Waking the dead - wrong portrayle of rotties

[candi]

Last night there was a new series of waking the dead on BBC 1 (love crime progs so have allways watched it).
Not saying that this programme should not be shown but as a rottie breader and lover of rotts it upset me a little.

The last scene last night was an old bloke being chased by 2 rotties in to his flat, they broke through his flat door
so he hid in the wardrobe. to the rescue came 2 crime scene investigators they fire exstiguished the rotties and they cleard off. On getting the man out the wardrobe he said there after him, officers replie: who Man: The devil.

May be i'm being a bit sensative, but with all the dangeorous dog hype people that don't no the breed will get the wrong inpression. There just oversized teddy bears why don't they show that instead of them ripping some ones coat off.

Sorry for moan

[k9media]

I heard about it but didn't see it. It's not the first time and probably won't be the last time Rotts are portrayed in this way. It probably all started around the time of the film Omen. The funny thing is I watched a show on the making of The Omen and the trainers of the dogs revealed how they couldn't get the dogs to bark at or attack the actors. In the end they had to tie sausages and mean underneath the actors clothes and then they piped in the sound of barking. The 'Devil Dogs' as portrayed in the film were actually chasing sausages and were not keen to even bark. Just shows how reality is never quite as glamourous as the myth.

[Kerriebaby]

In hollywood films the "bad dog" is never a lab, collie or st bernard.

[sarabe]

Yes I watched it. It is a good series but I was also very concerned about how the dogs were portrayed and especially the reference to the devil. I can imagine most Rottie owners would quite rightly be upset by the programme, especially in the current climate. :sad:

[k9media]

Devil Dog ? Don't look into her eyes, you'll end up making a pact with Satan.

http://production.k9magazine.com/images/miabighead.jpg

[Kerriebaby]

awwwwwwwww that is the cutest pup ever! Would love to have a snuggle with her!

[claraclogs]

i must admit i am a rather oversensitive rottie owner at the moment, i didnt see this & im gald i didnt.
however i think it has become accepted to describe someone scary as a rottweiler which really annoys me- a speaker at work gave a speech where he used a rottweiler as a metaphor for a big scary person you wouldnt want to mess with- i did challenge him, especially as he was talking about diversity & equal opportunities!!!!
on another note, did anyone see the magazine that has done an interview with (their words) mother of baby torn apart by devil dogs!!!!!
thats another one on my boycott list!
Devil Dog ? Don't look into her eyes, you'll end up making a pact with Satan.

http://production.k9magazine.com/images/miabighead.jpg



oops i think satan has got me already- in the form of my big pudding lying at my feet!

[Kerriebaby]

I love rotties, I would love to have one. OH says No..I think that is just mean!

[k9media]

awwwwwwwww that is the cutest pup ever! Would love to have a snuggle with her!


I appreciate how lucky I am, I get to whenever I want (she's not that keen though). She has an equally adorable adopted Labrador big sister who has taught her how to be a respectible canine citizen.

[Kerriebaby]

Kerrie isnt one for cuddles either..Poppy on the other hand...would stand and be cuddled by anyone..they are teaching each other tricks too..how to roll in cow poo...Thanks Kerrie..just what she needed to learn! :lol: :lol:

[smokeybear]

People must remember that it is a drama. Human beings are often portrayed as murderers, rapists, drug dealers etc etc etc, it does not mean that ALL humans are this way.

Too much political correctness would do away with drama altogether.......

[Kerriebaby]

I know what you are saying, but why didnt they use a black lab, a spaniel, a bearded collie?

[smokeybear]

Because it would not be believable would it?

The same way as if you want to portray a druggie in drama you would probably not choose someone who looks like Hyacinth Bucket but select someone with tattoos, body piercings, unkempt clothing and smoked. :D

[mattygroves]

Stephen King chose a St Bernard as his rabid dog Cujo specifically because it played against type.

[Kerriebaby]

True

[IJF]

Because it would not be believable would it?

The same way as if you want to portray a druggie in drama you would probably not choose someone who looks like Hyacinth Bucket but select someone with tattoos, body piercings, unkempt clothing and smoked. :D


I don't think it was meant to be believeable.. if it was the travellers dogs would have been mostly Terriers, Lurchers and Staffy Xs. Rottweilers really aren't very popular with travellers as they are not used for hunting, coursing, dogfighting etc.

[smokeybear]

Actually IME travellers have EVERY type of dog imaginable, some "theirs" and some "acquired".

If you live or pass through the regular "sites" you can see every dog you have ever thought of and sometimes one or two you have not! ;);)

I wonder if it is just as unfair to make sweeping generalisations about travellers as it is about certain breeds of dog?

