Doggie Detour: Introducing Samwise the Brave (with a Brief iPhone 11 Pro Max Review)

Introducing the newest member of our family, Samwise the Brave!

Baby Rottweiler Samwise at 13 Weeks

We lost our 9-year-old Rottweiler Otto the week before Christmas, leaving a giant hole in our hearts.  Although Otto can never be replaced and we still have his littermate Lulu, we decided that our home needed a puppy.  Even Lulu was miserable as an only dog for the first time in her life -- all the play went out of her when she lost her brother.  So we went back to Alice of Guardian Rottweilers in Indiana and selected this plucky little fella.  

Bernie and Samwise

After extensive family debate, my 16-year-old son Anders won all of us over with the idea of naming our new puppy after the Hobbit character Samwise the Brave from Lord of the Rings.  He's Frodo's loyal sidekick who rescues him from Mordor and is never corrupted by the evil power of the Ring...  Perfect name for a Rottweiler!

My Son Anders with Puppy Samwise

My 19-year-old son Lars, on the other hand, is beside himself.  He has not yet met this puppy because he is away at college (Appalachian State in Boone, NC).  I've been texting him photos and videos, and Lars is like, "BRING HIM TO BOONE!  HE MUST COME TO BOONE!  WHEN ARE YOU BRINGING MY NEW DOG TO BOONE?!!!"  Poor baby.  Spring break will be here soon enough!

Me Bonding With Sam During the 9 Hour Ride Home

Bargersville, IN is a long way from Charlotte, NC.  I rode in the back seat and snuggled with Sam the whole way home, which secured my position as The Most Important Human in his universe.


Interesting aside -- all of the previous photos in this post were taken with my new iPhone 11 Pro Max, which I bought primarily in hopes of taking better photos.  The photo below, the one of me holding the puppy, was taken on my husband's iPhone 8 Plus.  

Unflattering Photo of Me with Mister Adorable, iPhone 8 Plus

I am much happier with the photos I've been taking on my new phone.  I had an iPhone 6 before, so not only are my photos looking a lot better with the new phone, but I also have significantly better battery life going from a 6 Plus to an 11 Pro Max, my Bluetooth range is a lot bigger (so my earphones don't cut out when I walk too far away from my phone), and I now have wireless charging capability so I can take advantage of those wireless charging armrests that some of the airports have at the gates now.

SIT! Samwise at 15 Weeks, Same Lighting as Above, iPhone 11 Pro Max

This is how little dude Sam looks up at me when he wants some attention.  No jumping up!  One of the advantages of picking up Sam at 13 1/2 weeks instead of the 8 or 9 weeks that is typical for puppy adoption is that our breeder and her family gave us a fantastic head start on training.  When Sam wants to say hello, he plops his butt on the floor just like this and locks his eyes on me, waiting for instructions.  When it's time to eat, he's been trained that the food dish won't be set on the floor until he's sitting.  Who can resist that sweet little face?  Definitely not ME!  Again, comparing the previous two photos -- they were both taken in my kitchen, the one on Bernie's iPhone 8 Plus and the other on my iPhone 11 Pro Max -- the one on my new phone is so much crisper and clearer.

DOWN!  Sam at 15 Weeks

He already has a really good sit and a good recall (when we call "PUPPY PUPPY PUPPY"), courtesy of our breeder.  In the week we've had him, we've been teaching him to differentiate between "sit" and "down" (he initially thought that both positions were a sit), as well as Touch (to touch with his nose).  Dude weighed 32.5 lbs at 13 weeks but he was afraid to go down the deck stairs, so we've been having to CARRY him out the back door, through the screen porch, down the stairs and out into the middle of the grass every time he needs to go potty (hourly).  My back is KILLING me!  So I was very excited that I got him to go down stairs by himself three times yesterday.  

Samwise Loves His Toys

Sam is sleeping a lot, but when he's awake he's FULL of energy -- with bursts of excitement like a Tasmanian devil!  Of course he's teething, too, so we have dog toys strewn all over the kitchen.  I have an assortment of textures so that, when he chomps into something I don't want chewed, I try to swap out something that will feel similar.  The fuzzy plush toys get swapped out for chomping on clothing or upholstered furniture, the horns and antlers are swapped out for chomping on the metal or wood furniture, and the rubbery puppy Nylabones with a little "give" are handy when he wants to nibble on the hands that are rubbing his belly!

