Getting to know your dog starts by getting to know its breed, and that includes getting a better idea about its appearance, personality, and health requirements. Here’s what you need to know about the Rottweiler:

The Rottweiler dog, often referred to as a “Rottie,” is an amazing creature that has been given a bad name over the years due to it getting into the wrong hands. This large dog is indeed powerful and robust but also sweet and eager to please. The Rottweiler originated from Germany although it has also been linked to Roman Empire days as well. With people traveling long distances with cattle, this breed of dog was helpful with herding duties, along with protection from prey or robbers.

Sometime around the end of the 19th century, the Rottweiler’s popularity had dramatically declined. However, with the start of WWII, this breed’s popularity level again began to climb, as the need for a strong, obedient, and intelligent dog was needed for police work. The Rottweiler fit the need perfectly. But something else happened. People also discovered that this breed of dog had an extremely loving and loyal side, which now made them a popular choice for families. By 1935, the American Kennel Club had official recognized the breed for show.

Sadly, we still see bad publicity associated with this breed of dog – not because the breed is ferocious or evil but because irresponsible owners get their hands on the breed, sometimes teaching them to fight. All of this has caused a serious misunderstanding about the Rottweiler, which is a real shame. The truth is that while this breed does tend to be protective, if the dog is socialized young, handled with a firm hand, and introduced to various situations it will make a wonderful, devoted pet that is great with children and other animals.

Physical Appearance

This breed of dog looks strong, proud, and almost like royalty. The Rottweiler is black with beautiful tan markings on the muzzle, cheeks, chest, eyebrows, and legs. When you look closely at the chest markings, you would notice upside-down triangles. Sometimes, a Rottweiler will also have a small patch of white in between these triangles. For a family pet, this marking is fine but for showing, it is not. Then, the breed’s muzzle would be tan, with the color going down the throat. Over each eye, there would be a brown dot, which serves as the eyebrows. Other markings include any color on the leg not going up more than one-third, each toe should have a small black mark, and the area under the tail would be tan.

The Rottweiler also has black nails and there are even black splotches on the inside of the mouth. The one most prominent feature of this breed is the head, which appears to be a little over-sized. Giving the dog its look of being alert, the forehead is wrinkly. This dog also has teddy bear eyes, often with a calm but alert expression. In comparison to the head, the Rottweiler has small ears, laid close to the head. Even the coat of this breed is special, being of medium length with an undercoat that is waterproof.

Although a Rottweiler is born with a tail, these are generally docked extremely short. The reason is that Rottweilers used for working can have problems with the tail breaking and then getting infected from being in the field. In most cases, a reputable veterinarian will perform the minor surgery while the dog is still in the puppy stage, which allows less pain and a quicker healing.

Finally, this particular breed has a broad, strong chest. Because of the extra room, the lungs have much more capacity than that of other dog breeds. According to the American Kennel Club, the dog’s back needs to be straight (no sloping) and for males, a height of 24 to 27 inches with the female hitting about 22 to 25 inches. Weight also varies, males averaging around 110 pounds with females around 95.

Temperament and Personality

If a Rottweiler is socialized when young, introduced to various situations, loved, played with, fed properly, exercised, and trained, it would make an outstanding addition to just about any home. However, because there are strong personality traits, people have taken an innocent dog, teaching them to guard drug houses, and even attack people.

Yes, the Rottweiler can be a little stubborn sometimes, even those carefully raised but overall, this dog is calm and they live off the attention of owners. The size and strength of the breed makes them a great watchdog. Even though this dog does not bark often, when feeling threatened or afraid, the powerful voice is heard. Keep in mind that this is a strong breed so you want the Rottweiler to be handled by an experienced dog owner.

Health

Fortunately, the Rottweiler does not have too many health problems. The things you want to keep your eyes open for or even have the puppy of interest tested for would include Hip and/or Elbow Dysplasia, Bloat, various forms of cancer, Inflammatory Bowel Disorder, Von Willebrand’s Disease, thyroid problems such as Hypothyroidism, and eye problems. Also keep an eye on their weight.

