Another needless death of a child has occurred, after being mauled by a rottweiler, all due to the stupidity of the owner. These cases really annoy me as they damage the reputation of all rotties and their owners irrespective of whether they are responsible or irresponsible owners.
As the reader may be aware I have two rotties myself, one is as soft as anything and although capable of making some fearsome noises he would certainly lick someone to death as opposed to biting them, the other is more serious, she's a real princess, loving and obedient but can be very protective when needed. Having said all of this I am pretty sure neither would attack anyone BUT I am a responsible dog owner. Being a responsible dog owner means that I would not risk a chance of anything happening and so we shut them away when our grandchildren are visiting or indeed any other children. I also muzzle them whenever we go out to places with crowds (just in case). They have NEVER attacked or tried to attack anyone but I love my dogs like my children and I would not want anything to happen to them just because someone was perhaps being an idiot around them.
So, sorry as I am to hear of the attacks I think the blame has to be put firmly at the owners' feet. As an owner you know your dogs inside out and if one is not quite 'right' you are aware, these dogs have to be kept under careful watch and if you find that a dog is showing aggressive tendancies you MUST seek professional help and advice. If you lose control of a dog this size the consequences are always tragic, but it rarely 'just happens'. Looking back there will be telltale signs that have be noticed and ignored on the way.
I had a young rottie some years ago who was a loving and adorable small pup, but even at 5 months of age he was already showing signs of being protective towards me, he would not allow anyone to approach the car when we were in it, he was challenging our older dogs at 7 months and was being kept in line by our rottie bitch. Every now and then he would get a sort of vacant look in his eyes which I hadn't seen before, I took him for a check-up and the vet said there was nothing wrong, he allowed the vet to examine him without probs. We had him castrated and it seemed to calm him a bit but I knew something was not qute right and muzzled him when out etc then one day when he was 13months old he was growling under the table that we were all sitting round, I went to stroke him and he bit my hand! To say this was a shock is an understatement, I was devastated, he seemed ok and contrite when he was told off but I was uneasy, later that evening he began 'controlling traffic' through doorways and then started growling every time I tried to move off the settee. I thought he had a brain tumour or something and took him to the vet the next morning but as soon as we got in there he went mad trying to bite the vets and so I was persuaded to have him humanely euthanised.
The vet explained to me that he had something called 'rage syndrome' and there was nothing that could be done it was a definite temperament disorder due to some sort of brain damage probably during birth and you could never be sure when it would manifest but between 11 and 15 months it was most commonly seen. Tragic as that was I could not have a dog I could not trust, bless him, he was a disaster waiting to happen.
So again, dog owners out there take responsibility for your dogs and stop giving other decent rottie owners a bad name!
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