Rottweiler

A powerful, confident guardian, and the first line of the sheet worth reading is the last column: this breed is rated not suitable for novice owners. Nothing else on this page changes that.

The temperament sheet

Energy is moderate. The Rottweiler wants real daily exercise but is not a perpetual-motion dog. Time alone is rated moderate as well; sensible absences are workable. With children the rating is needs-supervision — not a mark against the breed, but a plain instruction that dog and child should not be left to sort things out between themselves.

First-dog suitability is a no. This is a breed for owners who have handled dogs before and know what confident strength feels like on the end of a lead. Space: needs a garden.

The practical side

• Size: large, with the strength that implies.
• Grooming: low. An easy coat to keep.
• Shedding: moderate.
• Barking: quiet. A guardian that does not narrate its day.

The honest close

The sheet describes the breed’s average, not your dog. An individual Rottweiler outranks its breed sheet, and meeting that individual — properly, and more than once — outranks everything above.