[IJF]

Agreed about every dog imaginable (no 5 generation pedigrees here!), but my experience (based in the traveller friendly South Essex) is still that the dog 'types' I mentioned are the most prevalent - so there :P

Sweeping seneralisations are sweeping generalisations - some have more basis in fact than others, but they are still generalisations.

[candi]

I no what your saying smokeybear but most druggies don't have those assets, my freind died just before christmas off drugs (had non off those assets) i went to private school and most of them ended up in exstremley well paid jobs but are now hooked on the stuff.

I today while walking my rottie (it made my day hav'nt stopped smiling yet) had some one stay on my side of the pavement and came over to me and was fussing my dog, Silly but this very rarley happens. I stood there proud as punch, thinking look my dogs not savage. :Dhttp://img219.imageshack.us/img219/8342/zilla13gq2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[k9media]

Oh, handsome dog. very.

[Kerriebaby]

Candi, Im going to come round and give that yummy dog a big hug! He is stunning. The rotties I see here are odd looking (pup farm me thinks)

[candi]

Thank you but she's a little girl but i don't think she cares what she is if there's a hug init. She is out of very goods lines breed and temprement, She will be having her own babies some time this year, fingers crossed. :)

[Kerriebaby]

oohh sorry..she :oops:

[IzzyBoo]

Hi rotties are so damn cute as pups! Candi you have a lovely rottie as well. Yes they are big bears arent they, my bf often refers to our Jess as Winnie the Pooh. Maybe we should all stand together and stop this mayhem the media is causing. THEY are the ones making the situation worse. Funny how they never tell teh full story of dog attacks, for all we know the child teased the dog terribly! Of couuse we will never know this, the media thrives on violence death horror blood guts etc
I just feel very sad that rotties, sbt get a bad rep thru bad owners and the media. I just hate how people think that the only reason people get rotties, staffys etc is to be hard or a drug dealer, and I am neither!!!
I am not ashamed of my dogs and never will be!

[candi]

I wish i new what to do about this media hype, My next door neighbour has 2 yorkies and last year 1 of them attacked 7 people but people walk passed the house and say ho look at the yorkie is'nt it cute but then critises my rotty who has never hurt anything. The most annoying thing is is that if the yorkie had been a rottie it would of been pts by now but because its only a yorkie thats ok, i was 4 when a yorkie bit my bottom lip off.

If any one has any good idea about replenishing our breeds name then i'm in

[mollymops]

My sister's hubby was severely mauled by a golden retriever when he was young and grew up with a great fear of dogs. What do they own now? Two rotties! They have also had another two who have sadly passed away, and a staffy bitch who hated other dogs but loved humans!
Doesn't this show what a good rottie can do for someone who hates dogs??!!
I also own two rotties and a border collie - it is the collie that everyone is wary of, lol.

[Panya]

Working at a boarding kennels I meet all the dog breeds under the sun and I have to say the rotties than come in, one in particular who I want to take home with me!, just want to sit on you and cuddle you to death! they r probably the most wonderful breed to bring a smile to your face when your having a tough day at work!

If I ever have any problems, its usually the small yappy dogs who have been allowed to get away with murder because they r so small. This all just makes my blood boil because ppl r so quick to stereotype a rottie or a bull terrier - when theyr some of the most ppl orientated breeds!

I watch that episode of Waking the dead - and my first reaction was to turn it off (it had to go back on again coz I wanted to know what happend!) but it did make me sad that once again the idea that rotties r aggressive dogs has been reiterated by the media.

Anyway, unfortunately I am still hooked on Waking the Dead - so I'm going to go and watch it now!

p.s. - if anyone does come up with an idea to turn the common misconception about rotties and such on its head - i'm in! :grin:

[candi]

lol yea i'm still hooked so i'm off to watch it, can't beat a loyal well brought up rot there the best except when they break wind lol

[lolly]

can't beat a loyal well brought up rot there the best except when they break wind lol



:lol: :lol: :lol:

god dogs do don't they, always when you have visitors :oops: Sam sits down in front of people and does it, then he burphs and snorts typical male :lol:

[TWS]

My mastiff has just spent the last five mins getting the splodge of ice cream off the floor i dropped and is now searching the house for more, not likely.

Cos my partner cant get him to leave i have taught him swapsies but now he runs out in the garden grabs a stonw runs in wagging his tail drops the stone and waits for cheese. It is driving the o/h crazy!!