Lulu is Slowly Acclimating to the Newcomer

The biggest challenge is managing our two furbabies with an attitude of "separate but equal attention" as our 9-year-old Rottie, Lulu, is very gradually warming up to the little guy.  Samwise desperately wants to play with Lulu and will whimper and plop down right up against the gate to be near her, but Lulu isn't there yet.  She growled at him a few times initially to make her discomfort clear, hence the baby gates blocking off the kitchen.  She's doing a little better with him each day, and they even had about a minute of playtime yesterday afternoon in the back yard -- that's how I got Sam to get over his fear of going down steps.  Lulu was lying on the path at the bottom of the steps and he wanted SO badly to go to her.  His longing to visit Lulu was bigger than his fear of the steps!  But I kept the play-chasing brief to ensure that it would end on a positive note.  Both dogs looked happy with wagging tails and appropriate sniffing of unmentionables.  Baby steps!

Samwise Napping in his Nursery: the Puppy Play Pen

One of the best investments I've made is the puppy play pen pictured above, available on Amazon here (affiliate link).  The Carlson Pet Yard and Convertible Super Wide Gate has six 24" panels that hinge together, and I purchase the expansion pack with two additional 24" panels as well to get a decent size for my super-size cutie.  This gate/play pen is only 28" tall, though, so I would never leave him in the play pen if I was leaving the house.  He can jump up and put his paws on the top edge easily already, but it's very sturdy and there's no danger of him toppling it.  Even with my kitchen and family room gated off, there is still too much for Sam to get into unless someone is watching him like a hawk.  The play pen/nursery is a place where we can put him while we leave the room to use the restroom, and we've been moving him into his nursery pen whenever he falls asleep, as well.  That way we can open those other gates and let Lulu come and go as she pleases -- which is HUGE, because before we got the nursery pen Lulu was isolated in the rest of the house while Bernie and I were on puppy patrol in the kitchen.

Anyway, this is why I've not been posting anything (or sewing anything either, for that matter!).

WOOF!

Puppy Rabbits at Eleven Months Old

Lulu, aka Princess Puppy, aka Lulu the Terrible

My puppy rabbits are going to be eleven months old on Tuesday!  Can you believe it?  We are enjoying them immensely.  Rottweiler puppies are not for everyone, and I can only imagine the havoc they could wreak in a home where they were left alone all day with the run of the house, no training, no walks, etc.  However, we were committed to training them, walking and working with them every single day, and our dogs have paid us back for this investment a thousand times over.  They are the sweetest, smartest, happiest, and best-behaved dogs that either of us has ever owned.  We couldn't be more pleased with them!

Now that they're growing up, we can see that although they are both Rotties and even littermates, they have very different personalities.  Lulu is the more confident of the two, and she's the pup who is most likely to get into mischief.  Bernie dubbed her Lulu the Terrible when she dug up a sprinkler line in the back yard and gave it a Swiss cheese makeover with her pointy puppy teeth.  Clearly, someone should have buried the sprinkler line deeper in the first place.  Ahem.  Lulu is also an instigator; she'll pick up one of Otto's favorite chew toys and wave it around in his face until he'll get up and chase after her.  She also likes to take a running start across the yard, leap into the air, and land on her brother's head like she's doing some kind of crazy football tackle.  Both dogs love to run, chase, and wrestle in the back yard, but they have learned that this kind of play belongs only outside in the yard, not in the house.  This is good news for my floor lamp in the living room.

 

Lulu and Otto, 11 months

Aren't they just the most beautiful dogs you've ever seen?  I love their soft, silky smooth coats.  My last dog was a Golden Retriever Shedding Machine, and shedding is much less of a problem with my Rotties, even though I've got two of them.  They don't get those awful mats and tangles that the Golden always had, and I don't notice nearly as much fur drifting around on the hardwood floors between vacuuming. 

