How goofy can a Rottweiler get?

    

We soon learned that when Rottweilers live in a home filled with love and are treated with kindness and affection, they tend to let out their inner personalities. Sort of like a person's libido getting unleashed when they get drunk. (no pun intended)  Rottweilers love to entertain their humans by just being themselves which can be quite goofy at times. I have collected a lot of pictures of these silly acts and here are a few of them.
 

Here is Sassy in a hat made out of the cut off sleeve from an old sweatshirt. She wears it with pride just like it was part of a uniform.

Click the pictures to see a larger view.

Here is Mocha wearing the same hat but Mo decides to add a goofy expression.

A little computer touch-up work with PhotoPaint and we have a funny picture to share with everyone.

This picture shows just how bad a little puppy can be sometimes.

And here we see humans and Rottweilers coexisting in the same house.

If you think these pictures are goofy just wait until you meet the next new member of our family. Ruff. That's him, below.

Nikko Bear - The Babe Magnet

One thing can be be said about Nikko Bear, he attracted women like a magnet which explains why we started calling him The Babe Magnet. Partly because he was so handsome and friendly and partly because of he loved to meet people, whenever and wherever we took him girls would stop by to say nice things about him, pet him and give him a hug. I am not making this up. Nikko was an instant celebrity at the Vet's office. Whenever we took any of the Rotts to the Vet we took the whole family and it was like a party when he was there. So many girls stopped to see him that I started bringing my camera to take pictures. It got to the point that I had made up some T-shirts with his picture on it and gave one to every girl who gave him a hug. Along with the hugs, Nikko returned the favor with a kiss. One of Nikko's biggest fans was Dianna, one of the office managers. Here are a few pictures.

The strong affection shown to Nikko by his friend Dianna at the Vet's office at Ft. Wright Pet Care may have saved his life. 

During the early morning hours on Tuesday, July 11, 2000 - Nikko Bear decided to jump down off his Mom's bed where he sleeps every night. He must have landed the wrong way because we found him laying in the upstairs bath tub when we got up and he had trouble getting out of it. We noticed he was walking with difficulty and decided to take him to the vet. After x-rays were taken we were told a lesion was found on his spine. Wednesday, July 12th we started looking for an Orthopedic specialist for a second opinion. Nikko Bear was now having a lot of trouble walking. Thursday, July 13th Nikko Bear became paralyzed in his hind legs. Two ladies named Kristen and Dianna who worked at our veterinarian's office Fort Wright Pet Care were most likely responsible for setting the stage for The Bear's recovery. Kristen contacted by telephone what is probably the best place in the entire mid-west for surgical treatment, Ohio State University, College of Veterinary Medicine located in Columbus, Ohio - about 120-miles away.

Get Nikko to Columbus before 4:00pm and they would look at him, we were told. We broke some speed limits on the way. We made the 120 mile trip in less than 2 hours.

Later that night after we returned home we got a phone call from Dr. Michael Podell, the surgeon from OSU who told us that he operated on Nikko Bear and removed a ruptured a disk from his spine between the L4 and L5 vertebrae. Dr. Podell said Nikko's spinal cord had suffered severe trauma and had extensive swelling and bruising. We were extremely fortunate to have such talented people as Dr. Michael Podell, Associate Professor of Small Animal Medicine perform the operation. Dr. Podell was assisted by Dr. Steven Flegel, resident in Neurology.

I was told by one of the female students who work at the OSU Vet Clinic that after their initial examination they decided they needed a CAT Scan of Nikko's back. At the time the school didn't have such equipment so after it got dark they snuck Nikko across the street to the Childrens Hospital and did the CAT Scan there. I was so impressed with this level of dedication that I added a special compliment to this school on my web site.

Friday morning, July 14th, Dr. Podell called again. Nikko Bear didn't like the place and was becoming aggressive and they could not take care of him any more. We had to come and pick him up right away.

Friday afternoon, we were given a very grim prognosis on Nikko's future. Dr. Podell showed us how to perform physical therapy on The Bear's hind legs to prevent atrophy. We were given literature on wheeled prosthesis and told we should not expect any signs of leg movement for two weeks. It may be possible for Nikko to walk again within 4-6 weeks but the damage was too extensive to make any predictions.

Friday evening, we arrived home and I had to carry The Bear into the house and up the stairs. We made a nice bed for him in the first-floor den which looks out on the hallway to the kitchen, one of his favorite places. My wife Jackie, had made supper and called me to come out and eat. As soon as I sat down, Nikko Bear dragged himself up onto his feet and hobbled into the kitchen walking on all four legs. This was less than 24-hours from having Spinal Surgery. See the above photos taken that night.