[mollymops]

Talking of wrong betrayals of rotties - I was going away for the weekend and as my parents were coming up to house sit, I thought I would put my 10 month old rottie into kennels so they weren't tied to the house. My old rottie and young border collie both live outside so they wouldn't be such a big tie.
I went to the local kennels, who I have never used before and asked if I could look round the kennels, get a price and book my bitch in. The owner asked what breed and when I said a rottie she said that "we don't take that kind of dog!" She said it so nasty, too. I kept my mouth shut as my daughter's best friend works there and it was because of her that I went round. (She looked very uncomfortable, bless her.)
Everyone knows about it now though, cos I am so flipping mad. These people breed dogs and her hubby was actually judging at Crufts!!!! If people like that treat rotties in this way, what chance do they have??!!

[k9media]

That's shocking and outrageous. Of course it is entirely up to them what sort of dog they take but I think it's well out of order. Anyone who is involved in the care of dogs professionally who has that kind of attitude should think again. I worked in kennels for several years and it was NOT Rottweilers who gave me the most problems.

[KazGoa]

I didn't see the episode of Waking The Dead but wondered if the man being chased was mentally ill? My friend used to work in a psychiatric hospital and a lot of the patients thought that dogs - particularly doberman's and rottie's, were "the devil".

Before I got my first dog in January I would have been very cautious about Rottie's, mainly because of the bad press they've had. Since I've had Maya we have met a lot of Rottie's during our walks and they are all great. One even grunted a "please" to me before I gave him a treat!!!! :lol:

[candi]

I agree with that k9 allways the little ones that have bit me ie Westies, yorkies, poodles

That is shocking though mollymops, i too would of been very mad and would probley of told the owner of the kennels that but i understand your discresion with your daughters friend working there. I would of told my story to others though as it's bad for buisness and people that don't accept my fav breed as a dog instead of a monster diserve to lose buisness. :cry:

[Raphael]

Rotties have been villainised by the media for so many years now.... :sad:

[Mowglie]

Well, I have to say I was very interested by this topic. Having a
rottie x alsation and a pure rottie has had me in the uncomfortable
limelight many times with such comments as 'your's seem nice enough
but you could never trust them properly like other dogs' and 'don't
you know they are on the dangerous dogs list' ?huh! etc etc
I have also been in the position of people using rotties as examples
ie: in college a few years back, a lecturer used a rottie as an example
of something - can't remember what but was bad - anyway she soon
found out I had rotties and changed her tune after I gave her my
humble opinion of her teaching methods ;)
Anyway I am vaguely trying to make a point here that although I used to get really REALLY mad, I also get just as many good comments like
'aw aren't they good with the kids' and little old lady's coming up and saying 'he is beautiful' and when I left Chess at kennels once, they seemed a little wary but when I came back the guy had a big grin on his face and could'nt stop telling me how much fun he'd had looking after him! So my point is that maybe I did get a little over offended at times and now I'm on a mission to introduce my dogs to as many people as possible as there are still a lot of anti-rotties out there but just remember how many fans there are too. :D

[Tanzchai]

From the sounds of things I was in a good kennels then, the boss there loved having the rotties in! We had a few regulars, a pair of big males who were supposed to be training to be guard dogs but were soft as anything! A skittish pair of bitches that the guys couldn't get near, and a hyper puppy bitch, they were all lovely!
It was so incredibly annoying when the new girl started and she refused to go in the kennels with the staffies, ebts, gsds, rotties, ridgebacks, anything like that because "they're all savage". I made a point of going into every kennel with them and playing with each and every one of them, then to finish the point I held the most agressive staffie there (dog agressive, he loved people) and made her stroke him. She soon changed her tune after that, within a month or so she was in there playing with the staffies like the rest of us!
The only thing that worried me about the rotties when I first started there was their size, i'm tiny, and they get very hyper and happy to see you, jumping up etc they could have easily knocked me over and licked me to death!
The most agressive dogs we had there were a savage mini poodle that no-one but the boss was allowed in with, and he wore heavy duty gloves! A westie, a hovawart, and a springer. The springers seemed the most likely to bite, with westies close behind.

People just have no idea, and have to have a scapegoat unfortunately they chose one of the nicest breeds i've had the pleasure to meet.

[alyhyena]

I was just flicking through sites when i cam across this and its the owners that should be blamed not the innocent dogs. I had a rotti Emma for 10 years. We were burgled twice when we had her. would love to show you all a pic of her but cant figure out how to upload


Obviously programme been on before
Posted on: March 25, 2007, 10:10: PMPosted by: KazGoa
Insert Quote
I didn't see the episode of Waking The Dead but wondered if the man being chased was mentally ill? My friend used to work in a psychiatric hospital and a lot of the patients thought that dogs - particularly doberman's and rottie's, were "the devil".