Sweet, Lovable, Otto the Sharpie Marker

Here's my little Otto Pumpkin.  He loves to run and chase after his big, blue ball, and sometimes retrieves it (as long as Lulu is in the house -- if she's outside when we throw the ball, she runs after the ball and turns Fetch into Tug-of-War).  Otto is more low-key indoors than Lulu; he's very content just to rest in a central location where he can supervise what everyone else is doing during the day. 

Both dogs have a rock-solid recall (Come), Sit, Down, Shake, Touch, and Watch Me.  Otto's favorite trick is shaking hands (Lars taught him that one), and I just started working on Kisses with him yesterday.  Ongoing training is so important with these dogs.  It reinforces who is the leader and who is the follower, and challenging the dogs to think and figure out what they need to do to earn a treat keeps them from getting bored and frustrated. 

I'm following the training instructions in Kyra Sundance's book 51 Puppy Tricks, available here from Amazon.  She has you smear a little peanut butter on your cheek to teach your puppy that Kisses means to lick your cheek.  Otto is very affectionate and smoochy anyway, so it's just a matter of having him do it on command and lick my cheek instead of my mouth, nose, or eyelid!  Once the puppy gets the idea that Kisses means to lick your cheek for a treat, you eliminate the peanut butter and just reward with the treat.  Lulu will not be learning Kisses, however -- she has a tendency to do a lick, lick, LOVE CHOMP!  So with Lulu, I'm working on Find Me games instead.  I sneak out of the room with a treat, hide someplace else in the house, and call, "Lulu, Find Mommy!"  She runs around sniffing and listening, and I'll make kissy noises or tap the floor to help her out if she's having trouble. Once she knows the game well with me, I'll start involving other family members so she can Find Anders, Find Lars, and Find Daddy.  This will also ensure that she knows everyone in our family by name, as well as engaging all of her senses in a hunting challenge.

It's actually working out well that we're finally (finally!) listening to our trainer and exclusively walking the dogs separately.  Just like children, they need that one-on-one time to really bond with their humans, so while Bernie is out walking one dog, I get to do a one-on-one training session with the other one.  Both of our puppies are sweet and friendly around people with very few exceptions, but they still go cuckoo-crazy when they see other neighborhood dogs on their walks.  I need to get some really high-value treats and keep them in my other pocket just for dog distractions because we're randomly giving treats throughout the walk for good eye contact, loose leash without pulling, etc.  Then another dog saunters into view and our puppy goes nuts, and the treats we've been doling out over and over are nowhere near as interesting as that other dog.  I'm thinking of breaking up some freeze-dried lamb lungs (I know, gross, right?) into small pieces for the next walk, or I could microwave a hot dog and cut that up into little treat bites, too -- something has got to work.  They are perfect little angels 95% of the time on a walk, but when they see another dog down the street my puppies leap and lunge and bark and do doggy double lutzes in the air, trying to get to the other dog, and it does not feel good to have my arm yanked out of my shoulder every time we see another dog!  Also, they look really ferocious when they're behaving this way and I can only imagine what my neighbors must be thinking. 

Princess Lulu likes to nap beneath the Christmas tree

Now that Otto is getting close to a year old, I think I'm going to schedule his neutering operation.  Lulu was spayed at 6 months, but since larger breed dogs mature more slowly I wanted to give Otto more time for his bone structure to more fully develop and wait to see whether I felt like neutering was even necessary.  After all, I'm not about to let my Rottweiler roam the neighborhood in search of females, so the whole neuter-to-reduce-unwanted-litters argument doesn't apply.  Neither of my dogs has ever even attempted to escape from my yard, and since it is fenced, no intact female dogs can get in.  However, Otto has been doing some intermittent urine marking in the house lately (prompting Bernie to nickname him Sharpie, as in Big, Black, Permanent Marker).  I've done some research about male dogs urine marking and I understand that he's just being protective of our family "pack" and our home and that there's nothing vindictive about it, but I'm obviously less than thrilled about it and it could be a hormonal thing -- if so, there's a high likelihood that neutering would reduce or even eliminate that behavior.  Also, when he's going nuts about trying to get to other dogs on our walks (and he's much worse in this regard than Lulu, especially when walked separately), that could be hormonal, too.  Is he trying to get to a female dog?  Is he exhibiting male-male aggression toward the other dog?  Either scenario could be helped by neutering.  I talked with my vet about it and I'll probably schedule it for the beginning of the Christmas holiday.  I'm not looking forward to having to confine him and keep him from running around and playing afterwards, but with everyone home for the holidays it should be easier to give him lots of attention and love while he recuperates.

