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Rottweiler Or Bullmastiff


ems999
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I have a bullmastiff at present and have absolutely fallen in love with the breed however I have always loved rottweilers and want to own one for my next dog. My question is should I stick with the bullmastiff that I know and love or go with my heart and get a rotti? I have 3 children aged 6,9 and 11 and live on half an acre. My dogs are inside and outside dogs and I walk half an hour a day and play ball games. I only work 2 days a week. I am prepared to train the dog of course.

Is there anyone out there who could give me advice about whether a rottweiler would be suitable for my family? Thank you

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I have a bullmastiff at present and have absolutely fallen in love with the breed however I have always loved rottweilers and want to own one for my next dog. My question is should I stick with the bullmastiff that I know and love or go with my heart and get a rotti? I have 3 children aged 6,9 and 11 and live on half an acre. My dogs are inside and outside dogs and I walk half an hour a day and play ball games. I only work 2 days a week. I am prepared to train the dog of course.

Is there anyone out there who could give me advice about whether a rottweiler would be suitable for my family? Thank you

Hi ems999 :laugh: Welcome to DOL.

Now you know I will be biased in my answer. :laugh: I would suggest talking with a few breeders and meeting their dogs. Also the obvious is that a Bull Mastiff is very different to a Rottweiler in many many ways. The age of your children does not overly concern me, I am not a fan of younger kids and dogs as younger kids take a lot of work for Mum and Dad let alone having a young pup to worry about. If you want to know more about the Rottweiler drop into the Rottweiler thread we are all very friendly in there.

Edited by Stolzseinrotts
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I have a bullmastiff at present and have absolutely fallen in love with the breed however I have always loved rottweilers and want to own one for my next dog. My question is should I stick with the bullmastiff that I know and love or go with my heart and get a rotti? I have 3 children aged 6,9 and 11 and live on half an acre. My dogs are inside and outside dogs and I walk half an hour a day and play ball games. I only work 2 days a week. I am prepared to train the dog of course.

Is there anyone out there who could give me advice about whether a rottweiler would be suitable for my family? Thank you

Hi ems999 :laugh: Welcome to DOL.

Now you know I will be biased in my answer. :laugh: I would suggest talking with a few breeders and meeting their dogs. Also the obvious is that a Bull Mastiff is very different to a Rottweiler in many many ways. The age of your children does not overly concern me, I am not a fan of younger kids and dogs as younger kids take a lot of work for Mum and Dad let alone having a young pup to worry about. If you want to know more about the Rottweiler drop into the Rottweiler thread we are all very friendly in there.

thank you for your reply could you tell me the ways they are different ?

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This is anecdotal only, I'm sure there are many owners and breeders here who will have had a different experience, however...

I adore my Rotti girl, she is very special and as a dog I think they are an amazing breed, but I don't think I will ever get another. She is very well bred, as are most of the rotti's I have known (and I know more than a few), and I think every single one over the age of about 8 has had surgery for, or has died of, cancer :)

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I've shared my life with a few Rottis over the years - and I'd have another in a flash. Great family pets if you work them into your lifestyle - they do love to be a part of everything with their "pack". They are definitely not the kind of dog you can just leave in the back yard and expect it to train itself to play nice - you will need to train both the dog and the children how to interact with each other, and you should be fine.

I've never had a Bullmastiff, so I don't know what the differences would be... but I'd never had Rottis before I got my first one, and I just raised all mine with plenty of love, affection, socialisation, and some obedience training - they all turned out just fine.

T.

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This is anecdotal only, I'm sure there are many owners and breeders here who will have had a different experience, however...

I adore my Rotti girl, she is very special and as a dog I think they are an amazing breed, but I don't think I will ever get another. She is very well bred, as are most of the rotti's I have known (and I know more than a few), and I think every single one over the age of about 8 has had surgery for, or has died of, cancer :thumbsup:

Ditto with us. They are an amazing breed, but our first died of cancer, and our second has had major health issues since only a few months of having her. A lot of surgery so far. :laugh:

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I have a bullmastiff at present and have absolutely fallen in love with the breed however I have always loved rottweilers and want to own one for my next dog. My question is should I stick with the bullmastiff that I know and love or go with my heart and get a rotti? I have 3 children aged 6,9 and 11 and live on half an acre. My dogs are inside and outside dogs and I walk half an hour a day and play ball games. I only work 2 days a week. I am prepared to train the dog of course.

Is there anyone out there who could give me advice about whether a rottweiler would be suitable for my family? Thank you

Hi ems999

I own Rottweilers, which I adore, and have handled Bull Mastiffs, which I'm also very fond of and would consider owning one anyday. I actually found that they can be very similar. I have had a few Bull mastiffs stay with me and they ran and fit in with my Rottweilers very well. I have friends that have or do own both breeds.