Daniel Stevens is the renowned dog trainer and author of SitStayFetch: Dog Training To Stop Your Dog’s Behavior Problems, one of the leading dog training guides on the market today selling over 21,000 copies (and counting). He currently heads the Kingdom of Pets ( kingdomofpets.com kingdomofpets.com) dog training team. See kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/dogbreeds/rottweiler.php kingdomofpets.com/dogobediencetraining/dogbreeds/rottweiler.php for more on dog breeds.

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For nearly five years Anna Lamb, 36, has struggled with depression. She has sought help from doctors, taken various prescription and over the counter medications, vitamins, and an array of natural remedies all in an effort to control it. What has perhaps been the most welcome and effective antidote to combating her depression, however, came to her by chance in the form of a neglected, seven year old border collie named Mike. A friend of hers who is active in a border collie rescue group convinced Anna to bring Mike home and care for him. “It was hard to live alone,” she explains, “hard to come home at times. The only thing facing me was cleaning, the television, the computer, the telephone; no other living being. Mike has changed that. It’s nice to come home and have him waiting for me. One of my classmates even told me a short time after I got Mike that my disposition changed. I seemed happier.”

Researchers are working to determine whether or not there is any valid medical evidence to support what pet owners like Anna have professed all along, that pets make a positive difference in their lives. In recent years studies have been done with groups of people such as those who live alone, the elderly, and even married couples to see what health benefits, if any, are gained from owning a pet. These studies have included looking at the physical as well as emotional aspects of pet ownership.

Karen Allen, Research Scientist from the Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, specializes in research on the physiological effects pets have on humans. One of her studies involved 48 stockbrokers, all of whom were being treated with ACE inhibitors, medication for high blood pressure. They all lived alone and had not owned pets for at least five years prior to the study. Allen chose people who had the means and desire to care for a pet. “I wanted to make sure these were very responsible people,” she says. She also made sure each of them would welcome a pet into their lives if they were selected to be part of a group that was assigned pets. When the study began, half of the participants were selected at random and asked to acquire their choice of a dog or a cat. At the end of six months, when they were all receiving ACE inhibitors, those people in the pet-owning group remained significantly more stable during stressful times than those without the pets. They showed less of an increase of blood pressure and heart rates than the non pet-owner group. After the study was completed, and the participants were told of the results, Allen says, “They kept the animals, and in fact, at least half of the people [in the study] who got the drugs went out and got pets.”

“One interesting finding that we seem to have discovered,” Allen points out, “is that people who have the fewest social contacts seem to benefit the most. We think it’s because pets substitute for a certain type of social support.” An earlier research project she did involved elderly women, who lived alone, with a pet. She found that they tend to be more active and have lower blood pressure than other elderly women living alone with no pets. Because pets demand attention and exercise, quite often this makes their owners more active than their counterparts who do not have pets. Additionally, this increased activity translates into health benefits such as less depression and anxiety, and increased social behavior, which alone has been proven to be beneficial to our health.

So, should you rush out to the shelter and adopt Fido to improve your health? That all depends. According to Allen, people who benefit the most from having pets are those who view the animal as a cherished member of the family. You might think of Anna though, who has found a best friend and pseudo therapist in her dog, Mike. “He is very affectionate,” Anna says. “Mikie looks at me with his big brown eyes and forces me to get up when I’m depressed. It’s hard when he’s asking me to save his life and let him outside but he also seems to care about how I feel. Now I have someone to nurture.” But the truth is, Anna and Mike both have someone to nurture.

© 2005 PetsitUSA.com All rights reserved.

Therese Kopiwoda is a professional pet sitter and the owner of PetsitUSA.com. Founded in 2003, PetsitUSA.com allows pet owners to locate professional pet sitters, dog walkers, and dog daycares, and learn about the services they provide. For more information, go to petsitusa.com petsitusa.com.

