Rolo the Rowdy Rottweiler

Awwwwww Rolo. You really are a handsome boy!! Nice that he enjoys the snow and looks so happy.

So now that I've posted a couple pics and vids, does Rolo look like a pure rottie? When I rescued him, I was told it was a rottweiler, but there are several things that make me think he is mixed with a lab or even gs (temperament, webbed feet, off white colouring on side of the neck). Any thoughts?

To me he looks like all Rottweiler....just not a well bred Rottweiler. I was involved with Rottweiler Rescue for many years and fostered over 50 Rottweilers. 99% of them were not well bred....but beautiful dogs. We did end up with a few that were well bred and managed to get in touch back to their breeders and the breeders wanted their pups back. Good breeders will move heaven and earth to get one of their puppies that they produced back to them if they should end up in a shelter or rescue.

Rolo looks like a very sweet and happy dog.

Now that you mention it his snout does look long. But that's the only thing that looks out of place. He does look like a very contented boy.

I think the long snout is just a distortion from the camera. But none of the pictures show his webbed feet or the gray/off - white hair on sides of the neck. Those two physical features make me think he might have something else in him.
His temperament originally was more lab-like, but the longer he is with us , the more I recognize rottweiler features in him. He has become a lot more protective, territorial, and is starting to be more weary of strangers. And he is completely devoted to me, as I brought him in, I walk/ski/snowshoe /snowmobile and drive with him. He does not leave my side. And that's a good thing, that behaviour would drive my wife crazy, but I don't mind it.

It's common enough in the breed for some dogs to have a grey/whiteish undercoat showing through. One of my rescue Rottweilers Duncan had this...and I've seen it in other rescues. It sounds like Rolo has all the attributes of a Rottweiler that we all love.

It's good that he is so respectful of Rocky! Great picture!

very good looking guy

Handsome boy - and minds his manners, too😉

Rolo looks like a happy pup! I'm sure he's looking forward to warmer weather and no snow....just like you.
How old is Rolo?? You probably should not start biking him till he's at least 18 months of age....till their growth plates have closed.
I've never biked with any of my Rottweilers...by the time the weather got warm enough to bike....it was too hot for them. Rottweilers do not tolerate the heat well...and they cannot tolerate humidity at all.

big black dogs said:

Rolo looks like a happy pup! I'm sure he's looking forward to warmer weather and no snow....just like you.
How old is Rolo?? You probably should not start biking him till he's at least 18 months of age....till their growth plates have closed.
I've never biked with any of my Rottweilers...by the time the weather got warm enough to bike....it was too hot for them. Rottweilers do not tolerate the heat well...and they cannot tolerate humidity at all.

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Rolo is 14 months now.

I never biked with any other dogs before, but Rolo is so full of energy, I don't know how else to exercise him - I'm not able to jog or run due to a bad hip.

He seems to tolerate cold a lot better than heat, so I figured if I ever bike with him, it wouldn't be at my top speed, just at his jogging pace. And not my full bike distance either, probably 5-10 km tops.

I guess the concern is not just heat, but running on a hard surface, which I hadn't considered before.

He's a bit young to be doing any biking yet. Any real forced exercise is hard on their joints when they are still growing. If he were my dog I would only go 1-2 kms at a slow pace on a cool day for now....by fall you can start doing longer rides with him and work up to it. The problem when you have dog with energy and try to wear them out....they build up their tolerance for exercise...he will want more and more to be able to calm down. Try doing some tracking or scent work with him...this will make his brain work...and it tires them out often even more than aerobic exercise. I would take my Jemma to a tracking class that lasted for 45 minutes and she would sleep for the rest of the day. Her brain was tired.

Tracking class? That sounds like fun. I don't think we have anything like that up here. But in the fall I will likely take Rolo hunting, he will probably love that. I guess it will take the summer to get him ready for it anyways.

You don't need to take a tracking class...it's something you can learn to do together. I had always tracked with all of my Rotties but with Jemma I wanted to lean the formal way that was needed to get her TD. You can do a search on google 'how to teach my dog to track"...or something like that....or go to YouTube...I'm sure there are all sorts of videos on how to teach a dog to track... and to follow the track. It's lots of fun!!

Poor rabbit....looks like it just wants Rolo to go away...hahahaha!! Bones on the couch is a bit no no at our house. Bones are fine...dog on the couch is fine...just not both at the same time.