the trolley to try and get at him.

I fully understand where your coming from.
Ive owned shown and bred rotties for years and Ive now retired from that breed.
I go watch the shows still and catch up with people who show dogs Ive bred and to get the gossip.
i really feel that some of the rottie people need to be aware that there dogs are disgracing the breed and only enforcing what some people think
of the breed,I feel the breed is walking a thin line at the moment so every one should be on best behaviour and every owner aware that there breed is being watched.

But the toy breeds havent got the bad press that the bigger breeds have at the moment.
Its not acceptable for any breed but some rottie breeders arent helping the image at the moment.

I quite agree, we are walking a thin line at the mo', however like I said previously, this happens with a minority of people in all breeds. I think the question is how do you get these owners/exhibitors to check their dogs more frequently, not nly to make sure they are OK, but also to make sure they are not causing a disturbance to fellow exhibitors?

However, it also happens with rotts walking past other breeds in cages, esp' smaller breeds. My friend walked her boy (soft as treacle) past a trolley cage at LKA last year, and all four (yes, four!) toy breed dogs in the trolley launched themselves at the side of the trolley to try and get at him.

Got to agree with you there.  My Gordon doesn't like walking past those cage trolleys that just about every small breed owner seems to have!

I was at my first champ show earlier in the year and a lady had left a puppy(I checked its age in the catalouge but wont name the breed) on its own ,shaking barking with fear and with no water,it was there hours..poor thing.
It wasn't even my breed but the only people who looked after that dog were me and my friends,sitting with the puppy ,talking to it and stroking it to calm it down and making sure we gave it water,with witnesses to ensure nothing we did was untoward.

The poor thing was left on its own all morning with noone except us checking it untill the end when I got extremely upset and angry and went and told the stewards. The stewards had to put 2 calls out and checked on the puppy themselves  and yet the owner was still no where in sight .Eventually she turned up very angry at having to leave the ringside to attend to her puppy who she thought was perfectly ok and that we had made a big fuss over nothing...If looks could kill wed have all been 6 feet under pushing up daisies.

I cant undersstand anyone who puts their dogs on a bench at champ shows and leaves them fo hours like that.
I agree that maybe if they are exibitimng more than one dog of the same breed a few minutes while you are in the ring is fine but hours and hours on its own....NO WAY.
No wonder some dogs bark and frighten people poor things.

A question for the rottie breeders.
My collegue a complete novice to dog owning and her new partner, an experienced and caring  dog owner have them selves a rottie, soft as toffee ,as it has been put. My friend had no knowledge about docking. She was so unknowing she actually thought the dog was born like it. She is showing enormous promise as a dog owner, I am so imppressed with her. But she asked me about the standard for Rotties now that docking is not common practice. My quick glance during our lunch break did not come up with any informatian. Could someone point us in the right direction to satify her curiosity? Thanks in advance.

The Rottweiler breed standard says about tails:
Previously customarily docked.
Docked: Docked at first joint. Strong and not set too low. Normally carried horizontally but slightly above horizontal when dog is alert.
Undocked: Strong and not set too low. Normally carried horizontally but slightly above horizontal when dog is alert. May hang when dog is at rest.

How old is your friend's dog? Because dogs docked after April 2007 cannot be shown at events where the public has paid an entrance fee.

I have walked past many different breeds where the dogs have been left on the bench for a long period of time and i really think that there should be a steward checking on dogs and remaining in the tents/benching areas to make sure that this doesn't happen and to call the owner back and advise them to either take the dog with them or face being banned from this show again and with the potential of being reported to the KC.
Its not fair on the dog/pup to be left alone for hours and without water is a disgrace.
I always take my dog with me and never leave him benched alone ever.

I visited Crufts this year and was amazed at the number of Dobe's which were lunging out at people, some within crates, others not so. I know the atmosphere can be quite tense in this show but all the same take someone along with you or get a fellow exhibitor to watch your dogs while your in the ring if you have another with you or have the dog by your side at the ring.

I to have walked past many toy dogs only to have them lunge at my dog whilst in their cage on a trolley. You see some people smile and think its ok, well its not, why should it be ok for the smaller breeds to behave in this way and not the larger ones.

As for the Rotti's, i haven't seen a badly behaved one at a show before, they are very well behaved and if it is the case that some are not behaving while their owners aren't around then i think that the breed clubs really need to highlight this and perhaps employ a steward themselves if the society doing the show won't have one in the benching area. They are a great breed and to give OP something to talk about and highlight an already ongoing issue in the breed then i think something needs to be done about the owners here and something to protect the breed.

JG,
He is 14 months old now. She is  a pet owner she has no interest beyond that. We just wanted to find out. I have quite strong views on docking. I have to say it was me who enlightened her to the delicacies. Recently I have seen some rotties with what I could only describe as "piggie" tails, not very attractive and others with a very thick strong tail carried quite low.The later look very handsome. That's what prompted me to ask. Thanks JG for the information.

Yes, I've been lunged at by several Cavs and Paps etc - but it's much scarier when a Rottie or Dobe does it! A few weeks ago we had a club meeting at a friend's house and when I rang the bell his 2 Curlies came out lunging and barking at the gate, and I took several instinctive steps back, though I know these dogs and pet them every week at club! :-)