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There is a lot of information about bio wheels and their importance in bio filtration in aquariums. In theory they are great idea and I bought into this idea for years without testing the results to see if the hype was true. In theory the wheel turns into the air where oxygen the aerobic bacteria need to remove ammonia and nitrites is much more abundant. But after many a wheel stalling with the many customers I serviced aquariums for I decided to start testing these wheels vs. other bio filter methods.

I removed the bio wheel on penguin filters on comparable aquariums with comparable bio loads and fish and found no discernable ammonia spike. Yet when HOB filters that had running Sponge Pre Filters attached to their intakes were removed, there were discernable ammonia spikes. This is not to say a bio wheel does not work at all, especially there is less build up deposits on the bio wheel fiber.

What is much more important is to have an adequate amount of dissolved oxygen through agitation of the water surface which is where oxygen and other gasses are exchanged from the atmosphere and the aquarium. This is also important for the aquarium Redox not just the aerobic bacteria. I have found a porous sponge filter media to maintain more bacteria in well oxygenated water.

Here are a few reasons behind the poor results of bio wheels:

[1] Hard water buildup; although not as much a problem in soft water aquariums, this is a major problem with hard water aquariums and especially marine aquariums (where these bio wheels are a total waste of money). What happens is the calcium, salts and other deposits form in the pores of the bio wheel fiber, not allowing bacteria to form there. This is the main reason for the lack of effectiveness for bio wheels. My tests in Discus aquariums (which are soft water) showed better results for bio wheels (although not as well as sponge or other porous media).

[2] Lack of surface area; a bio wheel does not have the surface are of many other bio media products from sponge media to the very porous pumice media used by Eheim and others.

[3] Bio wheel stalls; bio wheels have a bad habit of stalling. This is only a minor reason to not have these bio wheels as this is a correctable problem.
Here is a way correct this problem (this will be an on going maintenance problem). Make sure the Teflon ends on the bio wheel axle are clean and have no build ups of calcium you can replace these with Teflon tape in a pinch. Also make sure the bio wheel assembly is not to tight, simply remove the bio wheel and gently stretch the assembly apart so the wheel can spin more freely.

Summary;

The aquarium hobby is ripe with anecdotal

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Keeping a fish tank is a wonderful and relaxing hobby, but it can turn stressful if your fish start to die off. The most common cause of fish disease is poor water quality so it is vital that you perform regular maintenance on the tank, making sure you do a partial water change periodically and clean out any waste or uneaten food so it does not decay and poison the water.

Many fish disease can be halted if you provide treatment as soon as you see any signs of your fish being sick. Therefore, it is important that you monitor your fish each day to see if there are any signs of illness.

Some common symptoms of disease are listed below.

White dots – sometimes fuzzy looking, almost like grains of salt on your fish. This disease is called Ichthyophthirius), or simply Ich. It is a rather common disease and is caused by poor water quality or can effect your fish when it’s immune system is not functioning up to par due to stress. It can be treated easily if you catch it in time. There is a special solution you can buy at the pet store to medicate your tank and, hopefully, get rid of this problem.

Gray patches on the skin, looks cottony and can be around the gills. This is a fungus also caused by excess fish waste and food decaying in the bottom of the tank. You can buy treatment for it and it should clear up easily unless you have let it go too far. In the future remember to clean the tank each week so you do not have a reoccurrence.

If your fish seem like they are gasping for air, this could be simply due to lack of oxygen in the water and not necessarily a disease. You could add an airstone to see if that helps the problem. Make sure you do not overcrowd the tank with too many fish.

If you see your fish scraping itself agains the bottom of the tank or the decorations, it’s possible that he has a parasite called Flukes. These attack the gills and skin and are rather difficult to get rid of once your tank is infected. Again, poor water quality will make this much worse. They do sell medication for the tank and you may be able to clear it up if you treat the tank at the first sign of trouble.

Rotting fins are sometimes seen if the fish is under stress and also if the water quality is substandard. It is a bacteria that is attacking the fins and you must treat the tank at the first sign of this problem. If possible, isolate the affected fish to another tank to prevent the bacteria from spreading.

