Hi,

I have a friend who wife and him are thinking about getting a dog. Anyway they want to get a rottweiler. The only thing is that they have a 6 month old kid. Now I love rottweilers, they are my second favorite dog behind Dobes, but for some reason I just kind felt that a rott would not be the best dog to have around a little kid (or a GSD, or a Dobe, etc). Another reason I thought this was my friends wife isn't very big, and my friend is an amputie that use crutches. Am I being parinoid? Can anyone give me advice. Also, can anyone think of a better dog (if a rott would be too much trouble)?

Thank you

Robert

Robert,
You answered your own question. I think a Lab or Golden Retreiver if they need a big dog. Maybe something smaller if staying inside. We both know what it takes to handle the type of dog your friend wants.

I think he needs your help in deciding.

JUST MY 2 CENTS:

I THINK YOUR FRIENDS ARE GETTING IN WAY OVER THEIR HEADS.
I HAVE A 4 YR OLD FEMALE ROTT THAT WEIGHS ABOUT 95 POUNDS AND SHE AT TIMES IS A HANDFUL. PHYSICALLY SPEAKING, ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION SHE HAS NEARLY TAKEN ME OFF MY FEET(LOVES THOSE CROWS) AND I AM 6'2", 240 LBS.
NOW THE CHILD. I WAITED UNTIL MY SON WAS 3 YRS OLD TO GET MY DOG. IS 3 THE RIGHT AGE TO WAIT? BEATS ME. I TRIED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT BY THAT AGE, HE UNDERSTOOD MY WIFE AND I WHEN WE TOLD HIM NO. ESPECIALLY IF HE WAS GOING TO ROUGH HOUSE WITH THE NEW PUPPY.
I'M OF THE OPINION THAT INFANTS/TODDLERS MAKE THE BEST DECOYS. LET ME ELABORATE. CHILDREN NATURALLY ACT LIKE WE WANT A DECOY TO ACT; SUDDEN MOVEMENTS, SCREECHING, DIRECT EYE CONTACT, ETC...
THIS IS NOT A GOOD SITUATION FOR YOUR FRIENDS.
ANOTHER FACTOR I CONSIDERED WAS THE SEX OF MY CHILD. I BELIEVE IN THE ALPHA MALE/ALPHA FEMALE SCENARIO BIG TIME. I KNEW WHATEVER THE SEX OF THE DOG WAS, I'M THE ALPHA MALE, MY WIFE, ALPHA FEMALE. NOW, MY SON AT HIS AGE WOULD NOT REALISTICALLY BE ABLE TO DEFEND HIS POSITION OF BETA MALE OVER A 100+ LB DOG. THAT IS WHY I CHOSE A FEMALE. THAT IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT IF THEY ULTIMATELY DECIDE THAT THEY "MUST HAVE" A ROTT.
LET'S TALK TEMPERMENT. I VISITED MY DOG AT THE BREEDERS ON 4 DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. THEIR WERE 2 MALES, 3 FEMALES(MINE BEING ONE OF THEM). tHEIR WAS ONE FEMALE THAT TERRORIZED ALL THE REST OF THE PACK(DON'T WANT THAT ONE). ONE FEMALE SAT ON MY WIFES LAP SHAKING, HOPING FEMALE #1 DIDN'T GET HER(DIDN'T WANT THAT ONE). MY PUP(FEMALE #3) WOULD GET DOUBLED TEAMED BY THE TWO MALES AFTER THEY GOT THEIR BUTT'S WHIPPED BY F #1. ISIS WOULD TAKE AND TAKE AND TAKE UNTIL SHE COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE AND SHE'D DEFEND HERSELF. I WATCHED HER PINNED HER BROTHER'S TO THE GROUNG WITH A PAW ON EACH OF THEIR CHESTS AND I SAID "I WANT HER!" MY REASONING ON CHOOSING HER WAS SHE WOULD TAKE IT AND TAKE IT AND I KNOW HOW KIDS CAN BE ROUGH WITH DOGS. NOW IF ISIS IS BEING PESTERED BY A LITTLE ONE, SHE JUST LOOKS AT ME AND I CORRAL UP THE CHILD. SHE'S BEEN WONDERFUL.
SORRY ABOUT GOING OFF ON A TANGENT. JUST WANTED TO EXPLAIN MYSELF.
ON A FUNNY NOTE, BEING A PSD HANDLER, I LOVED WHEN MY DOG WAS A PUP AND WOULD LATCH ON TO MY SON'S T-SHIRT WHEN HE WAS RUNNING AND YELLING TO
"GET THE DOG OFF OF HIM". LOOKED LIKE A MINI VERSION OF TRAINING. OF COURSE, I STOPPED THAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR...AFTER I GOT IT ON FILM!
SERIOUSLY, I HOPE YOU CAN CONVINCE YOUR FRIENDS THAT THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST BREED FOR THEM TO CHOOSE. I'M PARTIAL TO COCKER SPANIELS.

