Luis Armando: how do I know if my Rottweiler is purebred? What signs can I look for?
I bought a Rottweiler in a puppy shop where they assured me it is a purebred dog. But he kinda looks like a mixed breed. I wonder if there are any specific signs I can look for that will tell me if it is indeed purebred.
Photo Credit: El Coleccionista de Instantes/Flickr CC
Answers and Views:
Answer by shubn_nandy
Pet shops are notorious for selling fakes and mixed breeds, check against the American breed standards, You can also get information from the AKC website or the Rottweiler club of USA.
Answer by beetlejuice49423
AKC papers would be a sure sign to watch for…………
Answer by bananaman-ran
Oh........u can look for traits....lame
Answer by sevenofus
Purebred refers to the genealogy lines of the dog and not to what traits the dog possesses. It can be hard to determine if a dog is purebred strictly by looking at it. We had a dog whose dad was a husky mix and mom was a smallish dog of undeterminable origin. Our dog, Heidi looked just like a purebred German Shepherd even though there was apparently nothing resembling that in either parent. The first time we took her to our vet, he asked us if we planned to breed her as he mistook her for purebred as well. We had a family friend who was a dog breeder (St. Bernards, Clumber Spaniels).
I would help her take dogs to shows and take care of them. Sometimes she'd have 2-3 litters in a row in which none of the pups were "show quality". There are guidelines for breeds of dogs, but they are usually more of what is looked at if the dog is to be entered into the competition. Unless you plan to breed or show your dog, it really doesn't matter if he is a purebred. Without his "papers" you can not officially determine if he is purebred or not.
Answer by bookmom
The only way to tell for sure is DNA testing.
Even a purebred Rottie will not meet all the ideals of the breed standard. There are some key things about a Rottie ( see the standard at http://www.akc.org that you can look for, but a mix could look like a Rottie and a poorly bred Rottie could look like a mix.
Unfortunately, you bought the pup at a pet store. Pet shops are a bad place to get a dog. They sell dogs produced by puppy mills and any paperwork from them should be viewed with suspicion. Did they give you any registration papers with the dog?
Take your dog to the vet for regular checkups and shots and research the breed and its potential health problems so you can be prepared in case he develops problems later in life.
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Answer by CF_
registration papers are the ONLY guarantee the pup is purebred and LEGALLY if you are told the pup is purebred you are entitled to registration papers at NO additional cost…
call the store back and get the papers.. my guess is they lied to you in order to get a sale
a purebred would also be tattooed or microchipped...
pet stores are THE WORST place to get a dog.. you pay too much for a low-quality pet… they will tell you ANYTHING to get the sale – and obviously did
you can report the store for fraud – I am not sure who you call but it's in reference to the Pedigree Act.. call your local SPCA and they will tell you who to call
Answer by Libby
People can have a pair of registered dogs, the female mates with a different dog, accidentally, or not, and the people register the litter as being the progeny of the breeding pair. Purebred registration papers do not guarantee that a dog is purebred.
Answer by Pam
Look where the breeder "SIGNED" on the registration papers. No papers, no proof.
Answer by Retired
Pam is right, you should be getting papers for it. You should have asked to see the parents papers when you bought it. Whoever sold it to you should have papers from at least one of the parents.
Answer by rozi
I have taken a one-month rottweiler puppy. I know that it is not a purebred rottweiler because only at the back legs it has at the nails some of the white colors …and in the neck ….the only thing that bothers me is if it is going to be as big as a normal rottweiler or not…
Know better? Give your own answer to this question!
tadandpole says
I know you want to know if he is a purebred. I am suspicious that the people would assure you he was however did not PRODUCE the necessary papers to prove so. You can find different links on the internet to "see" if he is but without the papers, he is not.
GitEmGang says
If you are TOTALLY fing STUPID enough to buy a POS from a petstore,then you DESERVE the CRAP you'll GET!!! *&* you wouldn't know a QUALITY dog if it BIT you!
A PURE BRED dog MUST have the AKC registration paperwork to PROVE IT!!!
ANY animal in ANY petstore is AUTOMATICALLY UTTER CRAP & ABSOLUTELY *WORTHLESS*! Because ONLY *CROOKS* sell to them!!!
BRAIN UP!
Retired says
Pam is right, you should be getting papers for it. You should have asked to see the parents papers when you bought it. Whoever sold it to you should have papers from at least one of the parents.
Shadow's Melon says
Pet shops get their pups from puppy mills. Puppy mills are horrific large scale breeding facilities that tend to have sickly dogs and often mixed breeding does occur, tho they will still falsify paperwork to make it appear pure breed.
Pet stores are the worst places to get pups. There are many stories of people getting puppies that ended up very sick and having all sorts of genetic defects as the puppy mills don't bother to screen and test to make sure things like hip dysplasia don't get passed on to the litters. They're in it for the money plain and simple.
Shane says
You can check out the breed standard on the AKC site or you can post a pic here for us to guess.
Pet shops are notorious for selling people mixed breeds that way. NEVER buy one there again. I've also seen some that were probably purebred, but such crappy examples of the breed that they looked completely wrong.
Edited to add: Papers aren't proof that a dog is purebred. They're only proof that the people who bred the dog said it's a purebred. I could have gotten AKC papers for my toddler if I'd wanted to bribe a puppymill.
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