Nikko Bear's recovery from that day to present has been unbelievable. He seems to be his old happy, playful self again which makes us think he was in pain for some time before he jumped off the bed. We're just as happy to have him back.

 Photos of Nikko Bear at home the day after he had spinal cord surgery.

Nikko Bear lived more than four years after recovering from that surgery and those were the prime years of his life. Living a pampered, stress-free life probably allowed him to live beyond his life expectancy but when he was 12 Neek became very ill. When he also developed problems walking around we decided the best thing was to put him to sleep. We talked to Dianna at the Vet's office and she arranged to come to our house with one of the doctors and take care of it. As Nikko went to sleep for the last time Dianna cradled his head in her lap and cried.

Nikko Bear was buried in the same grave as Felony in Highland Pet Cemetery and they share a single headstone along side their daughter Mocha.

Thief of Hearts

 

I am fortunate to have a hobby taking photographs and three wonderful Rottweiler clowns to take pictures of. In the days before digital cameras became affordable it was very expensive shooting 35mm and paying for the prints. Because of this problem I have accumulated less than 200-300 prints of my Rottweilers in the years 1995 to 2001 prior to getting my first digital camera. Since 2001 my collection of photos of my Rotts has grown to about 14,000 pictures, all of them stored in my computer. In 2003 I took a photo of Mo and Nikko and among my collection it still ranks the best. The photo shows the great strength of character and nobility of this great breed and I was so impressed with it I had it formally copyrighted and it is called the Thief of Hearts.

Click the photos to see a larger view.

I used a computer program to also transform this photo into a painting and this is what it looked like.

From these two prints I located a company that converted photos into flag banners and ordered a dozen made. I began advertising them for a short while until my supply ran out and unfortunately the company that made the banners was never able to fill any more orders.

 

The above photo was taken in 2004 at our old house and it shows my wife sitting with Mo and Nikko with little Sassy.

And then there were three again. The arrival of Sassy.

On March 18, 2003 we adopted a 7-week old Rottie baby girl. Her name is Sassy Sassafras von Sasquatch and like everything else, there is a story that goes along with the name. Sassy was born at the Bowling Green, Kentucky Humane Shelter on January 15, 2003. Her mother and father had been picked up in a drug raid by the Kentucky State Police. They most likely had been acquired for protection but they were not doing very well at protecting the drug dealer. Matter of fact, they were more like pussy-cats than ferocious Rottweilers. But if you know Rottweilers you know this is a common trait.

The police didn't think the adult Rotties were very dangerous so they turned them over to the shelter for adoption. And the people in the shelter thought they were sweethearts and put them together in the same pen. And nature took its course - much to everyone's embarrassment.

Southern Kentucky Doberman/Rottweiler Rescue took the whole bunch. The mother and father were placed together on a farm and we were lucky to get one of the babies. Our girl, Mo, took to the little one right away and decided to adopt it. Mo never had any puppies of her own so we were curious how this would work. It worked great. Mo took on all the attributes of an adult Rottweiler mother, and has raised, taught, protected and disciplined her baby every day. And by the way, Nikko Bear, who is going to be 12-years old in a few months seems to like having this pretty young girl hanging around him every day. Sometimes he even acts like a young dog, himself.

Click the pictures to see a larger view.

Sassy and Casey the cat became very good friends. They played together, took naps together and ate dinner side by side.

Sassy goes to the dog show. Just two months past her 1st birthday, Sassy was introduced along with her story to the 2004 American Rottweiler Club Nationals and was given a medal which she proudly wears around her neck.

Here are some fun pictures of young Sassy investigating the sparks inside the globe. These photos were not doctored up. Except for the text overlay they are real. Sassy was startled when she touched her nose to the globe which caused a spark to jump to the inside of the glass. The spark only startled here but her reaction brought mother Mocha over to see if anything was hurting her baby.

SASSY MEETS THE THING!

 

Sassy's training to be our new papergirl.

My wife started training Sassy to be the new papergirl when we lived in the old house in Fort Mitchell. With two newspapers in the driveway it was a good opportunity to let her see how Momma Mocha did her job. It has paid off now as Sassy can go out alone at the new house and get the newspaper all by herself.

Here is a nice photo of Sassy and Mo in their new backyard.

And two pictures of Sassy enjoying a roll in the fall leaves.

Our first great sorrow. In memory of Felony Bear.