Extra-Special Kongsicles for Spoiled Rotten Rotties

A long time ago, when I was a newlywed with no children, I used to bake bread and cook things like boeuf bourgignonne -- from homemade beef stock -- when I was feeling particularly domestic and industrious. Fast forward a decade and a "from scratch" crock pot roast and Bake & Serve rolls from the grocery was the pinnacle of my culinary achievements. No more bread from scratch (do I even remember how to do that anymore?), but I'd still bake scones from time to time. But these days, I'm rolling up my sleeves in the kitchen on a regular basis to make Extra-Specially-Good-Puppy Kongsicles. Sometimes I think my dogs are eating better than we are!

I remember seeing these Kong things in the dog toy aisle at the pet store years ago when I had a Golden Retriever. I think I might have even purchased one, but I never put anything in it and Byron Fussy the Golden completely ignored his empty Kong. Our awesome dog trainer, Janine Gauthier of Paws & Order Dog Training, suggested stocking up on Kongs and filling them with all kinds of food goodies for our dogs, and they are really working well. Anytime the dogs have to be crated, they get one of these filled Kongs to keep them happy and busy until we return. If we'll be gone longer than an hour or so, or for bed time, I like to give them frozen Kongsicles like the ones I made today because it takes longer for the puppies to get all the food out if the Kongs are frozen. The dogs L-O-V-E their Kong treats, and they have been known to race into their crates so fast to get the Kong that the whole crate skids across the floor.

So, what goes in our Kongs? Well, every Kong gets a smear of either all-natural peanut butter or organic nonfat cream cheese on the small end, with a little freeze dried training treat stuck in the little hole. I like Tricky Trainers treats for this (I get them from a local holistic pet shop, but you can also find them online), because they fit perfectly in the little hole at the end of the Kong. I put about an eighth of a cup of their kibble in each Kong (they're eating Orijen Large Breed Puppy kibble). Then I vary what else goes in the Kongs: organic carrot or banana baby food, hunks of fresh banana or fresh blueberries, canned unsalted green beans, and plain organic nonfat yogurt are typical Kong fillings. Sometimes I putted a canned sardine or a scoop of canned salmon in there, too -- stinky fishies are great for developing puppies' brains, and we're all about raising healthy little smarty dogs! Then, when the Kong is almost full, I stick a grain-free dog biscuit in the large opening like a little popsicle stick and smear peanut butter, cream cheese, or more yogurt around the biscuit. I pack the filled Kongs up in gallon-sized Zip-Lock bags and pop them in the freezer until they're needed. 

NOTE: I'm limiting my Kong ingredients to food items that I know are good for the dogs and safe for them to eat. Some of my Kongsicle ingredients were suggested by our dog trainer, and others came from an article in the Whole Dog Journal about healthy supplements to commercial dog food diets. Certain seemingly innocuous people food items, like raisins, grapes, or chocolate, are actually toxic to dogs, so it's not a good idea to just give your dog some of whatever your family happens to be eating. SECOND NOTE: Obesity is a big problem for American pets, so it's important to be mindful of how much your dog is eating. Our puppies get one or two filled Kongs per day, and I deduct what's in the Kongs from what would have been in their food bowls. A good rule of thumb is that you want to be able to just barely feel your dog's ribs when you pet him or her, but you shouldn't be able to see their ribs through their fur. If in doubt about how much to feed your pet, consult your veterinarian.

While I was making Kongsicles, Otto and Lulu were busy playing their favorite game, Chomp Your Sibling In the Face. This game is very closely related to one of Lars's and Anders' favorite games, Whack Your Brother With a Stick. Dogs and humans are not that dissimilar, after all.

