A rottweiler love affair...

Our love with Rottweilers started long before we actually owned one. I know mine started when I was just a wee mite and our next door neighbours had a litter that they would pass over the fence to me in a box to play with from time to time. I believe Mr. Man's started when his cousin Anthony purchased a dog I never had the privilege of knowing - Grant.

We purchased our first Rottie in July of 2009. We'd put it off for ages because I was always devil's advocate for Shakespeare making sure no one came into 'his house', although it didn't take a lot of arm twisting. The night before he came home with us I spent all night firing names at Mr. Man, who had a few criteria for a dog name - one syllable, manly and a 'person' name. We finally settled on 'Vince' - a shortened version of a character from one of our favourite movies (Pulp Fiction), Vincent Vega.

I fell in love with Vince at first sight.  He was adorable, naughty and as clumsy as I am, I loved him instantly. Being first time puppy owners it was quite a shock to the system but we made it through the first few weeks of bleary eyed tiredness and a moaning puppy getting used to not having his litter mates anymore. Vince was a strong personality to say the least. In good rottweiler fashion he adored socks and under garments, stealing them on an almost hourly basis as a little dude, less frequently (but only marginally) when he was older.  I was known for using the phrase, "If you steal undies, you will wear undies", and to many of my facebook friend's delight he did once have to wear his fathers undies - I have proof in the way of photograph.

Being first time players in the puppy purchasing game we were unaware of anything like 'backyard breeders' and unfortunately purchased our boy from one of these. I believe it was due to this fact that Vince passed away after such a short life. He died unexpectedly on August 20th 2010 at 15 months of age and let me tell you, coming home to find him lying, unmoving on the driveway is an image I will forever have in my head. As I write this I have tears in my eyes thinking about it. It was shocking, terrifying and completely heartbreaking to come home to that. Many people might say 'he was just a dog' but when that dog is like your child it's exactly like losing your own flesh and blood.

We never did get him tested for the reasons behind his death, having him cremated the following day but I believe it was either a 'tummy twist' (a freak occurrence) or a heart disease of some sort.  The latter being detectable if the breeder we went through was responsible - he wasn't. This led us to ensuring we went through a reputable breeder the next time we purchased a puppy.  It may be more expensive but man is it worth it! I was reminded just the other day by my lovely workmate Lynn that we didn't take very long to start looking for our new puppy.  Mr. Man didn't want to so soon but it was so strange not having a dog at home.  We got in touch with a fabulous breeder in Auckland and was able to view a new litter a week later.

One thing we found challenging with a reputable breeder is that they will often choose a puppy for you rather than let you choose one yourself as they know the litter best. After much thought we agreed that this was probably true and as long as we got a lovely little pup at the end of it we'd be happy with whichever we were given, they were all lovely.
Being able to view, cuddle and play with 11 rottweiler puppies at one time was hilarious! They were rolling around our feet, chewing at our gumboots, pulling at my jeans and all bidding for our attention.  I was in heaven!

We were looking at boy puppies only and from what I remember that cut us down to 5 in the litter. We of course bonded with some rather than others and it was really hard not to be grumpy at the fact that we may not get the choice that we want but funnily enough after every trip out there it came more obvious that some of our favourites probably weren't for us. After a lot of discussion it was decided that the dark blue and green puppies were probably best for us (each puppy had a woolen collar with different colours to identify them from one another).
After much discussion we finally chose the Dark Blue puppy and Jake came home with us in early September 2010. I fell in love with him at first sight too - adorable, reserved with some mischief in his eyes and as chubby as a two year old's leg. Jake has a happy face and it was evident even as a 8 week old pup.

As adorable as he was, Jake is not without his trying times. He too enjoys stealing socks and undergarments as well as blankets, soft toys and anything else he knows he should have. In fact, at about 4 and a half months old Jake stole his fathers wallet early one Sunday morning and chewed up all his EFTPOS and credit cards.  We found them all when we woke up. He seemed fine for the remainder of the day but on the Monday morning would not get up or eat.  Uh oh.  Off to the vet.  After 2 nights in hospital and many Xrays later we found that the credit cards were in fact a red herring.  Jake had contracted Parvo virus, a deadly disease.  SHIVERS! Considering the fact that he'd finished a full vaccination regime, complete with extra (just to be safe) parvo vax I was again, heartbroken.

It was touch and go for a couple of days and being so soon after we'd lost Vince I was again heartbroken wondering what went wrong and swearing off owning pets for the rest of my life.  Luckily Jake made it. Having been in hospital and on a drip from the word go, plus being able to have a blood transfusion saved his life.  What a relief! We were able to bring him home on the Saturday, skinny, shaven but alive.

Jake after his ordeal in hospital.

I don't know what I'd do without my Jakey.  He's a 50kg black streak of naughtiness but I couldn't imagine him any other way and I love him regardless. He's full of energy and loves a cuddle with his Mum and Dad on the couch at night. Who knows, he might have a litter of his own soon - Imagine that!  Sire Bailifscourt Blue Sky Mine (Jake) - that's his kennel name! Hehe.

He has a first birthday coming up in July so be sure to watch out for that post and those pictures!

Both Jake and Vince have their own websites:
Vince: http://kafafa.com/myboyVince/
Jake: http://myboyjake.weebly.com/