OH has always wanted a rottie and so I do tend to take a close interest. However a friend has just had her 4th Rottie in 10 years diagonsed with cancer. Is it really that common? Is it specific breed lines? As it stands I would think twice about getting one.

Hi we are the same after losing our Doberman in March this year we really would loved to be owned by a Rottie after research we did read about the cancer and Rottwiellers but I believe all breeds are suspect to some problems and if you looked to far into everthing that was said you would not own a dog at all.
We have met lots of Rotties during the course of the year and only heard of one that died of cancer.
We now have a gorgoues 16 week old Rottie pup called Karla and would not change a thing  whatever happens in the future we will deal with as responsible dog owners but for now we are enjoying are baby bear to the full

I know this may not answer your questioin but it is the way we looked at it hope you make a decision and if you get a baby Rottie lets us know how you get on

Kind regards Pete

My OH half has had Rotties for over 12 years & he has lost 4 out of 6 to cancer the oldest being 7/8 years & the youngest being 7. Only 2 were related, he now has one male left who is 5 this Jan, we now feed barf diet & we dont use conventional flea treatments & dont have him boostered annually. We dont know if this will work to help give him a longer life span or even try to prevent cancer but at least we'll feel as though we have done everything we can. He does attend a chiropractor weekly at the moment for a bent spine, which feels as though it one step forward & two steps back, so this in the long term may effect his longlivity.
Personally i feel that it doesnt matter if you have someone ( animal or human ) in your life for 6 days, 6 months, 6 years or a lifetime ....... its never long enough :-(  & unfortnately death is a part of life & i'd rather have had good times & memories than not had them at all .

Hi Stanley. I hear what you are saying and I guess that part of it is that the dog in question is about the same age as one of my Labs, who still behaves like a 2 year old. It just seems so sad to loose so many prematurely and she has fed BARF fro many years.

Hi Bluebell
I had a rotty for 13yrs and yes she died of stomach cancer she was an exceptional dog but the 13 yrs we had her she was a very healthy lively dog and well known in the area as we never had her on a lead we bought her when i was pregnant with my first son everyone thought we was mad as rotty's had been in the news at the time but as everything in life you blame the parents just as you can blame the oweners of these powerful dogs i never had a day's worry with her but when we had to put her to sleep i thought i would never get over losing her but 5yrs on we now own a bulldog (not quite the same) i know. If you are going to buy a rottweiler look at the breeders and the list's from the K.C and phone as many as you can and ask all the q's if they don't know or palm you off just cross them off your list Good Luck Simmone

I think I could come to terms with loosing a dog to cancer if it has had a good innings, but all of my friends dogs have been under 10, one as young as 6. Yes they are georgious dogs and are as likley to jump all over you and lick you to death as anything, I guess we probably will get one one day but I just wondered if anyone knew if it was hereditary or how wide spread it was, so that when the time comes we can take an invormed decision.

I think it's bone cancer which Rotties (& other big breeds) seem to be more prone to. We used to look after a gorgeous xbred Rottie, she broke everyone's heart when she died from this at a year old & I must admit it was one of the reasons we went for an Akita instead. My friend has just lost one of hers from bone cancer at about 9yrs which is a little easier to accept.