When I moved to Florida in 1989, my plant nursery came with an aging guard dog named Goliath. He was getting pretty old when I got him but his job was to let me know when someone entered my driveway and he did his job admirably. He slept outside and all he asked from me was to be fed. When he passed I got a Rottweiler puppy I named Brutus. I expected him to live outside and replace Goliath but Brutus had other plans and the Rottweiler adventure began. He was the joy in my life but came down with cancer at a very early age and died before he was 2. During those 2 years though I learned a lot; Brutus was one of my greatest gurus. When he died I was devastated.
The Following week I went to the local pound and rescued Lisa (she was 3-4 years old, was my first rescue dog, and was in really rough shape when I brought her home). She had heartworms and had been tied up in the backyard when he former master moved out in the dead of night. After a few days, the neighbors called animal control, and they came a got her. By saving her life I was able at some level to feel not so bad about losing Brutus (he gave his life so that hers could be saved). Lisa lived until she was about 9, not bad considering the tough life she appeared to have had prior to moving in with me. I will never forget the way she would sit for hours looking at me with those loving brown eyes.
I added Zeus to the mix the next year (he was about 8 months old when I got him, was totally out of control, and remained a holy terror his whole life). He destroyed many things during his life, including the leather interior of someone's new Mercedes, the interior of my motor home, etc. He and Lisa battled for dominance the whole time I had them and she tried to kill him at least once. I even ended up in the ER one time with bites to the bone, after breaking up another battle between them.
Zeus lived until he was about 10 and when he died (August 2007) we rescued the magnificent Diezel. Through the nearly 20 years that I have had Rottweilers I have have learned a lot about dealing with them and while Diezel is by far the biggest (and in many ways the most challenging), I usually feel pretty much in control (he is 130+ pounds). I tell Flora just about every day how lucky we are to have him.
For more detailed stories about these dogs, see Bob's Rottweiler page. .