Here is Ruff, our new baby Rottweiler.

Twelve years after getting our first Rottweiler we decided it was time to add another to our family. Nikko, Felony and Mocha, while pure bred Rottweilers, were also obtained without registration papers and with the exception of Mocha, were rescued. Sassy was also a rescued Rott and had no pedigree. So I began to look for a breeder and found a woman in Ohio who happened to belong to the Greater Cincinnati Rottweiler Club that I briefly was a member in 2004. We went to see her latest litter of pups and instantly fell in love with a little fur ball who just happened to take a liking to me when i first picked him up and bought him on the spot. When he was 7 weeks old we brought him home and named him Ruffin von Howardhoffer but started calling him Ruff right away. It was a few years later that I learned that "Ruff" was the name of the dog of the cartoon character Dennis The Menace. 

It also became clear that I was going to need a new digital camera because I was about to start taking a whole lot of pictures. Ruff was a little doll and he was the most photogenic of all my Rottweilers. It didn't take long for Ruff to get used to having his picture taken and I often got the feeling he was a real ham about posing.

We were interested in learning about both of Ruff's parents. His mother lived at the home of Theresa Howard, the breeder, in Ohio, and his father was living on a horse farm in Burlington, Kentucky so we drove out to meet him in December 2006, a month before we brought baby Ruff home. Ruff's father is Kentucky Colonel and he is a really big Rottweiler. He weights 165 lbs and is a gentle and lovable as any dog I have ever met. We took Sassy and Mocha with us and here is a picture of the three of them. It isn't hard to spot Kentucky Colonel, he is almost twice as big as Sassy.

We knew right away that Little Ruff was going to be a big boy when he grew up. See what he looked like on his 1st birthday.

Ruff became an instant celebrity wherever he went. The best way to get a Rottweiler used to people is to socialize them and from the day we brought him home we would wrap him in a baby blanket and take him into stores. The appearance of a baby Rottweiler in a baby blanket being pushed around in a shopping cart attracts attention. People would stop and talk to us about him but mostly little Ruff was attracting women and girls. They would coo and giggle and pet him and shower him with kisses sometimes and Ruff was enjoying ever minute of it.

Back home Ruff was the new baby in the house and he had two females who both wanted to be his mother. Sassy and Mo each helped raise him. Mo taught him discipline and Sassy was his playmate and sometimes acted like his girlfriend. I don't know if my observation is correct but one of their favorite activities appeared to be tongue kissing but someone told me it was also a dominance thing, too. You be the judge. This is all about the lighter side of living with Rottweilers so look at it that way. 

Then, like all good things, someone had to put a stop to it.

Ruff was quickly learning that the girls were in charge. Did I just say quickly? I think Ruff was having some fun with this. Seems like he was challenging their authority.

I have already mentioned Ruff's fondness for kissing and two of his favorite people were our good friends Bev and Rich who also owned Rottweilers. Every time they come over for a visit Ruff treats them like long lost buddies. It is a good thing they enjoy seeing Ruff as much as he enjoys seeing them and they don't mind his kisses at all.

Matter of fact, seems none of the women Ruff got to meet ever objected to his kisses.

We took Ruff over to a local park one day where there was a fundraiser going on for the Dog Park and he got to get a bath from a few very willing girls who had volunteered. Judging by the smiles on their faces they seemed to enjoy Ruff as much as he enjoyed them rubbing their hands all over him with the shampoo.

It wasn't long after this that I started telling everyone about a secret idea I had; to take Ruff over to the local Hooters restaurant at shift change to see what the reaction would be in the parking lot. That is just a joke, folks, just a joke.

Ruff's adventures continue.