We found Duke in front of our house in Homestead 3
days ago with a collar but no tags. We had seen him
in the neighborhood for about a week, but he finally
approached our house 3 days ago. He was calmly
looking at my female sheltie through the fence who
was barking at him wildly. At first, we were
intimidated so we called Animal Control to come get
him, but they wouldn't come since he wasn't
contained. We started throwing him treats over the
fence and he shyly began to eat. I put out a bowl
of food and water through our iron gate and after a
little while, he approached it and gobbled it up
quickly. We continued to give him treats and he
slowly began to approach us.
After feeling good about his temperament, we invited
him into our fenced yard. We live on a busy street
so we didn't want him to get hit by a car. He
didn't come to my invitation, but he did respond to
my children. I have 4 kids, ages 10, 8, 5 and 3.
The boys, ages 10 and 8, are his favorite. We've
had him for 3 days now. The first day he was a
little shy but friendly. He mostly drank tons and
tons of water. He found a weak gate on our fence
that our sheltie had never challenged and escaped
again, but my kids coaxed him back inside the
fence. So he will need a secure fence. The second
day, he started running with my kids and playing
ball. He's wonderful with my sheltie, although he
definitely has the strength advantage towards her.
He's not as fast as she is, but if she gets the
ball, he just goes over and takes it. All she can
do is drop the ball and bark in protest afterwards.
He then goes to sit down with the ball and doesn't
let her get it back. It's very funny to watch
them. He's the nicest bully I've ever met. They
(the dogs) play very well together and follow each
other all around.
We've temporarily named him Duke. He doesn't appear
to have any training. He doesn't respond to Come or
sit. We took him to the vet and he pulled
horribly. It took all my strength to keep him with
me. I've since gotten a prong collar, like one
we've used in training my sheltie. We started
practicing walking on leash today with it, a clicker
and treats, and he's a quick learner. In 20
minutes, he realized that pulling wasn't
comfortable. He'll need more training but he has a
great temperament to learn.
The only aggression I've seen from him is that
another dog (a retriever) started barking at him at
the vet and he barked back. I just kept him outside
and the attendant came out to scan him. He was fine
until the other dog started barking at him, and like
I said, he stood calmly while my sheltie was barking
at him. Also, we have a neighbor's beagle mix
behind our yard who barks at the gate and they
started running back and forth barking at each
other. I've stopped him from doing that with a
squirt bottle. He stops immediately, even when he
just sees the bottle.
He's very gentle with my children, including my
3-year-old who gives him treats by hand. He's calm
while the children play outside and inside. Since
our sheltie goes in and out, we've started trying to
acclimate him to a crate. He pooped and peed in the
house the first night. The last 2 nights he's
stayed in the crate without pooping and peeing.
Most of the day, he's outside with my sheltie. I do
feed him in the crate so he can try to get
acclimated to it, but he's still skeptical. He's
learning how to dart in, grab a bite and jump back
out. I don't know that he's housetrained at all.
He's usually outside during the day but he does stay
dry at night in his crate, if we can get him into
it.
He has opened up our hearts to the joys of
rottweilers. Unlike our sheltie, he's very
confident, and sure of himself. He rode in the car
like a champ, giving us a saliva bath in the
process. His power needs to be controlled with
training, but he has the temperament to learn. We
have enjoyed having him, but we weren't looking for
a dog. He just happened upon us. We just wanted
him to be safe while we found him people who really
know the breed and would more confidently care for
him than we can. I have attached pictures to show
how good he is with my kids and dog. He's a doll.
We love Duke. He'd be great with a family with
kids. He loves to play.
Please contact Yoly at 954 309-0115 or write to
YGROTTS@aol.com
GGARR is a Purina Pro Plan Rally to Rescue
Ambassador
You need to fill an adoption application if you want
to take DUKE home!