The Bull mastiff is a night guarding breed so can be very protective, the Rottweiler can be very protective. They both require a good leader, socialisation etc, they can both be very strong. They both have the same issues where you have to be careful with bloat, like a lot of deep chestered breeds. I don't exercise the Rotties heavily in the hottest part of the day, same with the Bull Mastiff. My Rottweilers seemed to cope with the heat better than the Bull Mastiffs I had staying with me. I would probably say that Rottweilers require more exercise even though some Rotts can be lounge lizards.

Bullmastiff Standard has them slightly larger and heavier than a Rottweiler

I would also say that their health related issues are also very similar in regards to cancers, hips, elbows, Entropian

etc.

Most of my friends that have lost a Bull Mastiff have lost them through cancer or bloat. I guess if you think about it in relation to age a lot of people over 40 or 50 are also treated for cancer related illness and their are the tragic cases when children and even babies have certain types of cancer, it's the same in dogs. I think longevity is better in some lines than others in both breeds

Feeding etc is the same, you grow the young ones slowly so there is less strain on little bones and most restrict heavy exercise in the young of both breeds.

Register Rottweiler Breeders that are a member of a Rottweiler club have to follow guidelines of only breeding pairs that hip scores fall within a certain limit and elbows must also be scored where as I'm not sure if this is the same for Bull Mastiff Breeders, I'm not sure if it is compulsary to score a Bull mastiff but I think most registered breeders do.

As far as the Rottweiler temperament goes, as with the Bull Mastiffs, look at the lines, meet the parents and breeders. There is good and bad in every breed. Having said this though like with any puppy you will get out what you put in, which you probably already know and I don't leave any dog unsupervised with young children.

Rottweiler Temperament being good natured, placid in basic disposition and fond of children, he is very devoted, obedient, biddable and eager to work.

His appearance is natural and rustic, his behaviour self assured, steady and fearless. He reacts to his surroundings

with great alertness

Bull Mastiff Characteristics Powerful, enduring, active and reliable. Temperament High spirited, alert and faithful.

All this is said just from my experiences with both breeds maybe others have had different experiences, it hard to generalize when you meet different types and temperament from the same breeds especially when you chuck in how a puppy is raised etc

Cheers Lee

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Go with your heart, Rotties all the way! :thumbsup:

I grew up with Rotties and they were the most loyal sweet dogs I have ever had. I believe they are suited to families but it does also depend on training of course, but I cannot think of any other dog so loyal and obedient.

Cant say I know what Bull Mastiff is like but perhaps try another breed?

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Yaaayyyyy, go the Rotty :D

My girl Sharon is now nine and a half years old and apart from some arthritis which is currently managed with supplements, she has never had a bad day of health in her life.

She is a total lounge lizard and spends most of her time just hanging out on the couch and looking out the window.

I will always have a Rotty in my family.

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Im a rotty girl so you Im going to say a rott monster! :o but in saying that I do have a soft spot for the Bull Mastiff but couldnt ever actually see one in the back yard. I do warn you though once you have a Rottweiler you'll more than likely always have a Rottweiler!!!!! then two then three...... :D

Ive never really known a Bull Mastiff either but I have heard that they aint as smart as a rotty so you might be more busy entertaining a rotty, but you have kids so he or she will be plenty busy :eek: Good luck and definately buy through a registered breeder to avoid getting a sick pup.

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  • 4 months later...

Hello everyone, I think all here are well informed about both breeds. Personally i have owned both for many years. My last Rotty pair lived till (Male 12) Female(14) and both eventually left with Cancer. My current Pair are both Beautiful Fawn,black masked Bullmastiffs from exceptional bloodlines as my rotties were. I shifted to the Bullmastiff due to while i owned my rotties i rescued a Big male Bullmastiff brindle and yes very similar but very very different. The Bullmastiff doesn't react like the rotties when alarmed.

The rotties were very on the job, athletic matter of fact. Would make a much bigger display if threatened than the Bullmastiff. The bullmastiff is a very casual dog. Sure there big and you wouldnt want to wrestle with one but not much winds them up and much harder to read for aggression than the Rottie. They work well together as the Rottie would always arrive on the job first EVERY TIME but the Bullmastiff just seems to know Fact from Fiction. If there is a real threat the mastiff was there and Easily finds their way to the front where the Rottie would give the Bullmastiff the front seat and the rottie would flank. Both Exceptional dogs to watch working. As for a family dog?

Like i said i have Bullmastiffs now and still have a sweet spot for the Rottie but my family comprises of 3 Bullmastiff. Our babies.

post-35688-1294647462_thumb.jpg

Edited by BigW
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