Otto at 4 1/2 months

All that rough-housing really tuckers a puppy out! Otto's favorite place to rest is in front of this air conditioning vent, near the kitchen sink, and Lulu-Belle likes to snooze near another vent behind the kitchen table. I am sure this is because she has fabulous taste in fabric, and really appreciates the Vervain drapery fabric. Yes, there is black dog fur all over the bottom of my drapery panels -- and frankly, I couldn't possibly care less!

Lulu at 4 1/2 months

These dogs are the sweetest, most loving, eager-to-please creatures imaginable. When they come running to greet me with their tails wagging 90 mph and their puppy kisses, any stress or anxiety just instantly melts away. We spoil these Rotties rotten, and they deserve every bit of it!

WOOF!! Puppy Love at First Sight: Meet Otto & Lulu

We took the plunge last weekend and drove to Bargersville, Indiana, to check out German Rottweilers from Guardian Rottweilers!  I didn't buy any puppy gates, food dishes, leashes or crates ahead of time, because Bernie was expressing ambivalence a few days before we left and saying things like "Why do you always have to run down the hill?!"  I promised him we were "just looking" at the dogs and puppies, and that if he had any reservations whatsoever, we would drive home empty-handed.

As if!  We got within an hour of our destination around 11 PM on Friday night and stopped at a hotel near Indianapolis.  Before turning in, I asked Bernie if I should set an alarm on my phone.  "It's Saturday -- I'm sleeping in!" was his grouchy response.  But at about 6 AM the following morning, Bernie woke me up with a big "WOOF!  I want to go see the puppies!" 

Breeder Alice Velasquez of Guardian Rottweiler was just wonderful.  Guardian Rottweilers is located on about 10 beautiful acres of land in rural Indiana.  There were maybe a dozen or so adult Rotties there, and they were all majestic, calm, and friendly.  Any concerns we had about the breed were dispelled within minutes, but of course Alice is breeding specifically for show dogs with calm, stable, family-friendly temperaments and all of her dogs and puppies are socialized with small children, cats, and people coming and going.  There are plenty of other breeders who are not as careful, which is why we drove 10 hours each way to get our puppies instead of just going to the closest breeder we could find. 

Long story short, my husband went from cautious indecision to enthusiastic "Let's get the dogs and get going because it's a long drive!" pretty quickly.  Alice spent a lot of time with us, and helped us select the best pups for our family based on their individual temperaments and interaction with one another.  As first-time Rottweiler owners, we wanted puppies who were more laid-back and less dominant, more mellow than alpha, and Alice helped us select a male and a female from a litter born on January 5th. 

Otto & Lulu, 9 1/2 weeks old

Our puppies' names are Otto and Lulu.  Aren't they adorable?!  They did pretty well on the car ride home, although I had to sit in the back seat with them the entire way. 

Bernie with Lulu

As you can see, my husband melts into mush when there are puppies around.  Forget running down the hill -- Bernie has fallen head over heels down the mountain in love with these puppies!

Lulu is the mouthy one of the pair -- she has to chomp on everything, which is fine because we stocked up on a collection of doggy chews and toys, and we just pop a puppy nylabone or rope bone in her mouth to redirect her.  But when she pounced on one of the daffodils in our yard and bit into one of the blooms, suddenly "poisonous" popped into my head.  I whipped out my iPhone and did an internet search for "daffodils poisonous dogs" and sure enough, all parts of daffodils are actually lethal to dogs, even in small doses, and the bulb is the most toxic part of all.  So it's a good thing Bernie loves the dogs, because he was pretty bummed about digging up the daffodils just as they were starting to bloom.  We'll have to relocate them to the front yard, to make the fenced-in back yard safe for the furbabies.

Goodbye, Daffodils! 

To my dismay, Holly, Azaleas, Tulips, Hydrangeas, Lily of the Valley, and several other plants in my yard are also deadly if ingested by dogs.  I haven't told Bernie that the azaleas need to be moved out of the yard yet, but the dogs have been attacking one little azalea in particular and I don't want to take any chances.

