I have no knowledge rottweilers --- except for this.

There was a big male rott, about the age of yours, who used to come to our clinic in Winona, Mn.
He always grumbled. Owner had dog neutered. After that, the dog began came to the clinic wearing a cloth muzzle, prong, dominant dog collar. This dog was very still, very calm. No apparent nerves or fear. The OWNER was a little jittery guy, though.
The last time the dog came into the clinic he attacked the owner severely, enough that we had to call 911. Got him down in a corner and tore into him. While muzzled.
It was terrible.

 Quote: Betty Landercasp

I have no knowledge rottweilers --- except for this.

There was a big male rott, about the age of yours, who used to come to our clinic in Winona, Mn.
He always grumbled. Owner had dog neutered. After that, the dog began came to the clinic wearing a cloth muzzle, prong, dominant dog collar. This dog was very still, very calm. No apparent nerves or fear. The OWNER was a little jittery guy, though.
The last time the dog came into the clinic he attacked the owner severely, enough that we had to call 911. Got him down in a corner and tore into him. While muzzled.
It was terrible.

That has reminded me of an episode of 'The Dog Whisperer' with the couple from Arizona with a huge male rott, their vets were really wary of him, because he was a bit of a handful.

There was a scene where Cesar had the rott at his centre and had his kids with him, and his assistants were taking it in turns to give the dog a treat, then fuss him.

One of his sons was stroking his head, and suddenly the rott stopped panting, licked his lips, and rolled his eyes up to the child, Cesar immediately moved the child's hand and corrected the dog.

That all took place in a split second - I was surprised he had the boy stroke the dogs head....

The rott was a sweetheart with Cesar, and worked with a real old school 'dog man' in a city farm herding sheep. There was no doubting that dog was highly intelligent, and I love the breed, I love all the mollossers, the rott is one however that I think is too complex for me.

Did you have him from a pup Julie??

Yes. He comes from a great breeder, very respected for the dogs she breeds. His temperament has been stellar. We couldn't have asked for a better dog. he isnt nervous, fearful, or overconfident. Even the vet commented on his temperment, positively, while we were there. He is a joy to live with, loves everyone. He plays with this 20 pound stray puppy so carefully and easily it is a joy to watch. He won't even correct him for playing too hard even if the pup makes him cry, I have to step in and stop the pup. We have had dogs run out aggressively twice on walks and he hasn't attempted to engage them, or even snarled or shown any aggression at all.

I have talked extensively with the trainer and as the weather is changing we will be working together one on one. His opinion is that we are doing pretty good, just need a little work here and there. I need the work too. I will definitely check back in here with report on how that goes. He comes highly recommended. I think he is going to really be able to fill in the gaps with us. I appreciate all the comments here on this.

I know he is going to stay with this great temperment because I will work with whoever I need to in order to keep him that way and become a more experienced owner. I also have the willingness of the breeder to work with us whenever we are in need of anything, which is nice. I am friends with a lot of people who have her dogs, even more than one intact male living as house dogs together. Ok, well that's enough with trying to explain that he is a great dog.

Our issues are that we over socialized him as a puppy, so he thinks all people and dogs should be greeted. We are working hard on that. His out is not 100%. He will pull sometimes, especially when distractions are high and not pay attention. And sometimes if he is being petted by someone he gets so excited he jumps. No feet on them, but enough to get a lick on the chin. And he steals socks. And he growled at the puppy at the vet.

He sounds fabulous

Working with a first class trainer is going to be great, I bet you are really looking forward to getting stuck in!

Look forward to hearing how it all goes

I am! as I read back over my posts, I do make the mistake of using growling interchangeably with grumbling, and that is confusing on the listening end. It IS different, and even though the noise he was making at the vet was low enough, I still feel like it was a growl, not a grumble. And even though he minded me in that he stayed in the down, I would like to have obedience when I say no. He knows the word.

He may not understand NO in the context you are using it. I always train a speak command, and shortly after a quiet command.

This helps alleviate any confusion IME.

Hello David! You know he does know speak and quiet, but duh! I didn't think about using it. I wondered about him understanding the no command because I haven't had to correct that before. So nice to see you!

While I agree that not every growl has evil intentions, I must agree with Steve in that the dog is communicating something. I find myself checking out every situation where there is a growl and dismissing the ones that don't need my attention. If my dog is growling because a stranger comes to the door, I take a leadership role and quiet the dog. If she is growling because a cat is sitting outside the window, I let her go. If she is growling because the vet tech adjusts his grip on her, I move in and comfort her (and hold her head with both hands).

As David said, understanding the context of the growl eliminates indecision about how to handle it.

Agreed.

I'm interested in the thought process of correcting for growling.

If growling gives a window to thoughts, or says the next step is I'm going to bite, then maybe growling, being permitted to growl, is good?

Or are you thinking that by correcting the dog you are able to tell him "Don't think that way" and keep the dog from getting in a state where it might escalate to a bite?