Okay, so I’ve been thinking about getting a Rottweiler for a while now. They’re such majestic dogs, but I wanted to make sure I did it right. I live in Texas, so I figured finding a good breeder here would be the way to go. I started, like everyone does, by hitting up the internet.
I spent hours, seriously hours, searching and reading. First, I just did a broad search, like, “Texas Rottweiler breeders,” you know? That brought up a TON of stuff. So, I started trying to narrow things down.
My Research Process
I knew I wanted a breeder who really cared about the dogs, not just someone trying to make a quick buck. I learned that good breeders will:
- Health test their dogs. I don’t want to get a puppy and find out it has some horrible genetic issue.
- Let you meet the parents. That lets you see their temperaments and get an idea of the kind of environment it was born in.
- Ask you a lot of questions. They should care where their puppies are going!
- Care about the breed. I saw some that breed a lot of different dogs, and I’m not a fan of that for this.
So, based on that, I started digging deeper into the websites I found. Many of them, I just immediately crossed off. Some looked super sketchy, like they hadn’t been updated since 2005, and others didn’t give much useful information. Others, I simply didn’t like the look of the dogs, and I knew I needed to be comfortable with the breeder and their dogs.
I made a list of a few that seemed promising. Then, I started looking for reviews and any mentions of them on forums. I figured if someone had a bad experience, they’d probably shout about it online. I found a little bit of info, nothing super negative, thankfully.
Next step was to actually contact these breeders. I sent out some emails, explaining what I was looking for and asking about their practices. Some never got back to me, which I took as a bad sign. Others sent back super generic responses, that made me feel that they send those same three paragraphs to anyone who asks.
But a couple were really responsive and helpful. They answered my questions thoroughly and seemed genuinely interested in making sure their puppies went to good homes. I even had a phone call with one, and we talked for, like, an hour! She told me all about her dogs, their lineage, and how she raises the puppies. It felt really good to have a direct conversation.
The conversations were important, because the feeling I got from speaking with the breeder was every bit as important as the things I was finding out. I knew I’d feel better about giving my money to someone I felt I could trust.
Finally, I made my decision. It took a while, but I felt confident I’d found a breeder who was responsible and really cared about their Rottweilers. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it to feel good about where my future puppy is coming from. Next step, is the waiting list!