To those of you who expressed concern that dogs might destroy my home, take a look at Exhibit A:

The hand-tied silk tassel fringe on these pillows were chewed by my children, not by my dogs!  These pillows live in the comfiest reading chairs in my living room, and I have given up trying to save them from the mouths of little boys who are so engrossed in what they are reading that they don't even realize they are chewing a pillow.  I wonder if that bitter apple stuff works on kids?  Anyway, the puppies are either playing in the back yard (supervised), playing in the screen porch, (supervised), playing in the gated kitchen (supervised), or sleeping in a puppy pile together in their crate.  They haven't destroyed a single thing, and because they get taken outside frequently and consistently, there have only been a couple of potty training accidents.


Lars the Pillow Eater Snuggles with Innocent Pups




Left to Right: Otto, Anders, & Lulu

Lars, Otto, Anders, & Lulu

By the way, we are so glad that we brought home two puppies instead of just one.  When they are not eating or sleeping (about 18 hours a day at this age!), the puppies work off an incredible amount of steam chasing one another in circles and wrestling.  Not only is this terrific entertainment for us humans, but when I think about all that pent-up energy and frustration that a single puppy would have if he didn't have a canine play mate, it makes complete sense that so many puppies get into mischief.  I think it's healthier for the pups to be able to just be dogs with one another, and after they've raced around together for a little while they just conk out and collapse and it's very easy to move them to their crate for nap time.

However, puppies or no puppies, life must go on, and I've got plenty of work to get done while Otto and Lulu are napping this morning.  I've got February sales tax to file and some customer orders to check on, my drapery work room is patiently awaiting some work orders from me for new jobs that I dropped off, and I need to check in an order of drapery hardware that just arrived.  After lunch the puppies are going to the vet for their first checkup, and after that I'm headed out to a client's home to inspect a large wallpaper installation that is finishing up today.  Lars and Anders have choir rehearsal after school today, and I'll need to get everything ready for Lars's field trip to Raleigh while I'm supervising homework this evening.  The funny thing is that, as busy as we are, adding puppies to our lives hasn't really added stress.  Quite the opposite, actually -- they just melt stress and friction away with their puppy breath and wiggly tails.  Even Lars and Anders, who usually alternate between fighting ferociously and being the best of friends, have been more even-keeled and mellow since the puppies joined our family. 

Welcome, Otto and Lulu!

Good Dog, Carl: German Rottweilers are On My Mind

Hulda, female from Guardian Rottweilers

Okay, so I'm not rushing out to buy a puppy today, or tomorrow, or even next month.  No crazy puppy-for-Christmas schemes are hatching in my mind.  But my husband and I have been discussing adding a dog to our household off and on for the last few months, and we're leaning heavily towards a Rottweiler.

Me &Byron in 1998 (nope, that's not my natural haircolor, either!)

It has been a long time since we have had a dog in our household.  Our last dog was a Golden Retriever named Byron Fussy that I had impulsively purchased at a puppy store while still in college, and he exhibited all of the health issues that are so common with irresponsibly bred "puppy mill" dogs: severe hip displasia and arthritis that rendered him lame after even a brief, leisurely walk around the neighborhood, extreme thunderstorm anxiety that had him racing around the house in a panic every time it stormed, trying to jump through windows to escape (even after we'd given him the doggy Valium prescribed by the vet), skin problems, digestive problems requiring special dogfood.  He even lacked some of the major breed characteristics that Golden Retrievers are supposed to have: he refused to go in the water, and didn't want to retrieve anything.  If we threw a ball or a frisbee, he'd turn his head to follow the path of the object and then look back at us as if to say, "I'm not your errand boy; get your own ball if you want it!"  Despite his issues and shortcomings, however, we loved Byron Fussy and cared for him faithfully for over twelve years.  It was difficult to lose him, and with two small children in diapers at the time, we didn't rush out to buy another dog.  We've been a dogless household for the last seven years.

So, why now, and why a Rottweiler? 

1. Well, for one thing, Bernie travels a lot for business.  The boys are in second grade and fourth grade, so they are not as hands-on, high-maintenance as they were when they were in diapers, and they are in school all day long.  Although I do work full time, I work from home -- and it's quiet here when Bernie's out of town.  It would be nice to have the company of a dog during the day. 

