Lucknow family gives ferocious Rottweiler away to municipality, bringing spotlight back on the dog breed

It has not even been a few months since a pitbull mauled an 82-year-old lady to death in Lucknow, and another dog, a Rottweiler, has now been handed over to the city municipal corporation because it turned on its owners.

The family, which lives in Sector 14 of Lucknow's Indira Nagar, called up the municipal corporation after being fed up of the attacking nature of the dog that it had kept as a pet.

What 

The family complained that the dog had recently turned violent against the family members. The family was so terrified of the dog that they would keep it outside the house for hours to avoid being attacked or any violence from it.

Finally, the family informed the Lucknow Nagar Nigam and a team from the Nagar Nigam came and took custody of the dog.

Not the first incident

This is, however, not the first time that a Rottweiler has turned against its owner. A few years ago, two Rottweilers in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu, mauled their owner to death when he went to feed them.

Two other incidents from the recent past:

• In January 2021, two Rottweilers attacked and killed a 58-year-old worker at a farm near Chidambaram, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu. It was reported that the two dogs chased the man, attacked him, bit his ear off after their food was delayed.
• In 2019, two rottweilers mauled a 68-year-old woman to death in Avadi, Chennai.

Should you keep Rottweilers as pet?

A veterinary doctor who dailyO spoke to, clearly gave a thumbs down on keeping a Rottweiler as a pet. "Family-daar nahi hai (It is not family types). It is so dangerous that you never know when it turns against its owner," Anil Singh, Assistant Surgeon at Vet Polyclinic Baadshahbagh, Lucknow, said.

"The breed is not that great. It's another thing that the purpose of keeping one is for guarding purposes," he said.

I asked him what if a family wanted to adopt a Rottweiler dog, given that they would train it, Anil Singh said, "Nahi rakhna chahiye (they should not keep one). The dog can attack any time if it loses any calm. The dog is not good at taking commands like, say, a labrador or German Shepherd is. Command itni achhi nahi aati hai. Jo baat labrador or German Shepherd mein hai, wo baat nahi hai."

"My personal opinion is, if you have children or elderly persons at home, it is best to not keep this dog," Anil Singh said.

Asked what his personal experience with the Rottweiler dog was, when he went to visit it at homes, he said that it has never been good. "Bahut mushkil mein dekhte dete hai, ya to kisi cage mein band karo, only then can we administer injections to them, otherwise its very difficult. Bahut si baar to aisa hua hai ki waapas aana pada hai bina kuch kiye (Many a times it so happened that I had to return without administering any treatment to the dog because of its aggressiveness when he saw a stranger)," Singh said.

"But then, there are also some cases where the dogs are very well-trained but they only let their owners touch them, not any strangers like us. It also depends upon how you have raised it since it was a child," Singh said.

Training is extremely important: Eventually, it all comes down to how you train a Rottweiler. And according to experts, training is not just hiring a trainer and then leaving everything on the person. It's about how you, as an owner, mingle with the dog.

A Rottweiler owner that dailyO spoke to agreed that it is a hunting dog with an aggresive nature; but also said that if you train it well, you can keep it.

"I have kept a Rottweiler for four years and nothing of this type has occured so far," Umang Mishra, a Rottweiler owner in Lucknow's Triveni Nagar, said.

Asked if his Rottweiler ever attacked him, he said, "No, never. For any dog, training is a must but in case of a Rottweiler, it becomes a necessity because by nature, it is a hunting dog."

What to keep in mind before getting a dog

• Figure out what you are looking for in the dog
• Start training the dog from a very young age
• Don't let strangers come near your dog
• If it is a Rottweiler, don't allow strangers to pet them if you are not around
• Tire them out when they get aggressive

Point to remember: It is not a bad dog, it is bad training.