Nerual
03-07-2006, 09:58 AM
Hello everybody,
My name is Lauren, I am 16 years old and I live in northeastern, Pa with my mom and 2 sisters (ages 17 and 6), my pomapoo Mollie, Inky the cat, Balou the chinchilla, and as of yesterday Viggo the rottweiler/lab mix.
If you read my other post about my dog Mia on the thread about Carey the mixed breed, I mentioned that I volunteer at the local no-kill shelter. Viggo (his name was Ace before) had been there for about 8 months, and I watched him get passed over again and again at every adopt-a-thon because of his breed (because of course a rottweiler that's in a shelter did something horrible). They never took the time to read his bio which was sitting on his crate, his owner was in a very bad car accident and when he woke up from a coma, he didn't even recognize Viggo anymore, and the relative who took him was afraid of dogs and tied him up outside for a few months before bringing him to the shelter. Or, if someone was interested, that soon changed as soon as they learned his age, he is six. Anyways, I had my eye on him as soon as he came in and worked on getting him adopted as I knew that I could never bring him in the house with Mia. But when Mia had to be put down a little over 2 weeks ago, I knew it was only a matter of time.
My family and I had been looking at rottweilers for quite a few years, but had to put our plans of getting one on hold when we found out about Mia's aggression issues. Although he is a rottweiler/lab mix I see hardly any lab in him (I will probably post pics later tonight when I have batteries for my camera and you can judge for yourself), but he definitally has the personality of a rottie. He is great with my other dog Mollie, and adores my 6 year old sister, but I don't think that he has ever lived with cats before and is interested in them (but not enough to make him get off his bed and actually go over to the cat). His only downfall is that he has gas...a lot, lol. He also decided to mark by bathroom door, but I walked in on him and shouted "No!" and I scared the crap out of him, and that was the end of that.
I had always heard that rotties are very protective and loyal, but I never expected us to bond so fast. Last night I walked to the library with my mom and little sister and waited ouside for them. We have a lot of gangs in our town (most never do anything past graffiti, but they are still scary, lol), and while Viggo and I were standing outside a bunch of skater guys were coming up the street and making a lot of noise and Viggo was sitting by my side, but when he saw them he got up and stood between me and them. He didn't growl or show any signs of aggression, but he stood his ground and stared them down, sort of like "I know your there, just don't do anything stupid and we'll be fine", then one of the guys (they were probably early 20's) bent down and petted him and Viggo turned into a big baby. They all stopped to pet him and he was leaning up against them to get scratched, it was great. And he loves kids, we thought about changing his name to Carl after the dog in the books. He also won't let me out of his sight, he lays on his bed and watches my every move, but if I walk out of his line of sight he feels the need to get up and follow me EVERYWHERE! As far as other dogs go, he won't start anything, but he doesn't put up with any crap either. The kennel owner where he was being kenneled said that somehow he got out of his kennel and into the play yard with 2 pitbulls who don't like male dogs, but said that they gave him his space and did not challenge him. His energy level is also perfect, when we are out walking he acts like he can go forever, but as soon as we get back inside he throws himself on the ground and sleeps. He is also extremely smart, before I give him a treat, I have him sit then ask for one foot then the other (it's always right then left), he has decided that if he sits and gives his left paw first, then he gets to skip a whole step and get the treat quicker.
Even after just one day, I have already had people cross to the other side of the street or take their kids hand when we are walking, but I figure that it's their loss if they don't want to meet this wonderful dog. If he continues to act the way he is now, I can definitally see some therapy work in his future.
Lauren
We will also be starting obedience class either this Thursday, or next Tuesday.
I am going to post the pics they had of him at the shelter, they are really bad and look nothing like him, but I will be posting better ones tonight.
My name is Lauren, I am 16 years old and I live in northeastern, Pa with my mom and 2 sisters (ages 17 and 6), my pomapoo Mollie, Inky the cat, Balou the chinchilla, and as of yesterday Viggo the rottweiler/lab mix.
If you read my other post about my dog Mia on the thread about Carey the mixed breed, I mentioned that I volunteer at the local no-kill shelter. Viggo (his name was Ace before) had been there for about 8 months, and I watched him get passed over again and again at every adopt-a-thon because of his breed (because of course a rottweiler that's in a shelter did something horrible). They never took the time to read his bio which was sitting on his crate, his owner was in a very bad car accident and when he woke up from a coma, he didn't even recognize Viggo anymore, and the relative who took him was afraid of dogs and tied him up outside for a few months before bringing him to the shelter. Or, if someone was interested, that soon changed as soon as they learned his age, he is six. Anyways, I had my eye on him as soon as he came in and worked on getting him adopted as I knew that I could never bring him in the house with Mia. But when Mia had to be put down a little over 2 weeks ago, I knew it was only a matter of time.
My family and I had been looking at rottweilers for quite a few years, but had to put our plans of getting one on hold when we found out about Mia's aggression issues. Although he is a rottweiler/lab mix I see hardly any lab in him (I will probably post pics later tonight when I have batteries for my camera and you can judge for yourself), but he definitally has the personality of a rottie. He is great with my other dog Mollie, and adores my 6 year old sister, but I don't think that he has ever lived with cats before and is interested in them (but not enough to make him get off his bed and actually go over to the cat). His only downfall is that he has gas...a lot, lol. He also decided to mark by bathroom door, but I walked in on him and shouted "No!" and I scared the crap out of him, and that was the end of that.
I had always heard that rotties are very protective and loyal, but I never expected us to bond so fast. Last night I walked to the library with my mom and little sister and waited ouside for them. We have a lot of gangs in our town (most never do anything past graffiti, but they are still scary, lol), and while Viggo and I were standing outside a bunch of skater guys were coming up the street and making a lot of noise and Viggo was sitting by my side, but when he saw them he got up and stood between me and them. He didn't growl or show any signs of aggression, but he stood his ground and stared them down, sort of like "I know your there, just don't do anything stupid and we'll be fine", then one of the guys (they were probably early 20's) bent down and petted him and Viggo turned into a big baby. They all stopped to pet him and he was leaning up against them to get scratched, it was great. And he loves kids, we thought about changing his name to Carl after the dog in the books. He also won't let me out of his sight, he lays on his bed and watches my every move, but if I walk out of his line of sight he feels the need to get up and follow me EVERYWHERE! As far as other dogs go, he won't start anything, but he doesn't put up with any crap either. The kennel owner where he was being kenneled said that somehow he got out of his kennel and into the play yard with 2 pitbulls who don't like male dogs, but said that they gave him his space and did not challenge him. His energy level is also perfect, when we are out walking he acts like he can go forever, but as soon as we get back inside he throws himself on the ground and sleeps. He is also extremely smart, before I give him a treat, I have him sit then ask for one foot then the other (it's always right then left), he has decided that if he sits and gives his left paw first, then he gets to skip a whole step and get the treat quicker.
Even after just one day, I have already had people cross to the other side of the street or take their kids hand when we are walking, but I figure that it's their loss if they don't want to meet this wonderful dog. If he continues to act the way he is now, I can definitally see some therapy work in his future.
Lauren
We will also be starting obedience class either this Thursday, or next Tuesday.
I am going to post the pics they had of him at the shelter, they are really bad and look nothing like him, but I will be posting better ones tonight.