2. Secondly, when Bernie's not traveling, he also works from home.  The dog would very infrequently be left alone, since one or the other of us is almost always at the house.  I used to hate having to leave Byron Fussy alone day after day when we left for work, but we have a lot more to offer a dog now than we did back then in terms of the time and attention we could invest in the dog.

3. There have been a lot of break-ins in the area over the past year.  A few weeks ago, a car with a couple of men in it were scoping out our house while I was here alone, parked outside in the cul-de-sac, discussing and pointing, then drove away only to return 20 minutes later and park and again apparently discussing how to break in.  I stepped out onto the front steps so they could see me, my heart pounding, and took their picture with my iPhone, then jumped back in the house, locked the door, set the alarm, and called 911.  The car sped away after I took the picture, and the police came but did not apprehend them.  Later, when I told Bernie about the incident, he remembered seeing the exact same car parked in our cul-de-sac earlier that morning while he was packing suitcases into his car in our driveway before he left on his business trip.  Great, isn't it?!  Just last weekend, a home on the other side of our neighborhood was robbed in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon by men in a different car who had apparently been watching the home, because they pulled up and broke in through the back door almost immediately after the family left to run some errands.  I would feel a lot safer in my home knowing that any would-be-burglers scoping out a target would be intimidated by the Rottweiler and move on to some other house instead.

4. "Aren't those dogs dangerous," you may ask?  Well, they are large, strong, powerful, and naturally protective of their home and family, but if they are properly trained, well socialized, and supervised, it turns out that they can be wonderful family pets.  Responsible breeders like the former female police officer and mother who owns Guardian Rottweilers in Indiana (the source of all the Rottweilers featured in this post) intentionally produce Rotties who are family-friendly and good with small children.  However, if bad guys smashed in windows or doors at the back of my house, a Rottwieler would not greet them with love and affection the way my Golden Retriever probably would have -- and I think most burglars would move on as soon as they realized there was a Rottweiler on guard. 

Sango from Guardian Rottweilers

5. We need to be getting more exercise.  Because exercise is something that's just for me, I tend to put it at the bottom of the list after things like laundry, food shopping, helping the kids with homework, working on clients' projects, etc.  I used to enjoy going on long walks with Bernie before he started traveling so much, and I don't enjoy walking or jogging alone.  Knowing that the dog was counting on me for exercise, and knowing that a Rottweiler needs to get that exercise every day to be well-behaved and obedient, would help me move those daily walks up to the top of my list.  Then I'd start to see all the benefits I'm missing from exercise myself, like more energy, a more positive outlook, not feeling like an old lady when I get all tuckered out from climbing the stairs, etc.

Carl the Rottweiler looks after the baby in Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

6. Remember the wordless picture book by Alexandra Day, Good Dog, Carl?  Obviously I'm not going to leave any dog alone with a baby, let alone a Rottweiler, but still.  I read this book easily a thousand times to my sons when they were little, and I'm sure it contributes to the warm fuzzy feeling I have toward the breed.

7. Rottweilers are beautiful!  Look at these gorgeous puppies that are currently available from Guardian Rottweilers:

Apollo, male

Audrey, female

This is by no means a definite.  I still want to do a lot more research about the breed, and find a breeder and local trainer that I'm comfortable with.  If we bring a dog into our family again, it's really important to me that the dog is extremely well-trained and well-behaved, no matter what breed it is.  No knocking down visitors to lick their faces, no begging at the dinner table, no jumping up on furniture and beds and refusing to make room for humans.  There will need to be puppy obedience classes and probably one-on-one sessions with a trainer, preferably one who has lots of experience with the breed. 

Initially we were thinking of getting two dogs from the same litter, but I'm having second thoughts about that as I consider the possibility of walking two dogs by myself, each weighing a hundred pounds.  It's probably a better idea to start out with one and see how that goes before adding a second dog, since you don't really know in the beginning what the individual dog's personality will turn out to be.  Some dogs are more challenging than others.  I would also need to get a fence installed around our back yard first, and I think that the best timing for bringing home a puppy would be the start of summer vacation when our schedules slow down.

Still, it's fun to think about!