It’s not often one receives an offer for a free Rottweiler puppy but when you do you feel like it is a chance not to be missed. You feel like its Christmas! But sadly, for these beautiful dogs, they are by and large misunderstood – a key aspect resulting in that free Rottweiler puppy often being abandoned. The natural reaction to this is obviously to wonder why this is and the answer can be seen in the pros and cons.

Cons

Yes, we thought we’d list the cons first to make you aware of the challenges associated with the upbringing of this beautiful and loyal dog.

First off, we’d like to point out that Rottweilers are generally not recommended as a first pet if you have had no prior experience with handling and rearing dogs. They cite the strong will of the dog as one of the earliest challenges facing any new Rottweiler owner. While the right upbringing does not require an aggressive hand, it does require a firm one capable of establishing the ‘pack leader’ between you and the dog, with you obviously being the pack leader.

In addition to establishing the dominant role in the relationship with your Rottweiler, you have to ensure that the dog is trained from an early age. This means obedience training as well as socialisation – Rottweilers that become isolated in their environments may not take well to strangers and could, depending on the breeding and upbringing, develop character traits which might not be suitable to the social environment.

Pros

As you can imagine, there are loads! For the well trained Rottie (a general term of affection used by all Rottweiler owners) there is a life of happiness in the hands of the right owner. For one, they are incredibly loyal and equally intelligent. They are brave and courageous and make excellent guard dogs. Rottweilers love to work and love to play and are big fuzzy suckers for attention.

A free Rottweiler puppy can be a heaven-sent gift but it takes responsibility and commitment to be a good Rottie-owner (just like with any other dog). If you have access to the genealogy of your free Rottweiler puppy, take the time to do the research. This could well influence the decision of welcoming a new member of the family and enriching not only the Rottweiler’s life but yours too.