I have an eight-month-old Rottweiler. The ones I had before were a little aggressive by nature, but this guy behaves like a Labrador. What can be the reason for this? I live alone in an apartment.
— Ajinkya Rawat
Hi Ajinkya,
First of all, consider yourself an extremely lucky person to have such a healthy and friendly dog at home.
Rottweilers are considered one of the most faithful and loyal breeds among the dogs in the world. They are strong and courageous dogs who are very protective of their family. A popular misrepresentation or belief is that for your dog to be effective in guarding and protecting you, he has to be aggressive. This is not true. Protecting you and guarding does not mean the dog has to be aggressive all the time and continuously bark and be suspicious of people.
Rottweilers were bred to be herding dogs and were later used for pulling carts. This is why they have a macho build and immense strength. And now we have moved on to having them as house pets as well.
They also serve in a multitude of activities and work as police sniffers and guard dogs. Every house pet, no matter what breed, should be friendly and affectionate to his family and their friends and should not be aggressive unnecessarily.
A happy friendly pup will blossom into a confident and mentally healthy pet who will pour out all his love and affection for his family and hence will be fiercely protective of them.
The more your dog loves his family, the more protective he will be when the situation arises. His muscular build and size will keep intruders away. What is key here is that given that he has such levels of physical strength, he can cause severe damages to anyone if he intends to. Thus, in a family environment, it is all the more important that you have a friendly and confident dog.
Be happy that you have a loving dog that is so playful and affectionate. Enjoy the company of your dog and spend quality time with him. Give him the right amount of exercise, love and discipline. Let all your stress melt away laughing off at the big guy’s pranks rather than stressing yourself and your dog to be something that is not necessary.
Is your dog eating and playing enough? Ask our expert at pet.faqs@gmail.com