In 2001 we lost our dear Felony, mother of Mo and lifelong mate to Nikko. Hardly a consolation, Felly Girl's death was totally unexpected and her passing was very quick and there was no suffering. She left behind strong memories that to this day bring tears to my eyes. This is a good time to look back at the joy this wonderful Rottweiler gave us for it was Felony, herself, who convinced me that I could never break up this family. After the commotion settled down in the Spring of 1996 following the arrival of Nikko and Felony from New York, I had spent a lot of time searching for a permanent home for these two adult Rottweilers. It was during the first two weeks in their new home that I learned about the nationwide Rottweiler Rescue groups and was exchanging emails with people in three states to arrange adoption. Then, quite literally, one morning I happened to make eye contact with Felony and got a feeling that she had sent grappling hooks into my heart and tugged. All of a sudden I realized she had been working on me in her quiet way to convince me to keep her and Nikko. From that day on Felony became my shadow. She slept on my bed along with her daughter Mo every night. I have never had such a strong bond with any pet as I had with these two.

In tribute to her memory here are some cherished photos.

There always was some mystery about the origins of Nikko and Felony because while there was never a doubt they were pedigree Rottweilers, we did not have any registration papers. The papers somehow got lost when they moved from one home to another. All we knew was her registration name was Erin Lee's Felony and she came from New York. A few years after Felony died, a friend from California who was visiting us did a search on the AKC registrations and found Felony's records. To our amazement she was the offspring of seven champion Rottweilers.

Report Date: 09/29/2005
THE AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB   

Research Pedigree - 4 Generation Erin Lee's Felony

Reg Name:	Erin Lee's Felony
Reg #:	WP468096/05	Breed/Variety:	Rottweiler
Birth Date:	02/02/1993	Sex:	Female
Colors/Markings:	Black & Rust
Breeder(s):	Christina L Grassi

Erin Lee's Felony WP468096/05 Black & Rust	Barnett's Bear WG110478 07-92 Black & Brown	Kazen WF866360 04-88 Black & Tan	Sir Tyler Oscar Koppenhofer WF439693 11-86 Black & Mahogany OFA27	Radio Ranchs Dante's Inferno WF113436 12-83 Black & Mahogany
				Penellipe Von Meadow WE367499 07-81 Black & Mahogany OFA82
			Lady Smith Tia Maria WF727801 11-86 Black & Mahogany OFA25F	CH Donnaj Diplomat WF393497 05-85 Black & Tan OFA26
				Wundrland's Contessa WF407237 05-85 Black & Brown OFA32
		Princess Mus Chi Q WG048177 04-88 Black & Tan	Heinrich Von Samsonburg WE294290 07-85 Black & Tan	Jamar's Jupiter Von Totar WD551002 01-78 Black & Mahogany
				Trushka WD673998 07-79 Black & Mahogany
			Dixie Von Lee WF008001 03-83 Black & Brown	Bruiser Von Ecko WE626707 08-81 Black & Mahogany
				Happy Von Kruse WE667218 08-81 Black & Mahogany
	Kissie Von Grassi WF900206 06-93 Black & Mahogany	Rangarr's Axel Von Bruinhil WE736938 01-84 Black & Mahogany OFA72	CH Rodsden's Bruin V Hungerbuhl CDX WD375753 08-79 Black & Mahogany OFA25	CH Dux Vom Hungerbuhl WC018804 08-72 (West Germany) Black & Brown
				CH Rodsdens Frolich Burga CD TD WC589812 08-76 Black & Mahogany OFA25
			CH Haserway's Fine Hildegarde WD987583 01-81 Black & Mahogany OFA24	CH Rex Of Old Acres WC141822 01-77 Black & Tan OFA27
				CH Brady Haserway V Haus Kalbas WC796529 01-77 Black & Mahogany OFA24
		Neeka Von Kemnitz WF544657 01-87 Black & Tan OFA24	Rommel IV WE977564 05-83 Black & Tan	Raffe's Rocky Vomrotwein WD865479 04-79 Black & Mahogany
				Ja Ginger Von D WE094318 07-79 Black & Mahogany
			Garbo WE830995 05-83 Black & Mahogany	Blitz Von Berchtesgaden WE494965 05-81 Black & Mahogany
				Alpenhoff's Heidi WE423129 10-80 Black & Tan

� 2003 American Kennel Club
© 2003 All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from The American Kennel Club, Inc. The AKC has made every effort to insure the accuracy of its information. The information provided is "as is" with all faults and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied. In no event shall American Kennel Club be liable for any incidental or consequential damages, lost profits, or any indirect damages even if AKC has been informed of the possibility thereof.

