rottie helps stop robbery

JohnnyBandit said:

Well it depends on the dog.... But the proper temperament of a Rottweiler would be one of a strong protector. Not overprotective but in the right situation willing to take it as far as it needed to go. You don't see a lot of Rotties that are that way these days. It was not difficult to find on like that 25 years ago.

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Well that is certainly true. Since I have had Rottweilers for 34 years I can definitely tell the difference between the temperament of the dogs in the past to how they are now. Due to fear of breed bans many breeders have gone a bit over board and breed dogs that have "safe temperaments" In doing so, we now have Rottweiler shaped Teddy Bears. I have mixed feelings on that because I don't think the integrity of the breed should change, the laws should. That said, now as an old lady, I am loving my teddy bears. I don't know how my boys would act as they have never been tested and hopefully never will. I know for a fact a few of my past dogs would have left that guy bleeding for sure.

I know I have said in other threads that I have been accused of "over socializing" and this is in part, what the people that said it meant. Any time My dogs have shown aggression whether to protect or not, I put a stop to it. I did this again, because of fear of losing my favorite breed. I suspect that a dog that was allowed to roam loose at a jewelry shop was over socialized too. People act weird sometimes, sometimes customers get angry and make a scene. Likely this dog was socialized to the point of ignoring most of that. Good for him for trying at all but honestly, his bites did appear more like " I am not sure what I should be doing here and I am a bit scared" If he was engaged as Johnny Bandit spoke of, that man would have been on the ground crying for the owner to pull the dog off.

It aint easy being a Rottweiler...
Damned if you do, damned if you don't .

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Truer words were never spoke. The sad thing about the media showing a "protective Rottie" is again that is fuel for the wrong owners to want one. If he would have been "protective" the media would have likely not been good either. Either way good to see he tried and the owner, the dog and the store were all safe and the bad guy got busted. Love those happy endings.

I agree. That said, there was some confusion as to who owned the dog. In the video, it sounds like the owner wasn't the guy fighting the bad guy, that was an employee. That MIGHT be part of the issue. Maybe if the owner was involved in the fight the dog may have reacted differently? I don't know, maybe not. Maybe that dog is just soft. It seemed like the dog took a nip at the employee in the beginning too. It SEEMED like he was just bothered by the fight and wasn't sure who to bite. It seemed like he was biting clothing not people and just saying, "hey, hey, that is enough, break it up." but had now clue what was really happening.

Several years ago I had a dog named Bear that was a HUGE Rottweiler. He was a rescue and was a total teddy bear of a dog but when things happened, and sadly on 3 occasions they did. He was right there in defense mode. That said, that dog had such restraint and I was never more impressed with any animal in all my life. That dog seemed to know exactly how much force was needed to stop a situation and never over did it. Talk about a perfect Rottweiler temperament. That dog had it. In all my years of owning this breed and the hundred or so dogs I have dealt first hand with. He was the best in these situations with Inga being a close second. Either way, I like the positive story for a change vs. the negative story.

There was another one on the Rottweiler forum I am part of where a woman was attacked by a man as she was returning to her car with shopping bags in hand. Someone tried to grab her purse. She managed to get the door opened and the two family dogs jumped out. One was a Rottie who at first did nothing but then realized that there was a huge problem that he then addressed. I am fearful that these stories might do more harm then good. Call me paranoid but it was things like this that first made the scum bags of the earth stand up and take notice of my favorite breed. It was this that made them desirable as watch dogs to drug dealers etc... My other fear is that the "anti Rottie people" will say "see... these dogs are dangerous" and the story might go in that direction. Call me paranoid but I have watched this scenario play out before.