Rottweiler: Breed Quirks

The AKC describes the Rottweiler as a gentle playmate and protector within the family circle who observes the outside world with self-assured aloofness, and lists the breed as good with children and with other dogs specifically with supervision. That caveat is not boilerplate: aggression was the most commonly recorded disorder in UK Rottweilers at 7.46 percent overall and 9.36 percent in males. The mitigation is early and continuous socialization, basic training classes, and firm, consistent, fair handling, with roughhousing avoided because it may encourage aggression. The AVMA's position is that it is inappropriate to predict any individual dog's aggression from breed alone, so judge the dog in front of you while respecting that a 100 pound guarding breed leaves no margin for a mistake.

This is the one question where the Rottweiler research genuinely diverges from generic advice, so raise it with your vet rather than defaulting. In the Exceptional Aging in Rottweilers Study, removing the gonads within the first 24 months of life was associated with a 4.1-fold higher cranial cruciate rupture rate compared with dogs that kept their gonads past 24 months, and dogs neutered before six months had an unadjusted hazard ratio of 10.34. Avoiding early gonadectomy was associated with an estimated 5.5 year postponement of a first rupture. The AKC's own breed page cites Rottweiler cancer research linking longevity to keeping males and females intact until at least six years of age. Weigh that against the reasons you might still neuter, and if you do proceed, ask whether a preventive gastropexy should be done in the same anesthetic.

High, and it should shape your expectations from the day the puppy comes home. Rottweilers had 26.67 times the odds of osteosarcoma versus crossbred dogs, an annual prevalence of 0.84 percent against a 0.037 percent background, and made up 18.43 percent of all confirmed cases in a UK study of 905,552 dogs. Cancer was the leading cause of death in UK Rottweilers at 33.0 percent. The median age at osteosarcoma diagnosis was 9.64 years, which lands right at the breed's 9.0 year median longevity. Practically: lameness, bone swelling and a fracture with no real trauma behind it are the classic presentation, so a persistent limp in a middle-aged Rottweiler gets imaged, not rested.

Very likely, and you should confirm it in writing before you buy. Rottweilers sit near the top of nearly every homeowners insurance restricted breed list, and a listed breed can mean higher premiums, an exclusion for dog-caused injury liability, or a refusal to write the policy at all. Breed-specific legislation at the municipal level has historically included Rottweilers, though some states now preempt breed-based regulation. The AVMA opposes breed-specific legislation, holds it to be an ineffective response to dog bites, and recommends breed-neutral dangerous dog laws focused on chronically irresponsible owners. That does not help you if your city or insurer has a rule, so check the local ordinance, your lease or HOA covenant, and your carrier's underwriting guidelines first.

Worse than most large breeds. OFA data from 1974 to 2015 record 20.2 percent of Rottweilers as hip dysplastic and 36.7 percent as elbow dysplastic, against Labrador figures of 11.5 and 10.2 percent. On top of that, cranial cruciate ligament rupture affected 34 percent of the 123 long-lived Rottweilers followed in the Exceptional Aging in Rottweilers Study. Buy only from a breeder with OFA hip and elbow clearances on both parents, keep the dog genuinely lean, and control growth rate in puppyhood, since body weight and growth rate are among the factors that determine how severe dysplasia becomes.

They are a large deep-chested breed, so the risk is real, but it is worth being accurate: the Rottweiler is not on the top-tier predisposed lists, which name Great Danes, Saint Bernards, Weimaraners, Irish Setters, Standard Poodles, Basset Hounds and Doberman Pinschers. Gastric dilatation and volvulus is when the stomach fills with gas and then twists on itself, cutting off its own blood supply, and overall mortality runs about 25 to 30 percent. Split meals, slow the eating, skip the raised bowl, and keep hard exercise away from mealtimes. A preventive gastropexy tacks the stomach to the body wall and drops recurrence from up to 80 percent to as low as 3 to 5 percent.