To insure that you always have healthy fish, you should keep the tank clean and religiously perform partial water changes. This will not only keep your fish happy but will make for a better looking tank as well!

Lee Dobbins is a pet lover and owner of fish-tank-guide.com” target=”_blank Fish Tank Guide.com where you can learn to setup your freshwater aquarium. Visit the site and learn more about fish-tank-guide.com/fish-disease.html” target=”_blank fish disease.

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First off, on the humorous side let’s just clear something up right now. Shoeing horses is very arduous strenuous work and as a result it may very well be “Joy” is the last thing you might be feeling while shoeing. Mostly you’re just sweating and praying the horse behaves – at least that’s my take on things.

As a Farrier part of my job is to accept an enormous amount of responsibility. Responsibility to keep my clients horses free from lameness. In fact my reputation depends on it. Fortunately from the beginning of my career I discovered a method of shoeing not taught me in the school I attended or in any textbooks I’ve ever read which has produced for me a 16 year 100% track record- Not One Single Lame Horse. I hope you can realize how good it makes me feel to have this track record. Personally I don’t know how long I would have continued to shoe horses if I were responsible for horses coming up lame due to my shoeing methods.

Well I have been the Farrier for a ranch in Palo Alto California for about 16 years. It was one of my very first accounts. For years I would faithfully just show up every Saturday morning right at 9:00am on the dot. I never knew how many horses or people would be waiting for me that day. Sometimes there’d be several horses waiting and then as the hours would pass more and more people would show up for me to shoe their horse. Not quite sure but my best day there may have resulted in 11 or 12 horses being worked on. It’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it.

Interestingly enough sometime in 2006 I started to get the feeling I was being taken for granted at the ranch. Maybe because I made it so easy for people to have me as their Farrier there by just showing up every Saturday on time the boarders could just expect for me to be there. So I’m not immune to getting my feelings hurt so I just decided to stop showing up on those Saturdays at all. My reasoning became “Ok if they want or need me they can just call me and make an appointment”. Problem was I had changed cell phones and most of the people there didn’t have a way to get in contact with me.

It was about 7 months before I decided I kind of missed the ranch and one day I was in the area and decided to stop by to say hello. Well to my surprise I was welcomed with open arms, it was as if everyone was and had been looking for me. While I had been gone people were forced to use someone else as their horseshoer. Some of what I heard was along the lines of “well we thought that other horseshoer was good” – but then something happened and my horse doesn’t seem to be traveling too well – or my horse is coming up sore etc. And we need you back.

It’s not that I like to hear that someone’s horse has become sore or lame but the truth is I do like to feel appreciated for the quality of work and effort I put into my shoeing to make sure my clients horses continue to stay sound for them. So the joy for me was hearing the praise for my work and watching the people’s face’s light up when they saw me again. Validation! Reputation! Self esteem.

I’m one of the lucky ones. Having not caused a lame horse due to my method of horseshoeing has been very rewarding for me. As I mentioned – if I were making horses sore and lame I may have quit the Farrier trade long ago. It’s really all about the horses and the clients who own them. It’s just not acceptable when horses come up lame due to improper shoeing practices. Yes I’ve been lucky and I suppose even blessed. So now i would like to pass this luck on to you.

Do you want to be lucky? Would you like to feel sure you’ve done everything possible for your horse’s safety to prevent lameness? Lameness is a risk you – and your horse – really can not afford to experience. Find out for yourself the truth about shoeing correctly and remove the risk. Find out what the schools and textbooks can’t tell you. Just visit the website below in the author bio. Your horse will love you for it.

Reprint rights allowed providing nothing is changed.

Author Bio: John Silveira a practicing Farrier since 1991 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Native born and still living in San Mateo California. Having graduated from one of the most prestigious horseshoeing schools at the top of his class went on to discover a method of shoeing that has produced a 16 year 100% track record- Not One Single Lame Horse. The information available at: Farrieritis.Care4Horses.com Farrieritis.Care4Horses.com

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