Ways to own and make friends of a six years old rottweiler couple.

by Anthony

Hi, I live in Greece and I will soon move to a new house to live in. The owner is going to leave the place to me as is, because he will move to another country. He own a couple of rottweilers (male and female) and he intends to leave them to me also. The dogs are brother and sister and they seem to be nice tempered dogs trained by the owner.

Last week I visited him and I spent some time with the dogs. They seemed to accept me, if I can really say that, considering the fact that their tongues was all over me, most of the time 🙂

The thing is, as he said, that I shouldn’t fool myself because he was also there with me and they saw me as his friend.
I don’t know what will happen if I’m the only guy around, without him near by…

Is there any way to make them see me as their owner, obey me as their boss and trust me? As far as I know they are jealous each other and when I pet the male I felt the teeth of the female one my other hand. Not too hard, but like she was trying to say “hey I’m here too!!!…”

They’re wonderful dogs and I really would like them to be my friends, but on the other hand I’d appreciate if I could keep my body parts intact 🙂

I’d really appreciate your advice 🙂

(I’m sorry for my English, but is been a long time since the last time I practiced them…)

Hi Anthony
You are right to want to prepare for this move and the ‘adoption’ of these two dogs, and being cautious is definitely the right approach.

From what you say they both seem to be good tempered and sound like typical Rotties, so hopefully all will go smoothly. However there are a few recommendations that I have…

Firstly, try to visit with these dogs several times before you move in, maybe take them for walks, or play with them and ask their owner to allow you to be alone with them in their home for short periods. The more familiar they are with you the better.

Secondly, read all you can about this breed and make sure that you are confident enough to be the ‘alpha’ in the household. Rottweilers are very intelligent dogs and they need an owner who will love and care for them, but who can also be ‘in charge’ and make sure that they obey the house rules. You should only ever use a positive rewards-based approach to training, Rottweilers don’t need a harsh voice or hand, that will make them stubborn and non-cooperative! Make sure that you understand this breed and their characteristics so that you can ‘read’ their behavior and intentions.

Thirdly, I’d recommend getting them enrolled at a dog obedience school, or hiring a private dog obedience instructor for at least a few sessions or a course of lessons. It’s important to work with these dogs and make sure that they recognize your authority and will obey you. Otherwise there could be problems.

It will be like any relationship – it takes time and patience and understanding while you all get to know each other. But providing you are realistic about it, and follow these suggestions I don’t think there’s any reason why you and your new ‘roommates’ shouldn’t get along.

However, if you run into any problems or you find that you can’t handle dogs then get professional help right away. It’s always easier to deal with something early on than to allow bad habits or undesirable behavior to become entrenched.

I hope this helps somewhat and I wish you the very best of luck with your new home, and family members!

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