My first Rottweiler Mo is our Papergirl.

It was apparent from the beginning that Rottweilers were very intelligent dogs and some of their other attributes were quite remarkable. They loved to do work and always wanted to please their humans. Maybe this was our reward for showing them so much love and affection. My wife Jackie took on the task of training Mo because she always wanted to show off in front of her parents Nikko and Felony. I might add that as Mo began to mature her mother Felony continued to treat her like a baby especially when she was around Nikko. Nikko was Felony's mate and Felony made Mo aware of this.

One of the jobs Mo took on was to do pick up and delivery. To get Mo to do any work all we had to do was ask her if she wanted to "work" and her expression lit up with excitement. One day I was in the upstairs bathroom getting ready to go to my job and I called down to my wife that I was out of toothpaste. The next thing I saw was Mo climbing the stairs with a box in her mouth with a tube of toothpaste.

My wife taught Mo to pick up the newspaper and carry it into the house. At first she kept Mo on a long 35' leash but soon Mo could be trusted to do this on her own and all we had to do was open the front door and tell Mo to go get the newspaper and she would run outside, down the steps and find the paper and bring it in.

Here are some photos of Mo doing her Papergirl work.

Click the photos to see a larger view.

One day I witnessed a most remarkable event that convinced me of the intelligence of this breed. We used to get two newspapers delivered to our house, The Kentucky Post and The Kentucky Enquirer. One day Mo was sent out to get the newspaper, this time she was going out without the need for her leash. When Mo got to the end of the driveway she found both newspapers laying a few feet apart and she stopped and looked at them. Mo picked up one newspaper and dropped in by the other and then made a few attempts to pick both of them up at the same time. She wasn't able to do get both newspapers in her mouth at once so after a few tries she took one paper and brought it up to the front door and went back and picked up the second one. When I watched her try to figure out how to deal with this unexpected problem it was like watching her brain think. Someone later told me this is called deductive reasoning and they use this to figure out how to handle situations.

Mo was very proud of her work and she would go out every day for 11 years in any kind of weather to get the newspaper. When we moved to our new home years later she continued to do her job. Our new home had a large property with many trees and a long driveway. Several times Mo had to search for where the newspaper had been thrown before she found it. One day she had looked all over the 100' front of the lawn and when she searched the corner of the property she happened to find our next door neighbors newspaper and she picked it up and carried it in.

Here are a few more photos of my amazing girl working.

 

In 2002 we adopted a young female Rottie and named her Sassy. The next year we moved to our new home and Sassy would accompany Mo when she went out for her newspaper work. Here is a photo of Sassy watching Mo working.

Later on, when Sassy was older, she would go out without a leash and walk with Mo to get the newspaper. This is my favorite photo of the two of them coming back with the newspaper.

At this time Mo was over 10 years old and getting on in life, for Rottweilers have a normal life expectancy of only 10 years. I often thought there was another reason why Sassy spent so much time keeping Mo company and that maybe Sassy knew Mo needed her. For the record Mo went to the Rainbow Bridge in August of 2008, two weeks shy of her 13th birthday.

There is a another side story to Mo the papergirl that I haven't mentioned. It is all part of the normal routine of how Mo did her work. When my wife first trained Mo to go out and bring in the newspaper - after Mo came in the house with it my wife would take if from her and tell her "We have to put it on top of the TV for Daddy." One day we had gone across the street to visit our friend Lucy and we took Mo on her leash. When we got to the other side Mo saw Lucy's newspaper laying on the sidewalk so my wife told Mo to pick it up and give it to Lucy. Mo picked up the newspaper and carried it up the driveway but wouldn't let Lucy take it. It wasn't until we went inside Lucy's house that Mo would let the newspaper go, we had to tell her "It had to go on top of the TV."

I couldn't end this story about my beloved Mocha without including a few more photos of Mo bringing in the newspapers. Rain or shine, Summer or Winter, nothing stood in her way to do her work. Of all my memories of my first Rottweiler, her love and her enthusiasm to do work still stands out along with her intelligence as my fondest.

Our first Rottweiler family.

These are just a few of the pictures I have accumulated over the years that show the joy and happiness we experienced with our Rottweilers. They entertained us with clownish behavior, became our protectors and constant companions. They made themselves so much a part of our lives we felt we had adopted children instead of canines while at the same time we often felt we were owned by them - as other Rottweiler owners have claimed.

Click the photos to see a larger view.

The Rottweilers have Birthday Parties.

