Otto

Hi, I’m Otto

Otto watches first. New person in the house, new sound in the yard — he stops, looks, decides, and then acts. It is the most classically Rottweiler thing about him and it is the trait we like most.

This is not shyness. He recovers fast and he greets people warmly once he has made up his mind about them. But he is a discerning dog, and a home that mistakes his pause for fear and rushes him will get a worse dog than one that lets him take his four seconds.

He is thoughtful about his people too. He has picked my wife out of the household and follows her more than anyone, which is characteristic of the line — Konrad does the same thing.

Otto wants an owner who will keep socialising him well past the point it feels necessary, through his second year. Do that and you will have a superb adult dog. Skip it and you will have a suspicious one.