Rottweiller/Labrador mix .....I LOVE MY DOG!!

133 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by GottaLuvMutts, Apr 19, 2012

musicmay

Discussion Starter · Apr 18, 2012

Rottweiller/Labrador mix .....I LOVE MY DOG!!
Lately I have been reading some blogs regarding Labrotties or as I prefer to call them Rottenlabs. I happened to have such a breed mix and I have to say they are getting a bad rap!!. Like the Pit Bull, Rottweillers are labled vicious and unpredictable. I personally think it is all in how they are raised.
I Got my dog Maggie from the animal shelter some 6 years ago. At that time she was about 2. I really had no intention of getting a big dog. I wanted a lap dog. We past cage after cage of barking dogs until we saw this skinny old looking dog just quietly sitting there with barking dogs jumping all over her. She was so skinny!. I was not looking for a big dog!!. My kids and I stopped to read about the dogs in the cage and saw the TAG for Maggie. She indeed was a Rottweiller mix. The tag said that she had been thee over 7 months. She had long since overstayed her allotted amount of time. It went on to say that she was a good dog, a great dog, a sweet and well behaved dog and that she would soon be put to sleep if she wasn't adopted. All of the staff at the shelter signed it. Her time was running out. They were willing to give her away for free. So sucker that I am.....I brought her home...to my small 2 bedroom apartment.
What in the world had I done? This dog was big. How would I ever keep her in my apartment. I hadn't even considered the fact that I had a cat.
Okay, she had some psychological issues at first....She had seperation anxiety. She could not stop pressing up against me 24/7. She snapped her teeth at us and we were scared. But she never barked.
Over time and with medication she got over her anxiety. She continues to snap her teeth to this day. That is how she communicates. She rarely barks, but can. All in all she is a great apartment dog!!. She is lazy like a Rott. She prefers to lay by the front door making her occasional rounds. She is a homebody and does not leave even if the door is wide open. She will not eat until she is given permission. If you drop food on the floor she will just sit there and salivate until she is given the okay. She is getting kind of old now but still learns new tricks like playing dead or ring around the rosie.
The LAB in her makes her extremely friendly and gentle, she does not jump up on people unless asked. She has been gentle with my granddaughter since she first came home from the hospital She loves dogs and cats....They tend to be her weakness. She loves to chase and play with them,which for the most part scares other pet owners. She has been attacked by both small dogs and cats. She just sits there with her tail wagging as they bite her feet or scratch her face. I am the one who gets mad.
Maggie is one of , if not the best dog I have ever owned. She is the perfect apartment dog. She is now about 125 lbs, if not more.Its a good thing she never jumps on the furniture. She eats a whole lot of food and craps like a horse!! But her heart is just as big. I would recommend this breed to anyone. It may sound silly but I think that she still hasn't forgotten her 7 month imprisonment making her a loyal, dependable and predictable dog who lives to please her master. I would highly recommend this breed to anyone.

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Inga

· #2 · Apr 18, 2012

First off, Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your stay here. There is so much to learn, so many other pet lovers to chat with and we all love stories and pictures. Now, a Rottenlab is not a breed but a mix. I am glad that you love her and that she is a fabulous dog. I really have never met a dog that wasn't fabulous in the right situation. It is true that Rotties can make amazing apartment dogs, not because they are lazy but because they are generally happy in any situation their people put them in as long as they get exercise, attention and love.

I had a Rottie years ago that would clap her teeth together also. Most of the Rotties I have had over the past 34 years of owning this breed were vocal in one manner or another. I have never had one that was a big barker though. Most of mine were growlers. Not growling in a bad way just chatty. All of mine have been good with kids, cats, horses, bunnies, dogs and anything else I would throw at them, once they had been socialized to them. I have always had a rule, "I pay the mortgage so I bring home what I want" and my dogs have accepted the new pets like they were part of the family already. Separation anxiety (to a small degree) is not all that uncommon as Rotties really want to be by their people. This is why the ones tied out in the yard and forgotten often rebell in a less then acceptable manner.

I am happy that you opened your mind and your heart to dog that was part Rottie. Look what you would have missed had you walked on by her kennel as well. Hope you will share some pictures.

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Abbylynn

· #3 · Apr 19, 2012

Hello and welcome!

I love your story ... and thank you for rescuing.

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luv mi pets

· #4 · Apr 19, 2012

I loved my rotties too! Especially the day my pigs got out of their pen. Husband was gone and so was the neighbor down the street, the day I woke up to find three little (big) piggies walking loose around in my yard. Thanks to my female rott who all by herself rounded up every last loose pig. Never was she taught to do this formally but man did she do a great job! She turned my tears into laughter watching her work like she was bred to do. Both are gone now but I still miss them greatly.

Welcome to dogforum and thanks for giving a dog a chance and not going by what you read in the press. If you had you might have missed knowing a great friend and companion.

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GottaLuvMutts

· #5 · Apr 19, 2012

musicmay said:
It may sound silly but I think that she still hasn't forgotten her 7 month imprisonment making her a loyal, dependable and predictable dog who lives to please her master.

I like to think that, too. The shelter from which I adopted by dog had no building whatsoever - just a row of outdoor kennels. The dogs slept on the cold ground, and it was January when I adopted my dog. I don't think she ever forgot. Years later, she still sleeps under the blankets no matter whether it's summer or winter. And the DA dogs she was kenneled with taught her when she needed to be submissive.

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