"WE OWN THE NIGHT"
DAVID N. KRAUSE

Dave,

It's much better not to type in Caps as it is easier to read. Welcome to the board.

No offence, But a Cocker? why on earth would anyone ever recommend a cocker?
In the training world we call those easy money dogs or higher rate dogs. Talk about a dog bite waiting to happen.

So anyway, as a father of an eight month old boy and an owner of a rotti and a dobe, I would recommend most working dogs over any small dog or any labradork anyday.

You see, when someone (with half a brain) makes a decision to a rotti, I find they are more likly to make a commitment to educate themselves to the learning and training of the dog. People who look for cockers or labrodorks make a commitment to nothing but liberalism. They think the dog is gonna train itself or won't be a hazzard because the media has not deemed it so. They soon find that this line of thinking fails them all the time. Then the owners seekout us in order for us to "fix" the dog. But instead they learn it is them that we need to fix.

I am not a person that allows my son to harass my dogs and vise versa for the dogs.
I don't believe in the alpha or pack mindset, I believe, I pay the mortgage, I own the house, Both kid and dogs will have bondries and rules of respect toward me, my wife and each other. When we start making better decisions in our own homes then the dogs will follow.
Sorry to ramble....KOJAK

Kojack, maybe he was talking about an English cocker? I agree about the American cockers, the only dog that ever had a serious desire to hurt me was an American cocker.

I'm more concerned with the baby and puppy part. I'd suggest an adult. The easiest source of an adult dog that can be evaluated is rescue or shelter, but some places don't adopt out to people with small children. Finding the right adult is extremely important and they should expect it to take some time, but it will be worth it.

I would recommend a Chesapeake Bay retriever, a flat-coated retriever, or if you want a smaller dog, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever.

People often forget that there are other retrievers in their rush to get a golden or a lab. These dogs make very good family dogs without some of the popularity problems the labs and goldens have.

Labradork???? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Other than that, I tend to agree with the idea that people too often think that if they choose a breed with a reputation for friendliness and tractability, such as the much beloved Labrador Retriever, that they won't have to put in as much time and effort in training as they would with a larger guard breed. On the contrary; though Labradors can be wonderful family pets, they need as much firm, loving, consistent structure as any other breed, or they can develop some unpleasant behaviors. No matter what breed these people choose, they are taking a risk.

Originally posted by Caniche:
People often forget that there are other retrievers in their rush to get a golden or a lab. These dogs make very good family dogs without some of the popularity problems the labs and goldens have. Some of the best pets I have seen are hunting dogs that didn't make the cut. Being adults, the owners gave them away, and the new owner just had to spay/neuter/vaccinate the dog. The dogs (mostly spaniel mixes) were usually pretty calm, and really good with kids. That's another great source of an adult dog with much promise that I forgot in my first post.

Ok Ok...first off I think there were some valid points here...and then I think there were some way off in never never land points.

Lets talk personal experience. When my son was born I had a year old male Rottie, and a 6 mo old female Rottie. There was no question as to who was alpha. My son was 'accepted' just fine. My daughter was born 3 years later. Same scenario, except now we had 2 GSDs as well. One from Ed out of Otis. Still no question who was alpha. Again no problem.

Now professional experience as this is a subject I deal with more often then just about anything else in business.

I don't care what breed, there is always a match in any breed for any person. You can take an attack trained pit bull(used only for emphasis) and put it in a fmaily and it was the best thing ever. You take that same family and give them a happy go lucky Golden and it ends up putting someone in the hospital. Find the breed you like. Then do your homework and do puppy tests and find the pup that matches the family. Better yet, let someone experienced in picking puppies do it for you.