Ever throw a birthday party for your dogs? We used to have them every year. Here are 4 photos of some of those parties with The Three Bears for our girl Mo. The cake usually was a small meatloaf with mashed potatoes for icing and a candle on it. One year we used three cans of Alpo dog food instead of the meatloaf.

It goes without saying that we treated these magnificent animals as part of our family and it we were fond of telling everyone they were our Rott-N-Kids.

One other phrase that entered our vocabulary was the term, Spoiled Rotten, but every dog owner that loved their pets as much as we did is familiar with that. The special meaning to us was the "Rotten" part came from the breed name Rottweiler.  

The Rottweilers of Abby's World - the original web site.

This is Mocha: our first Rottweiler.  

This is a photo of Mocha when she was 6-months old, taken three months after coming to her new home. There is something about this picture that reminds me of a centerfold pose in a men's magazine. Because of this, I call it Porno-Puppy. Mocha quickly became part of our family, soon after we brought her home. At first, she had difficulty climbing the stairs to the bedrooms on the second floor. But now she sleeps on my bed every night and snuggles up to me for companionship. (photo taken early 1996) 

Mocha, affectionately called Mo, has been my friend and companion since the day she was given to me by my daughter who owned her parents, Nikko Bear and Felony. We never owned a Rottweiler before and knew little about them except for the bad publicity they received in the news media. I did not believe all of those stories because my daughter had four small children in the house when she was given Nikko and Felony by a couple who were getting divorced. We had seven cats living in our house when Moe arrived, and she had never seen one before. Six of them came down with us from New York, and were getting on in years. The youngest were Butch and Jones, a pair of twin red tigers, and they were 14-years old when Mo arrived.

This is Butch introducing himself to Mocha. It didn't take long for this brave little cat to make friends with the puppy. Moe was just as curious about this friendly little critter and enjoyed giving him little kisses and ear washes. Butch was always known as the ambassador cat, because he would be the first to make new friends. He taught Moe that cats can be friends, too. Butch and his brother Jones both passed away in 1997, they were very close to each other and died 6-months apart. (photos taken early 1996)

The arrival of Nikko and Felony.

As fate would have it, 7-months after we brought Mocha home, we learned that her parents, Nikko Bear and Felony, needed a new home. We didn't know there was an organized nation-wide rescue program for Rottweilers, but we loved these big brutes from the moment we first saw them and had to give them a place to live. My wife drove back to New York, 12-hours each way, and brought them back to Kentucky. Later, we learned that many people were involved in Rottweiler Rescue because these magnificent brutes are so loving and caring. Click on the "Bumper Sticker"below, to find out more about rescue work from The Rott Bros. Farms.

My wife Jacqueline took this photo at 4 a.m. when she discovered the Three Bears sleeping on the couch. The two older Rotts had not yet found that sleeping on our beds was more comfortable. (photo taken 1996)

This is a photo of Butch working his charm on Nikko Bear soon after he arrived. Nikko and Felony had seen cats before and didn't care for them but it didn't take long before Butch's tenacity overcame their bias. Today, Nikko sleeps on my wife's bed along with our two remaining felines. 

Anyone who is familiar with cats, especially in a multi-cat family, will know that when several cats live together each cat takes on an assigned function. In our home Butch became the Ambassador Cat and this brave little guy took on the task of making friends with the new Rottweilers who had come to live with him. It didn't take long before Nikko and Felony got used to these creatures but actually made friends with them.

When we moved to Kentucky we brought 6 cats with us. A gray tiger cat named Tigger and his twin sons Butch and Rusty. The Tigger family were inseparable and always slept together. Nikko became close friends with Tigger and he had an unusual way of demonstrating it. He takes Tigger's head into his mouth and VERY GENTLY holds it for a few seconds. Tigger does not seem to mind this at all and even accepts the Rottie kisses he frequently gets. The three photos above were taken on April 13, 1999. While not the best quality, they were snapped during an unscheduled show of affection while we were sitting on the couch and I was holding the camera at arms length overhead. Yes, we keep the camera on the end table right next to the couch. Never know when you will need it around here.

A few months after these pictures were taken Tigger passed away. He was 19-years old and had some very special qualities. From the day his twin babies Butch and Jones lost their mother, Tigger was their constant companion. The three of them slept in a pile every night for 16 years. When the twins died a few months apart two years ago, Tigger never got over the loss. It was then he started looking to Nikko Bear for companionship.

After Tigger died, his best friend, Nikko Bear, spent several weeks looking everywhere around the house for him. We knew then how much Nikko cared for him.